Fallow

I'll be on the look out for you tomorrow and Saturday, Dr. Jimmy! Will be in my Nightmares shirt with a guy in a turban... be sure to say hello!

Hey all - you might remember my very lengthy, (sadly) mostly negative review from last year. Rest assured you all will be receiving a similarly long (but not necessarily as negative) review this year, but I can't in good faith write one after experiencing the event for one weekend. This event has proven to be fairly fluid, and many things can change from week to week, so my full review won't be going up until after I've experienced my third weekend (October 8th and 9th, to be precise). I can tell you're all waiting with great anticipation... In the meantime, I would like to offer my thoughts on the houses and zones and some suggestions for improvement! This only applies to opening weekend and these grades could change. Winter's Night -Sets here are absolutely beautiful. Stunning is the perfect word for it. -Has the best facade of the year, easily -Love all of the little jokes slipped into the gravestones, and some fun (and wise) re-using of props (the coffin from original Screamhouse was a treat!) -Some serious depth in the details to be found here. A very cool mirror trick in the coffin scene that you can totally miss if you don't know where to look -Cool temperature is lovely, as is the snow -Costumes are well-designed and a nice variety. What the Legendary Truth has should've been. Love the Weeping Angel (wish there were more of them), the zombies look great, and the ghosts look spectacular. Nice Canyon of Dark Soul-adapted costumes at the end! -Some really solid scares throughout this maze. The "miniature scare" provided me with possibly the best scare I've ever received at HHN, it's brilliant -The penultimate scene, with all of the crypts and hallways, is effective for repeat viewing... very hard to remember where the spirits are hiding due to the # of potential spots -Happy to see some light gore used (referring to the coffin scene with the corpses), it's very unsettling -Also glad to see the house actually reflects the backstory's plot, I saw our Hawthorn several times -Finale is very good Suggestions for Improvement: Not many. Place one more actor in the Finale scene, preferably in the center of the pathway (nothing more unsettling than that). I noticed one cast seems to know how to use the Miniature Scare to full advantage, one cast doesn't. Please make sure both casts know how to utilize this brilliant scare! Facade: A+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A Nightingales -This house increasingly got better each time I did it -I keep hearing about a bunk victim, but I have yet to see him - would be nice if we did, sounds like a good distraction -I like how some nurses are only partially transformed: makes it very clear that these Nightingales are true shapeshifters. Also allows for some variety in the scare actresses; the Nightingales themselves look great, and the soldiers (love the gas masks) look spot-on! -Return of show scenes = <3! I'm referring to the soldier facing you who is pulled back and mauled by a Nightingale as well as the machine gunner at the end. -Facade isn't quite as epic as I expecting (tank's really right on top of you as you walk in), but the creepy half-Nightingale makes up for it -Finale is good if you catch the machine gunning show scene. Could use one additional scare actor -Bungee Nightingale knows how to do her stuff! -Gore aplenty, and it's brilliantly used. It's immediately clear how lethal these creatures are. -Great use of guns for scares/distractions. Audio everywhere else needs to be cranked up a notch, this house should be as loud as THING -Roofs effectively used for the tent scenes - trench decorations effectively hide the fact that roofs aren't in the rest of the house (they wouldn't make sense anyway) -Tons of scares here. Again, they got much better each time I went through. The e-prompts/noises they make are great and they're very very aggressive. Suggestions for Improvement: Get another Nightingale at the tail end of the finale, if you miss the machine gunner ending it kind of just ends. I hope the Bungee continues to interact with the machine gunner when he isn't performing his show scene, because that was brilliant. Crank up the audio several notches to hit THING levels, we're in a warzone here. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A The THING -Audio design in this house is brilliant. Best audio in the event this year, it's LOUD and AGGRESSIVE. Great creature effects. Not sure I heard The Thing theme though, maybe I just missed it -Creature design is excellent, but I feel like it's almost a little repetitive. I saw the "trunk-face" creature at least 2 or 3 times (he's the first THING you see), the "crab-woman" THING (you see her in like the 2nd or 3rd scene and again in the finale), and then the by-far creepiest "split-face" THING (he shows up in the animatronic THING room and the bungee guy). Don't get me wrong, these costumes are spectacular, but I just feel like there could've been more variety... then again, they're probably basing the creatures off the film, and there's only so many to use -Animatronics/puppetry work is wonderful. I counted two giant puppets (transition from 1st to 2nd scene and then in the finale) as well as the enormous ceiling animatronic (you know what I'm talking about) and the table animatronic. All 4 of these big creatures are wonderfully unique and grotesque. -Again, the gore is plentiful, and I love it - accents each scene when used -I like that the actors do look fairly close to the character seen in the trailer for the film. I spotted our female lead and the black dude who first encounters THE THING - nice casting -Some rooms feel a little empty... shortage of actors? -Facade is great but suffers a little from it being very apparent that there's a giant soundstage behind it. Black curtains would've been nice here. Snow, however, is a nice treat and unexpected -Finale... I like the transition to the spaceship, and the set design here is simplistic but cool, I just am not experiencing the scares everyone else is getting. There's the puppet that gets you, then an outpost worker on the opposite side with an air-blower ("flame-thrower?"), then a crab-woman thing at an awkward angle (I've always had to crane my neck to see her). Am I missing something? Is there another character that I've missed on all my runs? -Great sets, if I haven't mentioned that yet. This looks fairly screen-accurate. The ice room with the THING animatronic is brilliant. -Some good scares here, but possibly the most inconsistent of the houses I've done. Not a horrible thing, just means I've had some great runs and some just-okay runs -I look forward to continuing to experience this house... can't get enough of the great design seen here. Suggestions for Improvement: I'd like to say try and get more variety in the costumes, but it's a little late for that one. Try to keep this house well-staffed since it tends to be the emptiest house from what I've seen... I'm hearing there's a missing character in the finale on one cast, so let's try and get that spot filled more often? Keep up the maintenance work on those puppets and animatronics, as they really do make the house. Facade: A- Sets: A Atmosphere: A Costumes: A- Scares: B Finale: B Opening Weekend Grade: A- H.R. Bloodngutz -Comedy houses have been very inconsistent with me, but I will say that the queue video for this house is possibly one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. To the actor (who I understand plays one of the Beatlejuices and often is in the Horror Make-Up Show), brilliant portrayal. To the writers: well-done, please take some of your talents over to Bill & Ted. This video will make any waits in this house much more bearable -Love the cheesiness of the facade and the little wink-wink touches (Carey Ohio, Station 21, etc.) -Let's just go through each room separately since they're very different Halloween: Great set, the Bloodngutz are great comedic actors. What does that red button do? Valentines Day: Love the sets & details. Costumes are just okay, and the scares aren't great since your hiding spots are poor/no e-prompts Independence Day: Possibly my least favorite scene in any HHN house. Man, I feel bad for you two actors in here. The set is decent, but your costumes are dreadful. On 9/24 you didn't even have your poppers, giving you almost no capacity to scare. Where'd your poppers go? Easter: I'm not sure I really "get" the the Peeps guy (is he being eaten?) but it made me laugh nonetheless. Feaster Bunny is priceless, Hay guy has a nice scare. Some fun details (the skull-eggs are brilliant and I hope they stay working) -St. Patrick's Day: Scariest room in the house, easily. They've got a great set-up with a wonderfully lit and decorated room (golden skeletons = awesome!) Your costumes are also very freaky. My favorite room if you couldn't tell -President's Day: Probably my 2nd favorite room. Lincoln and Washington's costumes are all kinds of awesome, the set is great, and the "bomb" (though it needs to go off more often, or be guest-activated) is a real treat. Good scares here. -Arbor Day: Brilliant in its zaniness. They got lucky by casting a pair of wonderfully demented girls who really sell the room, and the Tree is awesome when an Ops person isn't screaming at you to catch up to the person 3 feet in front of you. -Thanksgiving: Awesome awesome awesome. The scent makes the room 10x better, Pocahontas can get some really nice scares, and the Pilgrim is good too... however on 9/24 he didn't have his gun. Please tell me that's coming back? It had the "pop" sound effect that makes up half his scare. -Christmas: This room honestly should've been better. The set is wonderful, but 3 Elves (who mind you have a hilarious costume) who look exactly alike was a mistake... a crazy Rudolph or killer Frosty should've been the "final" scare. No e-prompts in the main room here makes the scares okay at best. The mirror trick at the end doesn't work as well it should due to the proximity of exterior light and scuffs on the mirror. Why wasn't a real chainsaw used? The toy one hardly makes any sound, it's weak. Finale suffers. -Okay... so... in summary there, the costuming is inconsistent (ahem Valentines & Independence) but the rest is brilliant. Scares are great in all but a couple rooms, and thankfully the black humor is omnipresent. -Oh... and the GORE! Man was it everywhere! I seriously thought that the dead network executive showing up dead/mutilated in every single scene was an absolutely brilliant and hilarious touch. Thanksgiving and President's Day take the cake for my favorite network executive corpses! Suggestions for Improvement: Valentines Day guys need e-prompts of some kind... maybe a curtain for the second guy (make it a "make-out" booth?), his position is obvious. Give the Independence Day guys their poppers back, same with the Pilgrim and his gun. Make the "bomb" guest-activated or reduce the timer, it's too funny an effect to be missed by so many. If at all possible, use a different costume or a real chainsaw for the final mirror scare? Ops in this house: please tone it down a little, you guys were the most aggressive and overbearing of the ops I encountered this weekend. It was almost impossible to enjoy this house (to the point where ops were actually blocking the scare actors). There was actually a group ahead of me verbally complaining about the ops as we exited the house, and I echo their displeasure. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Scares: B Finale: C Opening Weekend Grade: B+ Saws'n'Steam -Wow, this house is probably the best house I've ever seen in the Jaws queue (disclaimer: I'm one of the apparent few who loved The Orfanage) -Facade is this year's HAVOC facade... surprisingly expansive and brilliant! The working smokestacks and cool posters are great -I can't describe how much I love the first show scene effect with the locked arm. This is the type of theatrics and atmosphere I expect from HHN. Just, wonderful. Story firmly established from this point on. -The gore in this house actually made me very uncomfortable (which is good for this type of event). The leg room... just... wow, that's honestly worse than the spine rip in my opinion. -Scare actors in here are on the ball in here. I got some spectacular scares in here on all 3 of my trips. I have to say though, the double teamers toward the end of the house (I believe right before the waterfall room) who blocked the door every single run are awesome! Give these guys a prize! -I love the air-blowers in here. Waterfall man is great as well. -Spinning walls of blades? A meat grinder? Water-squeezing meat packers? Flesh Aquariums!? The sets and details of this house never ceased to amaze me! -I seriously can't get over how much they were able to get out of this house/concept/location. This sets the benchmark for future JAWS houses -Are there mirrors in this house to make it seem bigger? I recall looking down boo holes and seeing another hallway with a scare actor and guests walking through. Are these mirrors or is it literally a little hallway to another hall of the house? Either way, it's great design and makes the place feel massive while still remaining individually claustrophobic -Finale, sadly, is weak. I wish it could've sort of ended with the water fall room, but the boilers are lame. Scare actors in here are big and are trying, but they don't get good e-prompts or any threatening devices (no chainsaws!?) Which reminds me... I only counted 2 fakesaws and the chainsaw at the end. Blasphemy! We need more chainsaws! (Finale is okay if you get the chainsaw at the very end, though.) Suggestions for Improvement: MORE CHAINSAWS! Seriously, give the guys in the boiler room at the end fakesaws at least. There simply aren't enough saws in here. Other than that, just maintain the awesome mechanical effects in this maze working, and keep it staffed. I only saw the guy being swallowed up by the meat grinder once in my 3 runs. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: B- Opening Weekend Grade: A (average should technically be A-, but rest of the house overcomes the finale) Nevermore: Madness of Poe -I'll come out and say that this is probably my current #1 (though Winter's Night & In-Between are nipping at its heels). -The facade, while not nearly as expansive as say HAVOC's, is no less brilliant. It's subtle in its effectiveness. Very foreboding. The script projected onto the side of the tent is very cool and adds to the effect as well. The perfect facade for this house, I'd argue. -I know some people are turned off by the fact that Poe appears in some of the stories... I disagree. The story is very well told. Poe, already distraught, greet us at the beginning of the house. He becomes increasingly more distraught and insane as we progress, succumbing to the horrors of his falling apart life and of course the devil's nectar. By the end, the Madness has consumed him and he's gone completely delirious - and his stories have all blended together to take us into insanity with him. It's poetic and I dig it. -I'll just say the costumes and sets throughout the entire house are spectacular and prove that the tents can be just as impressive as the soundstages. Mind blown by some of these, seriously. -Telltale Heart is unfortunately probably the least impressive space. You stay off to the side of it, and it isn't well-lit, so few people get to really appreciate the trippiness of the room. The scare is also very predictable. -Luckily everything picks up from there. The Raven, I think, made a bold move in having all 3 Ravens be "real" and not statues... I think it works. For first-timers, they're expecting only one to be real, so it allows them to be shocked when all 3 attack. For returning victims, it keeps the Ravens on their toes to use their environment (the silky hanging material) to their advantage to keep geting scares. They were great every time I went through. -Pit and Pendulum is awesome... the sets are crazy. I didn't expect an actual working pendulum! -Masque of Red Death is now among my favorite scenes in my time at HHN... the first trip through this scene was terrifying, and return visits don't dissappoint. The movement through the several rooms is a great nod to the story, but it's the masquerade that takes the cake. The Red Death above takes away your focus, allowing the seemingly fake dancers to spring upon you. I seriously can never remember which dancers are real and which aren't (a great haunt design strategy), which keeps this room very fresh. The Red Death also seems to be able to pick up on return visitors watching for the dancers, allowing him to surprise you when you turn away from them. Throughout the weekend I think two dancing podiums were broken and one was missing a dancer altogether... I hope this gets fixed. -Fall of the House of Usher or Poe's house? I'm not clear on which this is. Poe appears above in the scene (an epic and very impressive moment), but a corpse-like woman emerges twice here. I figured this was the Lady Usher from the story, but now I'm hearing it's Poe's deceased wife which contributes to his madness. Either way, the scene is suitably epic. -Black Cat... ahhhh love it. Good use of having two booholes directly next to each other... You aren't sure where to look, so either Poe or the Axed Wife could nail you. -Finale Room... wonderful. That Poe is just brilliant, he was screaming Nevermore at us and gliding around the room. The strobes are great, I love the set design and how bits and pieces from all of his stories attack you (and of course, the Raven at the end, who always gets us!) Suggestions for Improvement: There really aren't many, this house is incredible already. Fix the stationary dancers in the Masque of Red Death and add the missing one to really complete the scene. If they can manage it, they should add a second actor to the Telltale Heart scene (in the dark corner far away from the guest), or at least light it up a little more so guests can appreciate the mind-f*ck that it is. I'd even recommend making one of the Ravens a mannequin if it meant getting another actor in here, it needs it. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Scares: A Finale: A Opening Weekend Grade: A The In-Between -Biggest surprise of the event for me! This house rocks! -Facade is a little too simple (ala Chucky) but the little touches like Issue #21 and the 3D effects bump it up a few notches. -Really though, the casts and costuming makes this house. The sets are deceptively simple. -The plot here is clever and well-executed... The story is told with a beginning, middle, and end. Great use of the tunnel as our transition -3D effect is very fun in certain scenes, didn't notice much of a difference in others. I lost my glasses midway once but still enjoyed the rest of the house -The zig-zag hallway (straight path with openings in the walls for blending-in actors to pop out), the laser room, and what I like to call the Pixie Stix room are my favorites. Trippy as balls. As a friendly guest behind us put it, this is why I stopped doing acid! -The costumes here, as I mentioned before, make this house. The colors and 3D are brilliant... especially all of the WINGED demons. They know how to do their stuff and create scares even when we see them coming a mile away. -Some of the sets are very simple (mostly the first couple) but rely on their black walls and darkness... it's very hard to see the booholes... -I believe after the first "head" scene there's a boohole without an actor in it... just a stationary head. While it does get scares... um, lame? Can we get an actual actor in here please? -Everyone keeps talking about the scene where it looks like there's no floor... a little help here? I seriously kept thinking it'd be obvious so I didn't look for it. Is it the Pixie Stix scene? -Finale is fun (love how we're back in the dorm, but tripped out)... when the actors do come out, they get some great scares. -Also love how it's so easy to get lost in some of the rooms in this house. Creates a serious tension! Suggestions for Improvement: Get an actual actor in that timed boohole. Stationary head is lame. Other than that... I guess the finale scare actors should come out more often? Oh, I know - take up the intensity a notch, add a timed strobe effect. That'd be cool. Facade: B+ Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: B+ Opening Weekend Grade: A The Forsaken -Facade is AWESOME! Interesting choice to have it midway through, but I think it works. It's very different to have a massive room filled with actors. I also love the "storm" effect projected onto the Parade Building at night... -Right from the start the atmosphere is incredible. The water effects are awesome, awesome, awesome. -Costumes here are great. Could've used a couple more Spaniards, but I guess it's pretty clear from the abundant gore () that the Forsaken won the fight. -I know some people (including a few of the actors) don't like the glowing eyes... after experiencing the house, I disagree. They're creepy as f*ck and simply mean you have to work a little harder for your scares... which most of you do. Goddamnit, they're seriously so creepy. -There's some very brilliant scenes to be found here. I love the Cathedral in particular, the projection effect is unsettling and the Forsaken get some good scares. This is a very well-populated maze. The sideways room? Just, wow! Never would've expected this but I'm so glad it's there... really allows for some cool scares since your focus is on keeping your balance. Also ties in very nicely to everyone's favorite Take a Chance game! -Sets in general are a big win... very expansive, tons of details. Again, I love the Cathedral, but also the bed scene early on before you hit the big facade. -As I mentioned before, the gore here really sells the story and makes it clear how much of a threat The Forsaken are to you. Love it. -Finale here is very cool... it doesn't necessarily feel like a finale since it's technically a hallway, but the talent of the scare actors here make it a great finale IMO. The bungee actor w/ fog is a crazy effect (and it wouldn't work without those EYES!), and the two Forsaken in the booholes are here are some of the best actors of the event this year, no lie. Every single one of my runs they'd get us multiple times. Suggestions for Improvement: Don't tone down the eyes! If ANYTHING, make the e-prompts activate them, but even then I think it's unnecessary. You guys are finding your groove on how to use the eyes to your advantage. Take the challenge, you can do it! Make sure the house is well-staffed... in 90% of the rooms everything's A-OK, but I've noticed sometimes in the courtyard they're down a Forsaken or two. This scene works most effectively when it's crawling with the damn things. Facade: A Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A Scares: A Finale: A- Opening Weekend Grade: A Phew! Now onto the zones... 7 -Probably the best zone I've ever experienced at HHN, even though I've seen better set-ups -Naturally, it's because of the actors. Most brilliant scare zone casts I've ever seen - both are incredible. -Sets that are here are cool. Each Sin has a nice individualized set -I wish the zone were extended a little further - space out the stages some - I don't think it'd hurt the zone at all. -Costumes here are awesome. The Vanities, Lusts, and Envies are my favorite! -The transformation is subtle but cool. I could honestly only really tell the difference between the First and Third stages, but no matter. The use of Beautiful People - the choral version for the First Stage and the aggressive Manson version for the Third - is a ridiculously cool move. The music really sells the zone, perfect choice. -This is probably the biggest cast I've ever seen for a zone... there's 21 of you, I think? 7 ladies, 2 men for each lady, 21... Hmm. Nice coincidence there with the year! -Chainsaws in particular are a shout-out. They demonstrate why we need a chainsaw zone every year... I wish we had an unadvertised Drill Team somewhere. They loved to chase us and scream in our faces. Bravo. Suggestions for Improvement: Well, they can't extend it at this point, so there's really nothing to suggest, it's perfect for the set-up. I would suggest more chainsaws around the park elsewhere, but that's an argument for another time... Sets: B+ Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Size: B- Scares: A+ Overall: A+ (not an average, it just deserves that grade) Grown Evil -Easily the loveliest sets/atmosphere of the event -The costumes, too, are grand and deserve special praise. I'm glad to see The Raven costume is used here -Sadly, the scares aren't very plentiful. The actors here simply aren't aggressive at all - atmospheric, yes, maybe a bit creepy from afar, but they rarely seem to go for scares. Most of them stand off to the side, which means if you go through the center of the path (read: most people), you're not going to get a scare -No stilts really hurts this zone. Lots of rain this weekend so I saw it with and without stilts... stilts bring a balance to the zone and make sense given the winged nature of our beasts. -I did get a couple scares in the daytime opening weekend, but that was sadly it. THe casts here need to pump up the aggressiveness 200%, this has the potential to be an incredible zone -Props to those with the wings, though - you all know how to use your wings effectively. It's a nice meld of cool/creepy -Scare zone to watch. Right now it's just a creepy walk-through: it could (and should) be terrifying. Suggestions for improvement: Like I said, scare actors, you have all the tools you need... be AGGRESSIVE. You've got some of the scariest costumes in the event, use them to your advantage. Get in people's faces, be everywhere at once, make unsettling noises. You can do it! Sets: A Costumes: A Atmosphere: A+ Size: B+ Scares: C- Opening Weekend Grade: B Canyon of Dark Souls -Another big surprise, as far as scare zones go -The length is pretty meh, but some of the actors are still scaring outside of the "canyon" which helps -The set-up for the stilts is ridiculously clever, seriously. I never would've thought of what they pulled off. Even with the stilts grounded (as they often were because of the rain), they found great hiding spots behind the curtains. -The set may be simple, but I really think it works. It creates such contrast with the glows of actors' skulls... I really dig the costumes here. -OMG, the music here is awesome! I'm pissed it doesn't appear to be on iTunes... -The casts are second only to 7 in aggressiveness. There's a lot of chemistry in the cast here that allows for some wonderful double-teaming. The actors are also very dedicated to getting the maximum scare of you, as evidenced by many following me outside the zone! -On my early runs through this zone, there was only a moderate amount of fog. Later, the zone was absolutely choked with fog to the point of blindness.... this may be sacrilege, but I honestly preferred it with the moderate fog. Either way is scary, though. Suggestions for Improvement: Don't completely engulf the zone in fog. Keeping having an actor or two outside the Canyon on either end, helps extend the zone immensely. Sets: A- (simply due to the cleverness of the stilt inclusion) Costumes: A- Atmosphere: A Size: B Scares: A+ Opening Weekend Grade: A Acid Assault -This zone is great! I just wish I got to spend more time in here. Most of the time I was in this area they were rained out. Enough runs to post my thoughts though. -The sets here are very cool... eons ahead of the shitty Apocalypse in 09. Floor stickers are a cool touch. -The building projections... my jaw dropped at how cool these are. I don't mind that they happen frequently, they're just so cool to look at and make great distractions. -The "acid rain" near Twister was a nice surprise! -Costumes are good, if a little generic. I prefer the bloody heads, though the crazy lady with the shopping cart was a lot of fun! -The casts here are good, just not as amazing as 7 or Canyon. They have great potential though. It's probably harder for them since they have much more territory to cover -Which reminds me, this zone is huge! The cast is big, too, thankfully. Just glad to see a big zone amidst the plethora of tiny ones this year -I got a solid amount of scares in here. This is a more open area so it can be harder, I realize... the casts are good about using the projections as their distraction. They also have a tendency to follow you, a practice I can't get enough of Suggestions for Improvement: Just keep pumping up the level of aggressiveness. I can tell I'll like this zone the more I visit it. Sets: A Costumes: B Atmosphere: A Size: A+ Scares: B+ Opening Weekend Grade: A- Your Luck Has Run Out -While this zone is okay... man, it could've been so much better. And as an advocate for icons, I really wanted to love this zone. -The Pretty Lucks are very well cast, but man, they just look bored to tears up there. In every picture they look like they're about to fall asleep. I know it isn't a particularly fun job to stand and look pretty, but a little enthusiasm would be appreciated -Man, the Demon Lucks masks are HORRID. I seriously do not understand what happened. Was a prosthetic application impossible? If anything, something other than awful plastic mask? It's almost embarrassing how bad those masks are. -The e-prompts here were unexpected and are pretty nice at startling you. The Demon Lucks are fairly good at getting some scares. -Fog is really heavy... to the point of where you can't even see what little sets there are here. -This doesn't feel related to chance or luck or gambling at all. There's those cards, but... meh, where's the roulette wheel? -Where's the atmosphere? This zone is silent besides its "YAAA!" e-prompts. Why isn't "Luck Be a Lady" playing? That alone would help this zone a lot, IMO. -Sometimes the minions are here, sometimes they're not. When they aren't, there's literally SIX ACTORS IN HERE. Acid has at least 15, Grown has at least 10-12, Seven has 21. And our "main attraction" gets 6 at times? Unacceptable. Minions need to be here all the time or the zone becomes a complete fail. -I do like how in the day time, where scares are almost impossible, the Lucks allow for photo ops. Seems to be a good balance - photos by day, scares by night. Suggestions for Improvement: This zone needs a lot of help. Short term solution is to get Luck Be a Lady playing. The Pretty Lucks need to be far more sinister and enthusiastic. Smile! I'd give the one nearest to Mummy a mic, too - there needs to be some narration here. At least give us recorded narration, if anything... The roulette wheel also needs to be included. I'd have built a stage like Saws'n'Steam with a bloodied mannequin hooked up to it at the New York Entrance, with a Lady Luck beckoning you in and spinning the wheel. Befuddles me why this wasn't included. Oh, and for god's sakes replace the Demon Luck masks. They're an absolute embarrassment. Sets: B- Costumes: C- Atmosphere: C- Size: B Scares: B Opening Weekend Grade: C+ Nightmaze -Meh... is how I'd describe this zone. -It's pretty much exactly what I expected, which wasn't much. -The audio design is pretty cool... reminds me of Asylum in Wonderland. In general, that's how this zone should've been designed - with white and black whacky designs, instead of all black. The all blackness screams laziness. -The walls weren't moving much. Scares were scattered and inconsistent. The big guy is pretty freaky, though. -Costumes are as weak as I would've expected. -Meh. Suggestions for Improvement: Not much can be done to save this zone unless the casts get better at moving their walls consistently and effectively. They can get scares by blending into the walls, but the zone comes off as a failed idea. I'm glad they're trying to try new things, but more thought should've been put into this one. Maybe some heavy strobes could help this zone? Sets: D Costumes: C Atmosphere: B Size: B Scares: C+ Opening Weekend Grade: C Well, this turned out to be much longer than I anticipated. Ah well - I hope you all enjoyed reading. I'll be updating throughout the month each time I visit with updated observations and grades. As you'll notice, I enjoyed this year much more than last year, but there are still some very large fundamental problems with HHN at the moment. But that'll come in my big ol giant critical review later!

The HHN Facebook just sent out another call for 21 more lucky emailers. What could the prize be this time?

If you work efficiently you can hit everything in one day on a peak night (remember, you get til 2 AM.) Seriously, just be there at opening both days and hit up Blood'n'Gutz, Poe, and Saws'n'Steam when they open. Winter's Night seems to consistently have the shortest lines so I'd save that one for last.

Work efficiently. Be there at opening and hit 3 houses in the first hour, finish 5 or 6 by the second. You'll be able to hit everything if you don't squander time - save the scare zones, rides, and shows for the heat of the crowds later in the night. Hit houses at opening and closing and whenever short lines allow for an opening.

I got dropped off this weekend - it's as easy as ever. Completely free, just pull in via the directions Grime provided and hop out at the nearest available parking spot. You can get picked back up in the same space, and there's a taxi line if you need one.

Yeah, Luck's a bust. She has one tiny scare zone that has almost nothing to do with gambling or her backstory. She gets a laugh every once in a while in the audio. There's no photo op. No house. No appearances anywhere else in the park besides the half-assed front gate video. She never once addresses us vocally (something even FEAR was able to pull off). She's very weak as far as icons go.

I've got a new big batch of shout outs! Sorry they're so late, been a tad busy (can we get this thread stickied please? it'd motivate me more!) Lessee. All of these are from 9/24. Times should be fairly accurate. Poe - employee preview (so cast A) Masque of Red Death actors, dancers & the masque. I always forget which ones are real and which ones are the fakes. I love how even though some of the dances aren't working or even are missing, you guys still manage to work with your space and get scares. The ravens for always managing to surprise me even though I know they're actors... guy in Pendulum with the head, you get me and my girlfriend almost every time due to your extreme proximity to us. Black Cat Poe, I can never be sure whether to look left or right and you seem to take advantage of that. Some of these actors/actresses may have been Cast B, since I hit you guys again around 9 and 11. In-Between - employee preview then say, 9-9:30ish. Zigzag hallway (the straight path with the incomplete walls, bright colors) - you guys are brilliant and very mischievous, gotten me on a number of occasions. All of the demons with wings... your spot may be obvious but it's never clear when or precisely from what direction you'll emerge. You use your wings to maximum frightening effect... Laser room demon got me good as well. Forsaken - employee preview, around 9, and around 11:30 - the popout cathedral crewmember, your scare is always very intense and I keep forgetting you have a side door to pop out from. Sideways room crewmembers for being awesome and freaking the shit out of my girlfriend (and getting me every once in a while!) Finale room crew receives huge praise from me though... the bungee guy is awesome and plays his part flawlessly, but I KEEP FORGETTING there's a damn crewmember directly to the right of the window. Sometimes he even crawls around the wall into the previous scene and gets us before we've even rounded the corner! That's dedication. It looks like you're my new Orphan Pirate (actor who got me every single time in Orfanage last year). And the very last crewmember has a great scare set up, and gets us almost every time. Great work gentlemen. Saws'n'Steam - ho boy you guys were working it - 6 pm and, maybe 10ish, hard to say on the second time. But wow, you took an already excellent house and made it a highlight. The guys with the airblowers are always spectacular, as is the black guy in the leg-dissection room. Fake chainsaws got us, but our favorites are the two guys past the aquariums who often double team people... on every single run through this house, they've stepped in front of us and straight up blocked the door. On the 6 PM occasion though, you actually refused to let us pass and kept screaming "LOOK AT ME, COME HERE" to my girlfriend who was cowering into my shoulder. Needless to say I was freaked out - you kept it up for a good 20 seconds, no exaggeration. Rock on. Bloodngutz - 6:20ish and around maybe 10-10:30 - much much better runs on both occasions. No Feaster Bunny, but the Hay guy got us great in Easter.... George Washington and Lincoln are excellent, Lincoln "activating" the bomb and giving us a little "shhh" gesture as he does it (hilarious). I love the enthusiastic chick in Arbor Day... she always waves and has the biggest smile and just shrieks with glee, it's awesome, allowing the tree to nail us (and he did, both times). Leprechauns, you deserve some very special praise... on the later in the evening run you both emerged from your holes and cornered us, snarling about "Nightmares" and refusing passage before retreating and then nailing us with your e-prompt. This was awesome, completely unnerved my girlfriend, and made the purchase of my Nightmares shirt totally worth it. You rock! The earlier run's Leprechauns were also stellar - they've made St. Patrick's Day easily the scariest room in this maze. Also, Bloodngutz on both occasions was great fun... first time he mentioned my NIghtmares shirt which was fun, the second time we talked about how he should've gone "Hostel II" with the place. THING - I don't remember specific times, sorry - though I keep feeling like I hit this house with the worst timing, I did get a few good scares, mainly from the female "possessed" thing (with the ripped open chest and pincers). The split-face Thing got us both runs - and bungee Thing got us the first run (I didn't ever notice he was a split-face!) but was missing the second (). I'll keep trying on this house, I'm convinced I just have awful timing. Nightingales - almost everyone in this house deserves special praise. Off the top of my head, the entryway nurse uses her bloodied corpse effectively to unnerve you. The Nightingales about halfway through this house, where they reach through the holes in the trenches, actually moved out to where they completely blocked our path, surprising us and making me literally jump back - I was shaking, the e-prompts were really intense and I wasn't expecting the blockage. The Nightingale who waits literally right past the "shit-in-your-face" in the room with the mirror trick making it seem like there were tons of corpses. Bungee nurse and the machine gun soldier for some awesome improv at the finale - the Bungee leapt all the way over to the Machine Gunner, who pulled a pistol and (with sounds) began firing at her. Totally unexpected and very cool, and served as a fantastic distraction for the Nightingale on the left to emerge and nail us. Winter's Night - I love this house! Weeping Angel got us one time, the plowing-through-snow zombie is awesome, coffin room girl and ceiling coffin guy got us... The miniature scare got me on one run (love love love that scare, it's brilliant). The crypt zombie and skeleton-man got us. The specters at the end are always good fun, but the final one on the right deserves special mention - it was the end of the night (midnight) and we passed through the house, moving past you and thinking you weren't going to scare us, but I glanced back and BOOM there you were in our face. Wonderful final scare. Seven - You guys are the best actors in the streets right now. I have received more scares in this zone then all of my time in any zones from previous years combined, I am seriously not exaggerating. The vanities, envies, and chainsaws in particular deserve a shitload of praise for how aggressive, menacing, and downright frightening they are. It was so good I took down a time range so I could congratulate whichever cast it was... this went down between 7:45 and 8:15 (we literally walked through all the zones, then back again, and around again and again). The chainsaws, especially the black chainsaw, had a certain affinity for my girlfriend - they'd literally approach us, the black chainsaw would shake his head and grin, and would then scream at us to RUN and chase us throughout the zone. At one point they cornered us against Sloth's stage and we were stuck, and the Vanities took the opportunity to run over and get in our faces, intensifying the experience. We came back later (literally right after the music/costumes switched from melancholy to Manson) and had a similarly great experience. If anyone from this zone is reading this, please take a moment to congratulate all members of your zone. It is seriously my favorite zone based on scares, ever. I will be returning often in the coming weeks, unfortunately sans girlfriend, and will hopefully experience similar results. Just, wow. Canyon of Dark Souls - we didn't hit this one Friday, but wow I'm sad we didn't! We hit the zone just after the chainsaws were brought back out (post first rain) and before all the crazy fog was pumped back in, so the zone was relatively clear. Everyone here was incredible - the 'blending in" stilts to the roaming, enormous skull men. You intimidate the shit out of me. One skull man actually followed us through the entire zone, and out of the zone, towards Kidzone, going past the food cart (!!) and ramming his staff into the ground every few seconds to let us know that yes, he was still there. Now, around 8:50, (again I took special note), we re-entered the zone and the stilts weren't out again due to rain... but BAM out comes what would've been a stilt actor (judging by the mask) from behind one of the curtains, and he screams NIGHTMARES! NIGHTMARES! NIGHTMARES ALL DAY NIGHTMARES! and was just going crazy, flipping out and dancing all around us. He ran off, but it was too late - the other skull men had taken notice and by the end of the zone we had been swarmed. I understand MrBungle is a stilt in this zone, and if that was you, thank you sir, for helping to make my night. Great zone, again, will be visiting often (my #2). Grown Evil - unfortunately no huge stand-outs here to report. Everyone was off to the side watching, and no stilts due to rain. :/ Nightmaze - a little better tonight, around 11:50 an enormous cloaked actor chased us through the zone growling and snarling. Freaked out my girlfriend~ Acid Assault - I can't remember costumes unfortunately but we did receive a few good scares here. Keep up the good work, this zone is growing on me Luck - this zone is actually getting much better scare wise. The first demon luck (closest to Acid Assault) got us several times as we approached from the lagoon side. The zone just needs more ambiance... Luck Be a Lady should be playing, and unfortunately, demon masks blow. I do like how at night the zone is exclusively scaring while in the day time, where your positions are totally obvious, you allow pictures. Good mix.

I heard about the eye issue before opening night so I was anticipating it not being too scary... I think the whole thing is overblown. For the most part you guys hide very effectively and use the eyes to your advantage; I got plenty of scares, sometimes even when I saw the eyes before the actor lunged. While it'd be nice if they were switch-activated, it's not that big of a deal. Great work to both casts in this house. EDIT: Oh, and I don't think the length is so bad either. The first room is more establishing than scaring, but overall the length is decent.

Look, I know you're a house lead and there might be factors I'm not fully aware of - but I still find it detracting from the houses. I highly dislike the "sprint through the houses" stressful mentality that the ops are required to push. That's my opinion. It IS better this year (so far) but it's still a problem in some cases; I apologize if that upsets you, but unfortunately the opinion stands.

Already? Shouldn't we wait until we're a little further into the season before making a final judgement? A lot can change in a week alone... (For the record, right now Poe sits at my #1.)

I stand by my opinion that the ops diminish the impact of houses, sorry. I recognize that the ops are following a system - I'm saying it's a broken system. Luckily, this year Universal seems to have listened to some of last year's louder complaints and found better spots for the ops in many houses (yay Winter's Night, Poe, Nightingales, In Between, Forsaken, Saws'n'Steam!) Unfortunately on a handful of occasions the ops did become intrusive. In each case, the person in front of me was literally a pace away (if I walked any faster I'd run into them) or I was completely alone in the house with no one in front of or behind me visibly. I don't mind a little hand motion to indicate what direction I'm supposed to be going (which is actually helpful in a couple of the more labyrinth-like houses this year) but some actually left their little holes, walked straight through a scene and in front of scare actor booholes (making it impossible for them to scare me or anyone else), and then told me to hurry up and flashed their light in my face. Saw a couple keeping the lights eternally on and waving them around, which in my eyes is a no no unless someone's really lost. Overall, though, the ops were better (so far) this year. They're a necessary evil and I do my best to ignore them. Thank you, A&D/Universal, for building them spots to chill for the most part unseen unless there's an issue.

Nights: 2 Winter's Night - 3 Nightingales - 3 Thing - 3 Bloodngutz - 3 Saws and Steam - 3 Poe - 6 In Between - 4 Forsaken - 5 Bill&Ted - 1 MIB - 2 Mummy - 1 Jaws - 1 Total Houses - 30

Have I got some shout outs to give! You all were great. All from 9/23 Forsaken - 11ish trip was stellar. Forsaken who blocked the door then gave us a thumbs up and a little dance rocked. Bungee jump and final forsaken got us on both our trips. Cathedral forsaken and slanted room guys were all terrifying. In between - entire cast during the downpour and at 1130. You guys make the house with your freakish movements and great use of your costuming. Guys in the zigzag hallway and the green guys in the dorm at the end were wonderful, and the guys with the wings. Love the ops guy at the very end who got into the act and playfully beckoned us to get out quick, followed by a double team from the actors. Poe - you guys are our #1. All Poes, the ravens (hallway and end), masque of red death and the dancers, just... Incredible. Everyone in here was on target. Congratulations, keep scaring us for #1 status. (during downpour and at 1150) Saws - the pair with the steamers halfway who double teamed and blocked the door, the fake saw, and surprise real chainsaw - great scares. Bloodngutz - Lincoln (gatoralex, I believe?) and Washington, the native American and the pilgrim, and the leprechauns. All nailed us - keep up the great work. Nightingales - most of the house is on target. Was overjoyed to see the return of show scenes. The soldiers and nightingales in those spots were awesome, as was the bungee. Loving this house. Thing - not the best run, but I did get destroyed by some of the female THINGs as well as the "torn apart" male thing. Can't wait to try this again! Winter's Night - the miniature scare. Oh my god, probably the best scare ive ever received at hhn. To that actress, well done. All of the spirits were doing work, you're all very creepy. The coffin scene spirit nailed us! 7 - EVERYONE. I'm not exaggerating. Every, single, goddamn, scare actor went after us and got us. Around 715 we were the couple with the visor sunglasses. Went through again at 1115 and got an even better run. Ladies, you're all lovely, men, you are terrifying. Props to you all, I bashed this zone and it's now my #1. Grown Evil - nightmare shirt and the visor around 715... The ground raven nailed me. Everyone uses their wings beautifully and creepily... The owls and bats are very intimidating. Love this zone. Acid Assault - lady in the shopping cart and a melting face nailed us. Girl standing in the acid rain was creepy as hell! Nightmaze - none yet Luck - pretty luck's were indeed pretty. Demon lucks were trying... One demon got us, but man, your masks do suck. Minions at front of park - one of you followed us towards Hollywood around 715 and snarled in our faces... Freaked out my gf who's never been. Thanks Canyon - didn't hit your zone, but after midnight as you guys were exiting one left the procession and charged at us and snarled. Fantastic unexpected final scare... Was in a nightmare shirt. Thanks! Will be seeing your zone tonight!

I had a wonderful time last night - very happy to briefly meet Voorhees, Grime, and a couple others - saw mz in the Studio Store at closing, but you guys were leaving so didn't want to hold you up. Event is a big improvement from last year but not a knock out of the park - review to come in a few days!

Ugh... I'm glad other people are enjoying it, but I found this show to be a bore. The villain/plot were dumber than usual and the sketches (with one or two exceptions, thanks papa and laden) just weren't that funny. Their warlock assassin, though, is spot on, and criminally under-used.

Oh my god... I misjudged this zone so badly. It was my top zone easily. Minions? You take the cake. Holy crap, you guys were on the ball. More to come in my full review.

Thanks for the info, though I'm not sure I like that it's that art style - works for the shooters/shots I think, but not a pin. I'll have to see it in person though. Here's hoping there's a guest pin like last year, I really dug the FEAR pin...

Yes, but there's usually a second pin as well (likely one featuring our good Lady.)

Any plans for a photo/meetup inside the park proper for those of us who either a) can't get to Orlando that early or can't drink yet?

If there's an opening night HNN photo, count me in!

Hey guys, in case you didn't see - the Halloween Horror Nights Official App has been released on Android Marketplace and iOS store. Search "Halloween Horror Nights" - the icon is the little spade with a skull in it. It's nifty - mostly a GPS app.

Not gonna lie, I will be very pissed if there are no hoodies left opening night. That seems ludicrous.