We journey to Melton Mowbray to explore the UK’s most detailed scare mazes and bring you this Xtreme Scream Park 2021 review.
Running throughout October Xtreme Scream Park 2021 has 6 scare mazes, 1 scare zone, 2 rides and numerous food and drink stalls along with live entertainment.
Xtreme Scream Park is arguably one of (if not the) best Scream Park in the country as Twinlakes Family Theme Park always embraces its dark side for Halloween and transforms into something truly extraordinary.
This year sees the inclusion of the brand new scare maze ‘Ashes to Earth’ and a brand new scare zone walkthrough named The Unfair Funfair.
Throughout this review, I’ll try to mention theming and attention to detail as little as possible. The sheer amount of artistry that goes into the mazes is truly out of this world.
Walking through these Hollywood style sets is always a joy but this event wasn’t without its flaws.
One major flaw being the insane pricing for food as a very small chicken wrap cost me £7.50 but extortionate pricing aside for food the mazes had their own issues.
Batching has been an issue at Xtreme Scream Park for many years now and they never seem to take this feedback on board. In fact any email I’ve ever sent them has gone unanswered which says it all.
Groups were sent through 30 seconds apart and within a few seconds you’ve caught up with the group in front of you and you miss the scares, you get people messing around or even stopping halfway around to take photos or to wait for the groups in front of them to go further ahead so you can experience it in your own group.
This isn’t how the maze experience should be, we were literally standing in empty rooms in many of the mazes just waiting for the group ahead to make some ground.
It really dampened the strongest maze for us at the event but we did have some good run-throughs early on before the crowds arrived and we didn’t meet anyone in front of us during these run-throughs which was superb.
Staff members were also being complained to about the batching issue all night but the park just doesn’t seem to do anything to combat it and if they did the queues for the mazes would be even longer.
It really is a tricky situation to resolve but it can be done.
Sadly batching was a big issue at Xtreme Scream Park 2020 but that niggle aside we still got some good scares in some mazes and that’s the main thing so let’s jump into our maze review shall we?
Belvoir Manners
To this day I’m still not sure what the storyline of Belvoir Manners actually is but with a nice short queue (the first maze we did upon arrival before the crowds arrived) we were straight in.
This maze goes on forever and the entire upstairs of the maze has been closed off these last two scare seasons, I can only imagine how long the full experience goes on for.
We were in this immersive maze for a solid 20 minutes and the rooms are so randomly themed.
Belvoir Manners used to be a themed hotel maze named Stilton Hall Hotel and some scenes still remain but actors, however, seemed a little few and far between in this particular maze but when we encountered them they were solid.
Belvoir Manners lures you into a few empty rooms and uses animatronics and your own imagination to put you on edge. Not knowing what is around each corner of the maze certainly makes you feel on edge.
Overall I thought Belvoir Manners was more impressive than last years instalment, it felt more immersive, longer and certainly felt improved on last years version.
One niggle of the maze itself was that there was no big finale. It just abruptly ended which was a real shame.
Upon exiting the maze we went into the Xtreme Scream merchandise shop where we took a look at the latest offering on display at the event and there was a great range on offer and the products on offer were rather affordable too.
Well worth checking out if merchandise is your thing!
The Village
One of the most detailed scare mazes in the country The Village was my highlight of the 2020 scare season but sadly batching somewhat ruined our experience at Xtreme Scream Park 2021.
We were rushed in about 15 seconds after the group in front of us went in and after catching up with them we were stuck at the back taking in the scenery with appreciation but with zero scares from start to finish as we saw absolutely everything happen to the group ahead.
A shortage of actors seems to be a common theme at scare events this year and Xtreme Scream was hit and miss dependent on mazes. One maze, in particular, was packed full of them and then we had The Village, Belvoir Manners, Ash Hell Penitentiary and Ashes to Earth rather empty.
Some people hate the animatronics within the mazes but I rather like them despite them being a little cheesy.
The second we hit the church all the groups had met up and around 25 people were crammed into the church with 1 actor in the entire area.
It was such a shame as such a beautiful finale was tainted with this conga line queue that had formed as we weaved in and out of the pews.
A maze that was absolutely ruined with poor batching and a severe lack of actors despite it being an absolute joy of scenic maze appreciation.
The creative team behind Xtreme Scream Park are some of the most talented in the country. I just wish the operations team were as skilled in their own job execution.
The Pie Factory
The strongest maze of the evening and surprise, surprise it was because of a wonderful staff member who let us wait a little bit longer than they should have before letting us into the maze.
This spaced out the groups, increased the scares and one of the oldest mazes at Xtreme Scream Park was the best by a country mile.
I was jumping a mile with every scare that hit home and for me to jump at ANY scare maze is a near-impossible task up and down the country but once I jumped once I just couldn’t stop. I was an absolute mess from start to finish and loved every second!
With new scenes added and even an extension, I thought there were just enough actors in The Pie Factory to get a solid run-through.
Actors were on point with one, in particular, cutting his own arm with a knife (a great illusion) and some very intense Texas Chainsaw Massacre vibes running throughout.
What was missing this year was the giant pig animatronic which was a 2020 highlight but this particular piece has been moved to the Ashes to Earth maze which doesn’t make any sense.
In its place were animatronic zombies which were very out of place inside a butcher style maze.
The Unfair Funfair
Brand new at Xtreme Scream Park 2021 is The Unfair Funfair, a walkthrough clown-themed attraction that was small in size but big on atmosphere.
Guests were allowed to stay in this maze of big top curtains and with a little outdoor space at the back the clowns were roaming free and interacting with you.
You could stay in there for ages as the clowns almost bond with you before toying with you and even going as far as to play some games of hide and seek.
For such a small addition it left a big impact, the freedom to stay in there as long as you like with actors on point making you genuinely want to stay in there with them was certainly an evening highlight and you could film in there too!
Ashes to Earth
Sadly, Ashes to Earth is not only the newest maze at Xtreme Scream Park but the weakest by a country mile.
I was so excited before entering the maze and whilst the backstory is a little hazy you can get the gist.
99% of the maze consists of guests walking through the corn with zero actors in the corn before you walk into a variety of indoor scenes.
The lighting was great but with nothing happening in the corn things got very boring, very quickly.
Indoor sections were wonderfully themed and a caravan effect certainly made for a maze highlight but it just seems a little lazy.
We met around 3 actors the entire maze, it felt a bit bland and it felt very much in its infancy.
Over time I could see it being vastly improved and for the sake of saving face in terms of maze quality and detail they really need to start working on that maze as soon as possible as it’s so far behind the rest it’s hopping on one leg three miles behind.
Ash Hell Penitentiary
Some mazes throughout the evening had actors touching your hair, shoulders and more. Ash Hell used to be a maze where they were more hands-on with you but once again this year it didn’t seem to be the case.
Instead, we were walking around and taking in the sights and sounds but the acting was rather poor. Certainly, scripted lines that felt very same old, same old but it was good fun nonetheless.
Some jump scares did occur but the animatronics seemed a bit wasted just like some of the maze corridors seemed underutilised.
There’s a great scene involving a prison corridor with the cell doors open with zero actors in this part of the maze.
Jump scares would be too dangerous with the prison doors open and someone could jump and bump into a set-piece but a bit of strobe at the end of the corridor with an escaped inmate at the end would be a nice addition to that incredible scene.
HooDoo VooDoo
Our last maze attraction started with a blackout hood as we walk through the opening of the maze completely blind with only a rope being used to guide us through.
I personally felt we were hooded for far too long as numerous actors rubbed, stroked and grabbed me at every opportunity.
Sadly, the actor interaction was left way too long and by then I was already bored of walking and using the rope as navigation.
When the hood was lifted I was more relieved than terrified and was able to enjoy the immersion that followed.
I also got my biggest jump scare of the evening as a VooDoo practitioner came out of the smoke and was centimetres in front of my face. The closest I came to turning my pants brown the entire evening!
After the hoods come off HooDoo VooDoo is one hell of a strong maze, I just don’t quite understand the hooded section at the start it just feels as though if we weren’t wearing them there would be bare walls and empty space where more beautiful VooDoo theming could be added to extend the maze and add more Halloween fun.
Xtreme Scream Park 2021 Overall
Extortionate food prices and horrific batching issues aside I still absolutely love this event.
The Toxic Dolls put on one hell of a fire show in addition to pole dancing and a burlesque act at various intervals of the evening, there’s a well-stocked bar and beautiful mazes to indulge in.
Whilst Ashes to Earth was the biggest disappointment of the evening I’m sure the team will improve this maze if it is set to return in 2022.
Pie Factor and Belvoir Manners were stand out run-through performers of the evening for us but everyone’s run-through will be different.
We went on a Friday, there could be more actors in the mazes over a weekend period or anything. It really is a minefield.
One day you could have a wonderful run through, go back around and have a terrible one.
The only advice I can suggest is to get yourselves down there and see for yourself!
Check out our Xtreme Scream Park 2021 vlog below:
