HALLOWEEN HORROR VISITS - ALTON TOWERS' SCAREFEST 2015

S C A R E F E S T 2 0 1 5 ( A L T O N T O W E R S )

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HALLOWEEN HORROR VISITS 2015

FEATURES | Kyle Pedley

Continuing our 'Halloween Horror Visits' series, Kyle heads to Alton Towers' annual Scarefest experience to take on possessed young girls, sewer-dwelling zombies and discover just how well suited a trip to the Towers is in the dark of night...

To say Alton Towers and their parent company Merlin Entertainments have been through something of a trying year would, quite obviously, be a gross understatement. It is the all-encompassing elephant in the shrinking room to not at least address the park’s terrible Smiler incident earlier this year, so dominant has it become in the public image and perception of the park. With that being said, Merlin and Towers’ staff have done a consummately professional and admirable job of handling such difficult times and, as their annual Halloween ‘Scarefest’ celebrations do a wonderful job of demonstrating - the park is still easily one of the best and most exciting theme park attractions in Europe. With a quality and attainment of experience, and a diligent, increased approach to ride safety protocol - I went on every one of the resort’s major roller coasters and there are no punches being pulled in this regard - Alton Towers continues to be the go-to theme park attraction in the UK and should not be avoided by anyone by dint of June’s admittedly awful but nevertheless unprecedented freak anomaly.

Contextualising aside, there is huge praise to be bestowed upon the organisers of this year’s Screamfest for not diluting the experience down in the wake of recent happenings. In truth, the two things are utterly separate occurrences, and thankfully Alton Towers have once again formulated an impressive, suitably spooky Halloween celebration that marries neatly with a lot of the more adult areas of the park (Cbeebies and Cloud Cuckoo Land, as expected, close earlier at 7pm).

"It is in the resort's extended opening hours

at night that one can truly appreciate how

darkly themed considerable sections of the

park are."

Indeed, it is in the resort’s extended opening hours at night that one can truly appreciate how darkly themed considerable sections of the park are - the Dark Forest, home to Rita and Th13teen, is decidedly more foreboding - with the latter particularly more exciting given it is completely devoid of any light when whizzing through the neighbouring woodland. The Forbidden Valley, with the alien Nemesis, industrial, Saw-esque aesthetic of Blade and Ripsaw, and of course Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back! has been additionally littered with zombies, chain-saw wielding lunatics and other live actors ready to induce scares. There’s the ghostly Hex: Legend of the Towers situated inside the castle, and of course the X Sector, home of the imposing plummet of Oblivion, standing in the shadow of the menacingly lit Towers themselves, completing the roster of areas leant extra impact in the dark of night.

Located between many of these central hubs, particularly around the Forbidden Valley woody walks, are numerous appropriately gothic side scares and features, permanent fixtures at the park that again emphasise how well suited the resort is to a horror-themed slant, and further make the extended evening opening hours alone a strong selling point for visiting over the Halloween period and crowds looking for a suitably spooky time.

The major focal point of every Scarefest, however, are undoubtedly its scare mazes, and for 2015 all three of these frightening experiences are situated in and around the Towers themselves, a canny decision that lends them extra authenticity and impact. Walking into a darkened tunnel etched into the side of the buildings as you prepare to begin ‘The Haunting of Molly Crowe’, or crossing a precarious looking bridge, one person at a time, over a Courtyard moat, to begin ‘The Terror of the Terrors’ are just some examples of the existing architecture being used to great effect.

"The three mazes themselves are something

of a mixed bag - ranging from utterly brilliant and

truly terrifying to disappointingly underwhelming

and frustrating."

The three mazes themselves are something of a mixed bag - ranging from utterly brilliant and truly terrifying to disappointingly underwhelming and frustrating. I will preface the reviews of these with a hearty disclaimer that much of what makes them good are the surprises and unexpected elements which may be somewhat spoiled by reading what follows, so ardent scare maze enthusiasts should considering skipping down to my final recap at the end, particularly in regards to ‘Sub Species’.

The returning ‘Terror of the Towers’ sits somewhere in the middle - a lengthy, varied walk through the inside of the towers which is unfortunately a little scuppered by the (admittedly understandable) requirement to be constantly holding the shoulders of the person in front, which does rob the maze of some of its sense of discovery and trepidation, and particularly cumbersome given areas of walking up and down staircases. That said, ‘Terror’ does feature a particularly effective sequence where strobe lighting is used to terrific effect as you become disorientated and unaware of the silhouettes ahead - are they friend or foe? - and a ghoulish figure can literally appear out of nowhere mere inches from your face.

Far less effective is ‘The Haunting of Molly Crowe’ - which initially seems to show the most promise as you are provided a hood to wear at all times that completely blocks your vision as you prepare to exorcise the home of a demonic young girl who may have opened up a gateway to hell. You know, that old Halloween chestnut. The maze that follows then, is an entirely audio-oriented experience, save for an admittedly well executed sequence at the very end. The idea behind ‘Haunting’ is sound, and you can certainly see what the designers were going for, but in execution it is a frustrating, confusing experience, particularly at the front or back, where one spent more time trying to figure out exactly where to walk and avoid bumping into any more posts and partitions. More trying than terrifying.

"One of the key considerations here is that the

live actors are permitted to touch you and, as I

founded out, pulled away from the group at the

offset and forced to endure the entire

experience alone, they most certainly will!."

By far the most thrilling of the three, ‘Sub Species’ is a truly intense foray into an underground sewage system where a ravenous strand of society’s underbelly are on the loose. You are told by a maniacal overseer that you are all in a race to escape, if you can, and then released into the mayhem. As in ‘Haunting of Molly Crowe’, one of the key considerations here is that the live actors are permitted to touch and grab you and, as I found out, pulled away from the group at the offset and forced to endure the entire experience alone, they most certainly will! An exhilarating, multiple-route maze where you are never quite sure if you’re making the right choice, with areas of utter pitch black darkness where you can only amble around feebly following the sound of distant clanging, and a whole plethora of scares and challenges - including some truly claustrophobic crawl spaces - ‘Sub Species’ is by some measure the most exciting and terrifying scare maze I have explored, even including the offerings of Universal Studios’ ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ in America. If you are not so lucky (unlucky?) as to be forced to endure it alone as I was, then it may not be quite so terrifying an experience, but seeing as the majority of the group we were ushered in with were split up and separated, it is still an absolute recommendation for fans of scare mazes, and easily up there with the finest the industry offers.

In all, Alton Towers’ Scarefest steps out from the shadow of the resort's recent tragedy and manages to proudly wave the flag for why it deserves to remain a popular tourist destination. It is an easy recommendation to make for any horror and Halloween enthusiast, even if just for how well significant portions of the park are suited for the period and how much more heightened the park experience is at night. There are a whole host of family friendly inclusions as well - fancy dress competitions, Halloween flash mobs and a series of live shows which means younger visitors wanting to celebrate the season will not feel left out either. 2015’s three scare maze attractions may be something of a mixed bag, but where they are good they are better than practically anything the competition can offer, with the fantastic ‘Sub Species’ worth the extra cost of doing these alone. With entry permitted only to those 15 or older, they are intense, at-times terrifying experiences that fright enthusiasts should not miss out on, and the highlight of another highly recommendable Halloween experience at one of the countries’ best days - and nights! - out.

MUSINGS

+ A Halloween experience for the whole family

+ The park greatly benefits from the extended opening hours and is particularly well suited to the Halloween / horror theme

+ The terrifying 'Sub Species' is one of the best horror maze experiences going

+ The towers make for an imposing and characterful centrepiece for all three mazes

+ Riding the coasters in the dark is a great experience, particularly Th13teen

+ Health and Safety protocols are clearly operating in abundance

+ Queue times are regularly within reasonable times (having not queued for more than 10/15 minutes despite being displayed as otherwise)

+/- A full day, including parking and park entry, can work out to be expensive for families, particularly if those wanting to buy the scare mazes on top.

- 'The Haunting of Molly Crowe' is more frustrating than frightening

(A)MUSINGS (A)TTRACTION (A)DVICE

- MORE FRIGHTS = MORE COST: The three scare mazes - 'The Terror of the Towers', 'Sub Species' and 'The Haunting of Molly Crowe' do not come included with standard entry to the park. They must be purchased in addition, costing £20 for a triple ticket.

- BOOK ONLINE!: Particularly so if opting for the scare mazes, as the savings made are considerable. Also, you will be required to book time slots for the mazes so be sure to book in advance if you are working to a particularly schedule or timetable.

- THE HAUNTING OF MOLLY WHO?: If a triple maze ticket is purchased, these are vetted by means of a single tear on the ticket per maze entry. As such, it is possible to visit the same maze more than once instead of another, and this may be worth considering - 'The Haunting of Molly Crowe' can easily be skipped in favour of re-visting 'Terror of the Towers' or, by our recommendation, the considerably superior 'Sub Species'.

- DRESS WARM, BRING SPARES: Visiting Alton Towers in the Winter months, particularly during the extended evening hours, necessitates bring the correct clothing. Some of the water-based rides, such as Mutiny Bay and the Congo River Rapids, remain open as well, so if you are considering going on these rides ensure towells and replacement clothes are at hand. Lockers are situation around the park for storage of these, but they are not cheap.

- IT'S ALWAYS DARK ON THE INSIDE...: The three scare mazes all take place inside in the dark, and given that the queues for each spike considerably during the evening, it is worth considering doing the mazes during the daytime when entry is a lot quicker. For the purposes of reviewing for this feature, the mazes were visited mid-afternoon, where a queue of no longer than 15 minutes was met for each (and straight in for 'Sub Species'). Whilst some of the nightime ambience of the queue is lost in the daytime, the time saved by going earlier in the day makes it more than worth it.

- FEAR IS A NO-CONTACT SPORT: Whilst the live actors in 'The Haunting of Molly Crowe' and 'Sub Species' can and will touch you, the park goes to pains to emphasise this can not be reciprocated. Any physical or verbal abuse to any of the live action staff will see you ejected from the resort without refund.

- LITTLE TERRORS: For families visiting with children, there are a host of live action shows and elements such as the fancy dress competition mid-afternoon which are detailed in the park's resort map and information booklet. These are decidedly family-friendly and a good way of incorporating younger visitors into the Halloween spirit.

- BY FOOT OR BY CROOK: The park's cable car system, which operates between the park entrance, Forbidden Valley and Dark Forest, does not remain open in the later evening hours (exact times vary). As such, traversing between the more remote areas of the park (particularly Forbidden Valley) requires a fair amount of walking and is worth taking into consideration when planning order of visits and timings.

Run: Alton Towers Theme Park open until Sun 8 Nov 2015. Scarefest attractions running daily until Sun 1 Nov 2015

Tickets: 0871 222 3330 / Official Website: click

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