Terror of the Towers was the Resort’s signature scare maze, having been the first maze introduced when the Halloween event was expanded in 2002. The maze evolved over its lifespan, most notably with the ‘Bloodfest Banquet’ and ‘What Lies Within’ rethemes.
Fact File
- Location: The Towers
- Scare Rating: 5 Pumpkins
- Opening Year: 2002
- Closing Year: 2017
Terror of the Towers (2002)
Guests entered the original maze’s queue line through an ivy-covered archway, positioned outside the entrance to X-Sector. This would lead guests to a doorway into the Towers themselves.
The maze’s route worked its way through the Towers, utilising the Banqueting Hall and Long Gallery, and exiting into Her Ladyship’s Gardens.
Terror of the Towers: Bloodfest Banquet (2003, 2007-2008)
The second incarnation of Terror of Towers saw the introduction of vampires as the maze’s central theme, with guests invited into the Towers for dinner with the Master. However, on their journey through the maze, guests would soon discover that they would be the Master’s dinner!
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within (2009-2017)
Despite the rumours of vampires infesting the Towers, two urban explorers had taken it upon themselves to discover the truth. Having never emerged from the other side, their fate remained a mystery, that was until guests began to follow in their footsteps…
With the route through the Towers was reversed compared to the maze’s previous incarnations, guests now started on the Conservatory side. The maze began with a pre-show, where guests were shown the urban explorers’ last video recording which had been recovered from the Towers. This seemingly showed them being attacked by an unseen entity, with guests invited to venture deeper into the Towers in search of them.
The first sections of the maze saw guests make their way through rooms being used for storage, with items covered in sheets living the route. However, as guests made their way further through the maze, they descended lower and lower into the basement levels. These areas that were seemingly more ‘lived-in’ and actively used by its inhabitants, revealed to be vampires. This included a section filled with body bags, presumably containing both the urban explorers and guests who had previously entered the maze.
Eventually guests would reach the final scene – a maze of chain link fencing, where the combination of thick dense fog effects plus the constant blinding strobe lights meant victims were already in a panicked state before the Masters even pounced!
In 2002, Alton Towers took the decision to expand upon their Halloween ‘Spooktacular’ event with a major new attraction. Lynton V Harris of Sudden Impact! was brought in to install an extensive horror maze walkthrough in the Towers themselves, known as Terror of the Towers. This maze was one of the largest and most complex scare attractions in the country with an extremely long and well themed route through the historic towers.
In 2003 the event remained largely unchanged but Terror of the Towers received considerable enhancements and the ‘Bloodfest Banquet’ theme overlay.
The Halloween event was scheduled to return in 2004 bigger and better than ever with enhancements to Terror of the Towers and plans underway to introduce a second horror maze attraction. Unfortunately budget restraints and company management changes meant the event was cancelled halfway through the year.
Despite attempts to relaunch the Halloween event, many external factors meant this was not possible. At the start of the 2006 season, the Resort advertised that the Halloween Spooktacular was set to return, bringing back Terror of the Towers along with the addition of a new attraction called Midnight In The Garden Of Evil. However, halfway through the year this event was cancelled for reasons unknown. Nonetheless, the Resort hotels took the unusual step of hosting their own Halloween themed event by introducing themed evening shows and a horror maze in the Conference Centre. Room 13 was largely built out of Terror of the Towers props and theming, and, due to the small space which the attraction occupied, it was a very tight and claustrophobic experience which enhanced the scare factor, rivalling that of the original Terror of the Towers.
In 2007, Halloween returned to Alton Towers with a bang – now re-branded Scarefest, the event launched with great fanfare. Terror of the Towers returned with a slightly modified Bloodfest Banquet theme from 2003. This time around the attraction focused much more on story-telling than outright shock scare tactics.
2008 was to be the final year of ‘Bloodfest Banquet’, as in 2009 it was thought that a major overhaul was needed to bring the attraction up to date. The new theme was named ‘What Lies Within’. A big investment was made with all new sets, props and effects and the route through the Towers was completely reversed to what had come before.
There were minimal changes to the maze during the rest of its lifespan, although the route was notably reworked in 2015 to allow for a total of three mazes to be located in the Towers. With the announcement of the 2018 Scarefest line-up, 2017 would then transpire to have been the final year of operation for Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within.
The area of the Towers was not utilised for an attraction during Scarefest 2018, with the Resort instead introducing Project 42, located in the Nemesis Sub-Terra building in Forbidden Valley.
With the addition of The Attic: Terror of the Towers for Scarefest 2019, the name lived on, although this maze adopted a very different theme to what had come before, and also had a route through previously unused sections of the Towers.
Halloween 2002
2002 saw the addition of the park’s first scare maze, Terror of the Towers. It marked a shift to more thrilling experiences.
Halloween 2003 & 2004
Whilst 2003 saw Terror of the Towers adjusted to the Bloodfest Banquet story, 2004’s celebrations were cancelled although the park was still decorated.
Scarefest 2007
After several seasons away, Halloween and Terror of the Towers returned to Alton Towers with the event now branded as Scarefest!
Scarefest 2008
Once again, the centrepiece of the Halloween celebrations in the theme park was Terror of the Towers, with this being the final year of Bloodfest Banquet.
Scarefest 2009
Although Terror of the Towers returned for 2009, it was reworked with the new ‘What Lies Within’ storyline that invited guests to discover the fate of missing urban explorers…
Scarefest 2010
The once peaceful seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury found itself disturbed once again by fearsome noises emanating from within…
Scarefest 2011
Terror of the Towers was joined by the Resort’s other scare mazes in the theme park, with these being relocated from the hotels in 2011.
Scarefest 2012
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within made a return for its 10th consecutive year, but also for the last time as a free maze.
Scarefest 2013
Once again the vampires had awoken and were hunting for the flesh of those brave enough to venture in search of the missing urban explorers.
Scarefest 2014
Returning for its 12th consecutive season, Terror of the Towers once again invited guests to discover the fate of the urban explorers.
Scarefest 2015
2015 saw a new route for Terror of the Towers which also meant that there were a number of revised scenes.
Scarefest 2016
The iconic maze returned for 2016, largely following the same route as in 2015, although it was revised to remove the elevated walkway.
Scarefest 2017
Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within returned for what would be its final Scarefest, with its original incarnation having debuted 15 years earlier.
