At Judventures, we always aim to support this incredible and ever-growing immersive entertainment industry. We love nothing more than watching new scare events rise, thrive, and find their audience. However, integrity has always been at the heart of what we do. When something doesn’t meet expectations, we believe in offering honest and constructive feedback to help teams grow and improve.

With that said, our recent visit to Halloween Haunt Fest 2025 sadly left us feeling very underwhelmed. It’s never easy to deliver a negative review, especially when the passion behind an event is undeniable, but honesty helps everyone move forward and in this case, Halloween Haunt Fest became a victim of its own marketing success.

A Victim of the Hype

Promoted as the best brand-new scare event the UK has ever seen, Halloween Haunt Fest created a huge buzz long before opening night. That early excitement set the bar sky-high, but the preview event unfortunately didn’t deliver on what was promised, and it wasn’t even close.

This isn’t some quick-cash, thrown-together attraction. The team behind Halloween Haunt Fest are clearly passionate, and we’re certain they were as disappointed by the outcome as many guests were. Passion alone, however, isn’t enough to carry an event of this scale, execution is everything, and this is where things began to unravel.

Confusion from the Start

From the outset, confusion reigned. Content creators were provided different levels of access, with some given standard entry and others VIP passes. Even within our small group, there was inconsistency.

We were told to attend the main entertainment tent for a filming briefing, but the opening speech, while exciting and well-delivered, never actually covered filming permissions. Nobody seemed entirely sure what was or wasn’t allowed, which only added to the uncertainty.

First Impressions and Venue Layout

Visually, the setup looked great for a first-time event. Maze tents surrounded a central chill-out area dressed with hay bales, pumpkins, and warm autumn lighting. Guests could roast marshmallows, enjoy street food, and relax under a canopy of colourful lights.

The main entertainment tent featured a bar and stage for live acts, but due to the delays and operational chaos of the evening, we didn’t have chance to see any performances. A number of advertised areas, such as additional bars, VIP areas and a walkthrough zone called “FestEVIL,” were also missing.

On a more positive note, the food options were excellent, with the standout being Dead Good Toasties, easily one of the highlights of the evening. Down at the far end, five fairground rides added a carnival atmosphere, their lights and music creating a fun contrast to the dark theme of the event.

And then there were the roaming scare actors which were undoubtably the true stars of the night. Their commitment, energy, and interaction with guests were incredible. They threw themselves into every encounter and absolutely deserve recognition for their hard work, especially given the circumstnaces of the evening.

Operational Chaos and Long Waits

Unfortunately, this is where the problems became impossible to ignore. The event was due to open its mazes at 6:30pm, yet only The Texas Chainsaw Massacre began operating on time. E.D.E.N. followed shortly after, but the remaining mazes didn’t open for hours.

We queued for Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey from 7:45pm, were told it was opening “in a minute,” and didn’t step inside until 8:50pm. During that time, we literally watched workmen outside the tent hammering down the maze exit flooring, occasionally pausing for cigarette breaks.

Meanwhile, The Hertfordshire Witch didn’t open until 10:20pm, just ten minutes before the event was due to close. By that point, guests had been waiting over four hours, and what must have been over a hundred people were rushed through the attraction in quick succession.

It’s difficult to put this any other way: operationally, the night was a disaster.

The Mazes

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

This maze showed promise but fell short of expectations. The set design included some impressive, movie-accurate props and great costumes, but the layout disrupted immersion. Guests were taken outside mid-maze, breaking the atmosphere completely, and during our first walkthrough the lights were so bright it felt clinical rather than terrifying.

Later in the evening, lighting improvements and added mist helped build a better atmosphere, but visible actor rat runs and missing performers reduced the overall impact. It felt more like walking through a live-action museum than a scare maze.

E.D.E.N.

Conceptually, E.D.E.N. should have been a sci-fi nightmare. A crashed spaceship filled with danger and chaos. Unfortunately, poor storytelling and inconsistent theming meant it never quite took off. The opening rooms hinted at a crash scenario, but little exposition made it hard to follow.

Some sets felt unfinished, and others simply didn’t fit. A mess hall featuring wooden school tables instead of anything remotely futuristic broke the illusion entirely, something a cheap tin of chrome spray paint could have fixed. The actors gave it everything, but the maze felt like a base structure waiting for its final dressing.

Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey

This was, unfortunately, the low point of the night. The maze simply wasn’t ready. As mentioned, it was still being physically built as guests waited outside. Inside, the opening scenes were decent, but it quickly devolved into empty corridors of MDF panels and tarpaulin sheets. Other sets were completely unfisnished with a hot tub scene being only partially built with a blue lamp places in an area obviously designed for a water mister which had yet to be installed. One specific scene with Pooh bear at the end of a coridoor with lights slickering up and down, was actually really good, but one good scene didn’t save a maze that was wildly under themed.

Several actors struggled with spacing, missed scares, or collided mid-scene, and the maze overall felt unfinished in both design and performance. The potential for a twisted parody was there, but it was clearly rushed to open.

The Hertfordshire Witch: The Trials of Jane Wenham

Finally, something worthy of praise. This maze was the saving grace of the evening. It was dark, atmospheric, and fully realized. The set design was detailed, the story clear, and the actors delivered convincing and chilling performances. It felt immersive and professional, and it gave us a glimpse of what the entire event could become.

Overall Verdict

It pains us to say this, but Halloween Haunt Fest 2025 was simply not ready to open. For paying customers, especially those spending over £30 for standard tickets or £75 for VIP the experience would have fell far short of value for money.

Operationally, the event was chaotic; communication was poor, and too much of the infrastructure and content were incomplete. A short postponement and further refinement could have saved the event’s debut, and I truly feel the event should have been cancelled for at least another week.

That said, there is potential buried (it’s burried deep but it is there) within the chaos. The team’s passion is clear, the venue has space and vision, and there were glimpses of greatness particularly in The Hertfordshire Witch and the dedication of the roaming actors.

We truly hope the team uses this experience as a learning curve and comes back stronger. With the right adjustments, Halloween Haunt Fest could still evolve into something special. But as it stands, we sadly can’t recommend it to paying guests, and we wouldn’t personally return in its current form.

That being said, we genuinely hope they prove us wrong because nothing would make us happier than to see this event rise from the ashes and become the success it deserves to be.