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They need to make money, but I agree! Universal needs to find a way to put he Horror back into Halloween "HORROR" Nights. More blood, more gore, more/better "in your face" type scares! Or we can just call it Halloween "Cha-Ching we Sold Out" Nights!

I had to comment, because very little of your examples are as innovative as you may believe. Flying actors are at least a decade old (Castle Vampyr). Forced perspective is nothing new, and is immaterial to an actual scare. Bungies have been used in HHN since at least 04 (and I've heard earlier). Last year's vortex in Dead End is the first time I can recall of them doing something unique with a vortex. I'm not sure what the balcony scene is (didn't go last year), but if its like the catwalk scene from Dead Silence or Interstellar Terror, than its been done. Tilted floors have been used in local haunts and fun houses for years. Year 2011 was the first year Universal did it. A waterfall was used in Maximum Carnage in 2002. Mirror effects have been used repeatedly for years. The final elf scare from Bloodengutz was identical to the Caretaker scare in 2002's Screamhouse. And the effectiveness of e-proms is arguable at best. I feel HHN relies too heavily on them, and creates a formulaic experience. Besides, and good Scareactor can be more terrifying without it. I visited a non-descript local haunt in Augusta, GA last year that had more innovation than I've really seen from Uni in a while. It had a vortex, tilting floors (multiple directions) with a lowering ceiling, a spiked wall that collapsed on you as you walked past, walls that shocked you if you touched them, and varying surfaces to walk on. It also had a creek, a schoolbus, scares from multiple levels and great performances. The performers didn't interact with us, because frankly we were too scared to let them. Creative local haunts will be more innovative than Universal because they HAVE to be. Universal is has become too popular to be really scary and innovative. It's the Chilli's of horror experiences; it gives people exactly what they want in an effective package. But if you want something spectacular, you have to look elsewhere.

TJ was at the show on Wednesday teaching a seminar, but he obviously didn't stay for when the floor opened on Thursday if he was at the entertainers' forum. From seeing pictures and POVs, from what I can tell, it looks like Hollywood deals with alot of outside vendors for some of their static props. I'm also pretty sure that the cost of a prop featured at Transworld wouldn't blow Universal's budget. Now, for those of you that are saying you want more "in your face", intense, innovative scares: I have to ask, what more do you want? I don't know how many of you follow the industry outside of Horror Nights, but Universal has been pushing the envelope in terms of scare tactics for a few years now. "In your face" scares cannot happen simply because of safety for the actors. The scares are always going to be quick and fast. There are haunts I've been to where the actors will stay in the room and interact more with guests, but those haunts use a grouper out front, so problems are much easier to handle. You can't have an actor hanging out in a room with guests packed in the "conga line". As for intense and innovative, Universal has both. They have the latest innovation of flying actors, scares that use your perspective (think distant cemetery), vortex tunnels (an old gag, but is still being improved every year), bungee actors, the most elaborate distractions (Gothic cathedral balcony, tilted walkway in Forsaken, "waterfall" in Saws n Steam), brilliant use of mirrors, and "theatrical scares", something you will rarely find outside of Horror Nights. A theatrical scare is when you will see an actor pop out with triggered lights and audio. Your local haunted attraction and theme park don't use this scare because of how expensive it can be and because they don't know how to use it. They also use your haunted house standard drop panels and boo doors, which I still find very startling. So in terms of innovation, Universal is still the leader. I agree that they should continue to always push the envelope, but to give the idea that they are behind is just silly.

I spoke with Rick after the first session (VERY nice guy, btw). We wanted to tell him how much we loved Horror Unearthed because he specifically mentioned it in the first session. I told him straight up that I believe that game had a direct influence on us flying back to FL for a second weekend of HHN last year. In the 8 years I've gone to HHN, it's always been a one time shot - one long weekend - because of travel costs and such. However, the game kept us so immersed in what was going on, and we enjoyed ourselves so much, we flew down for a second run. We plan on doing that again this year. Rick said, "Well, I can't get specific, but if you liked Horror Unearthed last year, you won't be disappointed this year." I could've jumped up and hugged him! I also directly asked, "So, I hear rumors all the time that you all read fan sites - like Horror Night Nightmares - do you really, or is that just bullshit hype?" He said, "We absolutely read that site. We know how important it is to keep our best fans happy." So yeah, they're reading. Btw, in the silent auction, I won the behind the scenes tour - which includes a lights on tour of ALL the houses WITH an A&D person. I am friggin BEYOND myself..

cool.. I picked up the Barbara Meetz costume. I wasn't expecting to bid on anything so I was happy

I'm always interested by the requests for a "scarier" event. All the requests ask for visual stimuli or more aggressive scareactors. The one thing that isn't ask for, or at least I haven't seen it, is better sound. Sound? One might ask. The most terrifying house I've been in was Dead Exposure. I became more and more apprehensive of it as I approached the house. The facade didn't cause my apprehension and fear to start. It was the sound. Not the music being played in the queue, but the sounds of the house. A low level hum. Barely audible. Almost like wind or white noise , but it vibrated in your bones. And with each step, it sent waves of discord. It felt off. Out of sync. Sound plays a large role in human perception. Major chord = happy. Minor chord = sad. Augmented can place us on edge. For everyone who went through Catacombs, close your eyes and think about that house. What do you hear? How excited were you the first time you heard the siren from SH last year? I think sound plays a key role in our experience. I've also sensed a lack in the sounds the past couple of years. They seemed less refined for me. There is either too much or too little or they seem very cliche. A perfect house would be a well balanced assault on all our senses. Well except for taste. No tasting the houses.

Please i need help, i need the games from the houses from 2010!

I don't know if anyone cataloged them, but someone might have. The only two I remember were Psychoscarepy and Dogs of War. Psychoscarepy was a choose your own ending kind of ordeal. At one moment in the game you were hiding in the bathroom. Someone was coming down the hallway and so you had the option to wait and see if the person came in, or hide in the bathtub full of blood. I think the right choice was to wait and not go in the tub (I think the person was the security guard, but I could be wrong on that one). The Dogs of War one was like a survey. It asked you info about yourself (weight and things like that). It was essentially filling out your form to become a dog of war. That's all I really remember. Sorry. I hope someone cataloged them. *crosses fingers* Here's a picture I took of the sign for the text game when I was queuing for Psychoscarepy way back when. Oh, and when I went to get this photo, I found that I actually took more. If I remember anything from the Catacombs one, it's that it had a lot, or at least a little to do with claustrophobia...go figure haha. I also vaguely remember the Legendary Truth one now... Oh and if you're gonna try to text the numbers to see if they still work, they don't. This past summer while waiting for HHN 22, I was bored and tried it...but it didn't work. Well until someone sheds more light on the games, I hope this will tide you over...but probably not...my memories are pretty lackluster at this point. Oh and tell me to "save it for the wishful thinking thread," but I want these to return. I had fun doing these. Approved for 23!

Catacombs with a few of those crouch tunnels from House of Horrors in a multiple path set-up would be pretty nice.

One of the overall things they did talk about is the challenges they face.. Each designer from every field has faced challenges... One of the challenges for HHN designers is the person who signs the checks...

The event had sold out multiple nights last year. The fan base is massive.... even if it is not the rabid fans like us, they have a huge fan base. TBH HOS doesn't come close and it is the closest thing to HNN (at least in the central FL area). I'd like to go to Nether World and some other haunts around but they are: a.) too far for me to travel in September and October. b.) Usually one or two houses. Of course with the wife being 7 months pregnant come this September.... I'll be lucky to go to HHN :/

CATACOMBS: QUARANTINE