There’s a certain irony in the fact that, for long-running Halloween scare attractions, one of the most formidable horrors they face is that of familiarity. After all, even the most ingeniously conceived maze, or the most ghoulish of it denizens, can begin to lose some of their impact after repeated visits.

Maintaining that all-important element of surprise is no mean feat when visitors – such as this very outlet – return to the same venue, year after year.

It’s a challenge that Burton-upon-Trent’s Screamfest has navigated with fiendish relish over the years, with regular introductions of new mazes, the occasional reinvention of established favourites, and a consistently impressive cadre of performers all helping to maintain its standing as one of the UK’s premier Halloween scare attractions.

As Burton celebrates its fifteenth anniversary, their 2026 offering showcases that the team at the National Forest Adventure Farm have no intention of resting on their blood-soaked laurels. With an all-new, perfectly-themed maze joining an already substantial lineup, some very welcome improvements to returning attractions, and a palpable increase in production quality across the board, 2026 sees Screamfest somehow ratchet things up yet another notch, even by Burton’s own consistently high standards.

The biggest newcomer to proceedings this year is Cortex-17, an experimental medical nightmare which transports visitors into the murky confines of a covert 1960s neurological institution, where the administration of a mysterious new compound, ‘Project Eidolon’, has – perhaps inevitably – taken a turn for the grotesque.

It’s a suitably sinister premise, and one which Burton has invested considerable effort into realising. The hospital-cum-asylum setting carries more than a few shades of Konami‘s Silent Hill series, with its clinical environments, disturbing inhabitants and oppressive atmosphere evoking the same sort of dilapidated, nightmarish medical facilities that have long been a staple of survival horror. There’s an almost cinematic quality to the presentation, with some genuinely excellent environmental design, lighting and sound work combining to create an attraction that feels particularly ambitious in scope.

“…particularly impresses with Cortex is the degree to which the maze’s visual design and atmosphere are allowed to complement the actual scares.”

Indeed, what particularly impresses with Cortex is the degree to which the maze’s visual design and atmosphere are allowed to complement the actual scares. The best horror experiences aren’t necessarily those which bombard visitors with an endless succession of actors jumping out from darkened corners, but rather those which establish a convincing, unsettling environment in which the anticipation of something unpleasant becomes almost as effective as the eventual encounter itself. It’s a credo on display from the outset – with a fantastic actress giving an unsettling, almost Nurse Ratched-esque display of passive aggressive welcoming on the evening reviewed.

Cortex-17 understands this well, with its sinister medical theming, impressive production values and suitably deranged patients making for one of Burton’s most absorbing creations to date. It’s an excellent new addition, and further evidence of the park’s willingness to explore different flavours of horror rather than merely repackage existing ideas.

If that’s the something new, then let’s take a moment to appreciate the caulrophobic horrors of something old…

One of the most pleasing developments for 2026 comes courtesy of an altogether more familiar attraction. The circus-themed Freakout: Resurrected, a revived staple of Screamfest in its various incarnations, has undergone something of a renaissance, restoring much of the full-blown circus atmosphere and spectacle from the outset – having adopted a found-footage, not-so-abandoned vibe in recent years.

Freakout has always been one of Burton’s biggest coin tosses – whilst always a reliably entertaining maze, some years it had had begun to feel a little long in the tooth, particularly when compared with some of Burton’s more elaborate and ambitious creations. This year, however, the big top terror proves one of Burton’s most thrilling and revitalised attractions, with its twisting, disorientating layout and assortment of malevolent clowns once again combining to great effect.

Of particular note is some genuinely outstanding prosthetic and makeup work, which lends Freakout‘s ensemble of circus oddities an altogether more grotesque and disturbing appearance. There are some truly nightmarish creations lurking within, and the quality of their presentation elevates proceedings considerably beyond the usual collection of cackling clowns and basic clown face. Coupled with the renewed sense of theatricality and the performers’ customary enthusiasm for tormenting visitors, it’s a bravura, chaotic return to form for an old favourite.

It’s especially gratifying to see such investment being lavished upon one of Burton’s longest-serving attractions, rather than allowing it to simply coast along on past successes. There’s a tangible sense of renewed purpose to the whole affair, and what could once have been considered one of the more routine inclusions in Screamfest‘s annual lineup has once again become something of a highlight.

The improved visual presentation isn’t limited to Freakout, either. Across all of this year’s mazes, there’s a noticeable uplift in the standard of makeup, prosthetics and costume design, with an added degree of polish that makes even some of the more familiar inhabitants appear considerably more convincing.

“Across all of this year’s mazes, there’s a noticeable uplift in the standard of makeup, prosthetics and costume design…”

And, as has become something of a recurring observation in recent years, Burton’s performers continue to be one of its greatest assets. The willingness of its actors to engage with visitors, improvise encounters and inject a little personality into their respective roles has long helped distinguish Screamfest from some of its contemporaries, and the improvements in their physical appearance and costumes only serve to make these interactions all the more effective. Fan favourites ‘Nurse Babs’ and madcap duo ‘Sprinkles & Sparkles’ return, roaming around the park’s hub areas with a whole host of creepy companions ready to torment and delight visitors.

Speaking of close encounters, Helcatraz remains one of the event’s most formidable offerings, building upon the rather significant departure for Burton that its introduction represented back in 2024. At the time, it marked the park’s first venture into a scare maze where physical contact was not only permitted, but actively incorporated into the experience, and its nightmarish prison setting continues to provide the ideal environment for some especially unpleasant treatment at the hands of its inhabitants.

There’s a deliciously sadistic quality to some of the encounters here, with the physical interactions going well beyond the perfunctory shoulder grab or gentle nudge that might be expected from attractions of this ilk.

Elsewhere, the award-winning Insomnia makes a welcome return, with its wonderfully inventive journey into the nightmares of a young girl and the ever-unwelcome attentions of the demonic ‘Crackerjack’, continues to offer some of the park’s most imaginative environmental storytelling. Its unsettling dream logic and inventive visual flourishes remain effective, even after repeated visits, and it still stands as one of Screamfest’s most accomplished mazes.

Hillbilly Joe’s Zombee Zoo, meanwhile, remains a welcome exercise in anarchic, darkly comedic silliness, and Mutation Damnation, the agricultural horror introduced last year, makes effective use of the farm’s own identity with its grotesque mixture of botanical and scientific nightmares. Both Hillbilly Joe’s and Mutation are a little lighter on scares and sparser in inhabitants than their fellow mazes, but their high-concept shenanigans make for a welcome change of pace and scenery both.

Outside of the mazes themselves, Screamfest‘s familiar festival atmosphere remains very much intact. The park once again plays host to an ensemble of fairground rides (you must ride the ‘City Hopper’ at least once), food and drink vendors, live music, and roaming performers, lending the wider event an infectious sense of energy and occasion.

The alien-themed Area 52 also returns as an optional, separately-ticketed extra, offering visitors the chance to head out into the darker reaches of the farm and engage in some gloriously schlocky paintball-based extraterrestrial combat. Anyone looking for genuine fear here will be disappointed; it has its tongue placed firmly in its cheek and is more a slice of B-movie-flavoured fun than anything approaching a genuinely terrifying encounter. It’s a fun and diverting change of pace for those willing to factor the additional cost and time into their visit.

With six, polished and immersive mazes now in place, Screamfest continues to offer a substantial evening of entertainment. It does, however, amplify the potential need for one of the park’s ‘fast pass’ options. Starting at £51.00 per person (dependent on the date attending), the ability to bypass pretty much the entirety of queuing is absolutely worth it, if it falls within your budget. The all-screaming, all-dancing ‘RIP’ option is even better – providing unlimited fast track access to all the mazes, a trip to Area 52 with extra paintballs and vouchers for food and drink on top. At £91 – 96 per person, it’s a much more considered investment, but there’s no denying it makes the evening a more manageable and immediate affair.

Return visits to scare attractions can dull the shine and stimy the shock, but  Screamfest once again bypasses that particular folly with not just the addition of another maze, or even the excellent work that has gone into Cortex-17. Rather, it’s the sense that almost every facet of the experience has benefited from an extra degree of attention and care, with improved makeup and costume work, the triumphant rejuvenation of Freakout, and the continued excellence of the likes of Helcatraz all contributing to an attraction that feels more polished and accomplished than ever.

For an event celebrating fifteen years of frights, there’s remarkably little evidence of Screamfest becoming complacent or allowing familiarity to diminish its impact. Rather, it once again remains one of the UK’s most reliably entertaining scare attractions, and on this evidence, its best years may very well still be ahead of it.