It's visiting time at the jail ... but Ash Hell Penitentiary's inmates are in the middle of a full scale riot...
It's visiting time at the jail ... but Ash Hell Penitentiary's inmates are in the middle of a full scale riot...
| Theme Park | Xtreme Scream Park |
|---|---|
| Type | Scare Maze |
| Audience | Thrillseekers |
| Opened | 2015 |
The entrance to Ash Hell Penitentiary
Ash Hell Penitentiary takes visitors to Xtreme Scream into the heart of a dangerous prison and up close to the crazed inmates, in what at times touches the boundary between standard horror maze and extreme scare attraction.
The maze begins with visitors walking down several empty stone walled passageways and through some of the prison's plant rooms and maintenance areas. Eventually maze-goers find themselves ducking down, then almost crawling, as they go through a claustrophobic narrow passageway before emerging inside the main cell block. Shocked, they realise exactly what prison visiting hours really meant: they've broken their way right into the cells and are about to come face-to-face with some of the world's most dangerous and frightening prisoners in the midst of a full scale riot.
The second half of Ash Hell Penitentiary is Xtreme Scream's most intense unrelenting scare experience. Visitors are driven forward through cell after cell, many populated with intimidating inmates out to "assault" the fresh meat on offer. Not that it is easy to escape the grabbing hands (playfully suggestive rather than actually inappropriate, with actors careful to stay professional and never stay too far) as the flickering lights keep going completely out, plunging everything into darkness and making it impossible to move forward.
Like many of Xtreme Scream's attractions, Ash Hell Penitentiary is at the top of the scare maze league. This is no temporary plywood maze at a family theme park. Everything is designed to make visitors feel as though they are in the middle of a terrifying prison riot in a real jail complete with solid stone walls and real metal bars. Actors are on form throughout and play their parts really well, ensuring an extreme experience and constant unrelenting fear-filled tension and terror.
Ash Hell Penitentiary
The entrance to the maze is off the central hub
Scare maze entrance
Information sign
Ash Hell Penitentiary queueline
A prisoner on the catwalk above the queueline
The entrance to the jail
Visitors enter the maze beneath the prison watch tower
Prisoners on the catwalk shout abuse at visitors in the queue
Picked on by a prisoner
The prison warden appears at the entrance
Prison warden inspecting the visitors
Even the warden is intimidating
Preparing to enter Ash Hell Penitentiary
