Tobias

When it comes to Anniversary houses, for me they always fall under "Great idea in thought, not so great in execution." They usually run into several conundrums. You want big rooms/halls to try and relive whatever you're nodding to, but if you do that you might not have enough varity of houses/scare zones etc. You want a nice variety of houses/scare zones represented, but include too many and you're going to have some small rooms/halls which won't really pull things off. When it came to Hallow'd Past, that was more of a "Wasn't 08' great?" house rather then a anniversary house. An' unless this years anniversary house takes last years TWD big freakin' house approach I can see it running into the same problems as Hallow'd Past. For me the best approach would be focusing more on the icons since there's not as many. Who knows you could also include a iconic house from a year the icon hosted in the mix.

2004 was a pretty spectacular year, a really solid line up of houses and scare zones. Sure it had Disorientorium in the bunch, but houses like Castle Vampyr, Hellgate Prison and Ghost Town made up for it in spades. 2005 did set a standard for storytelling and having a very cohesive event, however that was the strongest aspect of the event since to be brutally honest...house-wise it unfortunately paled compared to 2004. Body Collectors was a "no-duh" standout, but besides that? The only house that comes to mind for me is Demon Cantina. As for the rest...Terror Mines get's points for trying something new and using special effects from Posideons Fury, but it really was a hit or miss depending if you got the helmet or not. Where Evil Hides had potential, but was mediocre. Then you got Blood Ruins, The Skool and Cold Blind Terror which usually ended up in most bottom lists.

Hmmm, I think the "Round Two" could be a bit of a mislead. What I'm thinking is it's simply Round Two of reveals, while the First Round was the reveal of Jack's return.

It's going to be interesting seeing what the actual location for the 9th house will be, both Shrek and MIB have their pro's and cons. Personally I'd want it to be in the MIB extended queue to have a bit more on that side of the park, yes there's no doubt it's going to get hammered every time B&T let out, but it was the same case when they had the Jaws queue location. That and I think a Shrek venue would be consistantly more hammered since it's right in the front of the park.

More from a upcharge house that isn't happening? Easy the spread the budget elsewhere when it's not focused on that.

Man, I was not ready for the infobomb getting up today. Though I like what I'm reading! So for the originals... RUN 3 - I'm intruiged to see what direction they take this, deep down I hope there's a maze element somewhere...but just about anything can happen at this moment. 3D Alice in Wonderland (Or Asylum in Wonderland) - Totally excited for this one, nuff said. Blizzard Body Collectors having a grand old time in Shadybrook - Well then, totally had a feeling Body Collectors would return...though I didn't expect to see Psychoscarapy being in the picture. I do recall saying if PS came back it needed some sort of twist/shot in the arm, so bringing the Collectors in could do the trick. Icons House - Had a feeling this was coming, though with the icons being involved I think it's safe to say it's NOT a Hallow'd Past. Remember, Hallow'd Past was a "Wasn't 2008 great? Oh yeah, we did a Ship house and here's a Treak" house. I think a more accurate comparison is Horror Nights Nightmares from 14/2004. Considering that house had the most effective use of Eddie, could be a nice house.

While it's nice getting clues and such pointing to RUN, I hope to hell this is a upcharge. Think about it, what we all want is something like the original with it's ever changing maze. However for it to work the line needs to be pulsed, and with crowds today and a operations focus on getting as many people through a house as possible per hour...what made the original RUN infamous goes compleately against that. If it's a upcharge, they'll be able to pulse the line and pull off what we're hoping for.

In all previous years, every house and scarezone has been given one clue. He has yet to put multiple houses and/or scarezones in one clue. Now with that said, there still is a important thing to consider. Last year Dr. Jimmy changed things up and gave the clues for the scarezones first, then he gave the clues for the houses. So for this year, the current clues could be for houses, could be for scarezones, or he could be doing some houses here, some scarezones there. Though of course with Cassi being a step behind (or more likely blantantly waiting for Jimmy to give a clue for her to figure out what clue is safe to rush out...)...it does kinda' make it easy to figure out what's what.

^ Not all the videos have been uploaded yet, but here's what's been said so far. The original idea for the event was Jack as the icon. - Jack would have his own house, a clown factory a la' Giggles & Gore. (Which apparently is a trilogy) - The Caretaker, Director, Storyteller and Usher would have cameos in various places. Fear was mentioned, but dismissed as appearing. As for Bloody Mary, planned but Bloody Mary herself wouldn't appear due to a woman having copyright on her and using her in another attraction. However Mary Agana might appear. As of note, Lady Luck was not mentioned whatsoever. - Freddy, Jason and Leatherface would return. - Insidious, American Horror Story and Ghostbusters would be other IP's - There would be a retrospective house a la' Hallowed Past. Possibly with the icons. Higher ups stepped in and the event will be British this year due to plenty of Brits attending the event. - Icon is "Union Jack", a British Jack the clown created through a very convoluted backstory. - A least 8 houses (Though Jimmy flashed 10 fingers.) Houses are... The Woman in Black A Dracula house, this version based on Hammer's films with Christopher Lee. Also this house would take that version of Dracula and put him in the 21st Century/Modern Day. A Doctor Who house Clive Barker's Hellworld (Based off Hellraiser) There's still more videos to come, but that's what's revealed so far.

Scary Tales is definitely one that can be continued since there's always a variety in terms of what stories/morality tales they use...as well as the directions they take each one in. Nightengales can support a sequel house, be it by itself or the whole Civil War with Body Collectors idea that others have mentioned. I would downright love a sequel to Catacombs, unlike Havoc that one actually has more going for it then just the agressiveness of the actors. As for Psychoscareapy, hmmm...can you be more specific about a "deep storyline"? The last version of this (Echos of Shadybrook) made the whole franchise on the tired side. When it comes to sequels, Maximum Madness spiced things up with adding Jack and the downright killer "Blackout" which set things over the top. Home for the Holidays changed things up with the entire location, instead of being in the asylum it was in a entire neighborhood. If PS returns, it has to be more then just another trip to Shadybrook. (Personally, I'd love to have Asylum in Wonderland thrown into the mix and have a very stylized/abstract asylum. That alone could give it a twisted spin to rejuvinate it.)

A thing to keep in mind with the video is on twitter Mike did mention that the video he was shooting was just a general overview overview of the event, especially to international visitors who may not know what the event is. So I'm not reading too much on the footage from 21 being used in it. Now Mike also said on twitter there will be teases, and without a doubt Jack is one of them. Either way, it's gonna' be fun seeing just how big this year will be.

I'd be totally down for a skeleton key type of room for certain houses, it would be a fun way to tell a backstory and/or have LT involved. Now knowing how Knott's and California's Great Adventure does it, here's my .02 cents for HHN. At Knott's a skeleton key room is a small seperate room at the beginning of a maze where a small group experiences a little mini show which usually sets up the backstory of the maze and gives a little scare before getting sent into the start of the maze. They do NOT get the whole maze to themselves, they just merge with everyone else. (Which is what HHN would have to do since holding up the entire house for one little group would go against their goal of trying to get as many people through the house asap.) For HHN, a special room would have to be at the beginning. It's really the only place one could make a little seperate line to place people in for it. Having the room in the middle or the end of the house runs into several major problems such as... 1. When the room is closed as a show is going on, where are you going to put people showing up for it? Can't have them blocking the line. Once again, that would go against trying to get as many people through the house asap. 2. How are people going to find the room? Over at CGA last year their SK rooms were actually in the middle of the mazes and you essentially had to find them based on hints/clues given by a staff member at the entrance. Sounds neat on paper, but in practice not so much considering people were more focused on looking for the room instead of enjoying the maze. Also, there were accounts of people almost missing the room compleately if it wasn't for a staff member running after them. 3. Finally, if the special room is going to explain the backstory and such, what's the point of having that room in the middle or at the end of the house? As special backstory/LT room would be totally doable, but it has to be at the beginning.

I do recall you didn't mind Ritual being shelved, I also know someone said something along the lines that Ritual was the least interesting of last years house lineup. Think it might have been rumored to be a 3D house, but I'm not sure.

Catacombs did cross my mind on this subject, but with catacombs being underground it's more house material then scare zone. Now if they take away the catacombs and do something like a plague-ridden village, then they have a possible scare zone.

On the topic of past scarezones as houses and past houses as scarezones, which one's would be great choices? From 2011, I think Winter's Night could make for a nice atmospheric scare zone, and on the flipside Grown Evil could make for a nice house. Farther back, 2008 is chock full of possibilities scarezone to house-wise. American Gothic, Asylum in Wonderland and Path of the Wicked could make for good houses.

Looking at various pictures and videos, this zone is definitely similar to 2011's 7. You have several stages with a character looking pretty and being a distraction (and photo op), and on the ground around the stages are "minion" characters doing the main scaring. (Though it did look like a minotaur character from the show was on the ground scaring and not up on a stage.) An' when there's a cast change, it's a different group of characters up on the stages. Some characters have different minions too. Unlike 7, Face Off doesn't have as many stages. 7 had well, 7. Face Off has four UPDATE - It sounds like it has five actually, one stage wasn't up for EP. The stages are more detailed then 7's. Character-wise, this is what I could recognize. It's a little tricky in some spots considering they created some original characters that are featured up on stage. Scarecrow/cornfield stage - The pumpkinhead creature (From Season 5's Mother Goose challenge.) - A scarecrow creature, maybe from Season 2's Return to Oz challenge? Either that or it's a original creature. Though the choice of this as a stage creature is a little odd considering it didn't look all too different from the minions of this zone. The minions for both creatures are scarecrows with some neat burlap masks. Gothic castle/ruins stage - A take on Beast from Beauty and the Beast (Original creature created by HHN alumni that have been on the show.) - Axe Girlfriend Couldn't really tell what the minions are for the Beast character, while the minions for Axe Girlfriend are guys in tux's carring silver plates with severed heads, and buckets with body parts in them. Pirate Ship stage - A pirate captain with a santa beard that was far too white and clean in his delapidated state. (No idea if from show or original) - A really hard to describe character with a unique head. (It looks very familiar to me, but I can't recall what season, episode or what it's even supposed to be.) Both character's minions are pirates. Stage with spiral staircases - Some kind of character wrapped in snakes (It looks familiar, don't recall what season/episode though.) - Wicked Witch of the West (Season 2's Return to Oz challenge) Didn't see what the minions looked like for the character with snakes, and the minions for the witch are...fellow witches I believe? I dunno, one of them barked and whined like a dog in the video I saw. There's also hooded robe characters at the beginning of the zone.

Agreed, it really does sound like the scare zones are returning to the more elaborate setups of the past. I don't care there's only four, if they end up as elaborate as things have been teased, then that'll be a nice improvement regardless.

Looks like we got scare zones as well. MASKerade; Unstitched Bayou of Blood

Dollhouse of the Damned, Giggles & Gore Inc. and Roanoke: Cannibal Colony. Thems your original houses, folks.

Just to let you know, that's actually a facade for the real reasons the Purge is commenced in the movies. Thing is, the real reasons are even more ludacrious. Plain and simple, it's used for the rich to get rid of the homeless and lower class. But considering the rich get richer from the poor, that would never fly in real life. The movies try being political, but they're just not smart enough for those types of messages. Anyways, this IP is made to be a scare zone. An' it should work very nicely in New York, especially since it has plenty of room for motorcycles.

Over on OU they're claiming the Geisha scare zone was shelved due to "budget reasons". If that's the case, then that's a bit of a bummer...however if it means giving the Purge scare zone more space to work with, then that won't sting as much. (No pun intended)

With the talk of people hoping to see icons again and the rumored "Propmaster" icon that's probably not going to happen this year, it got me thinking about previous icons and I noticed something. While the event has had some great icons in the past, they've also had a good amount of icons who felt more of a face for marketing, and either wern't used much anywhere else and/or they wern't that strong in whatever house, scare zone, show they were used in. Here's how I personally rank the icons, and keep in mind I'm looking at everything they've been used in besides the usual marketing. There's three icons which stand out on top for me. (Also, I'm not including Eddie or Cindy in this since they've never hosted a event.) Jack - Weather one likes or loathes how many times he's been featured, one can't deny he's been in a lot of things around the event. He's been featured in houses, scare zones, shows and even a couple rides. I feel the event has gotten great use out of him, and quite frankly I wouldn't mind if he popped up again sometime in the future. The Caretaker - For me the Caretaker has always had a nice presence whenever he's around, and I feel that when it comes to an' Icon house, the ScreamHouse's have been the strongest icon houses out of all the others. Any time a icon has a strong house that revolves around them, it helps make them a stronger icon/character. Bloody Mary - When it comes to having a presence in the event, Bloody Mary was all over HHN 18. She would show up in scare zones in a couple ways, she also popped up in various houses. Speaking of houses, there's Reflections of Fear...while it has the severe downside of being an' overall terrible house, I will give it this. It was a house that was focused on Bloody Mary's backstory, I really appreciate they did something like that, it's just too bad the excecution wasn't good. Either way, it was still another thing which made Bloody Mary have a strong presence. So that was my top three in terms of icons, now for the bunch where I feel they really were just a face for marketing. The Storyteller - Gee Hollywood, thanks for forcing an' icon onto the event who just didn't fit whatsoever into elaborate Terra Cruentas world created that year. Besides a banner or two, you didn't see the Storyteller anywhere in IOA for the event. She was only in a blip of a cameo in the Where Evil Hides house, and I don't think she fit even in that. She's popped up a couple times like in the arrival show at HHN 16 and hosted the Dungeon of Terror...but the only interesting use of her I've seen was a creepy video of her telling a story about a guy who lost a ring in the garbage disposal. Other then that, she's just not a strong icon. Fear - I will say I like the idea behind Fear, but ultimately he was just a stilt-character photo-op in one scare zone. For someone who was supposedly in control of everything, he didn't have much of a presence in the event. Hell, I thought his minons were cooler then him. Lady Luck - Another prime example of why you shouldn't force an' icon on the event. Didn't have much use in the event, and she only had a scare zone. But you know it's really bad when that scare zone somehow finds a way to suck in Sting Alley. This was another case where the minons were cooler then the icon, wasn't too hard considering the Lady Luck masks were terrible, seriously I felt bad for all those who had to wear the bug eyed anime masks. Now for the remaining two, they're not the best, but also not the worst. The Director - First off, I do know he's a big fan favorite of a icon. Heck, I really like the concept of him. But I feel his potential has never really been tapped into. There are bright moments here and there like him hosting Infestation in HHN 13 and his little bit in the Arrival show of HHN 16. But the main thing he's a part of is the All Night DIE in houses...which let's be honest here, the main star of those houses are whatever IP's are being featured in it. The Director just shows up in the beginning and end, and that's it. I would personally love to see a house showing the Director filming his own films, like his whole backstory and concept entails. But until then, he's an' icon with great potential, but is given a backseat to IP's. The Usher - Personally I put the Usher above the Director, even though house-wise Silver Screams falls under the same problem I have with All Night DIE in...however Silver Screams does feel a bit more tailored to it's icon with it being hosted in the Universal Palace Theater. The theater is connected to the Usher's backstory and it even shows his demise in it. Also, when it comes to connecting an' icon to IP's, I feel it works better with the Usher since said IP's would be shown in a theater. So those are my thoughts on the icons the event has had before, while some have been fantastic...others offer a good argument that an' icon is not needed if it's not given much use in the event.

Yeah, Halloween doesn't have any massive locations/set pieces that would need a soundstage to pull off. An' for reference, the awesome Halloween maze that Hollywood did years ago was in a tent structure that was smaller then Orlando's Sprung tents. As for Ghostdude's comment, ummm...absolutely nothing? While Voodoo is hitting the streets...Native Americans are probably getting kicked out of their land by Mexicans.

I'm just going off what the scource said, don't shoot the messenger. (Especially when I said "If that's the case" on that situation.)

I'd say no, simply due to how on the fence things were with what's planned for the parade building. Both Cassilda and Dr. Jimmy had to hint at both From Dusk Til Dawn and the original house since it could've gone either way, that's how close it was to either of them getting built.