1. Graveyard Games
This house is flawless and I think it might be one of my all time favorites. It’s simultaneously gorgeous, disturbing, and downright terrifying. I absolutely adore the costumes and set design and the special effects in this house set it apart from the others. The Grinners and Glowing mother combination was one of the most chilling scenes I’ve ever been through.
2. House of 1000 Corpses
I am a huge fan of the movie, so I had a blast during all 5 of my runs through this house. The cast is GREAT and the house feels LONGGG. I also got my biggest scare of the night in the tunnels, Earl Firefly and the air blast is one of the best scares of the year. Baby Firefly for HHN 30 icon please.
Side Note- The Actors playing Captain Spaulding were all fantastic and I love that this house feels a bit like a tribute to Sid Haig- I saw flowers on the gas station counter during my last run pone night.
3. Universal Monsters
After my first runs of all of the houses, this one was almost at the bottom of my list, but with a good run this house is INCREDIBLE. The cast is fantastic and the scenic design is possibly some of the best. The facade and statues are GORGeEOUS and the Phantom room is the best use of mirrors since FvJ.
4. Depths Of Fear
I think going in with low expectations helped this house- but I think that Depths is one of the scariest of the year. The cast is insanely energetic and I LOVE the mouth-brooders. I love them. I was basically alone during one of my runs of this house, and it was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at HHN.
5. Yeti: Terror Of The Yukon
This house is so good. The yetis are just as amazing as the mouth-brooders and the subtle comedy in this house truly makes it feel like a Slaughter Sinema spin-off. I wish that the ice caves were longer/more elaborate but I was thoroughly impressed with everything else.
6. Ghostbusters
This house is really, really good- but it is extremely dependent on having a good run. My first run of the house was extremely disappointing, but my second was MUCH MUCH Better- I think we saw every effect and scare in the house. I got to high-five Venkman at the end!
7. Us
Super creepy house, one of the most unnerving of the year next to Graveyard Games. The cast is super committed and I really like that HHN has a house with a predominately POC cast! Even if it’s an IP it is super cool to see diversity represented throughout the event! Fans of the movie won’t be disappointed.
8. Nightingales: Blood Pit
I really liked this house! I found it hard to believe it was in a tent, this house has some pretty large and impressive scenes as well as the classic claustrophobic halls that this tent has made its trademark. The gladiator attacking the static figure is SUCH a cool effect and that scare-actor might be one of the best of the year. New nightingales looked awesome and the finale is downright terrifying!
9. Killer Klowns from Outer Space
This house is not scary at all. But that’s part of why I love it. This feels like the real “comedy house” of the year even though that could be argued for quite a few- but this house is truly funny from start to finish. The costumes looked great and some of the effects were AMAZING- Klownzilla is phenomenal. However I think that this house felt too short, and I could have used some better set design throughout.
10. Stranger Things
This house is much, much better than last year’s ST. The cast is pretty great and the sets are impressive, if a bit repetitive. I loved the cabin scene and I think that energy like that would have helped the house in some scenes- there were a few rooms and transitions that felt completely empty- like the lab security room and that weird outdoor area after the bus scene? But overall, this is a satisfying house with some great effects and a great cast!
1. Vanity Ball
I truly think this is my favorite scarezone I’ve ever been through. The cast is great and the runway is one of the best uses of Hollywood Blvd I’ve ever seen! I also love how this zone has great LGBTQ+ representation! As a member of the lgbtq+ community it’s great seeing the Ball scene represented and it’s still scary! The mini shows are awesome and underrated, and the costumes are fascinating. Best of the year by far.
2. Rob Zombie’s Hillbilly Deluxe
Everything after Vanity Ball ranges from good to Meh, luckily RZHD is a pretty good zone. It’s not very scary, but it has a unique party vibe and it has some cool costumes. I LOVE the metal robot guy and living dead girl. A fun zone for Rob Zombie fans and everyone else!
3. Vikings Undead
This zone is quite underrated in my opinion. I think this is the scariest zone of the year by far, but it’s still beautiful like most Central Park zones. The blood eagle mini shows are fantastic and the costumes are great as well! The actors also seem to be getting really into this one.
4. Zombieland Double Tap
These last two scarezones are... interesting. Zombieland is a great movie and it’s kind of wasted here, like the zone LOOKS good but zombies have been beaten to death (pun intended) at HHN and this felt like such a generic zombie zone that it was just boring and a pain to get through. The bathrooms are the best part of the zone! I wish more humor like that was used as opposed to just zombie scares.
5. Anarch-Ade
This is the best zone that has been in this area since Scary Tales Steampunk but it’s still SO underwhelming. The Neon was neat but this zone just feels like a weird entryway as opposed to a real zone. I think this area really needs a fresh spin on a zone next year or it officially will become a cursed area. I’m just tired of the whole props to the side, something above, and stilt walkers with lights thing that this area seems to get every year.