Jinxed is a carnival-themed maze where the clowns have come out to play. You’ll step into the circus tent before following through multiple scenes of chaos and destruction. The actors inside are ready to pounce from the moment you go in, and the experience actually starts from the outside, with the batching characters doing a great job getting you ready. They have many hiding places to facilitate great jump scares, leading you through creepy hallways where they wait for you to pass. The concept of Jinxed is something we have seen a fair amount of times, as clowns and circuses are very popular when it comes to Halloween, so there is nothing unusual here. That said, we had a lot of fun inside Jinxed, with many moments having us laughing and in awe of the set design, before being brought back to reality with the scares!

BLACKMARKET: Killstream is the most extreme maze here at Thornton Hall SCREAMS. This is the second incarnation of the maze, with the new overlay “Killstream,” which takes you into a livestream where the public are bidding on you and the horrors you should face. While we have seen similar themes of livestreams and being “sold,” this has been done in a way where the concept is consistently reminded to you. Inside, you have to keep talking to the characters and face the punishments they give. How they have changed the attraction from last year makes it very different, with a more structured approach to the story and how you move around inside. The audio and lighting have massively improved; however, we still marked it as one of the weaker features in this attraction. Despite this, it was one of our top-rated mazes, so the effects are still noticeable and effective. How the actors are utilized inside BLACKMARKET is clever and effective; just when you feel like you are walking around aimlessly, they come out of nowhere and put you into set side stories. They have such a way of moving around—you have no idea when you will next find one of the black-masked characters, or even worse, the butcher!