Fallow

I agree completely with Dr. Jimmy. I really think some people are overestimating the chance of a No Icon event. Icons have been an event staple since 2000 - barring 2004, there's always been an icon, a face, for the general public to resonate with. They don't need to know the back story, that's our territory to expand our enjoyment of the event. But if they see a character as unique/frightening as Lady Luck in ads, they're going to expect to see her in the parks. People always point to 2004 as an example of no icon "other than the advertising" - but seriously, the mental patient didn't even appear in the commercial. The selling point of 04 was TWO PARKS, TWICE THE FEAR. That's gimmicky enough to work (and it did). This year has no such gimmick - the public expects an icon, and if you ask me, that shalt receive. (I feel like we've gone through this cycle the past three years. In 2009 many argued that The Theater would be our icon - no dice, Usher got his place [even without marketing support]. In 2010, before the first video, people seemed to think The Lantern was all we were going to get. Now this - some people have reverted to 09 thinking, saying "The Casino" or "The House" is our icon. Guys, that's too abstract for a quick advertisement. The icon has to be instantly memorable and creepy/scary. Lady Luck will accomplish this.)

He had something like 30,000... it's possible to gain that many tokens over a couple of hours, but perhaps he was using some "other method" of gaining tokens fast. No idea why he'd be booted...

The rune game seems to refer to our Sprung Tent - it links up perfectly with the tweeted demon picture. Upon beating the rune game you're greeted with a very dragon-like roar. The card with the instructions seems to depict a castle on some cliffs. I'm excited... Also, on the shelves in the first stage of the game, several statues of dragons or otherwise demonic beasts...

I managed to hit "21"00 tokens - though I'm going to keep going so I don't lose my top position.

Yep. Got 1700 tokens out of it. Though I've switched to Channel Surfing out of sheer boredom...

I thought that as well, but the first (and only) time I've beaten it was on a 50/50. First game in a session, too. So it really may just be rotten luck. What I like about crypts is you can guarantee a win.

As the current head of the leader board I will attest that it is random. I only play Keys/Crypts, if it helps.

Ahh, spot on. The sound LEADS to a momento for you - the chopped off object is our memento, with a cleaver (or some other blade) making the sound.

Throwing knives thrown at a roulette, if I had to guess. Not sure what the "momento" means.

Also worth noting - no matter how many times you beat either of the games, the house of cards will NOT expand. I've got 1000+ tokens now and it remains the same - we'll have to wait for some new games.

^Good tip. I've claimed #1 on the leader boards. Takes a LOT of patience, and I've done it all via crypts. There is really no set pattern.

Crypt is much easier to win - no matter what, if you get that first key in there, your odds of winning increase. My recommendation to win is keep using the first key in the middle or right crypt until you get it on the first try - if you don't get it on your first try, refresh. Then, use the middle key on either of the crypts - hopefully it'll unlock, the middle one has been lucky for me. Then you've got three attempts with only three posibilities - guaranteed win. Takes some patience to keep refreshing for the proper combination, but it's worked twice for me. TVs really are a crapshoot. No matter what, you're 99% gonna end up with a 50/50 shot at the end with two TVs. Blah!

Pick the colored card to play a game, otherwise you lose tokens... I lost on the TV game This is the site we've been waiting for, though! Thank god Universal seems to have gotten the message!

Pirates it is, then!

Doesn't mean it was funny.

Blue light = death?

Love that some of the prices went down. Rush of Fear + Express is a jaw-dropping price.

You guys continue to mystify me. Clearly the poetic aspect is important - but the only notable "horror" poet I can think of is Edgar Allen Poe. Then again, I'm not very learned in poetry, much less poetry of the macabre... but I suppose that is my guess for now. Poe.

Very true. Given the very positive reaction to HAVOC and Catacombs, from both fans and the general public alike (Anecdotal Evidence in addition to HOTY: many of my friends who do not follow the event said these two houses were their favorites), we'll probably see them pop up again at some point. It may very well have been a matter of space constraints - for example, they could've decided Catacombs II should be done in a soundstage. Perhaps The Thing consumed the spot considered for Catacombs II. Thing wins, Catacomb is pushed to another year. Ehh, I don't know. Maybe. I always felt Harvest of Souls was the continuation of the 2004 cornfield zone. They all sort of revolve around an earthy, Halloween origins theme, but I always thought The Hallow was self-contained due to its focus on Lord Samhain and distancing itself of the characters established in the previous two zones (no pumpkin heads or hicks, if I'm not mistaken).

Agreed on the scarezone to house comments. We've seen plenty of examples of a house becoming a zone (Skool -> Skoolhouse, Castle Vampyr -> Blood Masquerade, Scary Tales -> Fractured Tales) but I have yet to hear of a zone becoming a house. The closest example I can think of is the Treaks & Foons room in Hallow'd Past - and I felt that was more of a copout than anything. Still, I'll give this a shot. The scenario is an intriguing one, but I think for this to work we'd definitely need an "origin story" as to how the original scarezone came about. Horizons Extraction Facility needs to be the Cyberdyne of the Saws'n'Steam reality. I have no doubts it won't be scary with so many chainsaws in the claustrophobic Jaws queue - but an effective prequel story setting up the original scare zone would put this house over the top. On a side note - am I the only one confused as to why they chose Saws'n'Steam? Obviously they see some potential in it for it to graduate to house - but what about HAVOC? That would've been an easy house to street conversion. I figured Catacombs would've gotten a sequel first, probably in a soundstage, moving the plot from the museum gone wrong onward. Hell, Legendary Truth is ripe for a sequel, it's practically designed to be a franchise house... Oh well, I can't really make any judgements until I see the final lineup and experience everything A&D has come up with. They are the ones getting paid to come up with ideas, not me, so for now I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Five bucks they're watching this forum and adding vaguely Easter-related objects to keep us on that trail - only to remove it all when they start bringing the real props in!

I know nothing about these two hosts (shame on me), but based on what you've devised I'd say it's definitely our humor house - a campy low budget TV show run by killer vampires. We go behind the scenes and through various cheeseball sets. It... could work. Hmm... Seems like there's something missing. The vampire bit is what strikes me as "off." Campy TV show with killers would be an easy sell. But vampires?

The soundstages are chilly already. I'd much rather see Universal invest in incredible sets, puppets, costumes, and animatronics than a passive "extra cold" effect. Maybe a cold blast here or there, but nothing more is necessary.

Let me make something clear - I do not expect everything to tie into "gambling." Rather, I expect them to play off the idea that everyone's FATE leads to DEATH. Gambling will obviously play a role, with a house, zone, hell maybe even a show. But the core idea that will link the houses and zones (based on what I've read and what's been implied to be true) will be that everyone's fate is death, no matter what you do. Almost any HHN concept can be tied rather easily to that, even The Thing (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let that rumor be true!)

I guess I could have figured that. So are they just teasing us for the "Fate" icon reveal? Because I think that's all we can draw from this clue, unless, again, I'm missing something very important.