Jumboshrmp

Easily my favorite soundstage house! The first time I went though, there was this epic techno/rock music playing by the facade. It was AMAZING. The next three times I walked through, something else was playing. This is the music I am talking about, if anyone can identify it that would be great! Sorry it's so short. At one time I had the chance to go through this house with a big gap in front of me and I saw a lot of great scares. Right after walking through the facade, something got me to my right. Not sure what it was, but they shoved a hook or something right in my face timed exactly to an e-prompt and it not only made me jump, I was really impressed with how well it was timed. I didn't mind all of the hanging stuff that people complained about, but there was a bit much. The second half of this house seems to be a lot better than the first, also. There was even a cool labyrinth at the end, which was pointless because the majority of the time they have a conga line or a stupid annoying op waving their flashlight at you. GTFO and stop ruining it for the people who are lucky enough to get to walk through without a conga line. I did this house four times and every time it was fantastic. I need to find out who is the raptor near the end of the house that pops out of a drop down boo door on the left. They got one of my friends every single time through the house.

This is pretty much my plan, except that if you do Stay and Scream, you should be able to get Hallow'd Past, Catacombs, and Havoc all done before 6:30 when Orfanage opens. If you follow that plan, then you will get everything done very quickly. DO NOT go out of order. We were stupid and didn't feel like waiting for Orfanage to open at 6:30, and we went over to the soundstages and messed up the order. Big dumb mistake. We didn't get to do Orfanage that night because of lines.

Please DO post LOTS of pictures from the UTH tours. Maybe we should have a thread for UTH pictures only, for those who want to look at this thread and not be spoiled. I didn't want to be spoiled either so I avoided all pictures entirely until I went.

I wish I had found this thread before opening weekend. I'm the tall one on the left wearing the brown cargo pants and Horror Night Nightmares shirt. You most likely won't miss our group. I won't be going again until closing weekend though. If you saw me and scared me but don't think I recognized you, send me a PM!

This is my review of Opening Weekend for HHN 2010. This year was my first year going on opening weekend, and also my first time going with a large group of friends. I had planned to go to the meetup at Bob Marley's but was running late and arrived just as people were leaving. I headed over to the park with most of my group to get into the AP party. Right away we started going through houses. SPOILERS from this point forward. Horror Nights: The Hallowed Past Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 3 I went into this house with super high expectations. I don't think it met my expectations, but it was still a very good house and one of my top favorites after doing it a few more times. I like how the first part of this house has no actors, then you go through the spinning tunnel, and all of the props and icons come to life. Got a few good scares in this house, and a HNN shoutout from the second Dead Exposure zombie. I actually loved the Dead Exposure section of this house, and I really wished I had a chance to go through the original. The booholes in this house were probably the easiest to memorize for me after only a few trips through, because the scenes are so different from one another. The mirror maze was cool, but pointless 99% of the time because you are in a conga line. There was also foam in the Treaks and Foons scene, if you didn't notice it. A few more good scares, and then the finale room. The finale room in this house is incredibly lame in my opinion. You can see Jack pop out from the entrance to the room, he hardly ever pops out, and when he does, you expect him to becuase you could see it all the way from the beginning of the room. Overall though, a great house, and I loved it because it was dark in a lot of areas, which is a GOOD thing to me. Catacombs: Black Death Rising Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 5 Or as I like to call it, CATS N COMBS. This was by far the BEST house of the event for me. Every single time I went through it, that didn't change. In fact, since last year was my first HHN, this was the best house I have ever been in, period. The actors in there are incredible, in your face, and never let up. My only complaint about this house at all was that there was too much light. Even at night, when light from outside isn't leaking in, this house is just too bright. I really want to know why every haunted houe really doesn't have a ceiling above you, just walls. Sure, there are doorways, and things hanging occasionally, but for the most part, the ceiling is not there. It would make the houses much scarier, because light wouldn't leak in from other scenes or reflect off the ceilings. Anyway, just had to get that out, because otherwise, this house is fantastic. I actually loved the facade, especially the loud music. I really hope this house gets HOTY, because these actors were fantastic. The plague doctors as well as the dead people are very scary. At one point I had three doctors gang up on me. The guy on the ceiling above me got me every time. I had high hopes for this house too, and they were surpassed. I walked out of Hallow'd Past feeling kinda meh, and out of Catacombs shouting about how amazing that house was. I could keep going on, but you get the point. I LOVED Cats n' Combs. Havoc: Dogs of War Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 6 This house was also really really good. I wasn't expecting it to be, either. I honestly was not expecting this house to be good. But it ended up being one of my top 3 houses. The actors in here were great. Very agressive. That along with the loud music and noises made this house great. Once again, a bit too much light for my taste, but who cares. While I didn't get nearly as many scares in here as I did in catacombs, I got the best scare EVER in this house. I really wish I remember where it was. All I know was that it was a female (I'm pretty sure) on my left side, in a drop down door (once again not 100% sure on this). I was looking the other way and was somewhat distracted. I turned around and saw someone in my face and it just caught me so off guard that I yelled HOLY SHIT and ran out of the room. I only curse in a house if you got me really good, and that actually happened once or twice this year. I was grinning ear to ear and couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the house, and my heart was still pounding 5 minutes after walking out. After last year I was really worried that houses don't really affect me. Havoc gave me hope. Next, our group was stupid (and it wasn't anyone in particular, we ALL agreed) and decided that instead of waiting for Orfanage to open at 6:30 like we had planned, we should all walk over to Legendary Truth and do that. I was excited for LT so I agreed, and we went over to my most anticipated house. Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 4 This was my first soundstage house of the year. It was also my most anticipated, not only because the effects were supposed to be highly sophisticated, but because the paranormal is one of my biggest fears. We waited in our first line of the night for about 20 minutes, and then went in. First impression, wow. I loved this facade. It looked just like a real house, and there was even grass! I loved that we ended up actually walking up the steps too. As soon as I got past the first room and into the hallway though, I was a bit dissapointed. Once again, I really want to know WHY the houses have nothing above you except for the roof of the building way up high. It made too much light and also took away a lot of the feeling of being in a real house. But aside from that, I still didn't like this house too much. It turns out, even though I'm afraid of the paranormal, it's not something that translates very well into a haunted house. I got one or two jumps out of actors, but more of then not I just saw them standing there waiting, then actually scaring people. Also, where were all these cool effects I heard about? Where was the strobe effect that was rumored? Sure, the floating ghost was kinda cool, but that was nothing more than a backlit scrim, nothing special. The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland has been doing effects with backlit scrims for over 40 years. Lasers in the finale room? So what. A moving chair? I saw that in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (plus I never saw this actor scare anyone). Don't get me wrong. I didn't hate this house. It was a great house. Just a let down, and not nearly as good as some of the others this year. PsychoScareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 2 I didn't really have any expectations for this house. I went in completely neutral. And that's about how I left it as well. They should really do something about those strobes at the end. I loved them, but I shouldn't be able to see them from the facade. I really don't have much to say on this house other than it was good, not great, and I had fun seeing Bruce (eyeballs) in this house. I need to do it a few more times to get a good opinion on it though. HADES: The Gates of Ruin Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 4 Easily my favorite soundstage house! The first time I went though, there was this epic techno/rock music playing by the facade. It was AMAZING. The next three times I walked through, something else was playing. They need to only play that one song in that area because we all loved it and want to hear it every time! This was definitely my second favorite house. A close second, but the actors just weren't as agressive as they were in catacombs. At one time I even had the chance to go through this house with a big gap in front of me and I saw a lot of great scares. Right after walking through the facade, something got me to my right. Not sure what it was, but they shoved a hook or something right in my face timed exactly to an e prompt and it not only made me jump, I was really impressed with how well it was timed. I didn't mind all of the hanging stuff, but there was a bit much. The second half of this house seems to be a lot better than the first. There was even a cool labyrinthe at the end, which was pointless because the majority of the time they have a conga line or a stupid annoying op waving their flashlight at you. GTFO and stop ruining houses. I did this house four times and every time it was fantastic. This is the amazing Hades facade music I was talking about: Zombiegeddon Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 2 Waited in line a long time for this house. The queue video is great, but I didn't really enjoy this house as much as everyone else in my group did. It's a great house and I loved it, but just not as good as the others. Once again, the house is too bright, even at night. There were some cool smells during parts of it, and it was pretty exciting, but not one of my top houses. I need to go through more times to get a good enough feeling of the house before I give it my final rating. By the way, Scott was amazing in this house, he has the perfect role. Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes Total walkthroughs for the weekend: 1 I really wish the lines for the Jaws queue weren't so crazy. I only got to do this house once. I actually liked it a lot, and it was nice and dark in there, especially for being 6:30. I didn't get to do this house until the second day because of our dumb planning the first day, but oh well. I liked the amount of fog and the smell of the burning ash, I didn't get too many scares but I feel like I would have rated this house much higher if I did. By the way, I was very dissapointed in the "real fire inside a house". I knew ahead of time that the real fire would in fact be in orfanage. I think it would have actually been a cool surprise if Aiello didn't tell anyone about it beforehand. Especially since the fire wasn't even inside the house, it was outside through the window. So stupid. They really did a good job capturing the feeling of a building burning down though. I really liked it. So how did the houses end up comparing to my expectations? Most Anticipated: 1) Hallow'd Past 2) Legendary Truth 3) Hades 4) Catacombs 5) Psychoscareapy 6) Orfanage 7) Zombiegeddon 8) Havoc Actual Ranking: 1) Cats n Combs 2) Hades 3) Hallow'd past 4) Havoc 5) Legendary Truth 6) Zombiegeddon 7) Orfanage 8) Psychoscareapy Keep in mind my house rankings are based on my own opinions, how good the scares were, and how much i liked the theming. There were no bad houses this year. I loved them all. Just some that I enjoyed more than others. I've been typing for way too long so I'll save my in depth reviews of the scarezones for the individual discussion threads. Soon I will get around to posting these house reviews in each respective thread, with a little bit more info. But overall, the scarezones were fantastic. 20 Years of Fear, Saws n Steam, and Fear Revealed are my favorites. Pictures: Group picture from the first night Even bigger group picture from the second day The chainsaw drill team And this is Kim about to send Eddie after Liz Hope you enjoyed reading this! You can find more pictures from this weekend on my facebook!

There are actually tons of switches, buttons, keypads, and other things to press in havoc that don't do anything. After seeing the button in PS I tried pushing them all to see if they did anything, but nothing happened.

LOL! I love how those last two pictures are from my facebook album!

AMAZING! You made those? I absolutely love the music played around New York and Saws n Steam. I can't seem to find out what it is, but that is my suggestion.

So many amazing scareactors this time! I went on opening Friday and Saturday, and had so many great scares! Everyone in Cats n Combs is fantastic. At one point I had THREE plague doctors gang up on me. I swear it had to be because of the HNN shirt, becuase I don't scream and I'm normally not that much of a target. Also the guy on the roof in that house (last cast of the night) got me good too. The person in havoc that made me swear really loudly and had my heart going really fast even after I was out of the house. I wish I remembered exactly where that person was, all I know is that they were on my left, got up in my face, and completely caught me off guard. Best scare I ever had in a house. The wolfman in 20 Years of Fear (Stephanie says that that one was you, armyofrobots), who gave me a HNN shout out twice. First time, I heard "NIGHTMARES", and looked around and saw the wolfman following me. The second time later that night I heard the entire name of the site and saw the wolfman following me again. Sorry if I didn't really react much to it, but it was awesome. All of the chainsaw guys were great! I'm pretty sure Bryan got me good once or twice in Saws and Steam, he got everyone else in my group a whole lot though Another chainsaw guy in Saws and Steam revved his chainsaw and pointed at my shirt. I was a bit out of it because I was standing there watching the man up on the platform, and once I realized what you were doing you had walked away. Sorry :/ There were one or two people on the green camo Chainsaw Drill Team that gave us HNN shoutouts too, and one who made an awesome screeching noise when he ran at us. I'm pretty sure it was Victoria that got me really good in Hades once or twice. Oh! And a zombie in the Dead Exposure scene in Hallow'd Past gave us a thumbs up for the HNN and Vault shirts. I asked ZChris if it was him, and he said it wasn't, so it must have been gatoralex. I loved that! I also laughed the second time when he made a comment about making a brain slushie. Andrew/S0d0ku/Shaun, I went through Havoc six times and only got your cast once out of all of them. When we finally did get you though, you were hilarious! There are a lot more, and I'll edit this post if I remember, but overall ALL of the scareactors did amazing on opening weekend!

Havoc: 6 Hallowed Past: 3 Hades: 4 Legendary Truth: 4 Psychoscareapy: 2 Orfanage: 1 Catacombs: 5 Zombiegeddon: 2

I was in line for Psychoscareapy with the rest of my group once it really started to pour. It was a long wait and we had been in the line for far too long to leave, so we just had to stand there getting soaked while we waited to get into the house. Of course, the rain had stopped once we got out of the house...

Everyone has high hopes for this one, and so do I. Very original concept, they could go just about anywhere with this one. I'm really looking forward to it.

I don't mind the "arrogant" scareactors at all. I'd rather have them post hints than not post anything at all. I'm looking forward to this house a lot more than I originally was. Serious zombies is actually a concept I like, so I hope to see it carried out well.

I didn't really care much for this scarezone when it was first announced, but as soon as construction started going up I quickly changed my mind. This is probably my second most anticipated scarezone, after Saws n Steam. This scarezone will be best at night, obviously. For some reason, when I look at this scarezone I feel like there will be some music in the background that has a steady drum beat, and the some actors will dance for distraction as other pop out.

Chainsaws are great. Some people don't get scared by them but I really like the entire concept. This is probably my most anticipated scarezone, because ever since Deadtropolis in 2006 I have wanted to see Sting Alley used in a scarezone. It's the perfect place for a scarezone, IMO.

Originally this was one of my least anticipated houses. However, I have heard from some people that this house is going to be very intense and full of adrenaline. So now I am quite looking forward to it. I really don't know what to expect here, but since the scareactors in this house were all ones that were willing to shave their heads, they are some of the most dedicated actors and I know that will make this house much better. And also, I need to post this:

This is probably my most anticipated house. Not even because I have heard that there are going to be new effects in this house, but also because the paranormal is my biggest fear. Also, even though I didn't have the chance to participate in legendary truth in 2008, Legendary Truth is something that is geared towards the hardcore fans. Because of that, I expect this house to have a lot of elements and details that will cater to the people like us.

How's this?

I just had a revelation! Maybe this is obvious to anyone who has been to the parks since those XXs went up, but I just now realized that they are supposed to complete the giant lantern that you walk through.

Everyone should go check out @ScreamChasers on twitter. They have posted some great pictures, including this: http://twitpic.com/2ozt74 EDIT: I re-hosted the file on imageshack for those who cannot access twitter or twitpic at work

I will most likely be stopping by the meet up before heading over to the Annual Passholder Stay n Scream. I'll be wearing my HNN shirt both nights and will be with a group of people from here.

Zoomed all the way into the map and took two screenshots and edited them together. This is the full size event map.

For the rest of my wallpapers, check out THIS thread: http://www.horrornightnightmares.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=986&st=0

NEW WALLPAPER!!