There’s a standard of frightening excellence one has come to expect from the annual Halloween offering of Melton Mowbray’s Twinlakes Park. For starters, an attraction that lashes Xtreme Scream into its title sets a certain bar of expectation. That it has managed to meet and surpass such expectations over the course of the past decade of operation is testimony to the skills and vision of those involved.

A year with no real new mazes presents something of a challenge for Leicester’s premier scare attraction, then. Sure, we’ve got the souped-up Uncle Enos’s Open Acres, rebranded as ‘New for 2022’, but in reality is a minor facelift and re-tweak of last year’s (admittedly fantastic) Earth to Ashes. Elsewhere, new sections, animatronics and freaky flourishes have been added to practically every one of Xtreme’s already lengthy and impressive six scare mazes.

Throw into the mix the not-quite-a-maze sideshow curiosity of The Unfair Funfair, which has also had a spot of refinement and embellishment (though remains slightly directionless), and Xtreme offers plenty of bang for your buck. There’s the requisite cast of wandering scare actors and smatterings of live entertainment, not to mention a handful of the park’s rides that remain both open and free of charge for visitors. The slightly canted, bohemian, ghast-onbury vibe of the park’s central gathering area remains a fun and vibrant hub from which to explore the frights and delights.

But it’s undoubtedly the mazes themselves that are the real draw here, and, for the seventh consecutive year of reviewing, Leicester’s offerings continue to be up there with the most intricately realised, impressively detailed and consistently polished in the industry. Originally something of a transatlantic overthrow, the scare maze world is big entertainment business nowadays, and its encouraging to see Xtreme holding onto its ghoulish crown with wicked relish.

“…the scare maze world is big entertainment business nowadays, and its encouraging to see Xtreme holding onto its ghoulish crown with wicked relish.”

Mileage for a night at Mowbray’s horror show will vary, depending on your familiarity. As mentioned, the two ‘new’ offerings this year are really fairly minor facelifts for past offerings. 2017 was a benchmark year for the Park, seeing two tremendous new offerings in Voodoo Hoodoo and The Village crop up at once (and both of which remain to this day). Perhaps understandably post-pandemic, the recent onus seems to have been on more measured, incremental additions. That being said, even older haunts such as Ash Hell Penitentiary have been given extra animatronics and jump scares, meaning even veteran visitors can’t be completely sure of what may be lurking around any given turn, twist or low-ceilinged corner.

If you’ve never ventured to Xtreme Scream Park, prepare to be greeted with some of the best scare mazes you can experience – in the UK and beyond. Each has its own distinct character, setting and styling – from the cornfield-meets-Manson-cult derangement of Uncle Enos, to the hillbilly, porcine horrors of The Pie Factory. Not only are they each sizeable and lengthy beasts, so too do they each represent a journey, with the production design, attention to detail and environmental storytelling excellent across every maze. Some, such as the depraved tour into a deranged black market high society of Belvoir Manners, dip into genuinely disturbing body horror territory, whilst others, such as the environmental tour-de-force of The Village, bring dilapidated and haunting trips to the familiar – schools, homesteads, churches – to disconcerting and occasionally terrifying effect.

For those already familiar, there’s plenty to recommend a return visit for. Stripping away the rebrand, Uncle Enos is only in its second year, and venturing out into its cornfields of crazies remains a transportive thrill. The mazes are also universally of such high quality, that the level of immersion rarely drops below a relatively unmatched standard.

“The mazes are universally of such high quality, that the level of immersion rarely drops below a relatively unmatched standard.”

In the interests of remaining completely unbiased and accurate, there are some potential negatives and downsides to be considered in 2022. In comparison to past years, some of the longer mazes in particular felt at times a trifle more sparsely populated. This was similarly an issue back in 2020, at the time dismissed as a consequence of the pandemic (Leicester being one of very few scare attractions that opened that year). There’s a high probability that the closer to half term and Halloween that the calendar gets, the higher the roster of actors that will be drafted in. The sheer breadth and size of the mazes demands respect when attempting to populate them, too, but it was somewhat disappointing to walk through significant chunks of a maze designed for jump scares and pop-outs, only to be met with patches of occasional emptiness.

Similarly, there seemed to be a slightly more tepid and cautious nature to the actors’ interactions and engagements with visitors. Past years have seen the cast grasp the Xtreme mantra with real gusto and mettle, with actors grabbing, body blocking and interacting with visitors with at times quite ferocious energy. This year, whilst there were some definite standouts – including a wandering corpse bride lamenting her woes, who provided some terrific on-the-spot improv and interaction – the energy levels overall fell a little flatter than we’ve been spoiled by in the past. There’s always the chance it was just an ‘off’ night, though, and mercifully, the world-building and production design in every maze remains so good that they easily command your attention throughout.

Logistically, there’s a fair amount to fit in to a single evening’s visit, making the option to purchase a ‘Fast Track’ pass for the mazes a shrewd investment. At roughly an additional £19 on entry costs, it may seem, on the surface, a steep investment, but in reality the Fast Track queues are remarkably well-executed and efficient; on the evening reviewed, our party of four went straight into every single maze, even when some, such as Pie Factory and Ash Hell had queues that looked to be circa 45 minutes+ in length. Given that there are six sizeable mazes to traverse in a single evening, the Fast Track option, for roughly £3 per maze, is a strong recommendation.

Pushing aside the comparatively mild gripes about some of the mazes being a little less densely occupied than previous years, and wanting some of the performers to perhaps be a little more characteristically boisterous in their engagements; these are only concerns made in light of Xtreme’s already established high standards. There remain very few – if any – Halloween events with such a high pedigree and attainment of offerings, and boasting six big, brilliantly realised mazes of such polish and execution means that this Scream Park absolutely continues to reign high atop the list of horror visit recommendations, for visitors old and new alike, even if it could probably be even more excellent by channelling previous years in being a touch more, well, Xtreme.

As far as scare attractions go, Melton Mowbray’s Xtreme Scream Park has rarely been anything short of top drawer, as its enviable roster of awards and accolades can attest. With some of the biggest, longest and most artfully realised mazes in the industry, there’s a standard of quality at Leicester that fear-seekers just come to expect now.

That being said, its’s a long fall from the top, and with each passing year the number of challengers nipping around the heels of the major scare attractions grows, and so Xtreme’s annual challenge is always along the lines of whether or not it can maintain its standing and level of excellence.

Thankfully, this is a park that has never been afraid to innovate, eschew what maybe isn’t working, or to expand (both artistically and physically). The decision to replace its one stinker of a maze in The Dungeon back in 2017 welcomed in the fantastic Voodoo Hoodoo in its stead, whilst in the same year the sheer breadth and execution of The Village set a new benchmark in scare maze world building. 

This ambition and determination to keep visitors new and returning alike satisfied is on full display in 2021, as a staggering seven mazes and areas to explore, including two wholly new experiences, as well as a couple of extended and rejigged former favourites, keeps Xtreme’s standing as being amongst the best in the biz firmly intact.

As mentioned, Voodoo Hoodo and The Village remain excellent. Although the former initially adopts the recent, less inspired trope of awkwardly clinging to a rope as you stumble around unable to see a thing owing to the sack that has been deposited over your head, what follows is immeasurably better; a creepy, gorgeously designed venture into a voodoo-themed bayou nightmare. The Village is potentially still Leicester’s MVP, a huge, varied and sprawling journey through its titular locale, taking you from a disheveled homestead that would not feel out of place in a Resident Evil game to a not-so-abandoned primary school, a gruesome laboratory, an eerie chapel stuffed with robed attendees whom you cannot discern between actor or prop, and much more. Very welcomely, Village was notably better populated than last year in particular, when its denizens felt a trifle sparse (though we can excuse that as being a consequence of, once again, that ruddy pandemic).

Elsewhere, the penal and industrial horrors of the prison-themed Ash Hell Penitentiary, the health (see: death) spa benefits of Belvoir Manners’ exclusive members club, and the hillbilly, porcine hijinks of The Pie Factory all return, and they’ve each had new areas and features thrown in for good, frightening extra measure. Having experienced the likes of Pie Factory several times now, inclusions such as its new ‘Melton Hunting Lodge’ expansion, and even smaller cosmetic changes – see for instance, the inclusion of new shower and bathing areas to Belvoir – keep the experiences feeling fresh and unpredictable for even veterans of the park. The ongoing, increased incorporation of animatronic creatures and scares to ensure the less densely populated areas of mazes keep visitors on their toes continues to demonstrate a keen awareness of incident and pacing within Xtreme’s attractions.

New for 2021, Unfair Funfair is a lighter, looser affair – a twisted carnival and funhouse populated by demonic clowns. It isn’t strictly speaking another maze – visitors can come and go, and explore its surroundings of their own leisure – but it is visually exciting and distinct from anything else in the park, and a nice nod back to some of Leicester’s older, clown-themed former staples. It looks great, too, even if at the time of reviewing its outer areas, though brilliantly realised, were almost entirely absent of actors. Still, Funfair did manage to eek out perhaps the biggest jump scare of the night, so don’t let your guard down around its chaotic, mischievous cast.

More conventional in structure is Earth to Ashes, this year’s other new offering. Bringing to mind (intentionally or not) the outdoor nightmares of Burton-on-Trent’s Screamfest in particular, Ashes takes you out beyond the periphery of Twinlakes Park, into fields of corn where a planet-worshipping cult has taken on an almost Manson-esque presence.

Xtreme’s trademark attention to detail and eye for conceptualising is on full display again here, as you navigate through a trailer park, the cult’s headquarters, and a number of other areas that would be spoiled if too greatly detailed. Although not the most starkly original of concepts, the more psychedelic elements provide a macabre and occasionally trippy playground that extend to even some physical and technical surprises, with a particular highlight being a trip through a precariously balanced caravan. Keep an eye out, too, for a cameo from another maze, relocated here for a surprise appearance.

Enmeshing the broader Xtreme experience are the usual food stands, live entertainment, a smattering of Twinlake’s resident rides, zombie paintball shooting, and of course, wandering scare actors. The central concourse remains a welcoming, warmly lit hub for a visit, amplified by some cosmetic improvements including a more functional gift store, and the new attractive framing aesthetic of Unfair Funfair. With now seven attractions to get through, though, there’s sadly precious little time to hang around and bask in the almost festival-like ambience, but it must be said that even where there happened to be a couple of fairly sizeable queues before the mazes, staff kept things moving in a mostly brisk fashion.

Every year, it seems as though Xtreme Scream Park picks up the gauntlet of ‘rising to the occasion’ and tosses it aside with deserved contempt. This is a scare attraction that knows its frights, continually refines and expands upon its mazes, polishes its existing scare gems, and is unafraid of delivering wholly new experiences, too. It remains visually and artistically amongst the strongest, most generous and meticulously realised scare attractions in the industry, and, in 2021 more than ever, should remain confidently at the top of any fear-seekers must-visit list.