Riding rollercoasters at top speeds or whizzing around loops upside down doesn’t scare me.
But, I openly admit to being terrified of the dark, scary movies and anything slightly spooky or unknown.
Unfortunately for me, Alton Towers’ Scarefest, which is on until November 2, is like a real-life horror film.
The theme park, located in Stoke-on-Trent, has three scare mazes that each have terrifying storylines.
I brave all of them, and find myself screaming frantically as I try to navigate my way out of the cryptic and horrifying rooms, and one maze even involves a bump on my head!
The newest, Edge of the Forest, takes brave thrill seekers to face Leshwall, a spooky presence who plays mind tricks on anyone who dares to venture into the woodland.
Upon entering the maze, I’m first introduced to an elderly lady who looks like a witch and she warns my group against heading into the forest, before the lights flicker off and back on.
I cautiously walk through an open door and into a woodland area where zombie-looking characters and menacing tree-like creatures keep diving out.
The Daily Mail’s travel reporter, Alesia Fiddler (pictured) facing her fears at this year’s Alton Towers’ Scarefest
Unfortunately for me, Alton Towers ‘ Scarefest, which is on until November 2, is like a real-life horror film
The theme park, located in Stoke-on-Trent, has three scare mazes that each have terrifying storylines
The tortured souls of those who haven’t managed to escape the forest add their own terrifying element, screeching ‘Help’ and reaching towards me.
The maze features several different areas, and I work my way through various rooms, all with horrifying sights and claustrophobic passageways.
At one point, a figure who looks like a tree runs right up to my face, and though the actors never touch me, there are plenty of up-close moments.
In the end, I run out breathless and screaming.
But I’m not deterred – fuelled by adrenalin and pure thrill I try the park’s two other scare mazes.
For me, Altonville Mine Tours proves to be the most terrifying and it begins with a sheriff telling the group about how Skin Snatchers used to fill the mines. All had been caught, except for one called Tiny.
Before I know it, the lights turn on and off and the once chirpy character lies ‘dead’ while a figure, holding a bloodied spade and wearing a mining suit, stands by a door.
Soon, I make my way through the maze and people jump out of walls and grab me.
The newest, Edge of the Forest, takes brave thrill seekers to face Leshwall, a spooky presence who plays mind tricks on anyone who dares to venture into the woodland
Upon entering the maze, I’m first introduced to an elderly lady who looks like a witch and she warns my group against heading into the forest, before the lights flicker off and back on
For me, Altonville Mine Tours proves to be the most terrifying and it begins with a sheriff telling the group about how Skin Snatchers used to fill the mines. All have been caught, except for one called Tiny
The amount of scares is jarring and there are moments where it’s very dark, making it easy to get lost and disorientated.
In one moment of panic, I can’t see very well and am terrified a Skin Snatcher or zombie-like figure is going to catch me.
Completely freaked out, I run forward into the dark and slam my head into a very hard wall.
Clutching my head, already forming into a lump, I manage to scurry out of the mine alive.
I won’t spoil it completely, but once you leave the maze there is one last, horrifying chase until you’re completely out of the Skin Snatchers’ reach.
Compound is a completely different vibe and follows a sci-fi storyline centred around the Nemesis Reborn rollercoaster, and the questionable company Phalanx which is supposed to keep the monster of Nemesis under control.
My group is hurried into a building by a fierce and shouty Phalanx Operative dressed in military-style overalls.
He tries to push us into separate chambers, but I’m not prepared to face the horrors alone and hold onto my fiancé.
In one moment of panic, I can’t see very well and am terrified a Skin Snatcher or zombie-like figure is going to catch me. Completely freaked out, I run forward into the dark and slam my head into a very hard wall
Compound is a completely different vibe and follows a sci-fi storyline centred around the Nemesis Reborn rollercoaster
This doesn’t go down well, and the guard shouts at me, ‘I suggest you unlink for your own safety! Do you think I care?!’
We are soon released into the maze, which is an underground research facility, and begin to swiftly try to make our way through IT rooms and kitchens decorated with blood and knives.
Creepy figures and guards repeatedly jump out, and the amount of physical touch is very unnerving.
At one point, a Phalanx Operative grabs my fiancé by his shoulders from behind and screams ‘Get here’, while trying to pull him away from me.
Fortunately, I manage to cling on and we soon face terrifying men with taser-like stun sticks who lunge towards us, all while lights are flashing on and off so we can’t see properly.
I run out of the maze screaming, again, but feel a thrill from surviving the horrors.
The park has other spooky sights available to experience outside, which feel much less claustrophobic but still manage to be unsettling.
Dark Hollow is a new scare zone and is based on the ride TH13TEEN. Visitors are plunged into an expansion of the Dark Forest and there are plenty of creepy figures to dodge along the way.
Dark Hollow is a new scare zone and is based on the ride TH13TEEN
Visitors are plunged into an expansion of the Dark Forest and there are plenty of creepy figures to dodge along the way
Zombie-like women stumble around, and menacing bears run towards me, but being out in the open feels much less horrifying than inside the mazes.
I’m able to appreciate the detail in the decor a lot more, which consists of teddy bears hanging from trees and creepy dolls.
The other scare zone, Burial Ground, has featured at the park before but doesn’t disappoint. It is linked to Wickerman, a wooden rollercoaster all about an ancient pagan ritual.
After experiencing some of the horrors that Scarefest has to offer, I can confirm the acting, storylines and decorations are impressively spooky – almost a little too much!
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