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So it's almost Halloween and I wanted to post some final thoughts before my last night in attendance. This year has had some of my favorite houses ever. Surprisingly for the first time ever my list really didn't change from most anticipated to what turned out to be my favorite. The only exception was Nightingales briefly, but what a comeback they had! A couple of people have commented that this year seems 'weird' or 'off'. I think a better term for this year would be experimental. There are some amazing houses that really clicked with what I wanted from the event. In addition US, Ghostbusters and Killer Klowns were amazing film-to-house adaptions. In my personal opinion an issue some of the fans had with these houses were not with their quality but their scare factor - that's not anyone but the IPs fault if that was an issue. Quite frankly Ghostbusters, US and Killer Klowns are not scary films - especially when compared to IP houses such as Halloween or Poltergeist which achieved being the best adaptation and one of if not the scariest houses in their respective years. I now understand one of the reasons why we've gotten Halloween 4 times over the past few years. Michael Myers is scary and the character works regardless of the quality of the film it's based off of. One of the reasons the originals ended up being so much scarier than other houses is the same reason Nightingales went from a rough house to a worthy sequel. The actors could find their groove and intensity to develop an already scary creature and environment into frightening experience. No matter how good a Ghostbuster is at filling his role, he will simply never get scarier. Ghostbusters (and Stranger Things last year) are some of the best theme park attractions Florida has seen in years but are only decent Haunted Houses. A final note on the issue of IPs: Us is so different and ridiculously good at the end of the night/ when it's empty. The scare actors are incredibly creepy and its unlike anything I've seen at HHN. With all of the above said, adaptation preference is simply that - a preference on what elements the event has. The REAL issue this year was the scare-zones. This is where the experimental issues were the most present. It's like every different zone had different testing elements. I do truly feel that they're trying to figure out how to proceed with scare zones now and into the future. I expect them to eventually hit the mark, after all, HNN does this event better than anyone else. I still don't like a single thing about Vanity Ball though (and I really don't like saying anything like that about a part of the event. I know A&D and the actors work very had to make the event so fun). I had a great time so far this year and can't wait to go back for a final trip. I loved hearing everyone's experiences and stories and I appreciate all those who post who keep me coming back to this forum. Happy Halloween everyone! Make sure to follow all the rules and avoid a visit from Sam because it's almost speculation season again!

Cool review. Late is better than never! I especially liked the reviews for the IP houses where you had not seen the movie. Happy Death Day and to some extent Trick R Treat at least to me seem like houses that wold be very confusing if one had not seen the movie. It says a lot about A&D that you enjoyed the houses despite not necessarily knowing the plot. Scary Tales was the house that had the witch flying overhead at the facade, Wizard of Oz, Hansel & Gretel, The Three Pigs, Red Riding Hood, Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, Rapunzel, and Little Mermaid.

It's been four years since I logged on to this site. I'm returning to HHN on Sunday for my third HHN experience (my first being in 2015 and my second being in 2018). I realized I posted a review for 2015, but I didn't post one last year for 2018, so I figured since I enjoyed 2018's event marginally more than 2015's, I should do an extremely late review. I did rank the houses the night after I went last year, and this is based on that. 10. The Horrors of Blumhouse. I remember enjoying the Happy Death Day section of the house a great deal, even though I never saw this movie. I haven't seen The Purge either, but I'm more familiar with that concept, and I don't think it was as bad as 2015's Purge house, but I'm glad The Purge isn't returning for 2019. Grade: B- 9. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero. This is a house that I wish I could've gotten a behind the scenes tour of because I could tell it was extremely detailed. I also love how much care they took in the backstory, as they do with all their best houses. However, with the flashing lights and constant darkness, I couldn't absorb the scenery. It did make up for that in scares, however. Grade: B 8. Stranger Things. I'll admit, I'm not the biggest Stranger Things fan either. I liked season one a lot (which is what this house was based on), but seasons two and three... that's a different story. This was the first house I did the night I went (boy, what a mistake that was. Even with fast pass). As for the house itself, it was extremely scenic. It was kind of strange that they didn't combine seasons one and two, like they're doing seasons two and three this year, considering season two had already been out for a year when this house came out. I'm more worried about 2019's house. I hear it's not as good as 2018's, and I only liked 2018's just fine. Grade: B 7. Poltergeist. From what I can tell, this is generally considered to be the best house of the event. I'm not the biggest fan of the movie, but I remember the house was perfectly fine, I just like the other houses more. Definitely one of the scarier houses. Grade: B 6. Halloween 4. I don't think I've ever seen Halloween 4 in particular, but I'm pretty sure I saw the original Halloween, so I wasn't particularly lost during this house. For a house in the Shrek theater, it was far more enjoyable than 2015's Asylum in Wonderland. Grade: B+ 5. Scary Tales. In all honesty, I can't remember a damn thing about this house. The perils of writing a review more than a year after I did the event. I only did the house once. I think I remember something about Hansel and Gretel? This must have been a good house, because I had this fifth in my ranking when I ranked them the day after. But I like giving advantages to the original idea houses. So more Scary Tales! Grade: B+? 4. Slaughter Sinema. This is where the houses take a huge uptick in quality. I had the fast pass and decided to wait in the regular line just so I could do the house again later in the night. So I ended up having the longest wait time with this house at nearly 40 minutes. I adore the idea they had of going into a different B-movie with a poster alluding to what you're about to enter. Genius idea. Grade: A 3. Trick 'R Treat. I didn't see the movie prior to doing the house, but I did watch it a few days after. I loved the movie, and I loved the house even though I didn't see the movie. It's such a wonderfully halloween house, going through a neighborhood with pumpkins everywhere and all that. This house perhaps had my favorite set decor of all the houses. Grade: A 2. Carnival Graveyard. I think I did this house twice? Maybe once. But I loved it and thought it competed admirably with my number one. I love carnivals around halloween, and doing a spooky metal circus a la Carnival of Carnage was a great choice. Probably the scariest house of the event. Grade: A 1. Seeds of Extinction. Not a whole lot of praise for this house, which is shocking. I loved it. It's the only house in the history of HHN that I got to do more than twice. Four times! And two of those times were in a row when the park was nearly closing. Maybe it was just because I absorbed more detail and absorbed the surroundings enough, but I adored the backstory and the incredible amount of detail they applied to the settings. The airplane above surprised me every time. The titled walkway was great. The costumes were creative, unique, and blended beautifully with the surroundings. I have a feeling that Depths of Fear for 2019 will be the most similar to this house, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for that one. Grade: A+

I asked during my UTH tour and the answer was a definitive YES. You die at the end. They worked very hard to make that black hallway soundproof, so the only things you heard were the whispers of the dead calling to you. I don't think that's a spoiler for anyone. This house is right up there with Poltergeist as GOAT. So funny, because I didn't expect either to be all that good before I went in. Usually I go through houses with a big grin on my face. But for these, my mouth was hanging open from start to finish. Was so blown away by the visuals and storytelling. After that, the big stupid grin appeared every walkthru.

When the announcement video came out for this house was so intrigued how different our house would be from Hollywood's and then seeing the t-shirt design of the monsters definitely added to that idea until I got into this house, I was truly expecting a definitely big house, this house truly proved that, the transitional scenes were truly awesome, my friend scene in this house had to be the mirror room from The Phantom Of The Opera, I always loved every monster but Phantom was definitely on my anticipation list whenever Universal mentioned Monsters returning to the event in some capacity, this house is beautiful and definitely amust to experience once every time you go.

I'm not really sure it's good question to ask during the Unmasking The Horror tour or something, I thought it was definitely cool and eerie that you find what happens to Sid and Nancy after you exit the Kids in the Cemetery, I really wished they had also made that queue video outside the house and actual announcement video because I'd really would love to see what everything says on and the videos of Sid and Nancy fooling around the graveyard, all I remember was reading that the graveyard is called The Ascension something Graveyard and some of the "tweets" were about some of the apparitions and stuff that run into in the house.

Last night, the crew were definitely on fire, got me really good especially in the end, its all about getting a good run in the house and if it's too crowded, it does take away from the house what you want to happen.

I've been a lurker on here for a long time and decided to finally sign up. I've been attending HHN for 16 years and slowly I have recruited friends to come along. I will say this year is DEFINITELY off in terms of anticipation for me. I've seen posts on here stating the same thing and people speculating as to why - I really do think Universal realizes how much they make off the event regardless so they have slacked off in areas. I remember back in the day, just the HHN website by itself would get me hyped - They had a great graphics department, the sites were interactive (Flash Days) and it felt like there was so much more build-up. I definitely saw more commercials and billboards. As many have mentioned, the use of so many IP's has "dumbed it down". While I have no complaints about crowd levels because I do the RIP tour - the longest line was around 200 mins for Stranger Things and about 120 mins for US on 10/12 - in 2018 Stranger Things was posting 300-400 min waits and Poltergeist was around 180 when we went. Our guide said that this was the busiest night so far this year for HHN. The past (2) years our group has done the Non-Private RIP tour which is 10000x worth the price (About $150 more than doing ticket + express with an AP), just for the fact that you do not have to wait in any lines, ANY! With that being said, there are definitely some improvements that can be done even for the RIP Tours. Pros: - Our guide this year, Brittany, was awesome - very passionate about HHN - Front of the line, no waiting - Cafe La Bamba for us was not crowded (8pm tour) and this year there were 4 different scareactors who were very interactive with everyone. Last year, I only remember seeing 1-2 - Free bottled water which saves you about $5 for each one you drink (will also be a con) - The added stop at Fallon's rooftop lounge was great - They got rid of AOV during the tour, but you can still go through a priority entrance after the tour if you want - We made a stop at Cafe La Bambe after the tour so we could get some snacks and rest for a little. Last year we only met here and never went back so it was a nice change Cons: - Let the RIP guests in the park before general admission, even if it's only a few minutes - Bottled water should be free during the entire private tour - I don't drink soda, but a few members in our group do, so at least include it at Cafe La Bamba - If the bar is private and the intentions are so that we do not have to stand in lines and wait, have them staffed a little better - While there is no way for universal to control crowds, this year and last year were irritating keeping up with the tour guide while everyone pushed in front of you in congested scare zones separating the group - More time in scare zones!!! I understand there is a schedule to keep, but extend the tour by 45 mins and give us 10ish minutes in each scare zone to take photos - Some might say you can do this after, but if I am already walking through the zones - it would just make more sense. On a side note, I also think there should be security in areas where the tours pass through. There were instances where we cut through a line so they would drop the ropes and a member of the staff would stop the line. People were getting angry and saying some crazy things - arguing with the guide etc. Nothing happened, but I could see something quickly escalating. Last year people were boo'ing us while we walked up to stranger things and while we found it funny - drunk people do not think logically. With all of that being said, our group will be back and we will continue doing the RIP - if raising prices means a better experience, I'd gladly pay more - just show me the value for my dollar.

While it doesn't warrant an entire review, this year's HHN felt off to me. It's now fully commercialized and only a couple of the houses go for real scares. There was a sameness to the houses and I didn't get that same level of excitement as I have in the past. The private RIP was fine for speed, but Uni screwed me on my guide. I had been with the same guide for years and they bait/switched me at the last minute with someone new. He was a total dud. His energy was off the whole night and it killed the event for me. It felt like $3500 somewhat wasted. Moreso, when you're charging those rates, the experience suffers when you cram a ton of people into La Bamba. It felt like a Walmart. Bottom line, they're making so much money off this event that it's clear they don't really care about improvements. Perhaps it's time for me to put that cash elsewhere and just retire future HHNs to better past memories.

Glass half empty: HHN 29 is half over Glass half full: HHN 30 is only 333 days away!