Alton Towers Scarefest 2013
When Alton towers announced the line up for this years Scarefest, we were surprised to see that Carnival of Screams was to be included in general admission while the other two mazes were to turn pay extra . How would the public react to this?

Now free to all guests, the Carnival of Screams has probably had the most work out of all the mazes especially as it needed to increase capacity and address the weak ending from 2012. Introducing a new back story about a failed knife thrower, the new finale is a dramatic addition and and is very reminiscent of something from a Dungeon attraction with a mix of special effects and sounds. The new ending is a much more satisfying finale than previous and makes the show feel more complete as a whole. The rest of the maze is pretty identical to previously and provides a fun attraction with a mixture of fun house tricks and mischievous clowns. Although there are some good jump scares, the show is still the least scary of the three mazes at the park and as such is probably a great starter for the regular guest.

The Sanctuary is back and as far as we could see is completely unchanged since it returned at the start of 2013 to promote the Smiler. But then - when a maze is this good why does it need to change? As usual the inmates were completely crazy throughout and it was a pleasure to be greeted by the inimitable Gerry Cannell as Dr Kelman (his sly asides about the new marmalisation device in X-factor were brilliantly witty and self knowing). As usual we could find no fault in the Sanctuary, from the theming through to the actors - everything comes together to make a clever and at times terrifying maze.

The What Lies Within story line has been around for a number of years and has always been the highlight attraction during Scarefest. The maze is long, extremely detailed and when it comes to the finale - extremely intense. The maze has had a few small changes for this year including the return of the monks in a chapel scene (which works so much better than the year it looked like monks in a locker room!. The actors were particularly lively throughout, although we found the finale to be quite slow on a couple of our visits (it didn't help that our favorite 6'7 vampire was sick on the day we went through!). Terror of the Towers is still an incredible attraction but seeing as it has always been free in the past we were expecting to see something a bit different this year for our money.

Zombies has had quite a major makeover with a reversal of the route and more theming elements added. The pathway is much tighter than previously which really allows the zombies to get up close and personal. There's also a brand new set of costumes and we loved the fact that some of the zombies were made up of personnel from the emergency services . The actors were particularly lively throughout the whole attraction and each time we went through we had a number of genuine scares and quality interactions with the characters. This is definitely the strongest incarnation of the scare zone since it debuted a few years back.
2013 is clearly a holding year for the Scarefest event as apart from some small changes, the line up has remained unchanged. Saying that the mazes are all of a high quality and include a level of storytelling and immersion that many scare attractions in the UK don't have. The changes to the Carnival and Zombies are a vast improvement.
It's interesting in the year that sister park, Thorpe Park, has invested heavily in new mazes, Alton has nothing new and nearly had it's operating hours reduced (until a web outcry convinved the park to change their mind). It's going to be interesting to see what happens with Scarefest next year as its clear that the event is a massive success for the resort. The queues for the pay extra mazes proved that people do indeed want to celebrate Hallowen at the park but to the hardened scarefest visitor it's disappointing this year to have to pay for mazes that have been free in the past.
It's interesting in the year that sister park, Thorpe Park, has invested heavily in new mazes, Alton has nothing new and nearly had it's operating hours reduced (until a web outcry convinved the park to change their mind). It's going to be interesting to see what happens with Scarefest next year as its clear that the event is a massive success for the resort. The queues for the pay extra mazes proved that people do indeed want to celebrate Hallowen at the park but to the hardened scarefest visitor it's disappointing this year to have to pay for mazes that have been free in the past.
Links:
For more information and to pre-book tickets www.altontowers.com/
ScareTOUR reviews of previous years - 2012, 2011, 2010
Our retrospective 12 year review of Scarefest
ScareTOUR reviews of previous years - 2012, 2011, 2010
Our retrospective 12 year review of Scarefest
You Review

Have you also visited this or any other attractions recently? - tell us what you thought here

Terrifying - The sanctuary was amazing!i went with my auntie and nan and I was terrified,the detail in the sanctuary was amazing,well worth the money,and it's great the way they put the smell inside the sanctuary that was great, I recommend for anybody to go next year it was great!
- Beca

The Sanctuary was an interesting maze, I didn’t know what to expect but it didn’t take long for the fear to suddenly find me. There was many scares of all kinds and as you went through the marmalization process it just got more and more scary with a terrifying finale. Had me really scared and jumpy, the patients at some points just appeared from nowhere and it was a really enjoyable experience a must experience in my view
The terror of the towers was a truly terrifying experience, after watching the video of the 2 explorers who went roaming through the castle ruins, to which you then started on your own exploration, the layout and theming was just really unnerving and I was well and truly on pins throughout the entire experience. The further I dwelled into the ruins the more scary it got, with a finale which you found out what lied within brought the experience to and end and was all in all a terrifying experience and was an incredible maze.
Carnival of screams was what I would call a Scarehouse (kind of like a fun house of horror) the freaks were particularly scary and also had a funny side, using the art of illusion with many jump scares yet also playing tricks and pranks on you, it was an all round scary and funny maze and was both a trick and a treat in my view and was very scary and enjoyable.
Zombie Scare Zone. This particular part of the park was an area filled with apocalypse theme where you had to try and escape the zombies which lurked in this area, I experienced this at sunset and once again in the dark, and is more enjoyable in the dark. In my view it wasn’t the scariest of attractions but was an enjoyable experience, many people were truly terrified and it was an interesting experience.
The terror of the towers was a truly terrifying experience, after watching the video of the 2 explorers who went roaming through the castle ruins, to which you then started on your own exploration, the layout and theming was just really unnerving and I was well and truly on pins throughout the entire experience. The further I dwelled into the ruins the more scary it got, with a finale which you found out what lied within brought the experience to and end and was all in all a terrifying experience and was an incredible maze.
Carnival of screams was what I would call a Scarehouse (kind of like a fun house of horror) the freaks were particularly scary and also had a funny side, using the art of illusion with many jump scares yet also playing tricks and pranks on you, it was an all round scary and funny maze and was both a trick and a treat in my view and was very scary and enjoyable.
Zombie Scare Zone. This particular part of the park was an area filled with apocalypse theme where you had to try and escape the zombies which lurked in this area, I experienced this at sunset and once again in the dark, and is more enjoyable in the dark. In my view it wasn’t the scariest of attractions but was an enjoyable experience, many people were truly terrified and it was an interesting experience.

Terrifying
the sanctury and terror of the towers was brilliant we was screaming all the way through x
Collette
the sanctury and terror of the towers was brilliant we was screaming all the way through x
Collette

Sanctuary Extreme
We had been anxiously waiting to be able to attend this all day after signing our declarations!! The extreme maze is an over 18 maze.... And with good cause too!
You Que. up in the entrance to the towers before being escorted up to the conservatory By this time everyone in the limited group was nervous of what's to come. The conservatory is the same as the normal maze for a spell with the TVs playing and 50s music. Then some patients are aloud to come and play.
You are then took into the waiting area to be told that you can't touch the actors but the actors can and will touch you! After that your led to see Dr kelman in the traditional hands on shoulders way. Dr kelman then gives his sadistic talk to us all and then split us into groups. Sending one group in at a time. The first spell of the walk was the same as in the normal maze but then everyone got split to one person per actor and took in different directions. Some of the parts of the maze isn't seen in the normal walk way and there is patients and drs coming in every direction. Everyone gets grouped together to be "marmalized" and then split up again. The maze seems even more dark in the extreme giving the opportunity for the drs and nurses to be hiding anywhere. Dr kelman is also inside the maze going to various different points which is a nice extra as this doesn't happen in the normal maze. The final part is much more fast with you being moved ( or dragged) to different places and was possibly the most physical bit of the maze. Everyone that exited came out screaming. It was a very intense 20 minutes and for people wanting extreme it's highly recommend. It's not for the faint hearted!!
We had been anxiously waiting to be able to attend this all day after signing our declarations!! The extreme maze is an over 18 maze.... And with good cause too!
You Que. up in the entrance to the towers before being escorted up to the conservatory By this time everyone in the limited group was nervous of what's to come. The conservatory is the same as the normal maze for a spell with the TVs playing and 50s music. Then some patients are aloud to come and play.
You are then took into the waiting area to be told that you can't touch the actors but the actors can and will touch you! After that your led to see Dr kelman in the traditional hands on shoulders way. Dr kelman then gives his sadistic talk to us all and then split us into groups. Sending one group in at a time. The first spell of the walk was the same as in the normal maze but then everyone got split to one person per actor and took in different directions. Some of the parts of the maze isn't seen in the normal walk way and there is patients and drs coming in every direction. Everyone gets grouped together to be "marmalized" and then split up again. The maze seems even more dark in the extreme giving the opportunity for the drs and nurses to be hiding anywhere. Dr kelman is also inside the maze going to various different points which is a nice extra as this doesn't happen in the normal maze. The final part is much more fast with you being moved ( or dragged) to different places and was possibly the most physical bit of the maze. Everyone that exited came out screaming. It was a very intense 20 minutes and for people wanting extreme it's highly recommend. It's not for the faint hearted!!
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