YourPallbearer

How does one determine which cast is which? You guys must know the schedule, correct?

I fantasized about the same thing that year. Would have been 100x better than the lame CHUCKY, SAW and SPAWNING houses. Wasn't a fan of LEAVE IT TO CLEAVER either.

Anybody remember the finale for the Mary Shaw house? I seem to recall my group being closed off from the rest of the line when Shaw and her doppelganger appear from various parts of the room. Can anybody clarify this?

"The Cooper maze WHEN up in my estimation" Jeez, I gotta start proof reading my stuff on here. Yeah, TWD has proved, to me at least, that it's the exact opposite of the Cooper house in that regard. It gets worse every time.

I'm sure the fence area that closes the house could be a lot better than it actually is (Wesker has an account of a good run through in that portion) but on my second and last visit to the house it was the main culprit as to why the house sucks for me. The two actors behind the fence just stared at me as I walked past.

Second favorite scarezone of this year but its placement was problematic. Too close to the entrance, which is a great idea as the guests cannot by-pass it, which is troubling because you'll more than likely go through it during the daylight when it doesn't have any impact. Also, if you want to visit it after nightfall you'll have venture back to the entrance to appreciate it, and who wants to do that?

I disagree. Two of my favorite scarezones were set in that location. THE COVEN being one of them (best of that year I reckon) and AMERICAN GOTHIC which I sadly didn't spend nearly as much time at as I did in THE COVEN. The WW II Zombie theme for 2009 I wasn't as keen on (too bright and the scareactors were too busy acting out their parts to mingle or spook the guests) but it was a neat idea. 2011's NIGHTMAZE was derided by many but I thought it was one of HHN's most intriguing attempts at a scare zone. I liked it. With the recent construction of TRANSFORMERS, or whatever is being built in that area, I hope it doesn't effect SHREK ALLEY's scare zone potential all that much. Oh, and on a vaguely on topic note... anybody ever hear of the late 60's band COVEN? Their initial album WITCHCRAFT DESTROYS MINDS AND REAPS SOULS is awesome. Truly the first outwardly satanic band. Even before BLACK SABBATH pretended to be one. Too bad this obscure band's later stuff wasn't nearly as dark. The whole album is awesome but here are my favorite tunes.

Must be the baby in sailor outfit ghost as I don't recall any other rooms after the bedroom turned on its side.

Wow, I didn't even hear "Nothing's Free" in there at all the 4 times I've been through the house. Maybe It's because I'm a bit unfamiliar with anything post-DaDa (1983).

I did say it was minute. Still bothersome. Again, I'm very short. The monsters mentioned are over 6 feet tall. If I'm taller than them it's a bit disconcerting.

Carnage, will you be swearing off these constantly rotating songs for the rest of your life?

Came on to say that the utilization of the vortex in DEAD END is perhaps the best use of it ever during my years at the event. Every time I saw it in previous years it seemed so out of place; a sleazy carnival inclusion in a top notch/state of the art amusement park. And while I have nothing against sleazy carnival amusements, they don't belong in HHN. Unless they theme a house to be just that. Also, anyway I can get the back story on each of the "haunts" in DEAD END. Tried searching on youtube for the daytime tour but alas, couldn't find anything.

You got royally screwed considering the regular line for Cooper fluctuated between 10 to 20 minutes throughout the night. Express Pass was a waste last night (Friday the 12th) I thought. Got every house done by 7:30pm (and SILENT HILL twice) without it. It's a question of getting their early and having the employees let you in a half hour before the event is supposed to start if you're lucky. Last night the event was supposed to begin at 6:30. I was let in by 6:05. The park did become rather crowded by around 9 but it wasn't unbearable. Got to hit HOUSE OF HORRORS, DEAD END and GOTHIC a second time (and COOPER 3 times before the closing of the park and my group sat around and did nothing for about 90 minutes in between all that.

Must have missed it initially.

After a recent double run through on HOUSE OF HORRORS I'm going to have to raise my rating up by one point (now a 8/10). Didn't notice the "Frankenstein Monster rampage" upon my initial visit (was it there in late September?) and the two (three?) Wolfmen really learned how to utilize their scene. Also, I never noticed the Dracula mannequin above the scareactor Dracula. Nice touch. A minute objection are some of the heights of the scareactors. Bela Lugosi was over 6 feet tall and Karloff was nearing that height. Why did I tower over Dracula and The Mummy? I'm only 5'7". A big objection are the obnoxious Universal Delegates who usher you in and out of scenes. One woman was already screaming at me to exit the Frankenstein room immediately upon entering it. I just ignored her.

My recent run through of THE WALKING DEAD surprised me in negative way. It somehow managed to be a more flaccid experience than before. it's been nearly a month working the house and the actors still aren't aggressive enough to make that house as intense as it should be to make up for the ho-hum material. Shambling and stare downs isn't going to cut it. I would have gladly by-passed this house in the first place but was with a large group who love the show and wouldn't ya know it(?), they ended up really hating the attraction. The popularity of both this attraction and the show elude me.

The Cooper maze went up in my estimation. It seems that it's a house that gets better the more times you run through it. Not sure if that is due to the fact that I know what to expect and can't be disappointed again or that it is genuinely rewarding on multiple visits but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Noticed a bit of a story among the incoherence (again, not an issue for me as it is supposed to be the fever dream of a killer), Steven seeking retaliation from all the abusive figures in his life, but I can't fathom a Jock yelling out "I wish you were never born". Seems like something an abusive parent would say. Also, what does the kitchen Steven say?

Just got back from my visit on Friday night. Went through every house by 7:30pm It became rather crowded soon after but we managed to do HOUSE OF HORRORS, ALICE COOPER, GOTHIC and DEAD END multiple times after that. The Cooper maze went up in my estimation. It seems that it's a house that gets better the more times you run through it. Not sure if that is due to the fact that I know what to expect and can't be disappointed again or that it is genuinely rewarding on multiple visits but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. Noticed a bit of a story among the incoherence (again, not an issue for me as it is supposed to be the fever dream of a killer), Steven seeking retaliation from all the abusive figures in his life, but I can't fathom a Jock yelling out "I wish you were never born". Seems like something an abusive parent would say. WALKING DEAD surprised me in negative way. It somehow managed to be a more flaccid experience than before. it's been nearly a month working the house and the actors still aren't aggressive enough to make that house as intense as it should be to make up for the ho-hum material. Shambling isn't going to cut it. I would have gladly by-passed this house in the first place but was with a large group who love the show and wouldn't ya know it(?), they ended up really hating the attraction. The biggest improvement of this visit was HOUSE OF HORROR. Going to have to raise my rating up on that one by one point (now 8/10). Didn't notice the Frankenstein Monster rampage upon my initial visit (was it there in late September?) and the two (three?) Wolfmen really learned how to utilize their scene. Also, I never noticed the Dracula mannequin above the scareactors Dracula. Nice touch. A minute objection are some of the heights of the scareactors. Bela Lugosi was over 6 feet tall and Karloff was nearing that height. Why did I tower over both Dracula and The Mummy? I'm only 5'7".

Not a new idea. I've read reports of these phenomena that are normally given he name "Tulpa". I suppose the human mind is capable of anything but if we are able to manifest our beliefs into reality then wouldn't we see Santa Claus every 25th of December? Millions of children believe in his existence. The horror/science fiction author Thomas Ligotti had a short story dealing with Tulpas titled PURITY. Not the greatest of sources but good for a general idea... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulpa The story of DEAD END, though neat, is irrelevant to me as it isn't conveyed in the house. The experience Just feels like a hodgepodge of spirits infesting a house.

I normally only go once to the event so I hit all the houses as quickly as possible with no time for the shows which never interest me anyway. I like the inclusion of shows as they are massive people eaters but DEATH DRUMS was an intrusion on the streets and made for hellish blocks in traffic. I hope they never do that ever again unless they bring back the festival of the dead parade. I really wished they had situated DEATH DRUMS in the Beetlejuice auditorium like they did ROCKY HORROR in the past. I like magic so I caught a bit of 20 PENNY CIRCUS on youtube tonight but I couldn't get into it. The tricks were pretty generic or convoluted to the point of being uninteresting (the nail gun trick) and none of the jokes landed. Too hip for me. One of the reasons why I never bother with Bill and Ted. You have to keep up with current humor and internet phenomenons to get the gags.

I'm not going to bash the content of DEATH DRUMS but it caused major traffic problems. I had to maneuver through people for at least 10 minutes just to get from central park to Mel's Diner. Not fun.

For next year I don't see why they don't allow scareactors to leave their respective zones as far as they like. Wouldn't be much different from what we're experiencing now.

I couldn't get behind this bit. Had the whole room been a lead up to a proper Black Widow room (just like DEVIL'S FOOD was to THE BLACK WIDOW on the album) then maybe I would have found it acceptable but as it stands it really just left me cold. Also, "The Black Widow" on the album is actually referred to as a male for some reason, despite the fact that the male counter part of one of the deadliest spiders in the world is quite harmless. Maybe on my next run through I can hear Vincent Price's monologue to elevate things.

On my visit I was wandering around Sting Alley and a vampire in, what looked like, American Civil War military garb snarled at me from the shadows. It was too dark to decipher if it was a Union or Confederate uniform. I stared at him for a while and even asked what side of the nation he was on but of course I didn't get an answer. What is the reference here? The "Nicholas Cage is a Vampire" hokum that sprouted earlier this year (or was it last year?) or the Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter movie (which I didn't see)?

Man, I missed a lot during my one walk through. Noticed the showman at the window in one of the videos posted on youtube. 1:21 - 1:22