BruinsFan

Congratulations to Canyon of Dark Souls for being my favorite zone this year! Before my visit, I was pretty worried about the length of the zone. My concern turned out to be justified, however the actors in this zone make up for the limitations of the small space. I enjoyed the lighting, fog, audio and actors in the zone. Most of the actors have good energy and give off an intimidating-vibe. The biggest aspect of the zone that stuck out to me was its consistency. The actors in here are constantly scaring or intimidating. If one of the "Souls" didn't try to scare me, I knew that it would not be long before a different one did. Not once did I walk through the zone and come out "un-targeted." The same cannot be said for many of the other zones. Keep up the great work!

I had very high expectations for Grown Evil. The concept paired with the zone's location seemed to almost guarantee success. ALMOST.... First, the zone is a bit too dark. Many of the actors/costumes go unnoticed just due to the lighting. Second, some of the actors are just too passive. I understand the zone is supposed to create an eerie and spooky vibe, but far too often did I witness actors "hiding" in the dark for much too long. The zone is by no means a total failure, I just saw a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully people's perceptions of this zone will improve over the coming weeks.

I enjoyed this year's house based on The Thing. However, I left feeling slightly disappointed. The facade is well done and the snow was a bonus surprise. I was afraid it would feel too warm in the Antarctic but the house is cool enough that the temp doesn't really stand out. Two of the half-transformed actresses with strobe effects (scene after the rec room, and the finale) do a great job. Their timing is great and give good scares. I agree with others that feel that some of the masks are very repetitive. This fact really did detract from my enjoyment of the house. Another problem I encountered was the long reset times that some of the scenes require. It would be nice if they could find a way to decrease the time between each reset. I would have also liked to have seen a lot more panic and energy from many of the actors. There were more than a few actors that gave off the vibe of just going through the motions. I did not feel the high-level of anxiety in this year's maze like I did back in '07. I think one of the easy fixes for this house that would create a huge positive impact would be to up the anxiety level with higher-energy performances from many of the actors. This house has a lot of potential, it just wasn't firing on all cylinders while I was there.

I would not rank this house as the best in the Jaws queue, that honor goes to Camp Blood. However, Saws N' Steam is a very solid #2. I was impressed with the sets/effects that Universal placed into this queue area. The flesh aquariums and waterfall are the two aspects of this house that have remained implanted in my memory. The actors seemed to be hit or miss on both casts, but the ones that were on their games were very good. For me, SnS is a solid house overall and a standout for the Jaws queue.

When I initially heard about the concept of Nightmaze I was very intrigued. After thinking about it for a little while I became very concerned about the logistical issues that were sure to arise when the concept became reality. While I do think that the zone could be better with more "configurations" and possibly a different light sequence, I thoroughly enjoyed my many trips through during last weekend. The zone really surprised me in a good way. I went in expecting a giant cluster****, and came away very impressed. The actors, tall and short, use their environment wonderfully. The fog, blinding light and (almost) complete darkness all contribute to creating a fun and scary zone. To the actor height discussion, I will add that I was impressed by the one or two actors who towered over me (I am 6'1"). They especially made an impact when I was expecting a shorter actor to be around the next fence and then bam, I'd walk into a big dude. The shorter actors also do a great job and I enjoyed the blend of heights in the zone. Nightmaze ranked as my #2 most enjoyable zone this year.

General HHN 21 Atmosphere

Your Luck Has Run Out and Roaming Minions SEVEN

Taking pictures at HHN is one of my favorite things to do. I am sheepishly going to step into this world of AMAZING DSLR pictures and post some of mine taken with a non-DSLR. Please forgive me for taking over this thread for a bit. All of these photos were taken between Thursday, September 29 and Sunday, October 2 during my one and only trip to HHN this year. I am going to post my pictures by location. A lot detail seems to have been lost when the pictures were re-sized. If you would like the full resolution version of any of these, just let me know. Acid Assault Grown Evil Nightmaze Canyon of Dark Souls

Both H.R. Bloodengutz and Nevermore open at 6:30.

I just remembered a couple of other actors that I'd like to recognize from Saws N' Steam. Cast A: The actor to the left of the calf-slicing scene. Cast B: The guy on the left just before the waterfall. Also, I have to recognize a couple of nurses from Nightingales Cast B yet again (as a whole, my favorite cast from any location be it house or zone this year). The nurse on top of the corpses, the nurse on the ground by the crashed plane and the final nurse in the house all gave me memorable experiences on Sunday night. I will miss this house.

1. Canyon of Dark Souls 2. Nightmaze 3. 7 4. Grown Evil 5. Acid Assault 6. Roaming Luck Minions 7. Your Luck Has Run Out

My four-night weekend impressions: 1. Nightingales 2. The In-Between 3. The Forsaken 4. The Thing 5. Saws N' Steam 6. Winter's Night 7. H.R. Bloodengutz 8. Nevermore

I believe it's right about at the half-way point, maybe a little before half-way.

I noticed this as well.

My FINAL 2011 House Counts Total Nights: 4 Nightingales: 17 Cast A - 6 Cast B - 11 The Forsaken: 10 A - 6 B - 4 Winter's Night: 10 A - 5 B - 5 The Thing: 9 A - 6 B - 3 Saws N' Steam: 8 A - 4 B - 4 H.R. Bloodengutz: 7 A - 4 B - 3 Nevermore: 5 A - 2 B - 3 The In-Between: 4 A - 0 B - 4 I had every intention of seeing cast A at 6pm tonight, but they were having technical issues. I walked all the way to SnS and then back and the IB was still down. I wish I had enough time to see Cast A. Total 2011 House Count: 70

This.

Wanted to add to my previous post that while technically not scareactors, I wanted to recognize Russell for his performance as H.R. Bloodengutz and both Russell and Bryce (nice to hear his voice in Nevermore) for always entertaining me at the Horror Makeup Show. It's always a treat for me when I get to see that duo at the HMS.

I've read a lot of negative comments about the green eyes in The Forsaken. The eyes don't bother me at all. I like the concept and it helps to make the house unique. What I do mind are the neon green earplugs that many of the actors are wearing this year throughout the park. I totally understand the need for earplugs for some of the "noiser" spots, but the neon green is quite distracting and takes away from the "immersiveness.". Could Uni not use a color that doesn't stand out so much?

Ok, I was going to wait until I got home to post my "great job"s, but I'm afraid that I will forget. If you don't show up on this list, you still have tomorrow night to impress me. . In no particular order... Forsaken: Both casts have impressed me at times, but my best walk-through so far was closing set tonight. Your last shift of your first back-to-back peak nights and you're energy was great! Special kudos to all of the finale actors. Good teamwork and it was my first time being targeted by the Bungee. Very cool. Canyon: Cast A tonight was amazing. I've seen a lot of improvement just in the 3 nights that I have attended. I even caught you guys at the end of one of your sets and it seemed like most of you genuinely didn't want to take your break. In-Between: Cast B, all three winged demons are excellent. The actors in the room after the sliding wall gag and the finale actors are good too. Note: I haven't had the chance to see Cast A yet. I hope to see A tomorrow. Nightmaze: Both casts are good, but Cast A has really improved a lot over the past few nights. I got my first ever "Bruins" shoutout from one of the actors on A tonight. It was very unexpected and appreciated! The Thing: Cast A has been consistently good. Special kudos to the female in the 2nd scene (good timing and energy) and to the final female actor on the left on the "ship/craft". She is always energetic and very much in character. Nightingales: Cast B is consistently good and it all starts with the first "nurse" before the tank. She always seems to give me some special attention and I really appreciate it. I went through right before closing tonight and everyone was great even though they had to be tired. H.R.: Cast A 4th of July room on right...both casts' Arbor day ladies, Presidents and elves. Special shoutout to the Cast A elf on the left (non-mirror) who managed to scare me tonight even though I was looking directly at them. Nevermore: The one and only CSW and his severed-head managed to scare me twice on Friday night. Cast B closing set tonight from the Ravens 'til the end were excellent. Mostly due to the things listed above, the blisters upon blisters on my feet and the pain they have delivered have been mostly forgotten/ignored. Please forgive any grammatical errors and the like as I'm typing this on my phone @ 4am.

Well, I wasn't going to post all that much until I returned home but I felt the need to thank everyone for such a great night tonight. I left Thursday and Friday a little disappointed, but tonight was so exceptional that I'm even a little bit nervous that tomorrow night might taint my awesome experience. So to all you actors, keep up the great work and continue to hone your scare tactics. I believe when this year is in the books it will be looked back upon very fondly. Don't let me down!

I saw both "floating" actors tonight.

I much prefer one of the shows to the other.

I got a hit using SoundHound, it's "Descent into the Depths" by MS.

I had the same thought as well, but no. Winter's Night will be in SS22 (Legendary Truth/Wolfman). The Thing and Nightingales will share SS23.