Ok , so we ended up going on both Friday and Saturday with our FFP with express, suffice it to say Friday was raining the entire time we were there and we left after doing 4 houses. The streets were decorated in the general graveyard theme and the fog was holding very well, yet no scare-actors. The houses we escaped from were, Gothic, Dead End, The Walking Dead and Penn and Teller.
Gothic's facade was awesome. The detail in this house was quite good and the scares were on par and the mechanisms for the scares were very well placed allowing for multiple angles for scares. The ability for the scare-actors to blend into the set was a good thing, and the use of the air effects were effective. The costumes themselves were well done and fit well into the house. Overall a 7 out of 10,
Dead End was built for ambiance and it delivered. The one thing that I can say that set this house apart from the rest was the variety and the technical aspect of the scares. Great effects throughout the house including the projections the plant scare, the angles of the scares coming from knee level made this house a complete winner. The set detail was taken into consideration down to the cobwebs. The use of the vortex and the new speakers inside this house did nothing but boost its rating. This in my opinion was on par and reminded me of scream house. A solid 8 out of 10.
The Walking Dead was an homage to the show with its sets and zombies. The sets were done with detail enough to resemble the show and the scares were good. That being said there is a lack of scares were there is plenty of opportunity for a good scare. The house was in the end a decent house. Without the characters from the show it was a decent HHN zombie house. A 6 out of 10.
Penn and Teller was the usual dark humor house of the year. The 3-D doesn't help or hinder but we prefer to not wear the glasses. The buffet room effect was interesting and the chapel was fun. Penn does talk a lot and it kind of takes away from the house. Costumes were interesting and funny. Scares were lacking. A 4 out of 10.
We headed out on Saturday and were able to knock out House of Horrors , Alice Cooper , and Silent Hill. The streets were picking up by the time we were heading to silent hill. The streets by the way were good , they seemed to have not mixed the hoards on Saturday and I almost ran into a zombie thinking it was a regular girl. And the traditionals are always fun! From what we saw the streets were quite good.
House of Horrors was basically Dead Exposure with less scares. The strobe black light effect was the same as in 2008 and was interesting at first and then became annoying. The costumes were very very basic as to be expected. The part where we had to duck down was interesting and the last room was to light to really judge it. A 4 out of 10.
Alice cooper was surprisingly good. The sets were ok but what shined were the prosthetic costumes and face makeup. Not knowing his music at all we could pick up the story easily enough from the scare-actors and the sets. The scares were on par as well making it a great tent house overall. A 7 out of 10.
Silent Hill surprised as well. Being huge fans we had decent expectations for this house. The sets were good and the soundtrack was tailored and used well. The costumes were great and the scares were executed well but the house design caused it to lack scares for its length. Its hard to not be biased but and this house would be very confusing if someone had no idea of the story of Silent Hill. A 7 out of 10.
Overall a decent year. We will continue to go back and cannot wait to see how well the houses and streets evolve. Not as good as some past years but good none the less. Thanks for reading.
We can just put a tent over IOA and universal...