The Attic: Terror of the Towers

From 2019 to 2024, guests could venture into The Attic within the upper-most parts of the Towers Ruins to discover the story of ‘The Governess’ – did the sins of the Master really conjure a demon from the fireplace or did The Governess simply go mad and chuck the children into the flames herself…

Fact File

Location: The Towers
Opening Year: 2019
Closing Year: 2024

Experience

In order to experience The Attic, guests entered the Towers via the Conservatory, and then waited in an interior queue-line located in the ‘Drawing Room’ and ‘Long Gallery’. Atmospheric lighting and a haunting soundtrack created an unnerving ambience, as guests queued around numerous artefacts and furniture that you’d expect to find in an old stately home.

Once batched, guests were held in an area that was themed to the entrance hall of the house that they’d come to explore. They were then invited into the living room (the ‘Family Dining Room’ within the Towers) by an actor who would tell the story of ‘The Governess’, with some actor-triggered effects providing some initial scares.

This introductory scene ended with a bookcase subtly coming ajar, revealing a flight of stairs up to The Attic which guests were invited to climb in order to discover the truth about ‘The Governess’. As guests ascended to the first floor of the Towers, subtle changes in the lighting from warm to cool white, immersed guests into the monochrome world that awaited.

The first floors rooms of the Towers were transformed into The Attic with the addition of a wooden floor, featuring a number of creaky floorboards, along with rafters overhead to create a more claustrophobic space. Guests would initially encounter the ghosts of the children, along with some of their seemingly haunted toys. Outside a window in one scene, guests would catch a glimpse of the Master’s body, having hung himself following the disappearance of his children and his subsequent murder of the Governess. In the following scene, guests would witness the ghost of the Governess emerging from her lifeless body.

Upon reaching a room where things swung above their heads and the surrounding cupboards rattled, guests would find that their path was going to take them into the fireplace itself. As they entered into a hot, hellish environment, they encountered the spirits of the children for a final time, before coming face-to-face with the demon of which the Governess had spoken, confirming the truth of what she had told. Nonetheless, the sins of the Master had condemned his soul, together with those of his children and the Governess, to a tortured eternal existence in The Attic…

History

The Attic: Terror of the Towers was the second new addition to the Scarefest 2019 line up alongside Darkest Depths. The maze’s named referenced Alton Towers’ original scare maze, Terror of the Towers, which had gone through multiple evolutions before not returning for Scarefest 2018. The Attic was praised as an incredibly well crafted maze, with a high level of attention to detail throughout the attraction.

Whilst remaining largely unchanged throughout its lifespan, 2023 brought the most notable changes to The Attic through a few enhancements to a couple of its scenes. Firstly, having previously relied on a Pepper’s Ghost effect which many guests would miss, the scene in which the Governess’ ghost emerged from her body was reworked to place the bed in the centre of the room, with a physical prop representing a body levitating above the bed. Secondly, where the finale maze previously consisted of solid black walls, openings were now created in some of these to create burnt-out sections, enhanced by red back-lighting, which actors could utilise for scares.

The Attic returned for its sixth and final Scarefest in 2024. The removal of the attraction enabled the rooms of the Towers that had previously been occupied by the maze to be featured as part of the House & Gardens Tour during the main season.