That’s the end of the spooky season of 2024. Where did that even go? October truly is the best month of the year and the memories and fun it provides are just non-comparable. So, as we say goodbye to the Halloween season I thought I’d share my top 5 scare mazes. We didn’t do a tremendous amount of events this year but definitely found some favourites along the way.
5 | The Purgatory
A vision I really want to see thrive & evolve next year. The whole concept of your group heading through with just a lantern is eerie alone. I think they could literally send you in this batching with that light that’s enough in itself. But throw in the beautifully arranged scares into the mix and there’s indeed a winner here. It’s got a lot of potential and I’m super keen to see the future of this maze.
4 | The Full Moon Manor
Heading into this maze I almost had a preconceived idea of what to expect. I couldn’t quite imagine how it could vary from the similar styling I’ve seen done before. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I had the biggest jump scare I’ve ever had in this maze. The design of the set had me guessing whether we should be heading in the directions set out. I loved the beginning of this maze the lift concept was just amazing and so unusual! The overall vibe of Hollywood Tower of Terror is a pure treat without being too direct as well.
3 | Doom Town
During the first year, I found this maze more of a nostalgic walk-through rather than remotely scary. However, two years on and the scares were fab. They were directly perfect and the usage of the space alone enhanced them effortlessly. This maze will forever be one of my favourites the whole setup is just in itself out of this world. You genuinely feel as if you entered the 90s again except for is truly zombie apocalyptic and that’s such an incredible idea for any kind of scare maze. No maze will quite compare to the whole package this one gives.
2 | The Shed
The name in itself lured me into this false sense of safety as the shed doesn’t scream frightening, does it? Yet I can promise you I almost died with pure horror in this maze. The actors didn’t care they were wild and feral. Every corner there was someone waiting and with being at the back they didn’t leave you alone for a second. It was truly extraordinary. The mazes at The Howl all follow the same pattern of incredibly themed and decent durations too. The ending was terrifying not sure how it worked but it felt like my legs were genuinely getting chopped off with the chainsaw. Unsure if there’s a special effect there or not but whatever it is don’t lose it!
1 | Squealers Yard
The maze of the year for me and one that quite truthfully left me unsure if I could manage any more. Squealers Yard is as grim as it sounds. There are dangling pigs, the smells are rough, the actors are VILE and quite frankly you really do feel like a piece of meat heading for dicing. It never ends neither you keep going and going. The scattered-out chainsaws were vile. At the back of the group is something else as this maze kindly taught me and I’ve not been able to stop thinking of my run-through here. Genuinely the best maze that 2024 has given us. I can’t wait but also dread going back next year.
Honour Mentions:
Of course, I feel it’ll be unfair to ignore two mazes that are also stuck in my head but are not quite in my top 5 ranking. I’m looking at Trailers at Thorpe Park & Noxious Alley at The Howl.
Trailers, where do I begin? A maze that simply can never get old as it can keep ever-growing. I absolutely adored the change up this season and especially saw Creek Freak Massacre getting the placement it deserves. Strangely a highlight for me from this maze was in fact Platform 15 characters. In the maze of their own I never really found they did much yet in Trailers they were spooky. Unfortunately, our run-through was definitely dampened by the pushing & shoving of the people behind me. Therefore, it did take away a lot, unfortunately. But either way, I was able to appreciate the changes even though I was very preoccupied.
Over to you Noxious Alley. A clown maze you find one wherever you go for Halloween but this one just hit differently. Alike without being an identical concept to others, we’ve done but it felt a lot more fierce than any other. The sheer quantity of actors in one space was a joke and quite openly inescapable for the scares. It was beautifully themed and thought out very well to become a standout clown attraction. It was a lot of fun!
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That’s it and a big farewell to Halloween 2024. I intend on getting to some more events next season so let me know your standouts from this year that we should check out next season!
Thanks for reading and I hope your spooky season was crammed with horror and laughs!
