Mae

I liked the damp dirt smell from The Hallow. The Psychoscarepy smell was nearly torture. Mae

I love speculating! I love the way-out ideas! I live for the insanity! What is up with all the grumpy? I got grumpy one time and my post was deleted ASAP. Where's a moderator? I cry foul! Uh... I really just jumped in here to tell you how cool I thought your sig pic is; JW and you should work together sometime. Mae ps...Maybe it is a reunion...but the scariest of all...it will be at WDW!!!

See, I didn't have a problem with that at all, and both times I took the tour before I saw the houses. Unless you're looking for the scares ahead of time they usually provide enough distraction to keep you hopping. The only disappointment I can remember about last year's tour was finding out how cool the end scene in Wolfman was meant to be; I never once caught it when the house was 'on'. M

Our tour last year was on the first Saturday, but they have offered them on the first day of the event before. I went on the first tour of the first day of HHN in 2007. I really enjoyed that one, as we got to see a lot of things before they were vandalized by other guests. M

OMG HE'S TERRIFYING! I will never scoff at Freddy or any version of him. I loved the 2007 house and would be happy as Hades to have him back! Spectres and shades and ghosts are all pretty much the same thing. Is this the house with the 'army of Hades'? Or is that 23? Either way, the dead folks that do not cross the river Styx are referred to as all three names. They sort of wander around, lost and aimless. They are more sad than scary, but I suppose if they all got mad at one time things could get ugly. Course, if I have the wrong soundstage, all of that is moot. Mae

So, according to the Construction thread there is a swing set hanging around the facade for the Disaster house. This brings two things to mind, for me at least: The best and most brilliant scarezone ever, The Skoolhouse, had a swing set in its 'yard'. Nightmare on Elm Street (the original) used the image of children playing while they recited the rhyme "One, Two, Freddy's coming for you..." Gimme some speculation; I got nothin'. Mae

I never had any desire to drink at HHN. I've had a total of 7 drinks in my entire HHN history, and I could name them if you wanted me to. I grew up with teetotalers for grandparents and a mom who doesn't like to lose control of herself. There was never any sort of liquor around, which of course means that I would drink anything and everything I could get my hands on by the time I was seventeen. I used to have a great tolerence for liquor (not beer..blech) and wine. All that was before kids, however. These days I'm a sober lady who occasionally has a specialty drink. With all that being said, I have absolutely NO patience with drunkeness. Even amongst my friends. I've been known to separate from my group and wander around alone in order to get away from such behavior. I personally believe that it is a ridiculous waste of time and money to stop every half-hour or so for another beer/drink. As hot as it is down here, even in October, alchohol is the frosty beverage farthest from my mind! Mae

That would be fun, sort of a gory 'hidden mickey'. And I like the artist bringing his work to life idea. It's a classic theme, starting in (guess where?) ancient Greece with Pygmalion. If done right it could be very creepy. I personally hate statues with multi-demensional carved eyes/eyeballs and they freak me out anywhere I see them. Mae

That would be amusing on so many levels! Doesn't Emeril have a restaurant called 'Tchop Shop' on City Walk? M

That is a very good idea and one that keeps in line with Universal's sense of humor. I can totally see this being an option! Mae

The latern seek-n-find is fun, even if it turns out to be silly! The bit that was labeled 'Jack' looks more like a flashlight to me. I would have to go with that being Julian's 'icon'. Mae ps, pic from the updated artile from DestinationThemeParks.

Just looking at your art makes me wonder why in Hades hasn't A&D asked you to work for them!!! Your art is simply amazing. I have a tan and athletic daughter that does not look crazy or spooky in any way. That's what throws people off when she talks about zombies and picks up spiders and lizards to play with outside. As much as I love your work, I think the 'Bad Seed' sort of Cindy would be scarier. Mae

OMG! IT'S A PERRY COMO HOUSE!!! RUN! RUN! RUN! Seriously, don't sing that song. If it winds up being the soundtrack for the house, I may cry. Mae

Nice job there, Dr J! Speaking of Athens, OH, has anyone ever read up on the supernatural and occult happenings in Athens? I think THAT may be the most horror relevant city in Ohio! Here's a link to some info! Athens, OH Mae

Will there be a list telling us non-scareactors where to expect to see our fellow Nightmares? I imagine it wouldn't come up until closer to time for the event to start, but I do like having an idea of whom shall be making me scream. Mae

Trick or treat wasn't necessarily a con...more like extortion! Any reason to bring back the Skoolhouse would work for me. Mae

So, does that mean that Carey is on a Hellmouth? The last Buffy episode had Giles mentioning that there was one in Cleveland... Mae

The Illuminati, Freemasons, Skull and Bones...there are a lot of them centered on college campuses. Mae

I thouhgt of Zep, too. Which, now you mention it, makes me think of Alastair Crowley, which then led me to this thought: Don't secret societies often use both lantern and mythological symbolism? They are also big on Greek and Latin and have been accused of harboring dark secrets... Mae

That's what I was thinking, but what came to my mind was the grandmother in Scary Tales 3. A scare hiding in the sheets! One random thought here: I would love to see the lantern as a souvenir this year. With those little LED tea lights it would make a great decoration. Mae

Yes, but there have been movie houses used heavily throughout the event's history. The second year ever had a house based on a low-profit horror movie (People Under the Stairs) by a has-been director (check out reviews from that time period - people thought Wes Craven was over) and it was a HUGE hit. Now that the movie has a cult following it barely raises an eyebrow. The classic Universal monsters have been used repeatedly, as was the re-working of The Mummy. How many times did we see Norman Bates? Even years the did not have blatant movie advertisement were still heavily influenced by characters, events, and locations seen in movies. Movie based houses are by far the rule, not the exception.

Then I said: That could be a very nice touch; if they do this I hope it's more elaborate than the area in 2006. The banners were neat, but you'd think that if there were going to be fanfare about past events it would be a little more...I don't know, grandiose? I don't know what they could do, other than represent any previous characters in sort of 'mini-zones' (i.e., by year or by house theme) that would culminate in the new, via some sort of gateway. While visualizing this I came up with Norman, The Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and the Phantom could all be presented by Julian. Then Jack could have a clown/midway mini-zone, Albert and Cindy could share the Skool/Skoolkids and the Gentlemen, and then the 'other' vampires from Castle Vampyr, Blood Masquerade, and Vampyr:Bloodbath could have a spot. Mary, the Terra Queen, and Elsa can have the Scary Tales gang and a myriad of zombies. (Actually, Mary/Terra Queen/Elsa and Albert/Cindy could both use the Skool/Skoolkids and the Scary Tales gang interchangeably...)They could be the length of the sidewalk between 2 light posts, maybe skipping one in between, and decorated with their own 'look'. Oh, I'm just dreaming out loud. I couldn't figure out how to incorporate 'con-artists' in Mel's, anyway. The only thing I could come up with is that could be Jack's zone and he has lots of carneys (who are pretty much low-ranking con-artists, in the long run). Feel free to take it apart. Mae