I think this was a great question to ask!
I'm usually more scared of things on the reality side, but fantasy can always freak me out a bit. I believe that you can have nightmares based off the two, but when it comes to getting a good scare at Horror Nights, it all relies on the scare-tactic and actor. Y'all understand what I'm saying. People can have a "personal" connection to having a fear of a real insane people instead of the Boogey Man.... or it could be the other way around. But when it comes to getting a quick scare inside the Sprung tent, a masked killer could scare me just as much as a black and white zombie. It usually relies on the scare-tactic. Understand?
Jeramy posted while I was writing, and after reading his opinion I agree with a lot of what he said. Like you said, 2008 was one of the fans' favorite years, and had hardly any reality. I didn't attend Reflections of Fear, but can tell I would've loved going. Fantasy (2008) brings scares, but in my opinion brings a lot of fun as well. You can't have an event without scares and fun. What I was talking about above was more about my "personal" fears and not about HHN. I strongly believe what Jeramy said about fantasy vs. reality on an event point of view.
I would much rather have a year based off fantasy than reality, though.