It’s another year and it’s another Scarefest! We’ve been coming to this event for 10 years, and we’ve seen the ups & downs. However, let’s have a chat about the event for 2026. We’ve of course not paid to redo Altonville Mine Tours due to doing it far too many times now and we highly doubt anything would have changed. We also don’t do separation mazes hence why Compound also isn’t included in the reviews.
Scare Mazes:
There is a 4-thrill maze this includes Compound, Altonville Mine Tours, Edge of the Forest & The Final Exhibit. However, during our visit we only did 2 of them, but we’ve done Altonville Mine Tours before, and I’ll pop the link HERE to last year’s blog that included that review. We paid for the solo mazes through the passholder discount, we paid £11.80 for Edge of the Forest & £12.20 for The Final Exhibit. Scarefest also has the offering of two family attractions for those 6 & above to experience which are Amigos in the Afterlife & Trick or Treat Town both are upcharges still but you can get several various combi tickets depending on what you wish to do.
The Final Exhibit- 4.5/5
The whole vision of this maze is something I find fascinating. This maze was very comparable to Trailers at Thorpe Park but also VERY different too. There were a couple of scenes in here which almost identical to Trailers but just in their own interpretations of their park’s unique history. The pre-show segment is very similar in terms of how the story is relayed and entering the maze. But it’s just with their own spin.
This maze was truly terrific it just never failed to deliver. I did two run-throughs, and both were equal in terms of quality & scares. The beauty of two run-throughs meant I could look around and truly appreciate the nerdy bits of this maze. The massive flume duck, park maps on the wall, the bookworm and mascots it has it all. The scares came thick and fast both times and the actors worked as a group so well. Very creative tactics were used to create scares and uneasiness. Easily the best scare maze that Alton Towers has done in a few years probably the best since The Attic. The entire maze has this uneasy atmosphere that just keeps building through lighting and audio. It’s truly unforgettable.
My only niggle was the very clear-cut edge of the set walls I believe this is probably deliberately done or at least in the area where the Curator statue is above you. But I found it so distracting in all honesty. However, it feels like one of those timeless mazes again that could effortlessly transform each year with the park ever changing. Whereas Trailers has specific rooms for each bit of history from Fright Nights this maze is trying to portray this as more like you are literally walking through the storage of archives which is the purpose and it’s done absolutely wonderfully. It also smells incredibly ancient throughout too.
Edge of the Forest – 4/5 & 2.5/5
Again, I did two runthroughs in this maze. First, we were the 3rd group of the day and at the front. It was amazing. The scares were intense, the sensation of going round and round in circles is something I enjoyed last year and enjoyed again this year. I can respect why some may not want that but I quite like that discombobulating sensation. The actors were in top form during this run it really did make them shine. The new finale-like section was truly horrifying and so beautifully created to provide the maximum scares. There’s just nothing more sinister than lights going out and back on with an actor who wasn’t there previously absolutely terrifying the group.
The second run-through was only a 10/15 minute discrepancy. We were at the back this time. It truly was a dreadful experience. Sadly, nobody truly attempted to give us a scare and by the time it got to us they just reset before the new group despite the groups being generously spaced apart too which meant we skipped any stabs at a scare. Even during this run-through, we ended up walking through the new finale section and the finale was a stroll out with absolutely no rush to leave or scare to add to that ending memory of the maze. The contrast between the two runs is genuinely worlds apart. Perhaps a lot of it depends on your position within your group but even so, you almost anticipate the same level of energy given to the front to the back too. I really found it frustrating how different both of those experiences were because when this maze is on form like that first time it truly is incredible but sadly that ending for this maze just left us feeling flat and disappointed.
Scare Zones:
Dark Hollow – 3.5/5
We didn’t get the opportunity last season to experience this. Honestly, what a treat! A free zone that is as beautifully delivered as this really is a joy. It’s also lovely just to have scare zones as a whole back on the line-up. The costumes throughout here were vile who knew a bear could look that horrifying close up. There’s so much that makes this zone so brilliant that’s the mixture of special effects, audio, distractions, characters and costumes. It just works so well. The only thing I wish they could do is limit the group size a little or have a set time between batches of people. My first run-through again wasn’t all that great due to the large volume of people. Whereas the second was absolutely perfect!
Family Entertainment:
Alton Ancestors:
Every season I always can’t wait to see what these guys do as their flash mob and always look forward to beginning our day on Tower Street embracing their flash mob. It’s the only way to start your day after all. Again, these can’t ever leave the line-up as they really are just Scarefest. This year sadly it felt as if there was a reduction in the casting for these guys which is sad. But we loved their flash mob and really love how they interact with the little ones. Liara as always loved them and enjoyed interacting with them. It did feel like it got towards a certain part of the day and they did vanish and weren’t roaming. Whereas, before we’d see them numerous times whether that’s in Fountain Square, Gloomy Wood or Tower Street.
Family Shows:
Something that did let Scarefest down this season was the lack of shows until 3pm. As a family visiting waiting until that time for the family entertainment just doesn’t make sense to me. The spread-out shows from 11 that used to be offered were the ideal schedule. Whereas now there’s so little of the event children can truly enjoy from park opening which is incredibly sad. But also the meet & greets that used to happen with the freaky friends have also left the line-up. But one singular show on Twice for the younger children is not pretty poor and the lack of publicity for the CBeebies Land Monster Ball almost meant we missed that too.
However, the show in the courtyard was brilliant. Liara absolutely adores that show to the point we caught the two on offer. It really was such a lovely vibe and the cast did a tremendous job as always. They truly are an incredible entertainment team and deserve a lot of credit. But next season they deserve more shows to shine than this.
Overall:
What a Scarefest! It’s easily the best we’ve experienced since 2022. We had an absolute blast and having our children with us and seeing Liara more so enjoying what there was on offer for her age bracket was truly magical. As for the scare mazes honestly, they smashed it out of the park with The Final Exhibit. What an absolutely stunning expansion to the line-up. Edge of the Forest certainly saw improvements this year but I do doubt we’d pay again next season to do it again. The team at Alton Towers did a splendid job this season and the park had so many decorations spread across the park which has always been something that’s needed to happen. All we hope for next season is more family shows beginning from the park opening as it really doesn’t feel right that the timing begins given it’s aimed at young families too. We’d love to see meet & greets return for the freaky friends too.
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Thank you for reading…
