I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that this year’s Scarefest could have been one of the worst we’ve ever had. All the signs pointed towards it, a lack of enthusiasm from the park all year, entertainment cuts and such, but I’m pleased to say that this year’s event is excellent!
It does have it’s issues though, chief of which is the placement of the stage, which has moved from the lawns to the courtyard in Mutiny Bay. The stage does look so much better and is much more immersive than in previous years, but the courtyard doesn’t have the capacity to fit enough people in.
I do actually quite like this in a way though. It means everyone who is in the courtyard can see but it does mean a lot of people miss out and I think the best go between is to make the shows ticketed. Free of course, but ticketed so everyone gets a seat and can enjoy what was some very good live entertainment!
The Scare Mazes
This year, we had 3 to pick from, Compound, Altonville Mine Tours and the new for this year Edge of the Forest.
We bought passes to them all costing £30.40 and we started in Altonville Mine Tours: Tony’s Revenge. This is now in its 10th year of operation and it is really starting to show it. It doesn’t have the punch of the newer mazes and though I still found it enjoyable, it wasn’t quite as good as when we did it a few years ago. The ending has been neutered considerably from what it once was.
Compound is in its second year of operation and this was new to us as we didn’t do it last year. Themed around Nemesis and the Phalanx, Compound sees you being taken into the Phalanx’s facility as they suspect you of being a Seek the Truth terrorist.
I felt that this one was good honest fun! It has different branching paths to take through the maze and offering reasons to run through it more than once. Great value for the seasonal maze pass that Alton Towers offers, and it is probably the best way to see all this maze has to offer. I enjoyed this one the most of the full fat scare attractions on offer at Alton Towers this year.
Finally, the new one for 2025 is Edge of the Forest, a maze themed around Th13teen’s story and sees you coming face to face with Leshwalls, touted as one of the reasons to not go into the forest!
The concept here is repetition. You’ll start off in a farmhouse style building, being talked to by an old lady who explains about the forest and shows you a door labeled Leshwall, do not enter.
You’ll then leave and head into the trees, weaving around passed an old vehicle that plays Thunder Rock Radio as you pass and move into the same house, only it’s not as fresh, not as tidy as before.
This cycle repeats, each time the house and car get more and more run down and covered in plant life until you enter the house for the final time and the Leshwall door is the only way through.
Here is where the maze intensifies a little as the Leshwall make its appearance. You’ll be confronted by the old lady from earlier, now looking even more haggard, who talks to you before the lights go out and the Leshwall appears, chasing you from the maze.
I enjoyed Edge of the Forest as it was a nicely designed maze, with a great idea behind it, but Compound was just more intense and expanded the Phalanx’s lore more than what Edge of the Forest did for Th13teen I feel.
The Family Attractions
There are 2 family focused attractions that carry over from last year, Amigos in the afterlife and Trick o’ Treat Town featuring Haribo and Maoam. Trick o’ Treat town is exactly as it sounds, a walkthrough attraction where you trick or treat through a cast of fun characters and props. It felt quite well done and you do get a decent amount of Haribo and Maoam sweets as well, more than I was expecting anyway!
The other attraction is Amigos in the Afterlife, which is a mexican, day of the dead festival and takes a lot of inspiration from Disney’s Coco, which isn’t a bad thing at all. I adore Coco and Mexican culture so Amigos really appealed to me. It was fun and engaging, family friendly and yet not dumbed down as well.
The actors were doing a great job of their roles and even stayed in character when we had an evacuation due to a fire alarm. It was peculiar to see backstage but it meant we got to do the first 3/4s a second time and the actors even incorporated our second visit into their roles, a top notch experience for us!
The Scare Zones
There are 2 scare zones this year, Haunted Hollow and Burial Grounds. Scare zones are like scare mazes but lack some of the heavier theming elements and jumps, but they are included in your park entry ticket price.
Burial Grounds has been around for a couple of years now and I haven’t heard much about it. It is themed around the Beornen and ties into Wicker Mans story. It was alright but I wouldn’t rush to run through it again. It does have live fire effects inside it but the actors weren’t as enthusiastic as they were in the other attractions.
Haunted Hollow was much better by comparison! This ties into Th13teen and Edge of the Forest and though it doesn’t feel like other traditional scare mazes, as there were no high walls to stop you seeing what was coming, it was very well done!
There some weird and creepy set pieces in this one and it felt much more fleshed out and fun compared to Burial Grounds. Both of these are best done when it has gone dark too as it really adds to them!
The entertainment, merchandise and the rest
Earlier in the year, it was announced that entertainment was being cut from the park and I’ll be completely honest, I wasn’t that bothered. I don’t usually watch the shows as I feel they’re a distraction from the rides, but a lack of Oktoberfest this year really highlighted how entertainment is needed so I worried that Scarefest would be very bare bones without it.
I can happily report that there is indeed shows going on through the day and though there isn’t as many different options as years gone by, there are plenty of showings and character meet and greets around the park to make up for it. I think this is great and a step up from previous years visits and definitely better than last year!
The park looks great too, plenty of bits added here and there to pull the theme through but it could still be vastly improved. Take Forbidden Valley for example, there is absolutely no evidence of Scarefest there at all, which is a shame, but this is an easy remedy for next year!
Merchandise is just as good as you expect from Merlin these days. Plenty of new things to take home, including a full set of the Freaky Friends resins that actually looked very good!
There’s the usual T-Shirts and such, but new for this year are a load of patches and some very cool pins too. We didn’t take home all that much but I feel like I got enough of what I wanted.
Food offerings were a bit basic, there weren’t much in the way of Scarefest themed food when we attended at the start of the event, but it seems like they’ve tried to offer newer and more exciting things looking at other posts on social media.
Overall, I was impressed with Scarefest 2025. I think there is a lot of room for improvement such as the theming through the park and the stage location. The mazes were a good time, entertainment was fun and engaging and merchandise was excellent, and that’s not to mention the rides, of which we had very little disruption from breakdowns during our visit!
loopsandlapbars.com 