Skip to main content

Xtreme Scream Park 2014

2014

On Friday 17th October, We visited Xtreme Scream Park in Melton Mowbray, Leicester. The event is in its 3rd Year originally opening as Xtreme Fright Night back in 2011. The event has been developing throughout the years and it was decided that this year we would see what all the fuss is about.


Xtreme Scream Park is located on the site of Twinlakes Park and is a somewhat unusual location for a horror event. For those unaware of Twinlakes it is a Family “All-Weather” Attraction meaning there are play areas outside for when the sun is beaming down and indoor attractions and play areas for when the UK shows its usual forecast of downpours.


As we entered the event we were given a piece of cardboard with 5 discs which could all be pushed away from the cardboard and would act as our maze tickets, at every attraction we gave our disc ticket for entry to the attraction as this event offers a one entry per maze policy. (Unless you purchase the limited unlimited passes) When we passed through the tickets gates a member of staff offered us a map and stated that the attractions with the least queues were “Stilton Hall Hotel and Hell Spa” or “The Pie Factory and Pig Man’s Paddock” so without any deliberation we decided to go to Stilton Hotel first as before we attended the event most, if not all of the group were salivating over the 50 roomed, 2 story, purpose built scare attraction.


A small note to those from Xtreme Scream Park (If they indeed read this) even though we were given a map, we did struggle to find our way to the first maze (which was on the opposite end of the park) due to this being our first visit to the park but eventually found our way so it may be worth adding signs for the mazes next year just to improve navigability.


Stilton Hall Hotel and Hell Spa


As we waited outside for the attraction we could already tell this was going to be one enjoyable experience, sounds of ghosts and moaning were heard from outside of the Hotel and the car with luggage in the back to the side of the queue was a nice additional touch to add to the atmosphere.


As we entered in to the Hotel we were greeted at the bar and sent into the Steam room, Where we were told Stilton Halls objectives, this is where the description of the maze is going to end as we would prefer you to experience it for yourself but all I can say is wow, get yourself to this event as this maze alone was worth the £10.99 we paid early bird price (however I would still say it’s just about worth full price alone!)


The theming inside the building is beautiful and really throws down the towel when it comes to raising the bar for design in scare attractions (at least the ones I have experienced) and everyone we went with came out of the maze stating how fun and immersive it was. From Living rooms to Salons every scene we went through had fantastic theming and a lot of interesting elements.


As we exited the attraction part of us felt that we had ruined the night by doing the newest and biggest scare maze they had first. “How could the rest of them live up to that!” and with that thought seeded into our head we went up to experience Melton Mowbray’s finest foods in The Pie Factory.


10/10


The Pie Factory and Pig Man’s Paddock


The next maze we visited was The Pie Factory and Pig Man’s Paddock. Now this maze has been at the event from the beginning however it used to be just called “The Pie Factory” and have added the rest of the title for this year. As this is the first time we have visited the event we cannot comment on the difference however the maze was a good maze with some outdoor sections and a journey through various scenes including freezer storage for the meat and the pig paddocks for the, well I can imagine its self-explanatory!


Afterwards we went for a bite to eat at the outdoor BBQ; the food was of a decent quality and decent price which tied us over for the rest of the evening. We then debated what to do next and after looking at the queues we decided to walk into Farmhouse of Fear to see what it had to offer.


8/10


Farmhouse of Fear


There are no two ways about it; this maze is the weakest there. However, Xtreme Scream Park constantly references this maze as “one for Xtreme scream park novices” meaning that there are fewer jumps and fewer scares than the other mazes. The maze is split into two parts. The first has the guests traversing a pathway surrounded by black walls. This section confused us a little as nothing seems to really happen. We can only assume that this section was meant to be suspenseful and after visiting the event we read a couple of reviews which mentioned being followed by an actor through this section but we didn’t seem to notice it.


The second section is a bit more impressive with much more theming and actors, the maze steps up a notch and has a few scares around it however as we came out we all felt a bit… confused? Maybe we just had a bad run through but to be honest we were not expecting much for a “maze for beginners”


4/10


Curtains Chaos


Now personally I was looking forward to this one! As a lover of Carnival of Screams at Alton Towers I have a soft spot for clown mazes. I love the seriousness satire of clown mazes, everything about them makes me really enjoy the atmosphere. This maze was my turn to head up to the front and lead the way and… what a mistake!


The maze consists of lots of small square rooms which have yellow and red curtains on every side. There was a linear route but there was no way to tell which way was the right one meaning that you constantly had to push on the curtains to see which ones revealed a path. I really liked this maze. The theme was consistent but in terms of theming items I can only think of two! However in a maze about finding your way it was not really needed.


The actors have a great way of holding you up to stagger your run through and several parts of the maze had you wait for a scare, meaning you wouldn’t just pass through the maze missing the scares.


7/10


As we exited the maze the feeling dawned on us… we only had one maze left!


Dungeon


We would love to tell you what the theming is like in this maze but this maze is dark, really dark! The maze involved you traversing through tight spaces and dark spots as various actors jump out at you! The scenes don’t alternate too much as the walls are all black and the area is very dark so not much to tell you on this one unfortunately!


8/10


Conclusion


In conclusion, Xtreme Scream Park is a fantastic Halloween attraction and I am looking forward to see how this progresses. As it’s only in its 3rd year we at theme park guide can’t wait to see how this event has changed 5 – 10 years down the line. We will be keeping a close eye on it, mainly because it is now on our Halloween to do list and we will be visiting next year!