Our first visit to this Bristol-based scare attraction and it certainly won’t be our last. From best to worst we bring you the Fear at Avon Valley mazes RANKED.
An award-winning line-up of Fear at Avon Valley mazes sees X4, VITA NOVA, Malefica and House of Clowns joined by the brand new for 2022 maze The Core.
Also, brand new for 2022 is The Exorcism scare experience as you participate as a group in a live exorcism. It’s incredible and deserves its own separate review as one of the most unique scare experiences we’ve done at a scream park this Halloween season.
Without further ado, let’s dive into the best-to-worst mazes at Fear Scream Park.
The Core
After the fall of the UK Government and years of national civil unrest, the New World Order has risen and the Republic of England stands victorious.Â
The New World Order trilogy continues in this brand new, exhilarating second chapter of the story.
There’s no competition for us that the brand new for 2022 maze The Core leaps head and shoulders above the pack amongst the Fear at Avon Valley mazes and provides the most immersive and incredibly realistic scare experience we’ve witnessed.
Guests are made to wear a wet suit and wellies, grab a torch and wade through the sewers.
X4 and VITA NOVA storylines are linked together and The Core maze bridges the gap between the two mazes. I quite like how they’re all linked together and are situated in the same area of the park as each other.
The Core delivers on areas that no other scare attraction does in the UK. It’s a full body immersive experience and wading through the water puts you front and centre of the story. The water almost acts like a character in its own right guiding you through these interconnecting sewer tunnels as creatures come at you from all sides.
A flickering torch is your only light source but certain areas are well lit which is helpful as just wading through water in the dark wouldn’t have been much fun but the light cuts out at the perfect moment as the creatures strike and I was on edge throughout the entire experience whilst at the same time wanting to stay in there and explore every corner of this inventive creation.
Some reviews say the water is knee-deep (it isn’t) unless you’re about 3 foot tall. It just wades past your shins and that is one thing that I would improve on in the future. The wet suit covers most of your body so having a section that has you deeper in the water (waist height) would certainly amp the tension as you walk into it not knowing just how deep the water is.
The Core is the perfect addition to the UK scare scene and we now have a maze that can compete on a European (maybe even wider) scale.
Absolutely phenomenal from start to finish. If I had one gripe (aside from the water height) I’d say that there needed to be more staff members on hand to help people into the jumpsuits. The queues were absolutely ridiculous for The Core all night and this wasn’t helped by having any staff members on hand to help people into awkward jumpsuits or helping people to put their shoes into the drawstring bags provided to keep them dry.
VITA NOVA
Day 5,987 since the New World Order began.
Omega Industries has initiated it’s quality of life programme, VITA NOVA, restoring order to the Republic of England. Society will be reformed, it will be born anew.
The New World Order demands that the VITA NOVA programme is adhered to by all citizens, yet it seems that some have defied these orders and stopped conforming. They have stopped taking their VITA NOVA. All non-conformers will be detected, and they will be ameliorated….
Long live the Republic of England. Happy is the country with no past.
An epic conclusion to the New World Order trilogy, this will push your nerves to the limit.
A maze that is hyped year after year and the ending of the New World Order trilogy of mazes VITA NOVA is certainly a unique experience and a wonderful maze but I personally didn’t find it scary in the slightest despite the rave reviews.
What makes VITA NOVA stand out is the fact that you’re split up from the beginning and for the majority of the maze, you’re doing it completely Han Solo.
I was made to stand in a cell before going down a corridor alone, standing in a corner for what felt like an eternity as other groups passed me by and just this overall feeling of isolation through this chamber of mirrors and corridors.
The actors sell the experience but I didn’t feel as though there were any places for them to hide to provide jump scares. Most of the actors I encountered on my run-through you could see a mile away or they’d usher you into the scare space with their voices and as a result, there was no jump scare of note.
I can’t see where the rave reviews have come from other than the isolation aspect and I was scratching my head as to why this was voted as the scariest. Don’t get me wrong it’s an incredible maze and a wonderful experience to witness including a beautiful strobe corridor scene but a maze has to be scary and VITA NOVA, just wasn’t, but it absolutely deserves second spot in this list for its unique delivery, incredible actors and wonderful walkthrough experience.
X4
In 1994, a complex series of tunnels were discovered deep underground during routine excavation work at site Alpha-Vixen One. Hidden deep within these tunnels, the discovery of a lifetime was made, altering the course of humanity.
Omega Industries immediately took control of the site and began vigorously testing on the entity that they found within. Now, nearly thirty years later, they invite you into their compound to observe the future of modern warfare.Â
Witness the beginning of the end, in this terrifying start to the New World Order trilogy.
X4 has one of the best maze introductions I’ve ever witnessed as a lift sequence is equal parts puzzling as it is immersive as the lift shaft physically replicates a dropping sequence and is unnerving and incredible and I’m still a little confused as to how we ended up in a different part of the maze despite not actually moving (to my knowledge).
Through a lab sequence and more we entered X4 and it was looking promising. Everything looked phenomenal and then suddenly we were plunged into darkness and the maze just lost its way.
All of the pacing had vanished, the immersion disappeared and the lighting was so poor that actors were wearing UV paint on their faces just to be spotted (and as part of the story of course). It just didn’t hit home for me after such an incredible opening and for me was easily the weakest maze in the trilogy.
Actors were few and far between in X4 which is a shame as more actors would have given a certain scene involving cages a real pop. It was claustrophobic and more actors in there would have made this a very intimidating space, they definitely missed the boat on that one.
Malefica
After being destroyed in a mysterious fire, the Douglas & Daughters Restoration team have begun work on the Stidham Village Sisters of Mercy Church, slowly returning it to its former glory. But something isn’t quite right; strange noises have been heard deep within the church, and volunteers claim to have seen something moving in the shadows.Â
And then four days ago, a diary was discovered. A diary that once belonged to Mother Superior Amelia, and may reveal what happened all those years ago…
‘Day 14,245. I have always felt that this life was not gifted to me, yet forced upon me. Today shall be the day that the Sisters of Mercy understand the need to cleanse in fire. Today is the day to set these sinners free. Burn their souls, cleanse their hearts…’
Join the restoration team and journey deep into the heart of the church to uncover the secrets that lie within.
Winning Best Scare Experience at a scare awards certainly puts a maze on a pedestal and installs a certain expectation of standard when walking through.
Around 3 minutes later we were out of the maze and scratching our head (and one rubbing his head after an actor accidentally head-butted him) as to how on earth that maze has managed to win such an award.
Rated as the scariest maze at Fear Scream Park we felt Malefica was about as scary as a trip to Disneyland. The actors didn’t jump scare you they were just standing on set pieces making noises as we casually walked by and the ‘highly rated theming’ in many reviews was nothing short of cloth and some fake walls. There was nothing that even remotely resembled a detailed church of any note and the maze felt rather cheap compared to the others.
With less actors in the maze and mediocre theming Malefica fell flat on its face and for all the reviews saying the theming is ‘world class’ probably need to do more scare attractions as we found the theming within the mazes at Fantasy Island were of a better quality than Malefica with the external theming much better than its internal appearance.
We were asked if we wanted to do Malefica again and our group resoundingly said we wanted nun of that.
Sorry guys.
House of Clowns
Sadly House of Clowns wasn’t an attraction that felt like it deserved to be amongst the rest of the Fear at Avon Valley mazes. It was your standard clown maze with limited actors following you around a small space.
We were in the attraction for less than 60 seconds and I felt as though this particular experience should have been added to the introduction to the event instead of being a separate maze.
As you enter FEAR at Avon Valley you walk into a clown’s mouth and through a trommel tunnel. If this maze was added as part of that introduction to the event then it would have been perfect but having it as a separate maze just felt a little suspect as it was miles below the par of the other mazes (yes, even Malefica).
House of Clowns was the only maze all night to not pass a 20-minute queue as all the others in the park were above 60 minutes. This should tell you all you need to know.
It was not a scare maze and certainly needs to be added to the start of the attraction as it feels like an amuse-bouche before the real Fear at Avon Valley mazes begin.
Check out our VLOG from the event below:
