Alton Towers, located in Staffordshire, England, is one of the UK’s premiere theme parks. They also have a pretty good Halloween event called Scarefest, which runs from October 15 through 31.
The 2011 event includes three mazes and one scare zone, which are somewhat generically themed. But they do have one really unique offering at Alton Towers: the “Scare Rooms” in the Alton Towers hotel.
After the theme park closes and you return to your room at the hotel for the evening, don’t get too comfortable. The scares are only just beginning. The Scare Rooms are rigged with special effects, including faucets that turn themselves on and off, phones that ring in the night with strange voices, and actors who actually enter your room to scare you!
We don’t know of any haunt in America that takes things this far, but we would love to experience this someday. We suspect that liability issues might prevent this kind of attraction from ever coming to the U.S. Haunts usually have guards, or “blackouts,” in the mazes who are there to protect the scareactors from being harmed by guests, so having a single scareactor entering a hotel room (with perhaps only a single entry and exit) might be a bit unsafe. But with a little planning and precautions (video cameras? a guard just outside the door?), it’s not entirely impossible.
Here are the Scarefest offerings in the Alton Towers theme park:
Mazes
Carnival of Screams
A travelling funhouse invites guests to venture inside. But who is the terrifying stranger who lurks in the shadows? What happens to those guests who enter, but never come out the other side? Dare you brave the twisted terror and disorientating illusions hidden within the Carnival of Screams? Remember…nothing is as it seems!
The Boiler House
A Boiler House, found deep underground, is rumoured to be the grisly lair to a pair of violent and psychopathic serial killers. Dare you explore the darkened corridors of the Boiler House and risk falling victim to the gruesome games of the “Hamble Twins”?
Terror of the Towers
Uncover a dark and horrifying secret, hidden for centuries as strange noises has been heard emanating from the imposing, menacing Towers in the dead of the night. Lurking deep within the ruins, weave your way through the darkened corridors to investigate the evil force of the Towers. Dare you brave the rubble and hazards of the ruins and uncover the horrific chilling terror that lies within?\
Scare Zone
Zombies!
An abandoned road holds a terrifying secret. There are rumours that the un-dead are walking the earth. Brave your way through this post-apocalyptic nightmare and pray you make it to the other side.
