Residents of Hex

Much like The Haunted House, Hex is also inhabited by intriguing characters that lead visitors through the ride who happen to tie in with the story.

The Main Players

The worlds most powerful hoover

Charles Talbot

The 15th Earl of Shrewsbury and victim of the curse brought onto him by the hag. After a branch fell from the oak tree and a member of his family died, he ordered it to be chained up to prevent any more deaths.

But you should know that the story didn’t end there.

He intended to banish the curse through science and dragged the branch from the woods to the Towers for experimentation, although all he ever managed to get done was a montage video of himself looking cool mixing dyed water and eyeballing tesla coils. He got bored of trying to banish the curse and instead invented television, founded Vekoma and made the world’s most powerful hoover... all by accident.

UV Earl

The UV Earl, whom has recently reappeared, stands in the window to the right of the scaffolding in the Octagon. Dressed in the same garb as the portrait with a noble grin, he truly stands out as a prat to the audience for not giving the old Hag a farthing.

The Hag

Her two Octagon forms.

Since the Towers complex was expanded and constructed, the Hag has been haunting the area for the past 200 years and is rumoured to be a lost house cleaner from Yorkshire travelling to Leek. This is thought to partially explain why she pressed the Earl so much for a farthing and why her cloak was decievingly dirty and big to the human eye.

As well as the generic human form, the Hag appears in two other not-so-generic forms within the Octagon of Hex, just for giggles.

If you encounter her you should consult The Hag Survival Guide by Michael Tyler.

UV Hag

The UV (Ultra Violet) Hag has only recently reappeared in the window to the left of the scaffolding alongside the UV Earl after being switched off at the mains for a fair few years. This Hag is known to frighten the bejeezus out of visitors because she's so unpredictable in appearance.

Fake Hag

The Fake Hag, also known as the Dummy Hag and Scaffy Hag, hangs around on top of the seemingly permanent scaffolding on the left hand side of the Octagon room with sinister low green and neutral lights. The Fake Hag has been around much longer than the UV Hag and so assumes a higher authority for being low budget whilst being simultaenously spooky.

Root Demon

The Root Demon hides underneath the floorboards of the Vault upon some rather lovely tiles from the local floorware shop, regularly thought to be an evolution from the Oak branch after the Earl did nasty experiments over 200 years ago. Nobody is really sure why the Root Demon is there or what it's purpose is... aside from the obvious fact it has flashing red eyes with an ability to rave.

Supporting Players

The Talbot Hounds

The Talbot Hounds are featured everywhere on the ride and around the Towers, both in family crest and statue form, but the two most prominent sit outside the ride entrance with their own little crests on show. It is thought the Earl in Gozer-style could awaken them from slumber stone to do such menial duties like, 'fetch the newspaper', 'fetch the slippers' or 'fetch the pipe'.

The Workers

• Les Davies - A very shifty man obsessed with the history surrounding this strange tale.

• Damian Varley - Responsible for finding the Earl's secret Vekoma Mad House vault as well as the delay on finding it

• Restoration Workers - Can be frequently heard making banging noises with all sorts of equipment through the roof and around the first half of the attraction (Queue, Portrait, Pre-Show). Some wonder if they just happen to accommodate the ride too.

Jim Carter

Jim Carter

The narrator/instructor/host of Hex. Rumour has it he was chained up in a control room and was forced to provide his voice live. This rumour was denounced however, as an access all areas tour revealed that Jim Carter is not present within the ride. For years it was a mystery as to where his voice comes from. Some people said it was the soul of the towers itself speaking out to guests, some said Carter had the power of psychic projection and some said its pre-recorded. At the conclusion of The Story of Alton Towers DVD it is revealed that Carter is in fact the re-incarnated form of Charles Talbot.

After sleepless nights thinking about the phenomenon, Alton Towers management called in Most Haunted and by using a P.K.E. meter were able to source the voice to the portrait of Charles Talbot. It was concluded that Carter is the chosen form of the spirit of Talbot however the spirit was inclined to return to its original point of manifestation; the towers. After frequent bouts of schizophrenia Carter arrived at the towers to perform a complex ritual in which he was able to transfer the spirit into a significant and personnel artefact of its past life, the only known portrait of Charles Talbot that resides in the towers. The spirit is now confined to the portrait and has taken on the voice of its last occupant, Carter. It seems that the cosmic DNA of each soul was mixed, making Talbot feel inclined to narrate Hex and giving Carter a fear of branches...that’s where the voice comes from.

External Links

British Oaks: A Concise Guide by Michael Tyler
The Hags cameo in Hot Fuzz
The Hags Performance in Drag Me to Hell
Ash Williams fights the Super Hag in Evil Dead 2
The Super Hags cameo in Poltergeist
The Super Hags cameo in Lord of the Rings