A brand new for us scare event and one that certainly did not disappoint. As I write this I continue to feel fairly traumatised following this overall event. A massive thank you to Ed Hopkins PR for providing us with VIP tickets.
Disclaimer – Our reviews are not influenced at all by the gifted tickets & there may be spoilers ahead.
Noxious Alley – 3/5
Of course, a clown-inspired scare maze has to be the first port of call of any scare event. Clown mazes don’t specifically do a great ordeal for us in terms of scares by any means. However, this maze is definitely the best of them by a long mile that we’ve probably ever done. It was very colourful and luminous & quite intense in sections with countless actors in one space. They weren’t exactly providing the typical scares or using the space how I’ve seen before. Overall it’s a lot of fun & great way to begin the evening. I also really admire how the name isn’t exactly directly linked to clowns either.
The Full Moon Manor – 4/5
Entering this I almost anticipated similar to what we’ve seen in other hotel-based mazes like Belvoir Manner at Xtreme Scream but it was very much a delightful surprise. The pre-show area already gave off Tower of Terror vibes and I’m completely here for that. Then heading into lifts that smelt horrendous but moved almost like an actual lift (is it actual lifts? Surely not) was weird. That simple unusual entry into the maze set the tone really nicely. There were consistent scares throughout and actors plaguing you if you were at the back (I was) the scenes were beautifully themed. Heading up the stairs just felt wrong as it didn’t feel like we were meant to do that. I had the greatest jump scare of my life here nothing has quite compared. Walking around the bed where I spotted the actor scaring a woman a few people in front of me to then within a blink of an eye charge at me and I promise you I have never encountered a jump quite like it before. The maze just kept providing. The finale was brilliant too with the steam room very disorienting and the actors knew how to work the group beautifully.
The Shed – 5/5
Truthfully, heading into this maze the name alone kind of made me second guess how it could be remotely scary. I was tricked. The soft light environment & how the rooms are decorated are quite truly horrific. But the way the maze is set up for the actors is also horrendous. There’s no escaping the jumps at the back of the group it’s severe. They just continuously scare you but that goes for the whole group. Upon exiting this maze is the strangest chainsaw experience I’ve ever had but again it was absolutely ominous! You can hear the chainsaw & see the actor on the floor but it almost felt as if our legs were getting chopped off I’m not sure about the effect used here but it’s really quite the ending to an already unnerving maze!
Howl Valley High – 3.5/5
I quite honestly didn’t predict much from this. On the top of my head, I can’t think back to another maze we’ve done remotely similar to this style before. But typically zombies don’t really do much for us either. However, this maze began quite gradually there wasn’t a great ordeal of jumps. Once we surpassed the separation point the entire group got separated we ended up alone. That’s when it really started. The scenes were so much fun and the actors again navigated the scares a little too perfectly for my liking. It went from a solid 1 on scares to 5 pretty sharpish. Again the finale was a pressure cooker for nerves the never-ending strobe lighting and actors using the full space and all their best tactics to scare you was fantastic. It’s a brilliant maze but of course, in comparison to some of the others, it doesn’t quite get to that level but still remarkable. For me, the whole building up with the prom queen, disco and all the lighter-hearted sections in that lead set the mood into this false understanding that it’s not that scary to then get battered with scares was insane. It’s one of those mazes that I really cared for.
Squealers Yard – 5/5
I will be having nightmares from my run-through of this for weeks if not years. Of course, I was at the back and got brutally terrorised throughout. The length of this maze just felt like it was never going to end there was what felt like a finale into another room or outdoor section then another possible finale nope that’s not the end either. One more room I probably would have tapped out. The scenes throughout were graphic but also quite persuading. The actors played their characters so that well you genuinely assumed them with all they were saying. But also the techniques the actors used to keep guests safe were excellent there were dangling pieces of fake meat which were quite heavy but the actors were repeatedly trying to stop them from hurting guests whilst using them to stimulate their characters very unforgettable and loved the entire idea. Within this maze, I had a few brutal jumps especially when I had a knife to the throat. It was very intense and ferocious. Easily one of the if not the scariest maze I’ve ever experienced.
Overall;
This is genuinely my favourite event so far in the 2024 season. I wish we visited way before now as this is the prime example of how scream parks should be. The way they batch their groups with the number of people to the gap between each group is hands down the best I’ve ever seen. You don’t catch either the group at the front or back up. There’s no overcrowding in the maze to the point scares are restricted. The actors worked their magic so effortlessly during our experience each room had at least 3 actors in most mazes & it’s a very incredible atmosphere too. Even outside the mazes, there’s so much to enjoy there are roaming actors pretty much everywhere. There’s a lovely tavern/pub style with a live band there are a couple of DJs spotted around too. It really is one of my favourite scream parks. It just feels that THIS is how to do a scream park.
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Have you ever experienced The Howl? If so, what are your thoughts?
Once again a massive thank you to Ed Hopkins PR for having us and we will definitely be back next year!