It's not only 15 years since Scarefest began, but 20 years since the first-ever Terror of the Towers! I really hope they pay homage to that / past mazes by perhaps having a 'generic' scare maze with a variety of ghouls. The original TOTT was such good fun; a relatively simple concept compared to more recent mazes, but very effective at mixing scares (and there were a few good ones!) with laughs. Mr Slice, Esmerelda, and the zombie puppets were three strong characters.
The actress who played Esmerelda is still the best I've seen at Alton; a natural flair for improvisation with wickedly snappy retorts to anyone who dare answer her back! She would later be headhunted by a competing scare event.
For those who didn't do the 2002 TOTT, the first room was where you exit the Mines. She would "welcome" the group into the Towers, tell you about the monsters waiting for you, and dish out instructions to the group (hands on shoulders, don't touch the monsters, etc.), before summoning her trusty assistant, Mr Slice. Once, my Dad said, "God, you're likely my mother" and she snapped, "I never had any children as ugly as you".
I don't think they'd ever bring back a carbon copy of a past maze, but they could play on a past maze by using a similar concept, theme, and name, and enhance the experience. Why not re-imagine the original Terror of the Towers 2002? The original ghouls have returned to reclaim the Towers! The 20th anniversary since the first-ever maze is probably their only opportunity / excuse to play on past mazes.
I strongly agree with most people on here that the maze line-up is in desperate need of a refresh.
It is subjective and we all have our favourites. I do like The Attic, albeit a little short, and Altonville Mine Tours will go down as one of Alton's best-ever mazes for me - its theme, attention to detail, the queue line soundtrack - which is a piece of understated genius - all play a part in making a genuinely scary, authentic, and atmospheric maze.
However, the last couple of years have featured a below average line-up. Covid definitely hindered them (RIP Sub Species), and I imagine budget restrictions did too, so there's only so much they can do and we need to have realistic expectations, but it does need a freshen up. And I don't think that's just an enthusiast's perspective either, I think it probably felt weak for your average guest - I usually take 3-4 different groups to Scarefest but only went with one group in 2020 and 2021 - I'm waiting for a stronger, scarier line-up.
I'd like to see Toxic Junkyard dropped, Darkest Depths moved back to a 'family' category, and two new scare mazes. AVMT is probably stale in a lot of people's eyes, but I'd rather TJ go, and keep AVMT for its seventh year - it's the strongest of the lot still IMO. Toxic Junkard just feels like it's making up the numbers to complete the quadrilogy and justify £30. It's a poor concept and I doubt many leave the maze thinking it on par to the others.
Something that pushes the boundaries would be good (like Sub Species did) - a genuinely frightening maze to the level where some folk have to exit and where word spreads at work, on social, etc. I think there's a market for that. Hopefully the 'splitting up' concept can return because going solo definitely adds another level to the experience.
, at least we know one of last years has definitely been axed. The surprise would be in the “favourites” are actually past mazes which were highly rated - eg, The Sanctuary; etc.