Mike Murder Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Harvest was a really badass maze. Very long. I worked in it and it still boggled my mind how they fit it all in there. The upper level seats were still in the theater - the maze occupied the area where the lower seats are now and most of the stage area. The front was themed like a masoleum with a big hole in the wall. You entered through the hole and the maze began in the rotting crypt, then continued "underneath" a graveyard where the Vypex were harvesting the bodies to incubate their young (hence the name Harvest). You traveled deeper undergroud into the egg chamber (home of the infamous giant Vypex vagina puppet) and there were some really nasty chest-bursting gags. THe maze continued into the sewer system and up through a construction site where the Vypex were feeding on city workers and had grown to monsterous size! The big finale was a HUGE Vypex puppet that came ripping out of a tunnel trying to eat you! As I said before it was had lots of allusions to Alien (the baby Vypex were similar to face huggers) but it had a creepy zombie feel to it as well since the corpses that incubated the alien spawn became animate. It was a really fun and scary original maze concept that evidently came to Clive in a nightmare (that's what he told us). It used almost every conceivable gag that a maze has to offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauntfan Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 ^Wow! Didn't realize there was that much story involved in the maze. I saw the video in the Monster Maker DVD and it looked insane. I really wish we get a maze like that in the future! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 I too saw the house on the DVD that I have. If only we had another house with that much story in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauntfan Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 ^The only way we will is if we get more original mazes. Alice this year might have a real story. Vampyre: Castle of the Undead has an intricate story, as it was originally planned for Shrek, John said in a podcast he'd want to revisit the original design for Vampyre one day. Hopefully we'll see it as that is the only maze that really tried to have a story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Murder Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Agreed! The beauty of Harvest is that it had a pretty intricate backstory and a logical flow that presented the story elements simply but effectively, building slowly in intensity to an impressive finale. I feel like many of the modern mazes lack the BIG finish that was so satisfying in Harvest (WTMN and La Llorona have come closest I suppose). Clive himself said that the most important element of maze design (to him) was building a feeling of dread - in Harvest the monsters start out as just an idea, lurking inside the corpses; we then see eggs and hatchlings, increasing the terror, the thousands of swarming "babies" in the sewer section give us the impression that the menace is growing and getting out of control and then BOOM! The monsters breach the surface and grow to a huge maneating size! Truly great maze design/storytelling. I think it would be a great great thing to get Mr. Barker involved in HHN again (if he is even interested). His ownership over his creation and dedication to the event was truly amazing. As I have said, he went through the maze every night, gave us all pep-talks most nights and even sometimes gave us detailed notes on how we could scare guests (or as he put it, victims) and perform our characters more effectively. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hauntfan Posted August 1, 2012 Share Posted August 1, 2012 ^I truly wish Clive Barker designed another maze for HHN with John Murdy and Chris Williams, it would be insane considering how much better technology is now, and set design, costumes and masks, it would be insane to see it in today's event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Murder Posted August 1, 2012 Author Share Posted August 1, 2012 Fully agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rotting Corpse Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I remember this maze, I went to it back in 2000. I remember it being awesome and very intense and frightening. The creature and set designs were great. I wish they'd bring this maze back. Does anyone have any pictures or video footage of this maze or the props? I've been looking forever for them, especially of the Vypex creatures. I remember it had a cool design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightmarz Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 what did the vypex look like ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soul Ripper Posted October 5, 2021 Share Posted October 5, 2021 I want to see the video of Clive Barker's Harvest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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