The Boiler House
For the second Scarefest, guests were invited to discover the dark and sinister history of an ancient furnace located in the field adjacent to the Alton Towers Hotel. The caretaker would invite groups to join him as he investigated reports of strange noises coming from the plumbing and the mysterious disappearance of an employee.
In this new story The Boiler House became the playground for the gruesome games of Elise and Victor Hamble. In the queue an abandoned news truck played a news report on a loop, which introduced The Boiler House as a grisly lair for the pair of violent and psychopathic serial killers. The now-missing reporter goes on to reveal that it's unclear exactly how many victims have been mercilessly slaughtered during the Hambles' reign of terror.
From this opening scene the guests were effectively chased into the attraction, where they would cross paths with a variety of characters each of whom would swiftly meet their fate at the hands of the twins. The addition of the serial killers, who both appeared clad in grotesque prosthetic masks, introduced a significant threat to the attractions and made the claustrophobic corridors of The Boiler House more terrifying as guests essentially tried to escape falling victim to The Hambles.
Attraction History
The Boiler House was added to the line-up of Scarefest in 2008 as a replacement for Room 13. The maze used the same modular structure from the former attraction but now transplanted into a marquee in the grounds of the abandoned Nicklins Farm near the Alton Towers Hotel.
When the attraction returned for its second season it had a new logo and the storyline had changed significantly with the addition of the new antagonists of The Hamble Twins. The innovative use of masks for the serial killers allowed the characters to appear throughout the attraction, seemingly coming at guests from all directions, though in fact played by different actors in different locations.
The maze remained in its original location until 2010 when it moved into the neighbouring car park, where it shared a larger marquee with the new Carnival of Screams. This setup only lasted one season however and in 2011 both mazes were moved into the park, taking up residence in the tent that had formerly contained the Blackhole.
By its final outing the shock value of The Boiler House was waning and the change of layout forced by its new location also detracted from the overall experience. The Hambles therefore stalked the corridors of their lair for the final time at the end of 2011's Scarefest.
During the following season the Blackhole tent was removed to make way for The Smiler and so when The Boiler House was replaced in 2012 by The Sanctuary, the new maze was instead located in the Towers.
But the story didn't end there... because in its final season the marketing for the maze included plastering Wanted posters for the Hamble Twins around the park. To this day, several of the portable fences used by the park for events and construction still feature the faces of the twins, who are clearly still on the loose.
Indeed The Hambles themselves also occasionally make appearances at scare conventions, particularly when events are happening at Alton Towers. These infrequent sightings leave open the possibility that perhaps one day everyone's favourite serial killers could return to the park in a new scare attraction.