Midnight Detective

Can someone explain to me the Chinese Riddle incident?

Absolutely agree. I'm always excited for some things more than others, but there have been a lot of times my favorite and least favorite houses have been the exact opposite of my expectations

I've only seen Saw and parts of Saw II so I'm not too excited IP-wise but I honestly think the house will surpass everyone's expectations. I have a lot of faith in that the creative team and the fact that they're tackling this house a second time, any misteps will be corrected.

If they're literally using the set from an already constructed Conjuring house then I'd assume they'd be American vampires. Now that I've typed that it sounds weird but what I mean is I doubt these will be high class, leather tights, fancy pants' with fangs. I really doubt we'll see cajun vampires (ala Anne Rice) due to the Bayou of Blood house. I honestly have no idea what angle they'll take - if it feels too rural and it'll be too similar to the Scarecrow house. However, they have to work with what they have which is essentially a secluded farm house. I'd wager the end result will either look the opening of John Carpenter's Vampires or something really unique to stand out against the bland setting. The exciting news is even though we have a lot of information we still no real idea of what's going on and how these themes will shape

If the locations are - Purge (Hollywood) - Trick R Treat (Central Park) - Festival of the Dead (San Francisco) - Icon (Plaza) - 50s Sci-Fi (NY) Then it'll actually work pretty well. Honestly the Purge is just every other apocalypse zone without being overly unique. If they make it an intense gauntlet with heavy metal music it'll work just fine. I actually doubt they'll double down on the Purge being in NY. Trick R Treat will likely be a classic Halloween zone with a couple of recognizable characters. Pumpkins galore in Central? Sign me up The rest depend on execution but I'm hopeful this year. I actually think between the houses and scarezones this year will result in being top notch (at least the best year I've attended).

REALLY hope 50's Sci-Fi is in New York but it will probably be up front with a center piece. Also FOUR original houses? What a time to be alive

Hmm that narrows it down to Hungary and Romania. But I'd cut out Hungary for speculation because you wouldn't clarify it's the primary language if it just was Hungary. I'm really hoping for vampires here. I'd even settle for Dracula: Told

Cultures got to be Day of the Dead which sounds cool. ejszaka - Are we getting a Hungarian Horror Nights house? This year sounds wild

To be honest I rarely see (in my opinion) a truly unruly idea or thought here. Everyone has preferences - If no one constantly pushed for new things the event would be stale. If no one pushed for what made the event what it is the event would lose its character and charm. I come here because I like to see people speculate. I like to hear what people both love and hate. I don't think anyone here says anything out of malice. I've never seen it as a verses them situation because at the end of the day the most disagreeable person still loves the event and (hopefully) is glad we're fortunate enough that such an event even exists. Just my two cents. More importantly however, are we just getting a SZ for the Icon?

Hahahaha as soon as I saw that comment I knew that would be your reaction We might end up surprised with cohesiveness this year. If indeed the collection of souls is the central theme the houses might be semi- related: Evil Dead, the Shining, Insidious (although I have no idea if we're getting Insidious, Blumhouse, everything or nothing at this point), etc. The Scarecrow Maze could easily be about the harvesting of souls (idk to restore the land or something). Voodoo could tie into soul usage. It would even make sense to use Death Eaters then (I'm not for or against this) As far as scarezone speculation, it wouldn't shock me if TIME is an apocalypse zone. Someone on here (sorry for lack of credit, I'll edit this post if I can find it) once threw out the idea of Nightingales: Apocalypse - a sz where the world was ending due to an orbital dealignment and the environment would change from blue (cold) to red (hot) with Nightengales going to town on everyone. I wonder if culture is not a single culture, but a mash up of various death figures

My mistake in explaining - what I mean is that they've done a great job adding to the lore when there's a sequel. Nightengales or Gothic are examples of houses I regret not getting to see but I don't think I (or anyone else) would want them to do exact clones just to add to the house count. Ghost Town wasn't so much an old setting or characters with a "twist" but rather as they described a reboot-sequel. On the 25th Anniversary they took past properties and either expanded on them (Run) or combined them (Body Collectors). This year it sounds like they're going to expand upon Gothic and I'm really excited! The end result of a sequel is a whole new experience with the benefit of newcomers getting to see these creatures or places I've heard or read about without stifling the creative process that puts HHN above the rest

I've actually only gone 23 - the present. In my opinion each one of those years had a major flaw they fixed the next year only to result in another. 23: TWD everywhere 24: Houses were either really good or unremarkable 25: No actual complaints except the repeat of American Werewolf but I'm not going honestly imply that affected my opinion 26: Cool concepts, weak executions My problem with repeats is actually perfectly displayed by Ghosttown last year. From what I've read the original Ghosttown is Legacys favorite house of all time. Naturally aside from what sounded like a cool theme I thought that it would be HOTY. The end result wasn't terrible but it felt like a retread and I didn't even do the original. If someone who has done the original could chime in I'd appreciate it but while it was cool it didn't blow me away. I'd rather the house slot be something new or a twist on an old concept.

Apparently this is a touchy subject but I agree with Critical about a Voodoo Queen maze. After they removed the sacrifice show can anyone tell me anything that was outstanding about that scarezone? Honestly at HHNs worst it still blows away the competition but when it's at its best it's ridiculously good. I think its a fair opinion critique what has worked really well and what has been less than top notch. Everyone has preferences about what does and doesn't work for them. Some of the houses I've looked forward to the most due to theming have sometimes resulting in bottom rankings in their execution. I was beyond hyped for Run BS&Fs but that house lost all momentum after the entrance. I never got a good run in Texas Chainsaw last year and having just watched the movie before it was announced for the first time I was really excited (or maybe it just didn't work for me.) I'm really disappointed with the Blumhouse Mashup speculation. I think if it happens it'll be a mess. AHS as a show sucks buts its obvious that passion and budget was in that house and resulted pretty well. I don't think the same will occur with Blumhouse. Having something like the Thing would have really rounded out the lineup in my opinion. If Blumhouse is true it'll now be Insidious (which we've done before and does anyone else remember the second American Werewolf? Disappointing AND a repeat) and it's half concocted cousin taking up two spots. But since is speculation and not a blog about my feelings: AHS: last year was good and I thought they used all the worst seasons. This year should be outstanding Evil Dead: Groovy. Really excited Saw: probably the only one who thinks this will be good. If they're returning to it I imagine they have a really good concept and execution. Originals: All sound great 25 was the most "Halloweeny" of the years I've attended and I liked it. I hope some of that carries over to this year. My hope for the scarezones is- New York: not an apocalypse (These are always my favorite zones on paper but Mad Max doesn't scare me) Front area: I think this area works best when its foreboding. Like the SZ equivalent to a dirge. Terminator Street: (I'm at a loss for names) works best as a high intensity gauntlet. And I'd like Central Park to be Halloweenish. This post turned into much longer than I expected but TL;DR we don't have to unanimously agree on house concepts but its great when everyones excited

Now that you mention it, it sounds an awful lot like it relates to the new Mummy coming out. From the trailers there were shots of part of the film taking place in NY. I wonder if this will be the scarezone located there. The upside would be they could use projects to display a giant sand face or sandstorms.

Sounds like a house based on Black Sunday (or a similar event) akin to Roanoke. Matches with the Clapboard Church theories If the above is true the Rust/Fungus could be related to Valley Fever. The rest of the clues are pretty self explanatory

Islands of Adventure then. Or at least partially duel parks Still fits in with outside Cinematic Dreams and the Sister theme. Also plays in with marmoset's big news that some will love, some will hate

Cindy? The first clue could relate to either IPs or the Director and/or the Usher. By the second clue we get a refer to "her." Sister was used earlier so being a female is important to the clue. 2 times we've seen her- The Orfanage and 25 Years of M&M (from what I looked at she wasn't physically in Screamhouse Resurrection) 2 times we've walked her streets- Icon Zone in 25, Roaming Hoards(?) (I've only been going since 23 so I'm using a lot of research, not first hand experience) Creative Folklore- she's yet to be a central figure (and it can't be Bloody Mary, another female icon). You have to know Caretaker lore to have any idea who she is The final clue is what sold me on Cindy- 1. Strip the clue to its bone- last we saw Cindy she was in the streets with a chainsaw And 2. Turn over all the stones- she came out of a stone sarcophagus in 25YoM&M (also to my understanding Screamhouse Resurrections story was about the Caretaker trying to bring her back to life. Turn over stones might be tombstones?) Considering the house under construction seems burned there's a chance that may be a Cindy house or she may be the Icon. If the Shining is coming Cindy fits in with the twins If Saw is coming the traps could be "playthings" Just some thoughts from a longtime lurker