4thdegree

I hate the ending of FVJ. I completely get the concept and it is great in theory, but the scenes of them killing each other look terrible. Like, I have had much better looking effects in houses I've made myself. Also, the winner of the fight needs to pop out more often. I've only been able tp see it because i stopped and looked back each time I went through to see who won. The only finales I really liked were BC, Insidious, and M&M. But, M&M only can get you the first ttime you go through. It is worth mentioning that if the timing is right, I can definitely see the Run finale getting people really good and the best part is that it dumps straight into the scarezone.

The only scarezone scare I've gotten thus far was in this zone and it got me GOODDDDDD. I laughed at myself so hard. I just wanted to say that, in terms of scaring, this and PS are easily the best two.

Total so far: insidious: 2 M&M: 2 Asylum: 1 AWIL: 1 FVJ: 1 Body Collectors: 1 Run: 1 The Purge: 1 TWD: 1 Carnage Returns: 1 Bill & Ted: 0

My first visit this year was last Thursday and I will be attending again Sunday night. The event was indeed great, with 4 houses that I absolutely love and only one house that I have no hope for (TWD.) I'm going to come back and update with a run down of each trip I make as the event carries on. So, without further ado... Thursday (9/24) Had a great time and loved almost everything. I was there from 6:15-1:00 and did everything except for see Bill & Ted (and I did M&M and Insidious twice) But I didn't spend enough time in the streets to really from an opinion on the scarezones. Houses 1. Monsters & Mayhem - I was like a kid in a candy shop walking through each room. Two of the best scares of the night that got me in this house were the jack in the mirror (jack and I both laughed at how good he got me) and the gargoyle that is on the side of the cathedral. Also, I have to recognize the guy in the Forsaken who is popping out the floor of the boat on the right. I got stopped by him briefly in that scene and he went all out to get me 3 times and each time worked because I didn't expect him to keep going. 2. Insidious - The "Man with Red Face" is responsible for every scare that me got me in this house EXCEPT in the hallway where I decided to walk real close to the cloth wall to see if it was actual scareactors behind the wall... to my surprise, it indeed was real people and one of them grabbed my arm and nearly gave me a panic attack, haha. The best scare of the entire night though was one of the red face guys perfectly timing his scare and getting me so good that a lunged forward and squeezed my friend so fast and tight that it ended scaring her and making her scream. 3. Body Collectors - I need to go through this house to really appreciate this house, but I already love it. It is beautiful and the scares are plentiful and great. Off the top of my head, I absolutely loved the spine rip scene. 4. Freddy vs. Jason - Pretty darn good, I put this one higher than it deserves to be (based off my run through) because I could tell that we just got put in a poor spot and part way through, they were doing scareactor change. So, that wrecked a few of my scenes, but my biggest problems were how bad the Freddy masks looked and how terrible the Freddy and Jason killing each other scenes were. 5. Run - Fun, just needs a lot of energy. Perfectly cheesy and my friend and I both got a couple of decent scares. 6. Asylum in Wonderland - Looked REALLY cool and the tunnel worked tremendously, but the scares didn't get us as well as I had hoped for. All in all though, better than 90% of 3D houses. 7. The Purge - Did the best they could with having a Purge house set in Scream. I honestly could care less about the sets because it doesn't really matter for The Purge but they just need to pick up the energy a bit and make it real intense. 8. TWD - Horrible. Scareactors did decent, they didn't scare me once. And playing Knife Party in that final scene actually made me laugh out loud after I finished the house because I had forgot reading reviews warning me about it.

fair warning, I asked a friend working this house about GTA's in the house said he had heard a rumor about them but that he hadn't actually seen any himself

I've refrained from making this list so far because I felt it would be like torture to make it and then have to wait to go. But, I'm going to the event tomorrow night and I think I've waited long enough! Plus, I want to see how my anticipations compares to how I feel about each house after I go through them. Without further ado... HOUSES 1. Monsters & Mayhem - This will be my 15th year going, so I'm extremely excited for anything that brings back parts of some of the best houses. It's gonna be a blast from the past and I can't wait and some of the things I've heard/read about in this house... I CAN'T WAIT 2. FVJ - 80's slasher films are my favorite horror flicks and (while I wasn't crazy about Jason's house) Freddy's house in 2007 is one of my favorite houses ever. I didn't think I'd ever get another chance to walk through a Krueger film, but I'm glad I was wrong 3. Body Collectors - Having been around to see all their houses, I love the body collectors and paychoscarepy has always put out solid houses as well. So, to see them come together in one beautiful, winter setting, sounds too good to be true. 4. Insidious - I'm not a HUGE fan of the second or third movie, but the first one was great and the sequels seem like they'd lend themselves perfectly to a haunted house. The anticipation has a lot to do with all the positive things that have been said about this house. 5. Run - The original Run is one of the best houses hhn has ever done, created a terror and panic that can't be replicated anymore at the event due to crowds. The cheesy, 80's/90's style of this maze looks like it could be pretty cool in person. This would be much higher, but people haven't been saying good things about it. 6. Alice in Wonderland - Original scarezone in 2008 was great and Alice seems like the perfect property for 3D. While Alice seems perfect for 3D, 3D houses are usually garbage. But, I love Alice so my hopes are high 7. AWIL - One of the best IP houses hhn has ever done. Happy I'll get to see it again but it is too soon to return IMO 8. The Purge - Not crazy about the movies and the scarezone showed promise last year. But, with it just being thrown over an already built Scream house, I'm not anticipating anything amazing. 9. TWD - Dear lord, I can't wait for TWD to go away ZONES 1. Psychoscarepy - It's a block party with my favorite psychotic patients, what isn't to love!? Plus the street's sets look really good. Can't wait! 2. Evil's Roots - Classic Halloween theming... feels like home. Excited because I've read that apparently all the characters in it are recycled from old zones. 3. All Night Die In - being a huge film fanatic, especially horror, this is gonna be like heaven for me. Only problem is that it seems to be wayyyyy too crowded in videos. 4. Icons - possibly the worst, most uncreative name ever, but I don't care because I'll get to see some of my favorites from years past and I can't wait to be in the Director's next feature!! 5. Screampunk - This will probably look really good, but the last scarezone that I really liked in this area was back in 2008.

You weren't aware that the majority of this community is made up of 2 year olds?

This is not based on the comic, it's based on the movie. They were trying to kill each other and neither was dead at the end, thus it's a draw. Now, I would say the movie is more like Jason that round of that, but they left it open as to what happened after the movie ends.

nope, Jason chops Freddy's head off but then, when Jason is holding his head, freddy winks at the screen.

great review. Can't wait to keep checking back in to see how your opinions evolve!

I've gone since '99 and I've worked the queues before and I can tell you that you are allowed into the lines right up until the park closes (except for special circumstances)

As somebody who has gone to hhn since '99 (with and without express) and worked the queues at the event before, I understand the frustration with the length of the waits for some express. BUT, just so you all know, the only promise Uni makes about the time spent in line with Express is that it will be no more than half of the regular wait time. So, that means that if the posted time is 120 minutes, please don't pitch a fit if you wait 60 minutes. Does it often take much less than half the posted? Yes, that is because the workers are trying to get you through as quickly as possible because I promise you that they do not want to hear you're whining about the lines, especially when other people are waiting two hours for each house. I know most of the people on these forums wouldn't get angry at the workers, but I had many people each night of the event come to me as if I had personally decided to make their wait as long as possible which is just ridiculous and stressful because our main concern is getting you into the houses asap. If you have a problem with it, email Uni or say so at the end of the post-visit survey. Sorry for the rant, but I just see everyone freaking out about the wait times (which have me worried about next week, ugh) and I have flashbacks to all the rude folks who would take out their frustration on the people working the line, when really it's the higher ups that are to blame for selling too many express passes. On a more fun note, I can't wait for next Thursday, the reviews overall seem to be very positive and all the problems that people have reported were foreseeable and most of them seem like they will go away as the event moves forwards and works out the kinks.

I went Wednesday and Thursday. Those that went only Thursday should be VERY jealous of those who went Wednesday. I got through every house and ate dinner at Louies in the first 3.5 hours and then repeated quite a few on Wednesday, but it took me ALL night to do it last night. That being said, I made it through all the houses, rode RRR/Mummy and watched RHPS/Bill and Ted last night.

I've been trying to figure out the references to jack and giggles, but, other than the blender, the only one I can think of is the outfit of the girl clown pulling out the dead guy's guts (it's basically the same as jack's from the carnival of carnage.

I'd be totally cool with them doing a 70's/80's classics year with maybe a couple originals and/or newer IPs HHN 25 A strange kid, who is kind of an outcast in his hometown, is a major horror movie buff who has been bullied by the "popular kids his entire life. It's now his senior year of high school and he is ready to begin a new chapter in his life. He recently found out that all those kids who've treated him like a freak are gonna go to an old campground on Halloween weekend to party and watch their favorite scary movies/shows on a projector that one of their parents own. His obsession with horror movies has lead him to realize there's only one logical option, he plans to kill each of the kids who have wronged him over the years as they are all gathered to watch the movies. Houses - NOES TCM Sinister Psycho Exorcist Ho1000C Original (Spiders, basically an unofficial Arachnophobia house) Original (Icon house set in the woods) AHS (super house)

I thought the houses and zones were good but Lady Luck was embarrassing, she looked awful, it kinda messed up everything else for me, all I can think of from 2011 is her god awful mask

Hahaha, you're fine, I was soooo confused, 2004 was arguably the best year ever. I will forever remember Field of Screams because it was okay but that was the most excited I have ever been for a scarezone, just the idea of a zone connecting the parks and it being a cornfield which could potentially be the greatest scare zone ever. And walking through Ghost Town is one of my most distinct hhn memories ever

What in the hell does 2006 have to do with having the event in both parks? Also, I liked 2006 a lot (not the best, but still good) and I've been going since '99. May I also remind everybody that HHN has NEVER sucked, it has had good years and amazing years (and maybe a couple so-so years) but it has never sucked. Now all these impossible ideas that are getting thrown around. Logistically speaking, doing the event in two parks is a terrible idea, more people working for no reason other to be able to say the event is in both parks. Universal Studios already has enough room for all the houses they do (and they've enough room to add more if they so desire) and there is room for another scarezone. The same goes for IOA if they decide to do it there instead, they've plenty of spots for houses and we all know how perfectly they can utilize each island. Not only are people saying both parks should/could get used, but you're suggesting that they basically hold two events, one in each house, literally doubling the number of houses/scare zones/workers which is so far fetched I can't even imagine it happening. And let me just say that I understand Uni would like to just keep cranking out IP's to keep selling tickets BUT they're going to screw themselves if they keep doing 5 or 6 a year because there aren't that many desirable IPs left. I'm not against IPs, some of my favorite houses ever are IPs in fact, I'm just saying, not every IP is good/desired (Dracula) and Uni is flying through the good ones at an unstoppable pace. Please Uni, slow down and worry about quality, not quantity.

My dear friend, could please explain what in the world a skeleton key could do with a haunted house? What is yhe concept and how would it be utilized?

You're talking about the scare at the end of the room, correct? That one got me SOOOO good my like third run through the house! The first ballerina got me pretty great on opening cause I wasn't ready a scare as I was still entering the room, especially from somebody on a platform staring down at me.

Your comment about wanting creole/black people in bayou of blood is total lay ok, I agree. That is ACCURATE to the people in Louisiana who practice(d) the very things that this scarezons is portraying in real. The way I see it, they could've gone two ways with the whole bayou idea, it could be the voodoo/witch craft idea (which makes me want black/creole folk in there) or they could've filled it with backwoods rednecks (which I would hope would be filled with slightly trashy looking white people). However, on my few trips through this zone, I've only seen a few white people, so it seemed kinda balanced to me.

It would COMPLETELY throw off the purge scarezone, haha

Yes, redo dollhouse at least once, the room with ballerinas is great if you get the proper timing and the final scare in that room FINALLY got me on my third time through and it was probably the best scare of that night for me. And I think the only problem with Roanoke is that there aren't a lot of scares in it

Round Three!!!! Let me first of all say that this was my favorite trip to hhn ever because I ran into Mike Aiello and we went through some houses and talked afterward about all the houses and hhn over the years and haunts in general. It was perfection, the only time I've ever acted like a fan girl with somebody I met. Now for the real review... Roanoke - same as always, there were some great scares, just not very many of them. Dollhouse - got sprayed by the baby in the high chair for the second night in a row (Mike told me that man-baby was the very first thing they designed for the house), solid again, scares weren't AS good, but it was just my timing. Halloween - got me a few times toward the end, still haven't gotten the final scare on any of my three trips and it's starting to piss me off. But the house just as good as it has been, very enjoyable. Giggles and Gore - I was caught up being a fan girl cause of Mike as we discussed the house (and button) while walking through, scares didn't really get me, but I was in heaven so Idc. Dracula - the scares weren't as good, I think I just got an awful spot AVP - probably MY worst run through yet, but I brought my mother and younger brother tonight and they were in a prime spot, I stopped in the middle of the crawl space cause I damn near fell down laughing at my brother cause the alien shrieked and started attacking right as he got next to it and he almost trampled my mom while trying to run out of the crawl space. FDTD - again, my spot was ok, but my mother and brother got just about every scare in the house perfectly timed. So my experience wasn't the best, but it wasn't the house or the scareactors faults at all OVERALL AVP Halloween Dollhouse of the Damned FDTD Dracula Untold Giggles and Gore Roanoke TWD (haven't done since opening)

Round 2!!!!! And I'm slightly surprised/very happy to say that it somehow was better than the first night (which I didn't think was possible) I think it helped that a couple joined me that hadn't attended the event yet so I got to see their first trips through and they got absolutely terrified. HOUSES Roanoke: Cannibal Colony (3rd trip) - (10 minutes) my second trip through this house will never be bested but tonight was the worst I've had yet because they were missing like ten 7 or more scares when I went through the house, I love the sets so much, my timing was just terrible tonight. Dollhouse of the Damned (2nd trip) - (15 minutes) just as good this time as last time, got to enjoy the sets more and I can actually remember what happens in the house now (for the most part) so damn creepy and twisted, really good original! From Dusk til Dawn (2nd trip) - (30 minutes) I was seriously in the perfect spot for this house, I could tell by the second room that I was in for a treat cause I was lined up perfectly with every scare. Two things stood out, one girl ripped a guys throat open and I got shot with blood (water) and it actually grossed me out AND when I saw Richie I started yelling and asking him "Where's Richie?!" And that actually started a full conversation between us as I walked around pool table as we used some of the movie's dialogue with each other and then He yelled "oh shit, there's Richie!" when he popped out and I pointed out a Satanico and acted like I was shooting her as the two of them did the same and then told me to go help Kate. It was probably my favorite moment I've ever had with a/multiple scareactor(s). Halloween (2nd trip) - (60 minutes) another big improvement. The biggest improvement of the event for me thus far. My trip last through didn't get me any scares but tonight they got me pretty a couple times and I actually got to see Loomis so it was much better for me. But I still haven't gotten to be victim to the final scare "in" the house, I really hope my group gets it next time. AVP (2nd trip) - (60 minutes) scares were even better than my first time last Friday which was already very good. However, it seemed like they turned down the volume on the gunshots and the other loud noises in the house (possibly due to turning it down a notch after the heart attack Saturday?) and this REALLY took away from the intensity of the house. That is my main problem with this house, though they need another scare in the egg room. Dracula (2nd trip) - (25 minutes) another great run through despite many people not being crazy about it. Scares still got me pretty great and everybody else in my group as well. Giggles and Gore (2nd trip) - (30 minutes) last house of the night, probably a little better than my first run through of the house and the girl in front of me was great to watch. She started panicking as soon as she saw the first clown on the opposite side of the room. OVERALL RANKING 1. AVP - (looks the best, has amazing scares, CAN BE intense, great in every way) 2. Dracula - Untold (surprise of the event for me, consistantly good scares and great set) 3. FDTD - (my moment with Seth and Richie was great, perfect timing boosted this houses rank a lot) 4. Dollhouse of the Damned - (so disturbed and the scares are pretty good) 5. Halloween - (sets and scenes get it hear, scares are getting better) 6. Roanoke: Cannibal Colony - (single best run through, average is low though) 7. Giggles & Gore - (still a great house) 8. TWD - (only house I don't like)