Scarefest 2023
When the Alton Towers Scarefest line-up was first revealed, there was a lot of very negative social media commentary. It would seem now, that unless an event announces a brand new rosta of attractions each year, then keyboard warriors will not be happy! But we could see that there were a number of big changes coming, and so we looked forward to visiting. Not surprisingly, as other reviews and feedback trickled in - it turned out that Alton Towers had managed to turn public reactions somewhat, and so we visited on one of the last days of this event before the fireworks. But did we have a great time? Of course we did!
First up - we must explain that it was a very wet and windy day. We started our morning under cloud but spent most of it sheltering from the rain. This is the UK after all - but it did mean we missed some of the main entertainment on the lawn stage. We started our day with the Alton Ancestors who once again put on a great show, and then we spent the rest of the day trying out all the Halloween experiences and mazes.
Our first visit was to the Alton Towers Dungeon which was easily one of the best run through we have had since it opened. The performances were all amazing and they even managed to get a few good jump scares from us. We recognised a number of stalwart Alton actors in the cast, and they all put their heart and soul into their performances. In summary, it's not the best Dungeons attention in the UK - but when it is presented as well as it was - we would be pushed to say otherwise.
Next to the Dungeon was the Haribo sponsored Trick or Treat Town. After leaving Enchanted Hollow at Chessington World of Adventures with bags of Dairy Milk chocolate, it was time to get a bag full of jelly sweets and candy. The actors throughout were completely engaging, and the sets and scenes were great fun. Granted we were probably the only adults actually trick or treating - but the characters didn't seem phased, and we still left with an abundance of goodies.
Elsewhere across the park, guests could buy a four "maze" ticket as well as an additional up-charge to the new games experience - we decided to head to the scare mazes first.
Darkest Depths was clearly the least changed of all the attractions but still provided a great experience. The sets and theming in this maze are always outstanding, and the actors gave us some very lively scares. It really is interesting to look back and think that this was originally launched as the "family friendly" scare attraction, but is easily now as scary as the others.
The next returning maze was The Attic: Terror of The Towers which has had a number of small changes along the route. The Peppers Ghost effect before meeting the Governess has been replaced with a new levitating body room, and there seemed to be a bit more detail and color in the fireplace finale. Talking of colour - we were advised that all of The Attic before the fire was created in gray scale, and we were actually able to see this. Apart from the red of a few dolls eyes - everything in the attic is either white, black or grey - meaning that the colour in the fire actually stands out even more. It really is a subtle effect, but once you know it - it is so clear to see!
Also returning again was the one attraction that most people found problematical - the Darkfield audio experience - The Invitation. All we can say is well done to Alton Towers for trying to resurrect this and not just throwing it out like Thorpe Park did with The Terminal. We said in our review last year that it really is a stunning piece of psychological theater, but sadly everyone expected it to be a full on scare maze with actors. The park have tried to add more this year once the audio experience is over, and we can boldly say that The Invitation is not the car crash that social media would have you believe. What we can say is that the park should probably market it as something different to the three scare mazes.
Our final traditional maze was the new story that has come to Skinsnatchers (aka Altonville Mine Tours). A common complaint about this maze has been the use of American high school jocks and cheerleaders, but our argument is that this has ALWAYS been an American themed attraction. Our biggest concern about this maze is that there was very little the park could do to change the layout. So although the attraction was "new for 2023" it didn't really feel much different to the version we had experienced in the past.
One new Scarefest element for this year was the introduction of the Burial Grounds scare - zone. Utilising an unused route around the back of the Wickerman roller coaster, this felt more like an outdoor scare attraction as opposed to a free flowing scare-zone The long route was linear with a number of great sets and scenes along the way, as well as the use of some fun fire effects. With the volume of actors along the route and some of the scares we got - we were really impressed with this new addition and hope it returns in 2024.
And then of course the big new attraction for 2023 was Daz Games' Panic. We will be honest and say that when this was announced we had no idea who Daz Games was. We thought this would ruin our enjoyment of the attraction, but it didn't in any way. In fact we just looked at his video and treated him like a made up character for the story! The attraction itself was quite simple - all we had to do was enter the maze, find our two randomly generated symbols and get out before anyone else!
We confidently entered as a trio, and were soon split up and sent in multiple directions around the maze. We loved the fact that actors were able to grab and jostle people, and we had several fun scares in the maze as we tried to find out symbols in the chaos. A lot of your success in this game is pure luck depending on what symbols you are allocated. One of our team escape in 2 minutes and never saw or heard any of the key theme changes, whilst others only found 1 logo and were stuck in the maze til the end.
The use of different zones, really helped crank up the tension and we really loved the change of lighting as the event went through phases such as Night Vision and Clown Mode. We also loved the full "reboot" of the game midway through that left us stood motionless in pitch darkness until the game had started again!
Although not the scariest attraction we have experienced, Daz Games' Panic really was a ton of fun, which was helped by the competitive edge of how quickly could we get out. Regardless of our completion times, all of us had a great time, and we cant wait to go back in and try and experience some different challenges.
Finally - as we were staying at the hotel, we had planned to day in the park late and enjoy some of the shows with a drink, but sadly, it was so wet and horrible that after experiencing all the scare attractions - we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the entertainment there. Although the rain was a pain, we had a fantastic day and spent most of our time experiencing all of the Scarefest experiences - what more could we ask for?
First up - we must explain that it was a very wet and windy day. We started our morning under cloud but spent most of it sheltering from the rain. This is the UK after all - but it did mean we missed some of the main entertainment on the lawn stage. We started our day with the Alton Ancestors who once again put on a great show, and then we spent the rest of the day trying out all the Halloween experiences and mazes.
Our first visit was to the Alton Towers Dungeon which was easily one of the best run through we have had since it opened. The performances were all amazing and they even managed to get a few good jump scares from us. We recognised a number of stalwart Alton actors in the cast, and they all put their heart and soul into their performances. In summary, it's not the best Dungeons attention in the UK - but when it is presented as well as it was - we would be pushed to say otherwise.
Next to the Dungeon was the Haribo sponsored Trick or Treat Town. After leaving Enchanted Hollow at Chessington World of Adventures with bags of Dairy Milk chocolate, it was time to get a bag full of jelly sweets and candy. The actors throughout were completely engaging, and the sets and scenes were great fun. Granted we were probably the only adults actually trick or treating - but the characters didn't seem phased, and we still left with an abundance of goodies.
Elsewhere across the park, guests could buy a four "maze" ticket as well as an additional up-charge to the new games experience - we decided to head to the scare mazes first.
Darkest Depths was clearly the least changed of all the attractions but still provided a great experience. The sets and theming in this maze are always outstanding, and the actors gave us some very lively scares. It really is interesting to look back and think that this was originally launched as the "family friendly" scare attraction, but is easily now as scary as the others.
The next returning maze was The Attic: Terror of The Towers which has had a number of small changes along the route. The Peppers Ghost effect before meeting the Governess has been replaced with a new levitating body room, and there seemed to be a bit more detail and color in the fireplace finale. Talking of colour - we were advised that all of The Attic before the fire was created in gray scale, and we were actually able to see this. Apart from the red of a few dolls eyes - everything in the attic is either white, black or grey - meaning that the colour in the fire actually stands out even more. It really is a subtle effect, but once you know it - it is so clear to see!
Also returning again was the one attraction that most people found problematical - the Darkfield audio experience - The Invitation. All we can say is well done to Alton Towers for trying to resurrect this and not just throwing it out like Thorpe Park did with The Terminal. We said in our review last year that it really is a stunning piece of psychological theater, but sadly everyone expected it to be a full on scare maze with actors. The park have tried to add more this year once the audio experience is over, and we can boldly say that The Invitation is not the car crash that social media would have you believe. What we can say is that the park should probably market it as something different to the three scare mazes.
Our final traditional maze was the new story that has come to Skinsnatchers (aka Altonville Mine Tours). A common complaint about this maze has been the use of American high school jocks and cheerleaders, but our argument is that this has ALWAYS been an American themed attraction. Our biggest concern about this maze is that there was very little the park could do to change the layout. So although the attraction was "new for 2023" it didn't really feel much different to the version we had experienced in the past.
One new Scarefest element for this year was the introduction of the Burial Grounds scare - zone. Utilising an unused route around the back of the Wickerman roller coaster, this felt more like an outdoor scare attraction as opposed to a free flowing scare-zone The long route was linear with a number of great sets and scenes along the way, as well as the use of some fun fire effects. With the volume of actors along the route and some of the scares we got - we were really impressed with this new addition and hope it returns in 2024.
And then of course the big new attraction for 2023 was Daz Games' Panic. We will be honest and say that when this was announced we had no idea who Daz Games was. We thought this would ruin our enjoyment of the attraction, but it didn't in any way. In fact we just looked at his video and treated him like a made up character for the story! The attraction itself was quite simple - all we had to do was enter the maze, find our two randomly generated symbols and get out before anyone else!
We confidently entered as a trio, and were soon split up and sent in multiple directions around the maze. We loved the fact that actors were able to grab and jostle people, and we had several fun scares in the maze as we tried to find out symbols in the chaos. A lot of your success in this game is pure luck depending on what symbols you are allocated. One of our team escape in 2 minutes and never saw or heard any of the key theme changes, whilst others only found 1 logo and were stuck in the maze til the end.
The use of different zones, really helped crank up the tension and we really loved the change of lighting as the event went through phases such as Night Vision and Clown Mode. We also loved the full "reboot" of the game midway through that left us stood motionless in pitch darkness until the game had started again!
Although not the scariest attraction we have experienced, Daz Games' Panic really was a ton of fun, which was helped by the competitive edge of how quickly could we get out. Regardless of our completion times, all of us had a great time, and we cant wait to go back in and try and experience some different challenges.
Finally - as we were staying at the hotel, we had planned to day in the park late and enjoy some of the shows with a drink, but sadly, it was so wet and horrible that after experiencing all the scare attractions - we headed back to the hotel to enjoy the entertainment there. Although the rain was a pain, we had a fantastic day and spent most of our time experiencing all of the Scarefest experiences - what more could we ask for?
Nemesis Sub Terra returns for 2023!
It has been several years since Nemesis Sub Terra was quietly closed, and in the intervening years, the attraction has sat mothballed at the entrance to Forbidden Valley. The building was opened for two years during Scarefest as Project 42 but has sat lifeless ever since.
Then in 2022, strange rumors started to circulate that the attraction could return, especially when the dot matrix board at the entrance started displaying some question marks. With the nearby Nemesis being re-imagined for 2024, it was the perfect time to add another attraction to the Alton line up – and on Saturday 27th May, The Phalanx re-opened the attraction with a large fanfare.
Now, one thing we must stress here is that Nemesis Sub Terra is a support ride in the Alton Towers’ line up. It’s not a major rollercoaster like Nemesis or Wicker man and shouldn’t be considered as such. With that in mind is a fun experience and it is great to have it back in the park.
The first half of the experience has been slightly tweaked to more enhance the new Nemesis rollercoaster storyline. The red and black colour scheme of the revamped coaster is reflected throughout the logos and some work has been carried out on the sound and lighting in the experience.
The ride itself remains the same and provides a short but exciting thrill, once the cars are ready to be dispatched. Sadly, the restraints on this ride seem particularly restrictive and there was a lot of resetting and moving people around to allow the ride mechanism to lock safely. This clearly had a massive impact on throughput on opening day and hopefully can be rectified in the future.
The other key difference is that the “scare attraction” ending has been removed in place of a calmer route to the exit. This has tamed down the attraction to a degree but with new theming in the exit corridors, the impression now is more of government cover up “Nothing to see here – please move along”
All in, it’s fantastic to have another dark ride at the park – especially after the opening of the Curse at Alton Manor earlier this year. Going forward we will have to see if the attraction remains around once the main star of Forbidden Valley (i.e. Nemesis) is reborn!
Then in 2022, strange rumors started to circulate that the attraction could return, especially when the dot matrix board at the entrance started displaying some question marks. With the nearby Nemesis being re-imagined for 2024, it was the perfect time to add another attraction to the Alton line up – and on Saturday 27th May, The Phalanx re-opened the attraction with a large fanfare.
Now, one thing we must stress here is that Nemesis Sub Terra is a support ride in the Alton Towers’ line up. It’s not a major rollercoaster like Nemesis or Wicker man and shouldn’t be considered as such. With that in mind is a fun experience and it is great to have it back in the park.
The first half of the experience has been slightly tweaked to more enhance the new Nemesis rollercoaster storyline. The red and black colour scheme of the revamped coaster is reflected throughout the logos and some work has been carried out on the sound and lighting in the experience.
The ride itself remains the same and provides a short but exciting thrill, once the cars are ready to be dispatched. Sadly, the restraints on this ride seem particularly restrictive and there was a lot of resetting and moving people around to allow the ride mechanism to lock safely. This clearly had a massive impact on throughput on opening day and hopefully can be rectified in the future.
The other key difference is that the “scare attraction” ending has been removed in place of a calmer route to the exit. This has tamed down the attraction to a degree but with new theming in the exit corridors, the impression now is more of government cover up “Nothing to see here – please move along”
All in, it’s fantastic to have another dark ride at the park – especially after the opening of the Curse at Alton Manor earlier this year. Going forward we will have to see if the attraction remains around once the main star of Forbidden Valley (i.e. Nemesis) is reborn!
The Curse at Alton Manor
After a small delay, the much anticipated revamp of the Haunted House opened at the start of the park's season on Match 18th, 2023.
For a ride that has effectively only been closed since September, we were amazed at the sheer size of the makeover. This is not just a cursory re-skin of the ride but a true transformation, with a whole new story, a tonne of new effects, and thankfully for us, a number of great jump scares!
Although it is easy to recognise some of the sets and props from the original ride, they have all been repurposed and refreshed. The spinning tunnel that has been broken for years is finally back to its full glory, and at least now the giant spider actually makes sense to the story!
One of the fears of many people, was that the ride was going to be predominantly screen based, and although there are more screens and projection mapping effects than before, these really just enhance the practical effects. In fact it really is fair to say that the effects have been used sympathetically throughout.
One minor niggle on opening day was there were a couple of area of just darkness with nothing happening. After discussing this with the creative team later in the day, we understand that there are still some finishing touches to be made. We cant wait to see the ride when it's fully finished and all the effects are working.
Finally, we just need to mention the capacity of this ride. On opening day the main queue reached all the way back to Katanga Canyon, and with a number of VIP 's in possession of fast pass and a massive queue of Ride Access pass holders, we were impressed with how quickly the queues cleared . The Haunted House had always been a high capacity ride but we understand that even more vehicles are on the track now, so after the initial rush of experiencing a new ride on opening day, the line was very manageable later in the day.
All in - The Curse at Alton Manor is a stunning attraction. We went round about 6 times, and on each subsequent visit we saw something different in the detail. There are so many Easter eggs and jokes involved, and we reckon we still haven't seen everything. It is easily the best dark ride we have in the UK at the moment, so a big congratulations to everyone involved!
For a ride that has effectively only been closed since September, we were amazed at the sheer size of the makeover. This is not just a cursory re-skin of the ride but a true transformation, with a whole new story, a tonne of new effects, and thankfully for us, a number of great jump scares!
Although it is easy to recognise some of the sets and props from the original ride, they have all been repurposed and refreshed. The spinning tunnel that has been broken for years is finally back to its full glory, and at least now the giant spider actually makes sense to the story!
One of the fears of many people, was that the ride was going to be predominantly screen based, and although there are more screens and projection mapping effects than before, these really just enhance the practical effects. In fact it really is fair to say that the effects have been used sympathetically throughout.
One minor niggle on opening day was there were a couple of area of just darkness with nothing happening. After discussing this with the creative team later in the day, we understand that there are still some finishing touches to be made. We cant wait to see the ride when it's fully finished and all the effects are working.
Finally, we just need to mention the capacity of this ride. On opening day the main queue reached all the way back to Katanga Canyon, and with a number of VIP 's in possession of fast pass and a massive queue of Ride Access pass holders, we were impressed with how quickly the queues cleared . The Haunted House had always been a high capacity ride but we understand that even more vehicles are on the track now, so after the initial rush of experiencing a new ride on opening day, the line was very manageable later in the day.
All in - The Curse at Alton Manor is a stunning attraction. We went round about 6 times, and on each subsequent visit we saw something different in the detail. There are so many Easter eggs and jokes involved, and we reckon we still haven't seen everything. It is easily the best dark ride we have in the UK at the moment, so a big congratulations to everyone involved!
The Curse at Alton Manor - teaser event
Alton Towers hosted a small pop up event to promote the upcoming ride, The Curse at Alton Manor. Held at Mudchute Farm Park on the Isle of Dogs, the experience hosted three rooms, several live actors and a series of clues about the story of the new experience
Although there has been a lot of negativity around this experience, it really was never intended to be a recreation of the ride itself - just something to get people talking, and it certainly managed that. The giant dolls house itself looked stunning from the outside, and some of the promotional images seen below were splashed across media raising even more awareness.
We are excited to see what the new ride has in store when it opens at Alton Towers on the 18th
Although there has been a lot of negativity around this experience, it really was never intended to be a recreation of the ride itself - just something to get people talking, and it certainly managed that. The giant dolls house itself looked stunning from the outside, and some of the promotional images seen below were splashed across media raising even more awareness.
We are excited to see what the new ride has in store when it opens at Alton Towers on the 18th
Alton Towers Scarefest 2022
Although Alton Towers held their first scare maze in 2002, it wasn't until 2007 that the iconic Scarefest event was created. Now in its 15th year, the event has seen a number of different attractions, so expectation was high for this year's new addition - The Invitation.
Unfortunately, the hype was too high, and by the time the experience had opened, the show had already garnered a not very positive reputation. Trying to put this out of our thoughts, we headed to the new experience first.
Located in the same locations that has held Carnival of Screams and Toxic Junkyard, The Invitation is a Darkfield audio experience inside a collection of packing containers. Unlike the dreary approach to its sister attraction -The Terminal at Thorpe Park, the queue-line for this was beautifully themed with some gravestones, mausoleums and some impressive looking statues. It isn't the most immersive experience Alton have created, but does set the scene for what is about to come.
Following some really engaging banter with the crypt keeper we were soon led to an elevator to enter the "tomb" below. From the start, this stretches credibility as it is hard to imagine that there is actually a vault under this container. Had the attraction been built within an existing part of the Towers buildings, this could have been more believable. Another small gripe we had was that the vampire storyline kind of appears out of nowhere. One minute we are entering a family vault and the next we are being seduced by a vampire!
But once sat down in the attraction, all these niggles faded into obscurity. As the story started, we loved the subtle opening of the cage just seconds before we were plunged into Darkness. What then followed was 10 minutes of impressive binaural storytelling as the vampire in the room tried to charm his way in. The pitch darkness, muti directional sound and other ambient effects, all work so beautifully in this instance and every one of our group loved it!
Besides The Invitation, the remaining three scare mazes are all returns of Scarefest classics, Despite being the oldest of the three we had what was probably our liveliest run of Altonville Mine Tours: The Legend of the Skinsnatchers. The actors were particularly active and gave us a number of great scares throughout.
Although Skinsnatchers was a highlight we also had great runs of The Attic and Darkest Depths. Both are strong mazes in their own right and provide a great mix of fun and frights
Elsewhere around the resort we took in some of the shows including the Alton Ancestors street team and the entertainment on the main stage. Sadly, due to the weather earlier in the day we were cold and wet by evening time so slipped back to the warmth of the hotel for dinner and to enjoy the show
So' to summarise our visit - we really enjoyed the four main attractions but do understand some of the internet criticism aimed at Scarefest 22, For a 15-year anniversary we would have expected a new scare maze to really celebrate with a bang. Although we loved the brave choice to try something different this year, we think that the best option for the immediate future will be to either add a new maze to return the count to four scare attractions, or do a radical retheme of the recurring mazes, to encourage people to come back in the future..
Unfortunately, the hype was too high, and by the time the experience had opened, the show had already garnered a not very positive reputation. Trying to put this out of our thoughts, we headed to the new experience first.
Located in the same locations that has held Carnival of Screams and Toxic Junkyard, The Invitation is a Darkfield audio experience inside a collection of packing containers. Unlike the dreary approach to its sister attraction -The Terminal at Thorpe Park, the queue-line for this was beautifully themed with some gravestones, mausoleums and some impressive looking statues. It isn't the most immersive experience Alton have created, but does set the scene for what is about to come.
Following some really engaging banter with the crypt keeper we were soon led to an elevator to enter the "tomb" below. From the start, this stretches credibility as it is hard to imagine that there is actually a vault under this container. Had the attraction been built within an existing part of the Towers buildings, this could have been more believable. Another small gripe we had was that the vampire storyline kind of appears out of nowhere. One minute we are entering a family vault and the next we are being seduced by a vampire!
But once sat down in the attraction, all these niggles faded into obscurity. As the story started, we loved the subtle opening of the cage just seconds before we were plunged into Darkness. What then followed was 10 minutes of impressive binaural storytelling as the vampire in the room tried to charm his way in. The pitch darkness, muti directional sound and other ambient effects, all work so beautifully in this instance and every one of our group loved it!
Besides The Invitation, the remaining three scare mazes are all returns of Scarefest classics, Despite being the oldest of the three we had what was probably our liveliest run of Altonville Mine Tours: The Legend of the Skinsnatchers. The actors were particularly active and gave us a number of great scares throughout.
Although Skinsnatchers was a highlight we also had great runs of The Attic and Darkest Depths. Both are strong mazes in their own right and provide a great mix of fun and frights
Elsewhere around the resort we took in some of the shows including the Alton Ancestors street team and the entertainment on the main stage. Sadly, due to the weather earlier in the day we were cold and wet by evening time so slipped back to the warmth of the hotel for dinner and to enjoy the show
So' to summarise our visit - we really enjoyed the four main attractions but do understand some of the internet criticism aimed at Scarefest 22, For a 15-year anniversary we would have expected a new scare maze to really celebrate with a bang. Although we loved the brave choice to try something different this year, we think that the best option for the immediate future will be to either add a new maze to return the count to four scare attractions, or do a radical retheme of the recurring mazes, to encourage people to come back in the future..
Since there's so much to do during Scarefest at Alton Towers, we stayed for 2 days as usual. It was a shame to see that there weren't any new additions to the scare maze lineup, but being fans of Darkfield, we were intrigued to experience The Invitation.
Hoping to avoid long queues after dark and maximise ride time once the sun went down, we booked all of our scare attraction tickets during their opening hour, which was the right move to make as we didn't really have to queue for any of them.
The themeing around the entrance of The Invitation was fairly impressive even during daylight hours, and certainly more than we were expecting after having visited The Terminal at Thorpe Park the previous weekend. The actors playing the mortuary staff were fantastic. We'd actually run into them prior to the attraction opening, and even then, they took the time to interact with us while walking to their attraction. This lead to my dad gaining a new nickname and was referenced when we saw the same actors again throughout the day, which never failed to make us laugh.
The preshow and general build-up for The Invitation was brilliant, as was the audio (though, stunning audio is to be expected from Darkfield!) The story was certainly more engaging than that of The Terminal, although a little disjointed when trying to piece together the narrative in a way that continued what we'd been told outside. Despite the story being somewhat cliché, it was certainly chilling and quite unsettling, as the lead character's lines were delivered excellently. The ending, however, was quite abrupt, and being booted out again into the park sort of left us feeling as though the experience wasn't finished in a particularly satisfying way. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable!
The other scare attractions are ones we've done in the past, and they're all brilliant, especially Darkest Depths, which is probably our favourite. We noticed little changes here and there to some of the scenes, but for the most part, we knew what was coming. There's no doubt that the Scarefest mazes are all beautifully themed and filled with plenty of talented actors, so you can't really go wrong with them.
The Whispering Souls lights walk was pretty, though nothing spectacular, but made for a nice breather from the more crowded areas of the park.
The Retro Squad rides all look incredible after dark, and we couldn't get enough of Spinjam during our visit.
Since The Smiler was out of operation when we went to Scarefest last year, we squeezed in as many rides on that as possible, and always came out smiling.
Halloween theming around the entrance to the park is beautiful and eye-catching as always, but lacking throughout the rest of the park, sadly. We definitely felt that Scarefest could really benefit from introducing a couple of scarezones like Fright Nights now has with The Crows of Mawkin Meadow and Death's Doors because the walk between different areas of Alton Towers doesn't exactly leave you feeling Halloween-y when there's nothing there to remind you that Scarefest is a Halloween event.
Overall though, a very fun couple of days!
Hoping to avoid long queues after dark and maximise ride time once the sun went down, we booked all of our scare attraction tickets during their opening hour, which was the right move to make as we didn't really have to queue for any of them.
The themeing around the entrance of The Invitation was fairly impressive even during daylight hours, and certainly more than we were expecting after having visited The Terminal at Thorpe Park the previous weekend. The actors playing the mortuary staff were fantastic. We'd actually run into them prior to the attraction opening, and even then, they took the time to interact with us while walking to their attraction. This lead to my dad gaining a new nickname and was referenced when we saw the same actors again throughout the day, which never failed to make us laugh.
The preshow and general build-up for The Invitation was brilliant, as was the audio (though, stunning audio is to be expected from Darkfield!) The story was certainly more engaging than that of The Terminal, although a little disjointed when trying to piece together the narrative in a way that continued what we'd been told outside. Despite the story being somewhat cliché, it was certainly chilling and quite unsettling, as the lead character's lines were delivered excellently. The ending, however, was quite abrupt, and being booted out again into the park sort of left us feeling as though the experience wasn't finished in a particularly satisfying way. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable!
The other scare attractions are ones we've done in the past, and they're all brilliant, especially Darkest Depths, which is probably our favourite. We noticed little changes here and there to some of the scenes, but for the most part, we knew what was coming. There's no doubt that the Scarefest mazes are all beautifully themed and filled with plenty of talented actors, so you can't really go wrong with them.
The Whispering Souls lights walk was pretty, though nothing spectacular, but made for a nice breather from the more crowded areas of the park.
The Retro Squad rides all look incredible after dark, and we couldn't get enough of Spinjam during our visit.
Since The Smiler was out of operation when we went to Scarefest last year, we squeezed in as many rides on that as possible, and always came out smiling.
Halloween theming around the entrance to the park is beautiful and eye-catching as always, but lacking throughout the rest of the park, sadly. We definitely felt that Scarefest could really benefit from introducing a couple of scarezones like Fright Nights now has with The Crows of Mawkin Meadow and Death's Doors because the walk between different areas of Alton Towers doesn't exactly leave you feeling Halloween-y when there's nothing there to remind you that Scarefest is a Halloween event.
Overall though, a very fun couple of days!
Alton Towers Scarefest 2021
Scarefest is back at Alton Towers for 2021, with just one real change to the scare maze line up, and of course all the spooky atmosphere and shows we would expect from the park.
The extra entertainment throughout the park is always great and a Scarefest day always starts well with an Ancestors dance off at the bottom of Towers Street. We never get bored of watching this team as each year brings a mix of new songs and returning classics (you know Scarefest has started once you hear Metallica's Enter Sandman morph into the Alton Towers Hall of the Mountain King music !)
Elsewhere the new semi permanent stage on the lawn hosts family friendly shows featuring the Halloween cartoon characters and a rock/pop combo later in the evening. This area is surround by the a tasty array of food carts, and is a great place to chill between the rides and mazes.
Our first experience of the day was the brand new - Trick O Treat Town. Ok Granted this wasn't designed for slightly older guest members such as us, but this attraction was absolutely adorable. Given a goodie bag - the mission was simple - enter Trick o Teat Town and knock on every door in the town and see what happens. The interaction that the actors in here were having with the guests was perfect, and we could see lots and lot of small children running between doors - excited to see who or what would open them and where the would get any sweets. The sets costumes and characters throughout this experience were really colourful and vibrant, and of course the actors were being pretty generous with the sweets. Without any scares - this really was a perfect attraction for smaller children and everyone we saw in the experience was having a great time.
Our first "adult" maze was Darkest Depths, which has now been added to the scare pass. Previously listed as a family attraction, this maze really does have a number of very dark corridors and menacing characters so it was great to see it play out as a full scare maze. The move several years back from the courtyard to its current location really works well with this maze and we love the set pieces such as firing cannons and the kraken/water leaks towards the second half. Talking of the Kraken- we cant believe how active he was with his tentacles - with all of us having to duck to avoid being smacked round the head with them!
The Attic has returned for 2021 and still provides an extremely theatrical and story led experience. Following the effects heavy opening story, the journey through the attic is a chilling experience as dead children and the nanny finally come face to face with the demon in the fireplace. For a non strobe/ non chainsaw finale - we love how frantic the fireplace scene is and how many scares they manage to cram in!
A maze that has seemed to be getting more intense each year is Altonville Mine Tours. We passed through this several times on the day and the actors were unstoppable. Being so dark and so smoky down in the mines just made it even more confusing and disorienting. We cant praise the actors enough for the amount of scares we got throughout.
Finally Toxic Junkyard has seen some changes as a roof has now been place over the first half of the maze (potentially to stop sunlight during the day but also to keep the actors dry.) Once inside - the clowns were as mad as before and this maze continues to hold the record for the most number of clowns wielding chainsaws in one maze. The finale is just chaotic as the actors ganged up on us from all sides and generally left us running out the door! It's been a long time since chainsaws have scared us in such a way!
Finally - Scarefest brings a chance to ride your favorite rides in the dark, which really adds a new perspective as the park light them all up especially for the event! The Wicker Man at 9pm is a great way to end the day in the park!
All in - we had a great time in all the mazes but we do think that perhaps it is time to provide something new and different in the future. Alton's mazes are strong but we would love them to really blow us out the water next year with something epic and different. The park is tied to what it can and cant do with the buildings it has, but has a lot of space around the park to work with. We cant wait to see what's next in the Scarefest journey!
The extra entertainment throughout the park is always great and a Scarefest day always starts well with an Ancestors dance off at the bottom of Towers Street. We never get bored of watching this team as each year brings a mix of new songs and returning classics (you know Scarefest has started once you hear Metallica's Enter Sandman morph into the Alton Towers Hall of the Mountain King music !)
Elsewhere the new semi permanent stage on the lawn hosts family friendly shows featuring the Halloween cartoon characters and a rock/pop combo later in the evening. This area is surround by the a tasty array of food carts, and is a great place to chill between the rides and mazes.
Our first experience of the day was the brand new - Trick O Treat Town. Ok Granted this wasn't designed for slightly older guest members such as us, but this attraction was absolutely adorable. Given a goodie bag - the mission was simple - enter Trick o Teat Town and knock on every door in the town and see what happens. The interaction that the actors in here were having with the guests was perfect, and we could see lots and lot of small children running between doors - excited to see who or what would open them and where the would get any sweets. The sets costumes and characters throughout this experience were really colourful and vibrant, and of course the actors were being pretty generous with the sweets. Without any scares - this really was a perfect attraction for smaller children and everyone we saw in the experience was having a great time.
Our first "adult" maze was Darkest Depths, which has now been added to the scare pass. Previously listed as a family attraction, this maze really does have a number of very dark corridors and menacing characters so it was great to see it play out as a full scare maze. The move several years back from the courtyard to its current location really works well with this maze and we love the set pieces such as firing cannons and the kraken/water leaks towards the second half. Talking of the Kraken- we cant believe how active he was with his tentacles - with all of us having to duck to avoid being smacked round the head with them!
The Attic has returned for 2021 and still provides an extremely theatrical and story led experience. Following the effects heavy opening story, the journey through the attic is a chilling experience as dead children and the nanny finally come face to face with the demon in the fireplace. For a non strobe/ non chainsaw finale - we love how frantic the fireplace scene is and how many scares they manage to cram in!
A maze that has seemed to be getting more intense each year is Altonville Mine Tours. We passed through this several times on the day and the actors were unstoppable. Being so dark and so smoky down in the mines just made it even more confusing and disorienting. We cant praise the actors enough for the amount of scares we got throughout.
Finally Toxic Junkyard has seen some changes as a roof has now been place over the first half of the maze (potentially to stop sunlight during the day but also to keep the actors dry.) Once inside - the clowns were as mad as before and this maze continues to hold the record for the most number of clowns wielding chainsaws in one maze. The finale is just chaotic as the actors ganged up on us from all sides and generally left us running out the door! It's been a long time since chainsaws have scared us in such a way!
Finally - Scarefest brings a chance to ride your favorite rides in the dark, which really adds a new perspective as the park light them all up especially for the event! The Wicker Man at 9pm is a great way to end the day in the park!
All in - we had a great time in all the mazes but we do think that perhaps it is time to provide something new and different in the future. Alton's mazes are strong but we would love them to really blow us out the water next year with something epic and different. The park is tied to what it can and cant do with the buildings it has, but has a lot of space around the park to work with. We cant wait to see what's next in the Scarefest journey!
Alton Towers Scarefest 2020
So, with all the restrictions around Coronavirus, it was clear that Alton Towers would have some work to do to be able to open Scarefest this year. With the rules changing just about every other week, the resort stuck to the same three principles - keep the mazes open and ventilated, encourage social distancing measures such as masks and sanitiser, and finally - find new ways to scare. But with new restrictions in place, we therefore expected the attractions to be a bit "milder" than in 2019. It turns out we were completely wrong in that assumption!
Of course - before we get on to the scare mazes we must talk about the incredible atmosphere that Scarefest creates. Using a lot of the area and staging from the successful Octoberfest event, the lawns of the Towers have been transformed from a large black hole in the centre of the park, to a new Halloween hub. The stage is constantly busy with either the Scarefest costume characters or the Alton Ancestors. At the end of the night - live music was in place and the whole area created a great atmosphere.
As for the mazes themselves - due to the social distancing rules - they were some of the most intense experiences we have ever had at the park!
New for 2020 is Freak Show: Toxic Junkyard which was an out door maze filled with lively clowns. The theme of an old junkyard worked well as the area was filled with old props from the log flume, Freak Show scare zone and Carnival of Screams. As the maze opened during the daytime, it was interesting to see just how lively the actors were throughout. Without the cover of darkness they needed to really work hard to get great scares and we cant commend them enough. Of course - once the sun had gone down - this experience was completely changed and we had so many scares from beginning to end.
Returning for this year was The Attic - which was one of our favourites in 2019. The preshow has been rewritten to allow for smaller bubbles to enter the attraction at a time time, but the maze remained as strong as we remember it from before. Like the previous Terror in The Towers versions - the story starts slow and atmospheric - before descending into a chaotic finale that genuinely had some of our team running out the door!
The other "adult" scare maze was the return of Altonville Mine Tours (Uncover the legend of the Skinsnatchers) and this maze has probably seen the most Covid changes of them all. With no helmets from Haunted Lantern and most of the touch points removed - we expected this to be quite a dry and dull maze. How wrong we were. Every visit was genuinely terrifying and the darkness and the fog gave the actors the chance to attack us from all angles. For a maze we have experienced so many times before - we are amazed at how scary this was this year.
In the family line up, Darkest Depths has moved to a new home which has given it more room to expand, and the sets and costumes throughout were outstanding. From entering the maze through to the final scare - it really is hard to believe you aren't on a pirate ship at times. The new location allows for some larger set pieces and rooms, yet the experience is created by the intimacy of the scare actors. Although the scares and effects are pretty strong throughout, we saw quite a few brave children experiencing it.
The other family attraction is the Alton Towers Dungeon which has seen minimal amendments for Halloween. Every run through we have, reminds us how specific Alton Towers are on social distancing and the attraction remains as fun and creepy as it has always been.
The final addition for this year is the Garden Lights Walk: Whispering Souls. This new 15 minute walk through the gardens is a stunning way to appreciate the natural beauty of the resort, the trees, conservatories and more all lit up for the season. It is a stunning addition to a family friendly event, and is something calm for people to do while the rest are being scared!
All in - despite the Covid restrictions- we probably had one of the best years we have had at Alton Towers Screamfest. We cant fault anything at all about the event or the organisation, and we just can't wait to visit again!
Of course - before we get on to the scare mazes we must talk about the incredible atmosphere that Scarefest creates. Using a lot of the area and staging from the successful Octoberfest event, the lawns of the Towers have been transformed from a large black hole in the centre of the park, to a new Halloween hub. The stage is constantly busy with either the Scarefest costume characters or the Alton Ancestors. At the end of the night - live music was in place and the whole area created a great atmosphere.
As for the mazes themselves - due to the social distancing rules - they were some of the most intense experiences we have ever had at the park!
New for 2020 is Freak Show: Toxic Junkyard which was an out door maze filled with lively clowns. The theme of an old junkyard worked well as the area was filled with old props from the log flume, Freak Show scare zone and Carnival of Screams. As the maze opened during the daytime, it was interesting to see just how lively the actors were throughout. Without the cover of darkness they needed to really work hard to get great scares and we cant commend them enough. Of course - once the sun had gone down - this experience was completely changed and we had so many scares from beginning to end.
Returning for this year was The Attic - which was one of our favourites in 2019. The preshow has been rewritten to allow for smaller bubbles to enter the attraction at a time time, but the maze remained as strong as we remember it from before. Like the previous Terror in The Towers versions - the story starts slow and atmospheric - before descending into a chaotic finale that genuinely had some of our team running out the door!
The other "adult" scare maze was the return of Altonville Mine Tours (Uncover the legend of the Skinsnatchers) and this maze has probably seen the most Covid changes of them all. With no helmets from Haunted Lantern and most of the touch points removed - we expected this to be quite a dry and dull maze. How wrong we were. Every visit was genuinely terrifying and the darkness and the fog gave the actors the chance to attack us from all angles. For a maze we have experienced so many times before - we are amazed at how scary this was this year.
In the family line up, Darkest Depths has moved to a new home which has given it more room to expand, and the sets and costumes throughout were outstanding. From entering the maze through to the final scare - it really is hard to believe you aren't on a pirate ship at times. The new location allows for some larger set pieces and rooms, yet the experience is created by the intimacy of the scare actors. Although the scares and effects are pretty strong throughout, we saw quite a few brave children experiencing it.
The other family attraction is the Alton Towers Dungeon which has seen minimal amendments for Halloween. Every run through we have, reminds us how specific Alton Towers are on social distancing and the attraction remains as fun and creepy as it has always been.
The final addition for this year is the Garden Lights Walk: Whispering Souls. This new 15 minute walk through the gardens is a stunning way to appreciate the natural beauty of the resort, the trees, conservatories and more all lit up for the season. It is a stunning addition to a family friendly event, and is something calm for people to do while the rest are being scared!
All in - despite the Covid restrictions- we probably had one of the best years we have had at Alton Towers Screamfest. We cant fault anything at all about the event or the organisation, and we just can't wait to visit again!
Alton Towers Scarefest 2019
Scarefest is back at Alton Towers with the biggest scare line up it has ever had. Following the addition of the Alton Towers Dungeon at the start of the year, this year’s event sees the return of three mazes from 2018, a brand new version of Terror of the Terrors, and a new “family friendly” maze that actually terrified our group of adults! In fact, there is now so much to do that we spent most of our day in the live attractions as opposed to riding the rollercoasters. A day at the park definitely needs a lot of planning to make sure you get to experience everything you want to, as well as enjoying the atmosphere including rides in the dark, family shows and the incredible Alton Ancestors.
The first new maze for 2019 is The Attic, which is set in the same “universe” as the original Terror of the Towers, while telling a brand new story. It is easily Alton’s most story led maze but we loved everything about it. The opening scene in the study was a masterclass in combining timed effects with a scripted performance, and once we had climbed the long stairway into the attic space itself, the whole attraction just flowed beautifully. From the "eaves" of the Towers, the set design and build was some of the best we have seen at Alton (remember we had not done Darkest Depths yet) and the maze contained multiple hiding places for the very energetic actors. As the story progressed, we were led to a terrifying encounter with the demon in the fireplace that was as intense and chaotic as the vampires in the What Lies Within story line. The fact that they managed to create such an intense finale without the obligatory strobes and chainsaws shows what a clever attraction it was. We visited The Attic multiple times during the day and every visit was as exciting as the next. The park really do have a new classic on their hands.
The other new maze for 2019 is Darkest Depths, and we are going to go out on a limb and say that this maze design could easily equal anything that Universal Studios present at Halloween Horror Nights. All aspects of the set design and lighting were so well presented, that we KNEW we were on a pirate ship, and as disaster struck the change in atmosphere perfectly denoted that we were under the sea. However, of course, this maze was not just about the sets and lighting, the actors throughout were on top form and gave truly engaging and terrifying performances – and this is the family maze! All in, we do generally think that the maze is probably just a bit too scary for the younger ones, but our hardened group of scare lovers, lapped up every single jump scare and scream. If this is, what life is like as a pirate then sign us up now!
This year Sub Species has been listed as the only six pumpkin scare at the event, and it is great to see that the intense scare maze totally has its mojo back! In the last few years the attraction has felt quite tame compared to opening years, but this year the actors seem to be everywhere, and are as aggressive as they have ever been. The main feature of this maze is that you WILL be split up from your group, and will most likely wander the confusing corridors either on your own or with some stranger you happen to meet in the darkness. A point in question was on our second run where one of our group came out a full three minutes after we did. We did not see them at all during the maze after they were picked off in the opening scenes. Although the concept and themes have been around for a few years, all our runs through Sub Species were so much fun.
Project 42 debuted last year in the old Nemesis Sub Terra building and was a short sharp intense experience with a good number of scares. Our only real complaint would have been that some of the corridors and rooms were quite big, which spoiled the atmosphere. Well not anymore! Through a complete rebuild, the pathways are so much tighter than before, which really helped to make an enclosed and claustrophobic attraction. Add in some crazy actors throwing themselves around and the maze was perfect from beginning to end.
Our final maze of the day was Altonville Mine Tours: The Legend of the Skinsnatchers. Of all the Alton mazes – this is one we have probably experienced the most (especially as It has been included for several years in ScareCON) - therefore we were not expecting to get such an intense run through as we did. Although nothing physically had changed in the maze itself, the intensity of the actors has been turned up to 11, creating a chaotic experience that left us breathless when we escaped.
With five incredible scare attractions, it really is hard to find any negative of this year's Scarefest at the Towers. Clearly, a lot of time and thought has gone into the new mazes, as well as a shot of steroids for the returning attractions. We loved every single maze and encountered them all several times (just to make sure) and never had a bad run through once! Truly an amazing year for the park, and one that has made us reevaluate our Halloween itinerary, as we have to go back and do it all again!
The first new maze for 2019 is The Attic, which is set in the same “universe” as the original Terror of the Towers, while telling a brand new story. It is easily Alton’s most story led maze but we loved everything about it. The opening scene in the study was a masterclass in combining timed effects with a scripted performance, and once we had climbed the long stairway into the attic space itself, the whole attraction just flowed beautifully. From the "eaves" of the Towers, the set design and build was some of the best we have seen at Alton (remember we had not done Darkest Depths yet) and the maze contained multiple hiding places for the very energetic actors. As the story progressed, we were led to a terrifying encounter with the demon in the fireplace that was as intense and chaotic as the vampires in the What Lies Within story line. The fact that they managed to create such an intense finale without the obligatory strobes and chainsaws shows what a clever attraction it was. We visited The Attic multiple times during the day and every visit was as exciting as the next. The park really do have a new classic on their hands.
The other new maze for 2019 is Darkest Depths, and we are going to go out on a limb and say that this maze design could easily equal anything that Universal Studios present at Halloween Horror Nights. All aspects of the set design and lighting were so well presented, that we KNEW we were on a pirate ship, and as disaster struck the change in atmosphere perfectly denoted that we were under the sea. However, of course, this maze was not just about the sets and lighting, the actors throughout were on top form and gave truly engaging and terrifying performances – and this is the family maze! All in, we do generally think that the maze is probably just a bit too scary for the younger ones, but our hardened group of scare lovers, lapped up every single jump scare and scream. If this is, what life is like as a pirate then sign us up now!
This year Sub Species has been listed as the only six pumpkin scare at the event, and it is great to see that the intense scare maze totally has its mojo back! In the last few years the attraction has felt quite tame compared to opening years, but this year the actors seem to be everywhere, and are as aggressive as they have ever been. The main feature of this maze is that you WILL be split up from your group, and will most likely wander the confusing corridors either on your own or with some stranger you happen to meet in the darkness. A point in question was on our second run where one of our group came out a full three minutes after we did. We did not see them at all during the maze after they were picked off in the opening scenes. Although the concept and themes have been around for a few years, all our runs through Sub Species were so much fun.
Project 42 debuted last year in the old Nemesis Sub Terra building and was a short sharp intense experience with a good number of scares. Our only real complaint would have been that some of the corridors and rooms were quite big, which spoiled the atmosphere. Well not anymore! Through a complete rebuild, the pathways are so much tighter than before, which really helped to make an enclosed and claustrophobic attraction. Add in some crazy actors throwing themselves around and the maze was perfect from beginning to end.
Our final maze of the day was Altonville Mine Tours: The Legend of the Skinsnatchers. Of all the Alton mazes – this is one we have probably experienced the most (especially as It has been included for several years in ScareCON) - therefore we were not expecting to get such an intense run through as we did. Although nothing physically had changed in the maze itself, the intensity of the actors has been turned up to 11, creating a chaotic experience that left us breathless when we escaped.
With five incredible scare attractions, it really is hard to find any negative of this year's Scarefest at the Towers. Clearly, a lot of time and thought has gone into the new mazes, as well as a shot of steroids for the returning attractions. We loved every single maze and encountered them all several times (just to make sure) and never had a bad run through once! Truly an amazing year for the park, and one that has made us reevaluate our Halloween itinerary, as we have to go back and do it all again!
Alton Towers Scarefest 2018
When Alton Towers released the details of this year’s Scarefest, we were all surprised at the omission of Terror of the Towers. The maze had been a staple at the park since 2002 (albeit in different formats) and we were expecting it to get a makeover at least, and not just disappear from the line-up. But would we miss it, or could the mysterious Project 42 take its place? We went along on opening weekend to find out.
Unlike other UK theme parks, Alton Towers hits you with the Halloween vibe the second you arrive in the park. Theming stretches all the way down Towers Street and as we entered, the Alton Ancestors were in the middle of another one of their fun and energetic dance routines. This intro to the event really is the perfect start to the day, and with the scare mazes opening as early as midday – we didn’t have long to wait for the scary fun to begin.
Our first visit was to the incredible House of Monsters – the family scare attraction in Cloud Cuckoo Land. As one of the first groups of the day to go through there were only 5 of us (all grown adults!) which could have been difficult for the actors, but of course we all played along with the show. New for this year is a makeover of one of the rooms plus the addition of a whole new scene. Both additions really matched the style and tone of the rest of the attraction, and the bogus Bill and Ted style sea creatures were genuinely hilarious.
What we love about House of Monsters is that the tone is all so tongue in cheek yet manages to throw in some genuine jump scares in the big finale. It’s a great way to get the more easily scared members of the family into the scare attractions without terrorising them straight away with Sub Species!
After the fun frights of House of Monsters, we hung around in market square to catch some of the family shows featuring the costume characters, introducing the new witch Gretyl. The location of these shows is perfect and works so much better than being at the end of Towers Street. As it was every time we went past, the audience were loving the characters and the entertainment in these high energy shows.
But of course, with all the fun family stuff out the way – it was time to head into the real scare mazes – starting first with Sub Species.
When Sub first burst onto the scare scene it was so refreshingly different that it immediately won the SCAR award for best maze, and it has maintained that intensity ever since. The sheer audacity of a maze to grab and split guests is still shocking, and this reviewer did the whole of the second half of the maze alone, until finally catching up with a different group at the tunnel stage. Even though we have visited this attraction multiple times, the maze section is still as confusing as ever and once again we were left wondering if we would ever actually get out!
Next up was Altonville Mine Tours - Uncover the Legend of the Skinsnatchers, and what can we say about our visit? Someone had clearly pumped the maze full of steroids as it was the craziest run through we have ever had. The actors scared and taunted us mercilessly throughout which created a genuine sense of fear and panic from beginning to end. We didn’t expect such a fun and crazy run, so we must congratulate the talented cast for given us such an amazing experience.
The new maze for 2018 is the mysteriously titled Project 42. Located in the building that used to be home of Nemeses Sub Terra – we had a bitter sweet feeling about this maze. We genuinely used to enjoy Sub Terra, so it was sad to see it repurposed as a maze, but great to see so many original sights from the ride. In fact, the design team have been very clever with the build of this attraction as there are several discretely hidden Easter eggs to previous Scarefest attractions scattered about. Just keep your eyes open.
One of the key things we loved about this attraction was how the tension and the frights built up. Quite unusually, we saw the first of the infected in broad daylight, and it was a great chance to see the attention to detail in the makeup. Therefore, when similar creatures were attacking us in the dark later, we didn’t need to imagine what they looked like. We knew they were terrifying – and they certainly knew how to scare us!
The scares inside here just seemed to keep building and building to almost unmanageable levels – the cast just didn’t leave us alone during the final stages and the maze just seemed to keep going when we thought it must be close to the end. The team have certainly crammed a lot into one attraction and even though we knew the route of the Sub Terra maze section, the creators kept us on our toes with an inspired two-level room that really created a great finale.
For a brand-new maze and on opening weekend we were pleasantly surprised at just how intense and chaotic Project 42 turned out to be. It may look rough from the outside (the tarpaulins and tents in the queue line look like something from a bad home haunt) but the quality of storytelling, scares and effects inside were just amazing. Also, we recognised a lot of experienced returning actors from previous year’s mazes and the professionalism and enthusiasm as they scared us stupid, really enhanced the experience. Well done Alton – you’ve managed to shake up the status quo one more time!
The last maze is the semi outdoor The Welcoming: Be Chosen which is now more intricately linked with the story and theming of the Wicker Man rollercoaster. The attraction has seen several changes this year including (mercifully) the removal of the weak hooded section, and what seemed to be a tighter more twisted route. The actors were really given their all throughout the maze and we had a terrific run in the dark at the end of night.
So, we started this review by talking about the Terror of the Towers and wondering if its departure would impact the line up this year. In all honesty – it wasn’t until the monorail journey home that one of the team said “but what about Terror of the Towers? As a group, we all decided that we didn’t miss it at all, and agreed that 2018 was the best Scarefest event that the park have put on for years!
Unlike other UK theme parks, Alton Towers hits you with the Halloween vibe the second you arrive in the park. Theming stretches all the way down Towers Street and as we entered, the Alton Ancestors were in the middle of another one of their fun and energetic dance routines. This intro to the event really is the perfect start to the day, and with the scare mazes opening as early as midday – we didn’t have long to wait for the scary fun to begin.
Our first visit was to the incredible House of Monsters – the family scare attraction in Cloud Cuckoo Land. As one of the first groups of the day to go through there were only 5 of us (all grown adults!) which could have been difficult for the actors, but of course we all played along with the show. New for this year is a makeover of one of the rooms plus the addition of a whole new scene. Both additions really matched the style and tone of the rest of the attraction, and the bogus Bill and Ted style sea creatures were genuinely hilarious.
What we love about House of Monsters is that the tone is all so tongue in cheek yet manages to throw in some genuine jump scares in the big finale. It’s a great way to get the more easily scared members of the family into the scare attractions without terrorising them straight away with Sub Species!
After the fun frights of House of Monsters, we hung around in market square to catch some of the family shows featuring the costume characters, introducing the new witch Gretyl. The location of these shows is perfect and works so much better than being at the end of Towers Street. As it was every time we went past, the audience were loving the characters and the entertainment in these high energy shows.
But of course, with all the fun family stuff out the way – it was time to head into the real scare mazes – starting first with Sub Species.
When Sub first burst onto the scare scene it was so refreshingly different that it immediately won the SCAR award for best maze, and it has maintained that intensity ever since. The sheer audacity of a maze to grab and split guests is still shocking, and this reviewer did the whole of the second half of the maze alone, until finally catching up with a different group at the tunnel stage. Even though we have visited this attraction multiple times, the maze section is still as confusing as ever and once again we were left wondering if we would ever actually get out!
Next up was Altonville Mine Tours - Uncover the Legend of the Skinsnatchers, and what can we say about our visit? Someone had clearly pumped the maze full of steroids as it was the craziest run through we have ever had. The actors scared and taunted us mercilessly throughout which created a genuine sense of fear and panic from beginning to end. We didn’t expect such a fun and crazy run, so we must congratulate the talented cast for given us such an amazing experience.
The new maze for 2018 is the mysteriously titled Project 42. Located in the building that used to be home of Nemeses Sub Terra – we had a bitter sweet feeling about this maze. We genuinely used to enjoy Sub Terra, so it was sad to see it repurposed as a maze, but great to see so many original sights from the ride. In fact, the design team have been very clever with the build of this attraction as there are several discretely hidden Easter eggs to previous Scarefest attractions scattered about. Just keep your eyes open.
One of the key things we loved about this attraction was how the tension and the frights built up. Quite unusually, we saw the first of the infected in broad daylight, and it was a great chance to see the attention to detail in the makeup. Therefore, when similar creatures were attacking us in the dark later, we didn’t need to imagine what they looked like. We knew they were terrifying – and they certainly knew how to scare us!
The scares inside here just seemed to keep building and building to almost unmanageable levels – the cast just didn’t leave us alone during the final stages and the maze just seemed to keep going when we thought it must be close to the end. The team have certainly crammed a lot into one attraction and even though we knew the route of the Sub Terra maze section, the creators kept us on our toes with an inspired two-level room that really created a great finale.
For a brand-new maze and on opening weekend we were pleasantly surprised at just how intense and chaotic Project 42 turned out to be. It may look rough from the outside (the tarpaulins and tents in the queue line look like something from a bad home haunt) but the quality of storytelling, scares and effects inside were just amazing. Also, we recognised a lot of experienced returning actors from previous year’s mazes and the professionalism and enthusiasm as they scared us stupid, really enhanced the experience. Well done Alton – you’ve managed to shake up the status quo one more time!
The last maze is the semi outdoor The Welcoming: Be Chosen which is now more intricately linked with the story and theming of the Wicker Man rollercoaster. The attraction has seen several changes this year including (mercifully) the removal of the weak hooded section, and what seemed to be a tighter more twisted route. The actors were really given their all throughout the maze and we had a terrific run in the dark at the end of night.
So, we started this review by talking about the Terror of the Towers and wondering if its departure would impact the line up this year. In all honesty – it wasn’t until the monorail journey home that one of the team said “but what about Terror of the Towers? As a group, we all decided that we didn’t miss it at all, and agreed that 2018 was the best Scarefest event that the park have put on for years!
Terrifying
The scare mazes were terrifying, the rides were good and the experience was amazing!
The scare mazes were terrifying, the rides were good and the experience was amazing!
Alton Towers Scarefest 2017
Over recent years, Alton Towers have had a reputation for surprising us once Scarefest comes around. When Sub Species debuted in 2015, it ushered in a new era of “intense” style scare attraction, where guests could expect to be jostled about, forcibly grabbed and even separated in a maze. This was offset with the classic scares of Terror of the Towers and The Haunting of Molly Crowe – the hooded maze with that incredible set piece finale. The following year saw another new maze in the shape of Skinsnatchers (or as it was known Altonville Mine Tours: Uncover the Legend of the Skinsnatchers), but 2017 was starting to look like we would have to settle for the same old line-up. Until suddenly details of a new fourth maze broke.
Themed around the new rollercoaster being built for 2018, very little was known about The Welcoming: Be Chosen. Fortunately for us construction on the new maze was visible from the cable car, and as the walls went up and more theming elements were added, it was clear that this maze would tie in closely with the rumoured theme of a pagan society and human sacrifice.
As it was built in an open courtyard area, we decided to leave the maze until it was completely dark and after a short wait, our group of 20 entered the preshow area. Now 20 people would be a massive group for any normal scare attraction, but the first part of The Welcoming gives people chance to explore a small village and engage with the worshippers. The open nature of this scene soon gave way to more claustrophobic environs, as we were ushered through a pathway to delve deeper. Despite the large group entering the maze, this opening worked as a sort of batching facility as we ended up exploring the rest of the show in a smallish group of six. Which meant the actors could really focus their scares.
All through the maze we could see beautifully themed sets alongside some energetic actors, and as the story got darker and more foreboding, the tension levels soared as we were instructed to put on a hood and then follow the rope. The whole hooded section gave us some good jumps but we were surprised when the hoods were removed and we still had a large portion of the maze left to do. Of course- things were much darker in tone in the second half of the maze and there were some very impressive scenes including a nightmarish mud monster type thing crawling out of the earth. Sadly, the finale didn’t live up to the hype of the rest of the maze, which is a real shame as we really enjoyed the whole experience. It really wasn’t as terrifying and relentless as Sub Species for example, but it was really good fun and highly entertaining.
The other three mazes returned pretty much the same as 2016. Probably the biggest changes could be found on Skinsnatchers as the story tried to make more emphasis on the tour element. In a cheeky stab at the commercialisation Merlin are often accused of, the show ends in what appears to be a gift shop with brik- a-brak and old objects from the mine hanging up with price tags on. On all our visits, the person behind the counter was waving a gun which seemed slightly redundant as it was never actually fired. But that small niggle aside – the maze felt stronger than 2016 and a bit more chaotic through the main scenes.
Talking of chaos – Sub Species remains as crazy as ever and several times we thought we’d slipped out of the maze and were lost wandering round black back passages in the Towers. The hands-on element to this maze remains as chaotic as ever, and this year we really felt that the actors were playing with us more than usual.
The final maze is the classic Terror of the Towers What Lies Within. As we mentioned last year – the impact of this maze is slightly lost when the path doesn’t “go down” towards the big finale. The feeling that the vampires were in the basement was one of the great elements to this maze originally, but that still doesn’t detract from how crazy the finale is. With what seemed to be more powerful strobes and powerful wind machines – the ending was just as terrifying.
The family attraction House of Monsters has seen several changes across the rooms (probably most noticeable in the greenhouse) and some script changes throughout. It really is an amazing attraction and ideally should appeal to both kids and adults. The finale seemed more chaotic than last year with some very lively actors providing some great scares to get us running out the door (well that is if we could open the door- the final room was a fun distraction that had us guessing which door to escape from!)
The final scare element to Scarefest is the Freak Show scare zone. We passed through here a couple of times and the coloured sets, loud music and over the top characters are more freaky than scary but it’s a nice touch for those too scared to go through an actual scare attraction.
So, all in – a very good year for Scarefest. The addition of the 4th maze has now meant that a significant part of the evening at the resort can be spent doing scare mazes, and each of them are unique in their own right. Add to that – all the rides in the dark, and the rest that the park has to offer, and Scarefest becomes a great destination to celebrate the season in.
Themed around the new rollercoaster being built for 2018, very little was known about The Welcoming: Be Chosen. Fortunately for us construction on the new maze was visible from the cable car, and as the walls went up and more theming elements were added, it was clear that this maze would tie in closely with the rumoured theme of a pagan society and human sacrifice.
As it was built in an open courtyard area, we decided to leave the maze until it was completely dark and after a short wait, our group of 20 entered the preshow area. Now 20 people would be a massive group for any normal scare attraction, but the first part of The Welcoming gives people chance to explore a small village and engage with the worshippers. The open nature of this scene soon gave way to more claustrophobic environs, as we were ushered through a pathway to delve deeper. Despite the large group entering the maze, this opening worked as a sort of batching facility as we ended up exploring the rest of the show in a smallish group of six. Which meant the actors could really focus their scares.
All through the maze we could see beautifully themed sets alongside some energetic actors, and as the story got darker and more foreboding, the tension levels soared as we were instructed to put on a hood and then follow the rope. The whole hooded section gave us some good jumps but we were surprised when the hoods were removed and we still had a large portion of the maze left to do. Of course- things were much darker in tone in the second half of the maze and there were some very impressive scenes including a nightmarish mud monster type thing crawling out of the earth. Sadly, the finale didn’t live up to the hype of the rest of the maze, which is a real shame as we really enjoyed the whole experience. It really wasn’t as terrifying and relentless as Sub Species for example, but it was really good fun and highly entertaining.
The other three mazes returned pretty much the same as 2016. Probably the biggest changes could be found on Skinsnatchers as the story tried to make more emphasis on the tour element. In a cheeky stab at the commercialisation Merlin are often accused of, the show ends in what appears to be a gift shop with brik- a-brak and old objects from the mine hanging up with price tags on. On all our visits, the person behind the counter was waving a gun which seemed slightly redundant as it was never actually fired. But that small niggle aside – the maze felt stronger than 2016 and a bit more chaotic through the main scenes.
Talking of chaos – Sub Species remains as crazy as ever and several times we thought we’d slipped out of the maze and were lost wandering round black back passages in the Towers. The hands-on element to this maze remains as chaotic as ever, and this year we really felt that the actors were playing with us more than usual.
The final maze is the classic Terror of the Towers What Lies Within. As we mentioned last year – the impact of this maze is slightly lost when the path doesn’t “go down” towards the big finale. The feeling that the vampires were in the basement was one of the great elements to this maze originally, but that still doesn’t detract from how crazy the finale is. With what seemed to be more powerful strobes and powerful wind machines – the ending was just as terrifying.
The family attraction House of Monsters has seen several changes across the rooms (probably most noticeable in the greenhouse) and some script changes throughout. It really is an amazing attraction and ideally should appeal to both kids and adults. The finale seemed more chaotic than last year with some very lively actors providing some great scares to get us running out the door (well that is if we could open the door- the final room was a fun distraction that had us guessing which door to escape from!)
The final scare element to Scarefest is the Freak Show scare zone. We passed through here a couple of times and the coloured sets, loud music and over the top characters are more freaky than scary but it’s a nice touch for those too scared to go through an actual scare attraction.
So, all in – a very good year for Scarefest. The addition of the 4th maze has now meant that a significant part of the evening at the resort can be spent doing scare mazes, and each of them are unique in their own right. Add to that – all the rides in the dark, and the rest that the park has to offer, and Scarefest becomes a great destination to celebrate the season in.
Sub Species -
The maze is extremely good value for money and this year it even seen some brand new areas such as pitch black rooms, dark tunnels, crawl spaces and many other features which helped build an amazing atmosphere throughout the attraction.
The main feature of the maze is that the actors will split you from your group which makes the maze even more terrifying.
The actors where superb and done an extremely good job of splitting us all up. I really would recommend that you do this maze just purely because of how scary it gets
The maze is extremely good value for money and this year it even seen some brand new areas such as pitch black rooms, dark tunnels, crawl spaces and many other features which helped build an amazing atmosphere throughout the attraction.
The main feature of the maze is that the actors will split you from your group which makes the maze even more terrifying.
The actors where superb and done an extremely good job of splitting us all up. I really would recommend that you do this maze just purely because of how scary it gets
Alton Towers Scarefest 2016
Following the incidents of 2015, most people were expecting Alton Towers to cancel their annual Halloween event, but to their credit, the resort came back with a Scarefest offering that blew previous years away. Sub Species brought a whole new level of intensity to the resort and the new format of scare zones were more free flowing, allowing guests to walk through freely in any direction.
2016 has seen the park expand on this increased intensity with another “full contact” maze in the shape of Altonville Mine Tours as well as a brand new family friendly event The House of Monsters and a new scare zone – Freakshow.
AltonVille Mine Tours: Uncover The Legend of the Skinsnatchers tells the story of a long abandoned mine populated with underground folks with a penchant for human skin. The entrance pathway drops down into a new entrance, and with the Towers ruins looming above guests, it really gives the impression of going into a mine shaft deep underneath the historic Towers ruins.
Inside - the level of theming and attention to detail is some of the most intricate that Alton have done, not that you really get much chance to see it. Once through the main doors, the attraction is so fast paced and chaotic that you spend more time worrying where the next scare is coming from as opposed to looking at the detail around. This is because Altonville Mine Tours is another full contact attraction with the actors getting up very close and personal, and guests should be prepared to be grabbed, separated and pushed around at any point!
The other key element to this maze is the use of the fantastic Haunted Lantern technology. Each group entering the maze will be allocated several helmets which are fitted out with a helmet light. Once switched on these provide a guiding light for the group although as you would expect from Haunted Lantern – the lights are rather “unpredictable” and have a habit of turning off or starting to flash at inopportune moments! This combined with the enthusiastic actors and the great theming all add up to an incredibly exhilarating scare maze . We just wish the ending was as chaotic as the rest of the maze, as we generally strolled out casually instead of running for our lives!
Sub Species: the End games returns and is as crazy and unstructured as previously. The attraction itself IS a genuine maze, and as before there is no guarantee you will exit the attraction with the people you went in with as the actors will do their best to separate and isolate guests throughout the whole run. This year, has seen the ending changed slightly with the removal of the route containing the large alien puppet as well as the addition of a few more startle effects in the maze. Outside – with the removal of the alternative ending – the area in front of the ruins has been opened up to allow more people to stand and witness people leaving the maze.
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within is back again and follows the shortened route from 2015. We still miss the descent down into the basement from the original route but the attraction remains theatrically scary with a number of lively actors throughout.
House of Monsters is a new family friendly event that is aimed at that “hard to please” age range that are too old for the kids’ stuff, but too small to enter the scare mazes. As such – the maze is perfectly pitched with a great mix of theatrical scenes, puzzle activities some cracking humour and to end it all a crazy chase out of the house that left most kids screaming (but laughing). It’s almost like the finale could be called “My First Strobe Maze”. But don’t think this is just a kids maze – we genuinely enjoyed the whole attraction and even if you don’t have kids we would recommend you go in just to see the incredible attention paid to the theming and the humour in the script!
This year’s scare zones, have been improved with some extra set pieces and props that really add to the atmosphere. We walked through both a number of times and although not inherently scary – they are hugely entertaining and really add to the whole Scarefest vibe (especially for people who don’t want to pay for the mazes)
After 2015, we thought we had seen the best Scarefest that Alton could do but the replacement of Molly Crowe with the more extreme Skinsnatchers is definitely a step in the right direction. After 2 years of change it will be interesting to see what 2017 brings….
One final thing – each of the main scare mazes runs an Extreme version at the end of the night, where they ramp up the scares and the physical contact. We were able to experience all three and we had an absolute blast in each one as the actors completely invaded our personal space and were ruder and more aggressive than the standard run. Alton is still a family theme park after all – and the extreme versions are pitched at just the right level. Extreme enough to be scarily memorable but without crossing any moral or ethical boundaries. We loved them! Note – Extreme mazes go on sale each morning for that night’s event. They are strictly limited to one group per maze.
2016 has seen the park expand on this increased intensity with another “full contact” maze in the shape of Altonville Mine Tours as well as a brand new family friendly event The House of Monsters and a new scare zone – Freakshow.
AltonVille Mine Tours: Uncover The Legend of the Skinsnatchers tells the story of a long abandoned mine populated with underground folks with a penchant for human skin. The entrance pathway drops down into a new entrance, and with the Towers ruins looming above guests, it really gives the impression of going into a mine shaft deep underneath the historic Towers ruins.
Inside - the level of theming and attention to detail is some of the most intricate that Alton have done, not that you really get much chance to see it. Once through the main doors, the attraction is so fast paced and chaotic that you spend more time worrying where the next scare is coming from as opposed to looking at the detail around. This is because Altonville Mine Tours is another full contact attraction with the actors getting up very close and personal, and guests should be prepared to be grabbed, separated and pushed around at any point!
The other key element to this maze is the use of the fantastic Haunted Lantern technology. Each group entering the maze will be allocated several helmets which are fitted out with a helmet light. Once switched on these provide a guiding light for the group although as you would expect from Haunted Lantern – the lights are rather “unpredictable” and have a habit of turning off or starting to flash at inopportune moments! This combined with the enthusiastic actors and the great theming all add up to an incredibly exhilarating scare maze . We just wish the ending was as chaotic as the rest of the maze, as we generally strolled out casually instead of running for our lives!
Sub Species: the End games returns and is as crazy and unstructured as previously. The attraction itself IS a genuine maze, and as before there is no guarantee you will exit the attraction with the people you went in with as the actors will do their best to separate and isolate guests throughout the whole run. This year, has seen the ending changed slightly with the removal of the route containing the large alien puppet as well as the addition of a few more startle effects in the maze. Outside – with the removal of the alternative ending – the area in front of the ruins has been opened up to allow more people to stand and witness people leaving the maze.
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within is back again and follows the shortened route from 2015. We still miss the descent down into the basement from the original route but the attraction remains theatrically scary with a number of lively actors throughout.
House of Monsters is a new family friendly event that is aimed at that “hard to please” age range that are too old for the kids’ stuff, but too small to enter the scare mazes. As such – the maze is perfectly pitched with a great mix of theatrical scenes, puzzle activities some cracking humour and to end it all a crazy chase out of the house that left most kids screaming (but laughing). It’s almost like the finale could be called “My First Strobe Maze”. But don’t think this is just a kids maze – we genuinely enjoyed the whole attraction and even if you don’t have kids we would recommend you go in just to see the incredible attention paid to the theming and the humour in the script!
This year’s scare zones, have been improved with some extra set pieces and props that really add to the atmosphere. We walked through both a number of times and although not inherently scary – they are hugely entertaining and really add to the whole Scarefest vibe (especially for people who don’t want to pay for the mazes)
After 2015, we thought we had seen the best Scarefest that Alton could do but the replacement of Molly Crowe with the more extreme Skinsnatchers is definitely a step in the right direction. After 2 years of change it will be interesting to see what 2017 brings….
One final thing – each of the main scare mazes runs an Extreme version at the end of the night, where they ramp up the scares and the physical contact. We were able to experience all three and we had an absolute blast in each one as the actors completely invaded our personal space and were ruder and more aggressive than the standard run. Alton is still a family theme park after all – and the extreme versions are pitched at just the right level. Extreme enough to be scarily memorable but without crossing any moral or ethical boundaries. We loved them! Note – Extreme mazes go on sale each morning for that night’s event. They are strictly limited to one group per maze.
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While several of the other people in the party were screaming I was wandering around casually greeting the 'monsters' even when one grabbed my ankle or touched the back of my neck. I found the whole thing tedious. Once one 'zombie' ghoul or axe murderer has jumped out and waved their hands in your face you have seen them all. What was missing was the sense of anticipation , knowing that something was going to happen just not when , I came to a corner whether I could see it or not and thought 'oh dear there is another ......! around the corner. The problem I think is the reliance of the 'schlock' horror genre and blood and gore (okay so there was limited occurrence of this) what was needed was more of the classic dark foreboding much more in keeping with the location, such as the cold draft down your neck the unseen above you, is that shadow moving? My problem is my suspension of disbelief was itself suspended.
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