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Sorry for being so late, but it's actually a Photoshop file. I used it quite a lot this past season! For this particular one I teastained it along with aging it in Photoshop. It gives it a nice old texture that feels like it was kept away in an old textbook for 60 years. I don't have it posted here but I added a touch of Permablood and rips to another that was meant to be a victim's pass. Like I said I made quite a few of them this last season, some for my friends, some for the scareactors, and they were a big hit. I wanted to do some more scarezone-inspired pieces like recruitment posters for Survive or Die but here's hoping this season brings upon some more inspiration. Feel free to print out the pass and do what you will with it.

Arise dead thread, arise!

In a way I agree, some really do an astounding job and live their character, others are just kind of there. However this one I think there's some good interactions going on considering how vast the zone is compared to something more compact. As for the music, like I said before, I feel it can add that extra element and set the tone for the zone and its theming. I'd expect a dissonant soundtrack for Survive or Die and yeah, there's a few songs which take you out of the atmosphere as it were.

Time to throw my hat in the ring with something simple. Enjoy!

Just a word to the wise, Chance is very interactive here as the video will show

I know TimTracker did a scareactor dining video recently. Looks like a lot of fun and the food looks like a wide variety.

Best IP house: Toss up between Krampus, TCM, or Exorcist. All three were true to their source material and were imaginative in different scenes (Especially Exorcist since the whole movie has the 12 Angry Men effect, if you will) but I'll gladly go through them again. Best original house: Ghost Town. Beautiful sets, great effects, fantastic scares. This one was firing through all cylanders. Ancients was alright as it had great sets and costumes, but the story confused me somewhat. Best scarezone: It's between Vamp '55 and Survive or Die. Both were immersive and Vamp had some campiness that's unmatched while Survive was amazing for interactions and atmosphere, no pun intended

At first I was about ready to say this zone was unoriginal and a typical post-apocalypse zone but everyone gets it wrong from time to time. In other words this one blew me away. There's a complex backstory that didn't feel like it was slapped together in seconds, the scareactors trying to convert you to their cause and their turf wars and the set pieces which are magnificent. As much as I feel the Mad Max/post-apocalypse thing is overdone, they added some life in this old dog yet, and I'm grateful for it.

This is what I feel is going to be a sleeper hit of a scarezone here. At first I thought it was a little lacking but going through again, I loved it. Plenty of good characters here and the showcase on the sun float was all kinds of awesome (The main greaser biting the homecoming queen in the neck as the others egg him on). Music's pretty nice too, but I'm a sucker for doowop and such. Kind of made me miss my grandma who was a teenager in the 50s, I think she would have loved this one. That said, anyone here involved with this zone, major kudos, especially the ice cream man who offered me a "Turkey leg" when I took a break. Even my girlfriend who's a major fraidy cat loved it.

The bold part I completely agree with, the music plays a big part in immersing you in whatever scene they have set up for you. Krampus had a lot of the music from the film in it, Vamp '55 had some doowap and appropriately 50s rock, TCM had none (But the original film had no real soundtrack so it works) but I think in the areas that aren't scare zones instead of blaring techno or whatever, have some music that is thematically tied to the event, maybe choose a leitmotif for Chance since other Icons have their own (You Oughta be in Pictures for The Director, Let's All Go to the Lobby for The Usher, Luck be a Lady Tonight for Lady Luck, etc.) but I digress. Great review OP. I understand being burnt out over something over a period, happens to all of us from time to time, but taking a break always helps you refresh. For instance I barely think about HHN until around July when more news starts coming out of the woodwork so I'm in full force by the time the event rolls around. If nothing really interests you next year, maybe sit one out and you'll be ready to come back in full swing by the next one.

I didn't even think of that, but the Civil War could reopen some old wounds too if they want historical accuracy. Revolutionary War would be brilliant.

Fair enough. They could easily do World War II instead. War of the Living Dead was very WWII themed, complete with having Roosevelt's Fireside Chats as audio.

H.R. Bloodengutz: Dead Air: Everyone's favorite creature feature host returns by way of a hacked pirated TV signal. He vows revenge on WKNB by hacking into their nightly newsfeed and promising more horror classics than ever before, all the while kidnapping employees and killing them on his feed. I got the idea from, of all places, The Oddity Archive on Youtube, namely their videos on the 1987 Max Headroom incident and other instances like Captain Midnight. The facade like last time would be the WKNB studios, this time updated since the 70s aesthetic of the original. Zombiegeddon Origins: A prequel of sorts to the previous house, we learn the origins of the zombie outbreak as well as the foundation of ZAP, all in a retro setting. Starting at a ZAP recruitment center where the guests are voluntary operatives, they go through a variety of locations ravaged by zombies, from a family home to a roller rink, the subways with breakdancing zombies, an arcade, video rental store, etc. My inspiration here was movies like Day of the Dead and Ghostbusters. The facade would be the ZAP compound, originally an old police station. Nightingales: Unfortunate Son: The Nightingales return some 50 years after the events of the original house, instead of WWI we're in Vietnam. Just when the soldiers think they're being taken care of, the Nightingales strike at their weakest, regardless if napalm is involved. Oddly enough Full Metal Jacket was an inspiration here.

Vamp 1955 sounds like my pick. I do like the campy/cheesy things that HHN does every so often. Plus vampire greasers, that alone has me sold. Survive or Die sounds like a generic post-apocalypse scare zone, but it could surprise me. The storyline is at least somewhat unique Wharf could go either way for me. Really depends on the execution. Banshee's another promising one, at least atmospheric. No Chance will likely be the photo-op zone, nothing too special.

Awesome review, though I liked RUN because of the 80s influence and it's something I wanted Universal to do for the longest time, but I think that's more to personal tastes. Same goes for Jack's, I think that's my 3rd favorite behind Body Collectors and RUN. Other than that I agree with the rest of the review. Nice work!

TWD isn't a great IP in the sense that unless you follow the series religiously, you'll be lost, while other IPs are already well ingrained in the pop culture spectrum where you aren't more confused than scared. That and the same thing over and over again isn't scary if it's done year after year, which you could argue the same case with many HHN trademarks. Zombies as a whole have lost their flavor unless you add something new to the party. Even if they spaced out the IP every few years it'd be somewhat fresh, but it's a huge moneymaker so I don't see it leaving, even if they made it a scarezone. American Horror Story works because they do something different every season and while not horror either, there's variety in the characters aside from zombies and survivors.

I dig it. Sounds like it would work as a dark comedy house given the setting.

P&T was brilliant to me, and I'm usually not easily sold on 3-D houses. This one solved the problem I had with them, where the gimmick took over the house. I'd love for Penn and Teller to come back again, since their sense of humor meshes seamlessly with the HHN vibe.

I remember one Enforcer commenting on my hair, which I expected given the theme of the house. One guy I talked to whom worked in the house said I fit the atmosphere of the house since I've always kept an 80s hair metal do. One Enforcer even mentioned the Reapers using it to their advantage to get bonus points. Last time I went in I asked if there was a way I could become a Reaper and that same Enforcer told me to step inside and look for Bobby (The guy in the queue video). Couldn't find him, but one of the other Reapers "Spared" me and said he's put in a good word for me to represent the CSA as "Sugar Daddy"

Legendary Truth: Wyandott Estate. Odd choice for a first house but I was immersed in the environment plus at the time I was very much into the paranormal ghost shows like Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures and the bedroom scene still gives me the creeps.

All Nite Die In was basically the equivalent to a horror cosplay meetup at Megacon but with set pieces reminiscent of a drive-in theater. The costumes and makeup were great and the set pieces were good but there were no real scares, just startles at best, but I like how in character some folks were like Dr. Frankenstein. Then again, the same could be said for that same cosplay meetup. The best scare zones I can think of immerse you in the environment. In keeping with last year, Psychoscareapy and Evil's Roots were classics because of atmosphere and making you feel like you really were in the environment they set out to create. Those kinds of scare zones are the ones I dig. Even The Purge, even though I don't care for the movies, was brilliant because the chaotic nature of the films was apparent in the scare zone. Then again they did have the surrounding environment to help out like Psychoscareapy in the New York area

My main deal is if they want to do a sequel, there has to be a reason for it, either because the backstory is open-ended and needs to be elaborated or the fans want to see it come back H.R. Bloodengutz is an obvious choice. It's a huge fan favorite, I myself like to indulge in the cheesy horror comedy this house brought in spades, and I feel the backstory could be expanded upon. They could have Larry escape from prison and hijack a TV feed with his own pirated telecast ala Captain Midnight or the Max Headroom incident from the late 80s. However he has hired minions to take over the studio and prevent the feed from being interrupted. Silver Screams was a great house with a chilling backstory which was echoed well in IIRC the middle of the house with the dangling bodies used as sandbags. The mix of the movie scenes and the canvas of a dilapidated palace-styled movie theater was brilliant, and with The Usher becoming somewhat of a darkhorse icon, I could see them doing this again. They could actually delve into Usher's backstory by bringing the house back to its splendor and show the deaths over the years. Dead End's backstory intrigued me about ghost stories and urban legends about the house coming to life, and it was executed so beautifully. Not sure how they could expand upon it for a sequel, but it's definitely one they should check out again. Legendary Truth is something that I feel must continue, since there's a ton of ideas they could go with it. The Wyandot house from 2010 was unique and I'd love to see LT try for another location to investigate, maybe as a take on Ghost Adventures. As for where they're going to go, that's the wild card. It could be a whole new place or a throwback to a previous house (The slaughterhouse from Leave it to Cleaver or the dilapidated Shadybrook for instance)

Was Lady Luck well received? I think she was the last icon they made and I liked her story. Granted the concept of Lady Luck isn't really original 100% like Fear was, but in his case he was generic. Lady Luck had that versatility that allowed her to be in the backstory for all of the houses that year in some way, but I digress. For Jack, like it or not, he's the face of HHN. The other icons get equal billing sure, but Jack is the Ronald McDonald of Horror Nights, while everyone else like Chance, Caretaker, Usher, etc. are like Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie, etc. but the difference is they have their time to shine unlike Ronald's confidants. But just because he's the face of HHN doesn't mean he needs to be there every year. I still stand with my original post, but it doesn't have to be this year or even next year, maybe save it for 30 and expand it to the other icons who feel overlooked by Jack and want their time to prove themselves with out the clown.

Part of a haunt idea I had festering for a while. Kind of a mix of Ghostbusters and Zombiegeddon

I wouldn't mind seeing Chance take over the show so to speak. She could say something about being tired of playing second banana and wants to prove herself as being just as capable of bringing chaos on her own without Jack. Since the two kind of have a Joker/Harley thing going on, it reminds me of an episode of the original Batman cartoon where Harley leaves Joker after he throws her out for botching an escape from Batman, so she tries a heist on her own, only to team up with Poison Ivy, all the while Joker is flat out helpless without her, to the point of losing his socks. They could do something similar here, like have Chance team up with another icon like Lady Luck with her time lord-like abilities to travel time and give people a chance, if you will, to make a decision.