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Scarefest 2015

Towers have seemingly mounted a GoPro onto an actor in on the right-hand Sub-Species finale, and uploaded it to YouTube.

 
A quick summary from me; much the same as the other opinions expressed so far really.
  • Towers Street looks and sounds great. The Alton Ancestors milling about are good too.
  • Scare zones are now what you would expect from the title. Acting was already pretty good on Saturday. Dark Apocalypse is quite spread out and maybe could have done with a couple more actors. Nox Infernus uses the poor layout of Dark Forest well to offer a few scares through the pinch point that is the scaffolding tunnel.
  • I'd have liked more changes in TotT. I'd done the old one to death, and it still offers much the same experience as the new layout is basically the same stuff in virtually the same order, just in different rooms. The increased number of actors compared to previous years is very welcome. The pacing's a bit off now though; it used to be that you started with the actorless box room, did the crouch section with air cannon, got your first actors and steadily proceeded downstairs to the big finale. If I recall correctly more of it is on the same level now, you go straight into actors, there's only an up and down section about half way through (from which you can see the next actor waiting) and the finale has been scaled down.
  • Molly Crowe was...disappointing, to put it politely. I like the theme and think it could make a good more conventional maze if done carefully. I'm pleased that the use of the hoods is given some justification. Unfortunately I found that the story wasn't conveyed very well by just audio, especially when you're concentrating more on following the rope without losing the person in front. I also couldn't get into the mindset of believing what was supposed to be happening instead of what was really happening, which is that I was walking around largely empty rooms with a sack on my head and actors talking in my ear or touching my arms. The finale doesn't make a lot of sense either.
"You're safe now, buuuuut you're the bait so no safety for you. Sorry. Molly, come here!"

*Molly, the surprisingly mature looking spirit of a little girl, rushes in and gets very obviously hoisted to the ceiling, then quickly comes back down*

"Oh no, run! Wait, she's not even chasing us out..."
  • Sub Species is utterly amazing, and makes up for both of the other mazes not hitting the spot. It's very atmospheric and truly scary even if you're quite used to mazes, particularly as the route splits make it quite likely that you'll spend at least some time on your own in there. It's also well themed throughout and offers a lot of variety, more so if you do it more than once and take a different route. My concerns about the actors being allowed to touch you potentially leading to poor scare tactics were quickly thrown out; they were superb. They make good use of their ability to touch you and are sometimes quite physical with you, but they're just as likely to rush out, get in your face etc. This maze alone is enough for me to recommend that you get to the park over Scarefest, and I'm now thinking about when I might be able to go back to do it again and experience the other ending.
Regarding audio:

Really a joy to have written that - and all the other new audio currently playing in the park.

No offence Nick. I can understand that you're proud of your work on the whole event (rightly so I hasten to add), and that sound is a big part of the experience in something like a scare maze, but you don't have to tell us that you did all the audio more than once. :)

I've got rid of the breathing sound as it was too much like Darth. I think the edited track went in today or will go in tomorrow. People seem to love the music or sub species though...

I'm pleased to hear about the breathing going, as it was very prominent in that area. The music itself is good though and sets the tone for the maze very well. My mind wasn't really on the audio much once inside, but I did really like the audio used to build tension before the first split...

...and Molly. I'm proud of the poem I wrote, too.

Molly didn't do it for me at all, but that's much more to do with the concept rather than your input on the audio. The poem is fine, though the voice and frequency of its delivery was becoming a bit grating by the time we got into the maze (who's supposed to be saying it by the way? Molly herself?). If operations have indeed improved since Saturday this should be less of an issue.

Didn't do anything for terror of the towers. No time!

I'm sure you'd have done a good job given more time, but I will always associate the Dead Silence theme with Her Ladyship's Garden and that maze. I hope it stays as long as TotT does.

I'm most proud of my towers street track. :)

This is top notch, and is fantastic after years of Haunted House music and that awful Spellbound song on repeat.

Scare zone audio works well, I hope.

Didn't spend much time in these. Dark Apocalypse's audio suited it well from what I heard of it.
 
On the subject of audio, was it just me that when hearing the ITHOTMK mix used on Towers Street was reminded of the version used in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog theme?
 
Thanks! I had the idea for the poem as if it were a young girl reciting the legend of it in the wood. I will listen to it on site on Wednesday and see if I need to make any changes to the mix.

Thanks for all the feedback! Glad you didn't notice the audio once inside SubSpecies - as that means it just blends into the environment and does what it's meant to do.
 
On the subject of audio, was it just me that when hearing the ITHOTMK mix used on Towers Street was reminded of the version used in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog theme?

Haha. That wasn't what sprung to mind - but it may be the saxes I use in the towers street track that reminded you of the Sonic TV show version. I never use the saxes to play the hall of the mountain king - just the counter melody I came up with.
 
@nickhutson Did you compose the music yourself for the attractions or mix it using audio from films etc? Just asking because I seem to be the go-to-guy when it comes to Halloween audio at my work lol
 
A little more theming wouldn't go amiss in the Scare Zones either.

Also - in Forbidden Valley - can't they get the blue lights from the Land Rover flashing?

This is a good point, the blue lights should certainly be flashing. There are two vehicles in the FV scare zone yet they are both surrounded by fencing with generic Alton Towers Scarefest branding on them - why? Just looks a bit silly, why would a security vehicle be fenced off?

:)
 
Towers have seemingly mounted a GoPro onto an actor in on the right-hand Sub-Species finale, and uploaded it to YouTube.



That's the left hand one ;) (entering on the left in the maze)
 
Which open areas are particularly spooky or scary when it gets darker? I will have a 5 year old in tow so don't want to leave her traumatised haha.
 
Which open areas are particularly spooky or scary when it gets darker? I will have a 5 year old in tow so don't want to leave her traumatised haha.
As mentioned above there is a lengthy safe route in Forbidden Valley that goes past F&B, The Blade and ends at Ripsaw. In the Dark Forest scare zone there is no safe route as such, unless enter through the back way (past where Zombies exited last year).
 
Thanks guys. Just wanted make sure we could navigate the park when it gets darker without her getting freaked out. We'll look to avoid Dark Forest then later in the day.
 
Very disappointing to hear that music from the mazes won't be uploaded to the web. No reason not to, every other park has and it's great to listen to in able to get you in the mood e.g. TOT Music, surely the best scare maze theme there has ever been?
 
Very disappointing to hear that music from the mazes won't be uploaded to the web. No reason not to, every other park has and it's great to listen to in able to get you in the mood e.g. TOT Music, surely the best scare maze theme there has ever been?

Depends who owns the rights and whether or not Towers have exclusivity over it. ToTT is all music either from films, commercial CD's, or Royalty Free agencies. So it's available from other sources than Towers themselves.
 
Thought I'd offer my opinions of scarefest given that it was my first visit.

Molly Crowe:
First scare maze ever for me and I thought it was good. It had the best queue line atmosphere of all the mazes in my opinion. Just hearing "Molly's behind you..." made me nearly cry with fear. The maze itself was good. I don't think it could have had a huge budget, but I'm guessing most of it was spent on sub species. The briefing was rushed a little, and I saw no reason for this as it was walk on with very few people joining the queue. I thought the storyline was good.
I wasn't expecting the reason for wearing the hood to be to protect your eyes.
I thought the actors were excellent. I was lightly poked in the eyes when i entered the maze. The finale was very good, though I would have liked it a little longer.

Would I do it again - yes
Would I pay - no
Would I do it extreme/alone - yes

End games:
Definately the best maze of all of them. Good queue line audio, but was drowned out by the Darth Vader breathing noise (though I'm aware that that has been removed now) but I have no idea what that had to do with the maze. The briefing video was amazing. It was clear and perfectly set the maze up.
had a problem now that my friend was really scared after Molly Crowe and didn't want to go further. We were last into the second room. I was expecting to go in a line like the other mazes, but it surprised me that we would be split up. I didn't mind this though, but I know some people wouldn't like it.

I would have perfected the room with the doors if more than two opened. They only took 1 person the other way, and I think it would be better if more were taken. The actors were very good. Sometimes quite forcefully pushing you against the wall.

The crawl tunnel worked quite well IMO. I had an actor blocking my way who told me to go the other way. Thought it could have been slightly better, maybe having actors hitting the outside of the tunnel for some jump scares. Was totally alone in this section as well.

I had the human ending, where I was chased out by a man with a chainsaw. Possibly the scariest thing I've ever experienced. I think the body on the stretcher at the end could have been used better, maybe putting it in the middle of the room and it not moving all the time, only when someone is near.
Did like the "wanted for murder: Elsie hamble" posters at the exit. Not sure if it was intentional, but a nice nod to the boiler house.
Did anyone get the "alien" ending? If so, what happened?

Would I do it again - yes, at least twice
Would I pay - definitely
Would I do operation lockdown - maybe if I had someone to go with

terror of the towers:
Good maze. Loaded with actors who were very good, but I think if they were allowed to touch it would have been better (it was used very well in the other two mazes). Got asked my name by the actors, they didn't leave me alone until I told them and kept blowing the back of my head. I think the photo op was pointless on the maze. Didn't see anyone even look at their photo. I think that using a video to brief you is good, wasn't used for Molly, but probably wouldn't have worked (with the maze being set 200 years ago). Would have worked better, but you could hear the safety warnings from the previous room which ruined the effect. Not as good as end games, but better than Molly Crowe.

Would I do it again - yes
Would I pay - maybe not. A little cheaper then yes
Would I do it extreme/alone - yes

dark apocalypse:
The better of the two scarezones IMO. Actors were very good, couldn't work out why a zombie would need a chainsaw though :p. Quite intimidating when they had you against a wall. Did like the phalanx announcements played through the area, but possibly too much smoke.

nox infernus:
Actors were good, though perhaps the wraiths could have done more. The people in green were very good. Made rita's tunnel less depressing and used the space well. The green lights and smoke were very effective theming, 13 looked amazing.

overall:
Very good event. Excellent actors and a great atmosphere around the park. Very good audio, especially on towers Street and Molly Crowe. Will be visiting next year. Would have really liked to be able to download the music, but hopefully towers catch on to this way to make money soon. It's what merlin is good at.
 
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