WithNoSurvivors

I've only been attending since 2009, and this list took me hours to compile after lots of consideration, and strangely some of my favorites are the houses that seem to have caught a good deal of negativity. I guess I just had some really great trips through: 1. Silent Hill (I don't understand the hate this house got, but then again I've never played the game) 2. Catacombs 3. Gothic 4. Saws and Steam 5. Nevermore 6. Nightingales 7. Silver Screams 8. Dracula 9. Alice Cooper 10. Havoc And bottom five: 5. Psychoscareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook 4. Hallow'd Past 3. The Wolfman (Only because I missed most of it by not looking, I have a horrible fear of anything wolf related) 2. Hades 1. Saw (My first ever house I went through at HHN...)

It figures I would miss the headless horseman in 2008 by one year...regardless I love the more traditional concepts related to Halloween. Not that I don't appreciate the more "out there," things HHN has to offer but the traditional haunt type things like last years Dead End really stand out to me and I'd love to see something in that vein return this year. I would also love to see Catacombs make a triumphant return as many have mentioned before seeing as how it was one of my top houses I've experienced ever. One day.... one day....

Hello all! I've been lurking around the site for the past few years and haven't really posted anything aside from my lone review of last years event but here I am to throw my two cents in. I've always thought it would really awesome to see some sort of "headless horseman" type house at the event. I'm not really sure if this has ever been done before in any capacity but just the idea of the story is unsettling enough for me (And I stil watch Disney's cartoon version every October...) There's a whole haunt somewhere up north centered around a horseman themed hay ride. I feel like its something HHN could pull off, I'd love to see that or any sort of urban legends concept thats been discussed before.

I have to agree about the backstories. While I thought the house was fantastic, I can't quite remember what exactly was supposed to be "off" about the house

I was too scared to notice the siren the first time but my other two runs through the house I did notice it

This was my fourth year in a row attending Orlando’s event (as well as my first time posting on any forum) and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed each year, but I honestly have to name this year as the best yet personally. Having read all of the speculation starting months ago I had a lot of reservations and doubts about if this year could deliver or not, but thankful it did ten times over throughout the course of the three nights I attended (opening weekend and October 5th) First off, Houses: In order of favorite to least favorite but I honestly didn’t have a single house I just didn’t enjoy. Silent Hill: (5/5) One of the most anticipated houses for everyone else it seems, this house was at the very bottom of my list of anticipation. Having never played the games I had no context or interest in the subject matter. Before attending the event I managed to get my hands on a copy of the movie in hopes that it would help me understand what I would experience, I enjoyed the movie enough but still didn’t have high hopes for the house. However once in line, I began to actually feel nervous, which never happens to me before entering a house. While many feel that this house failed to deliver, I have to disagree. Two out of the three runs I had through the house were flawless. Even the worst run through provided some excellent scares (at one point I threw myself against a wall). The façade blew me away, and my group received scare after scare. The highlights for me were the nurses as well as Pyramid Head. To me, the house felt very immersive and genuinely got to me. I may be the minority here but this is one the best houses I’ve done at HHN. Gothic: (5/5) This was the very first house my group experienced this year at HHN. In the past we’ve experienced a trend that the first house of the night usually isn’t good at all, but for the first time, we had a phenomenal run through our first pick. Wow, this house was absolutely gorgeous, it ranks right up there with last year’s Winter’s Night for how beautiful it was. I thought the soundtrack added a nice touch and every run through this house was great, scares came from everywhere. I have to give a shout out to the gargoyle in the scene with the stars and those in the rooms immediately after for terrifying myself, as well as a friend to the point of running out of the house. I noticed something new each run through and found myself screaming in terror every time. This house was a delightful surprise. Alice Cooper: (4/5) Here’s another house that I’ve noticed people aren’t taking to entirely too well. Personally, I thought this house was incredibly fun. While it wasn’t the scariest house I’ve ever done, I still got some decent scares both of the times I did it. The best scare had to be the second run through we had coming from the actor overhead after the scene with the pole dancer. He reached so far down at me that I was literally crouched on the ground. The highlight for me was the finale, I loved the showman. While I’m not all that familiar with Cooper’s music, I thought this house fell under the category for “fun scary.” Dead End: (4/5) 2010’s Legendary Truth left something to be desired in my opinion even though I enjoyed it, but this house gave what former lacked. Three trips through this house allowed me to see something new each time and for that I was grateful. Oh my god were people annoying during the first run through, we found ourselves barely moving at all, and completely stopped in rooms for a while several times, but despite that we still got plenty of scares. Standouts for me were the bathroom scene (the mirror got me good), the finale, which made us run out screaming every time, and the mannequin scare. We actually ended up stopped next to the mannequin for quite some time and told them that they scared us pretty bad and that they could pass as a nurse from Silent Hill. To our surprise and amusement, they proceeded to start to do the twitchy movements like the nurses until the crowd in front of us got moving again. I feel like this house had a lot to offer as terms of a great set (very clever use of the tunnel) as well as great scares. I would definitely call it a “classic” haunted house experience. House of Horrors: (3/5) My most anticipated house was this one from the moment it was announced. The first year I ever attended was 2009 and I enjoyed the classic monsters houses and thought that re-doing them in the style they chose was an interesting concept. My biggest gripe about this house was the space. Some of the scenes felt way too open to me. I’m the type of person that gets scared in confined spaces where it seems like there is no escape from the actors. Despite that I still liked the house enough, but it was the last run through I had that really sold the house for me. The actors were all on their game and gave us some great scares. Possibly the biggest for me was in the hallway after the crouching section of The Mummy. I guess I missed the Mummy scareactor in that short room the first two times, but the last run he approached so fast and unexpectedly that I once again found myself up against the wall. The moving floors in the Black Lagoon section surprised me, and the Frankenstein scare never disappointed. The Phantom of the Opera room took me back to Silver Screams in 2009. I also found the finale to be interesting and satisfying enough but overall the house wasn’t what I had imagined it to be like, but that’s not to say it was terrible. Penn and Teller: (3/5) This house was the second 3-D house I’ve done at HHN. Last years In Between was one of the most interesting and entertaining for the year so I was glad to hear that once again a house of that nature would be at the event. This was one of my most anticipated houses because the theme seemed like it could provide some great scare possibilities. While I never truly found myself to be terrified in the house, I still enjoyed it. The room with the multicolored lights blew me away, and I enjoyed the humor of the house as well, especially the Siegfried and Roy gag that I missed the first time through. I thought the guest activated scares were a nice idea but for myself they didn’t stand out as anything all that remarkable. I understand why some aren’t enjoying this one as much as the others (our first night a woman in line ahead of us for Dead End ranted about how much it allegedly sucked) but it wasn’t a complete dud in my opinion. It falls so low on my list simply for the lack of scares but I still had a fun time both trips through. The Walking Dead: I’ve seen maybe two episodes of the show and it really doesn’t interest me at all but when I heard that this would be at the event I thought that it seemed relatively appropriate. However, this house was at the bottom of my list of anticipated houses with Silent Hill. Unlike Silent Hill, this one didn’t move up in my rankings. In no way did I think that the house was just awful but as far as this year goes, it was the one I enjoyed the least. I only went through it once so I have a very limited impression of it. Scare wise it was good enough but the sounds accompanying the scares are honestly what got to me in this house. My favorite part was the outside section by the RV. The sound effects coming from inside were cool to me, I’m not sure if there was a scare there and if I missed it but the sounds really got my attention. I thought it was also a plus that the house felt longer than any Disaster house I’ve done. Maybe it was the pacing but it felt like it wasn’t going to end. My one run through wasn’t terrible by any means, it just wasn’t appealing to me as someone who has seen very little of the show. And now, Roaming Hordes: I should start by saying that I never get scared in the traditional scarezones. I appreciate the actors, the set pieces, and watching people get scared but the scare factor has never been there for me like it is for others. This year that was different. I admit I was skeptical of the hordes from the time I first heard about them but I can honestly say I enjoyed this format for the streets better than the set zones. The zones feel short a limited most of the time to me but it honestly seemed like there were no limits this year. We had a scareactor work his way a good distance into the line for House of Horrors to scare people, I saw one come out of the bathroom area by Men in Black, three walked into Mel’s while I was ordering food, and while I was in the Men in Black gift shop several of the vampires had their faces up against the glass. The lady behind the counter commented that they had been licking the glass earlier that night. I saw several people scared by chainsaws in locker areas, my friend included and I can honestly say this year I had the most scareactors approach me. I had no idea where to look because they were coming from everywhere. Standout hordes for me were without a doubt The Warriors who made sounds at us and threatened us countless times, and The Vampires who I enjoyed watching as they ran out of nowhere at groups of people. My first ever scare in a scarezone came from one of the beast who appeared at my side and growled in my ear. I was shocked and thrilled that someone finally actually scared me. I really hope this horde idea sticks around in the years to come. Like I said before I would personally call this the best year for streets Overall I would put this year at the top of the four years I’ve attended. I had my doubts to begin with but I think that was fear of the unknown with the new street format and the house count going down to seven. Luckily my group was proved wrong and got to experience another great year. Can’t wait until next year!