Alton Towers have delivered a new scare maze for the 2025 season, well, it was meant to debut last season but due to budget cuts it’s debuted this year instead but let me tell you now, Edge of the Forest is a great little scare maze but is it worth the staggering £16 price tag?
Ok so before we get into the meat of the review let me just answer my above question very quickly, no, no it’s not. To charge that much for a scare maze one-shot is an actual disgrace and the park should be ashamed of themselves, there’s nothing different about Edge of the Forest compared to the other two mazes (priced at a similarly staggering £14 each) so just charging more because it’s new just isn’t a good look is it?
You can buy bundles which do get the cost down and pass holder discount does take Edge of the Forest down to a more palatable (ish) £12 but yeah, that really needs to change, absolutely disgusting behaviour but you know what, that painful payment aside, the maze is rather good!
Edge of the Forest is the newest addition to Scarefest 2025, replacing some of the older mazes with a fresh, story-driven approach. Set in the eerie Dark Forest area, it introduces a new creature known as the Leshwall and leans heavily on atmosphere, storytelling, and environmental dread rather than constant jump scares.
The signage for the maze and the scaffolding queue line through the forest doesn’t exactly spell out quality or value for money but the second you reach the entrance of the maze that quickly changes as Alton Towers have delivered one of their strongest mazes for many years.
Housed in a permanent structure which allows the maze to easily return next year or allows the park to redevelop more fresh mazes in the future (please destroy the Compound maze immediately, it’s pants) Edge of the Forest throws guests into a time-loop through the woods and it’s rather clever in its execution.
A familiar scene of the cottage, the woods and back again but each time you go back through the cottage it’s more decayed, more overrun by the forest and more distorted than before. It starts off quite basic in its theming design but the further into the maze you go the more theming comes to light with some of the best work I’ve seen from Alton Towers creative in many, many years.
They certainly went all out to drag you into the story if it’s not the faux trees, the worn beat up car or the cottage itself it’s kept simple in terms of navigation but very immersive throughout and that’s where its strengths lie.
Edge of the Forest stands out for its immersive storytelling. Unlike more traditional mazes that rely on constant jump scares, this one builds tension slowly, letting guests feel their way deeper into the narrative. The environmental design is among the best Alton Towers has produced, and the transition between locations feels seamless. The concept of the world decaying around you is both clever and unnerving, and the final scenes deliver a satisfying payoff if albeit not scary in the slightest.
This is where the maze weaknesses come to the fold as it’s far from intense, it’s very much a family-friendly experience and the repetitive nature of the loop may get annoying for those who are probably feeling as though they’re going around in circles (if they haven’t noticed the changes per cottage each time) but where the maze really struggles is scares, there are none.
There’s stretches of silence and any actors in the forest are so encased in shadows that you can’t even see them so the jump scare rating is as low as it could possibly get in a scare maze.
We were inside the maze for a good three minutes which isn’t the best for an indoor scare attraction of that size and most folks came out confused as to what the story was as the narrative died immediately. We are told the story of the Leshwall (a mythical creature that lurks in the woods) in the beginning but that story instantly dies as we navigate the time loop and come face to face with it at the end.
I AM GROOT is all I’ll say on that one!
If you’re paying the top price for this maze you’re going to be disappointed, it’s not scary and it’s shorter than the other two mazes. You’re certainly paying for the extra theming or the fact that it’s new I reckon as there’s nothing else of note that justifies the price hike and that’s just cheeky to me.
Edge of the Forest is one of the most atmospheric and narratively ambitious mazes Alton Towers has ever attempted. It’s beautifully themed, confidently staged, and deeply unsettling in a slow-burn, psychological way but it may not sit well with many for the above reasons.
It’s memorable unique and most importantly new (something Alton Towers is crying out for within its events) but I’d say it’s worth a go if you have a pass or can get a discount but at the £16 price point you’re going to be very disappointed.
