Horror Mania Review (2026)

We had no issue finding appropriate information about this haunt online prior to attendance, with the FAQ page providing plenty of details regarding parking and attendance. There are extensive parking facilities onsite and plenty of helpful staff, but our only issue in this regard was that one parking attendant was not enough for how expansive the site was, making parking a slightly stressful activity. There was quite a long queue for the event, but the theming, decor, roaming actors and food onsite provided plenty of distraction, and queue flow was determined by timer meaning theoretically is managed to the second at this attraction. Our group size was standard for a bigger attraction at around seven people, and several times there are pauses before new mazes to attempt to keep timing consistent and prevent bunching up within, which must be quite difficult to do for such a lengthy experience. We did end up bunching up a few times, and while this was managed generally well in some of the mazes, the clown maze proved very difficult indeed. We spent quite a few minutes at a standstill within this maze as groups in front of us navigated ramps and crawlspaces. While the group timing system works for all other spaces at this event we suggest a new approach for the clown maze specifically as we remember a similar issue last year.

Approaching the event this year was a very different experience than last. While the maze was set within and on the grounds of Hinchingbrooke House before, this year the event was its own character, complete with Horror Mania branding and green lighting on all sides, creating a very immersive and event-specific feel. We love how this event has come into its own in their brand new space, and while the temporary entrance may not have provided the same daunting feeling as last year, this year was perhaps more fun and inclusive.

While the primary entrance to the haunt is a bit simpler with the facade of a sort of haunted house (for the maze “The House”), there is also a built and themed exterior for each section of the trail which provides a background to the mazes you are going to experience. “Grindhouse” really looked like a small cinema on the outside including large film posters, whereas “Undead Vikings” had a super detailed facade including skeletons on sticks, shields and fire. We also loved the “Children of the Corn” facade complete with eerie green lighting, cornstalks and scarecrows.

Themes are strong for each and every maze and barely need any explanation, with really unique concepts such as “Stinkyworld” and “Taylor Swift Goes Nuts.” Each and every maze is an entire world of its own, and while mazes are connected into one trail they are all cohesive environments built with great bones of scenic design elements, lighting and soundscapes. There is no significant sound bleed from world to world, which is a huge improvement from last year’s event, and loads of hanging fabric specific to the worlds we navigated aided in the immersive atmosphere. We only have two small critiques here – we do think that at times there were too many corridors with hanging fabric (this helps in creating the UK’s longest maze but does detract from the more intricate areas of it) and the already mentioned batching issues did sometimes break the immersive atmosphere.

As before mentioned, this event utilised amazing scenic design and special effects to create remarkably immersive atmospheres, and for a temporary event this is something to be immensely applauded. There are no pre-existing structures here – everything is built from the ground up, which is insane to think about when you realise just how expansive this project is with such theatrical offerings – 30 different and unique sets, brilliant!

Props included anything from terrifying hooks in “Children of the Corn,” chainsaws that actually touched us (looking at you, murderous Peppa Pig maze), and even a carnivorous pizza puppet (yes, you read that right!). Sound design throughout the trail was excellent, with appropriate soundtracks for the movies and genres referenced in “Grindhouse” and “Deadflix and Kills!,” classic Swift songs in “Taylor Swift Goes Nuts,” fun club music in “Clown City,” and most iconic and disgusting of the night – toilet and retching sounds in “Stinkyworld”.

Besides the already mentioned extremely immersive facades for each portion of the maze, there were plenty of theatrical scene designs on offer that completely enthralled us on this adventure, from coffins in Nosferatu (into which one of us was pulled!), to soft play areas in “Clown City,” mazes of cornstalks in “Children of the Corn” and vines and plants in various areas to give the feeling of being outdoors or in jungles or forests. Especially visceral for us was the Ed Gein room in “Deadflix and Kills” which incorporated skin-looking latex hanging from the ceilings, thematic wallpaper that looked like wooded cabins or bathroom tiles, and a fun springy floor with hanging vines that created a more swamp-like environment.

The only element that came into question for us was the aforementioned filler areas that felt mostly like empty zones of flats full of fabric or rugs that we walked through to get to the more designed sets, but while this may have felt a bit empty at the time it did aid in spacing out the groups a bit better.

Finally, we can’t talk about sensory experiences without mentioning “Stinkyworld” which is by far the grossest maze we’ve ever encountered. We remember it being absolutely awful (in the best way possible) last year and this year was no different – scent pods pervaded the maze, filling each and every corridor with the most foul smells imaginable. Dozens of dirty toilet cleaners hung low from the ceilings so there was no escaping touching something disgusting, and if somehow you were lucky enough to avoid them there was always a horridly dressed character ready to touch you with their own dirty brush. All of these smells and textures, paired with dirty-looking tiles, infested toilets, smeared walls and disgusting sounds create the most foul sensory experience!

If you can think of a creepy or murderous character, Horror Mania probably has them inside its depraved depths. From more traditional characters such as crazed clowns, Art the Clown in full Santa gear (who tickled us!), Samarra climbing out of a bed, to man-eating zombies, to some of the most unique concepts such as ghoulish Taylor Swift, flesh-hungry Peppa Pig and cowboy skeletons, there are so many different creatures teeming in each maze along this terrifying trail.

Most of the time there were actors popping out from every nook and cranny, with characters ready to capture and attack, some even inviting us to waltz with them, and even a daunting looking Nosferatu kidnapping us and forcing us to join him in his padded coffin. Clowns invited guests to join them to pole dance in their club, an evil looking woman used hard paper to pretend to carve out a smile on our faces, and skeletal scarecrows with long spindly fingers and corn for hair reached out to brush our faces or grabbed us from behind. While there were certain stretches, such as in the Camp Crystal Lake maze, which suffered from lack of cast, others swarmed with them, meaning we were never safe at any one time.

The hugely physical interactiveness of the cast was paired remarkably well with beautiful costume, makeup and mask design throughout the mazes on the trail. The aforementioned scarecrows were some of the best we’ve seen in a haunt, with their skeletal figures looming over us, as were the Vikings in “Undead Viking” complete with fur-draped mantles and headgear. Many of the monsters we encountered had prosthetics on their hands and fingers as they caressed our faces and messed with our hair, or even grabbed at us from behind with their bony fingers, pulling us backwards. Even more inventive characters included a creature with melting pizza for a face, or some of the foul individuals in “Stinkyworld” with mop-like faces or sock-covered heads oozing with brown guck. Even masked Jason had a skin mask underneath, while Peppa Pigs had ghoulish pink masks covered in piercings and nurses in “Silent Hill” had faces completely covered in bloody bandages. There were some cast with simpler makeups such as camp counselors and other characters from “Deadflix and Kills,” but ultimately these served as good counterpoints to the more decked out creatures of the night.

Horror Mania proves itself one of the scariest mazes in the country, with actors not afraid to touch, tickle, attack and grab, and providing a variety of scares to more intense and physical ones to more subtle stalking tactics. We navigated quite a few narrow corridors littered with lots of bodies, never quite knowing which were mannequins and which were real actors until we were right on top of them and having to brush by. Sometimes these casts would even let us pass before grabbing us unknowingly from behind, giving us the feeling we were safe until it was too late. Similar tactics were held by the skeletal Western figures and Eli in Children of the Corn, who gave the impression of being mannequins until right up to the climax when they were able to attack.

Actors were not afraid to get quite physical, but it’s important to note that this was all done safely and tactfully. Nosferatu pulled one of us into a coffin only to caress our face and hair with his long prosthetic fingers before letting us free, and we were touched many times with a chainless but vibrating chainsaw. Perhaps one of the more intense moments of the night was when one of Art the Clown’s murderous posse held one of us against the wall with a handsaw held to our throats for what felt like ages. While we knew we were theoretically safe, the situations were still really intense and heightened. This was also the case in “28 Years Later” when zombies literally attacked us and pushed us into corners, messing with our hair and touching our faces and waiting long moments before releasing us.

While we still think Horror Mania is one of the best haunts out there for scares there are still a few areas which could be improved. Sometimes the batching in “Camp Crystal Lake,” “Undead Vikings” and “Clown City” created conga-like queues, which meant that not everyone got to experience the same scares. The company does change up the order of their mazes each year, and unfortunately the ending this year of “Taylor Swift Goes Nuts” and a single Taylor Swift with a chainsaw near the end didn’t quite give us the finale this attraction deserves. Regardless, scares at this haunt are a brilliant mix of fun and intense, and the immersive atmosphere the event creates adds to the complexity of the frights.

With an approximate walk through time of 70 minutes and a ticket price of £35, this event is of incredible value. There may not be any live entertainment outside of the maze, but there are lots of food and drink options and the roaming cast make the entrance tent a fun place to stick around (looking at you Croydon!), whether before or after you’ve experienced the attraction. We actually spent almost a full hour and a half on the trail, but we’ve reduced the score time to accommodate the time we spent waiting between some of the mazes and the delay we had in “Clown City,” but regardless this is definitely the longest trail we’ve experienced in the country, and with how detailed and intense each maze is we came out with our adrenaline pulsing and completely exhausted in the best of ways. For the quality and intensity of the mazes and the characters within this is by far the best value for a scare maze, especially if your goal for the evening is to get absolutely terrified!