Review?

[Mae]

I feel like I've done this before...

But I love talking about HHN, so I'll do it, again!

I have a difficult time deciding what is my favorite house. Frankenstein had some of the most amazing costumes, make-up, and sets I've ever seen and the actors were so good. Their timing was flawless every trip through. I loved the steampunk feel and the continuity to the story. My scares were intense, one time causing me to run straight into a wall...which I'd never actually done before. I had to sort of 'hold on' to it for a few seconds to get my bearings...it was that good. Dracula was gorgeous and those brides made me scream so damn much on one visith that I lost my voice! It was never where I expected, either; I never got the up scare, but the one just after that...every time. The Wolf Man was much scarier than I had anticipated. The forest scene was tremendous with growls and howls coming from everywhere and you never knew where the Wolf Man actually was; it made for a great first scare. The sets were beautiful again, with fun trivia thrown in for good measure (thanks Unmasking the Horror tour; though I do still wish we'd been able to take photos). Silver Screams was great fun and had the BEST facade, ever. EVER. I could have stood there and watched that for an hour. I somehow always got scared by the My Blood Valentine scene, even though I never once thought the movie was all that scary. (I only watched the remake for Jensen Ackles) and I was so in love with the Phantom at the beginning I felt like a groupie. (Why hasn't The Phantom ever had a house, I wonder?) Although I enjoyed the other houses; Leave It to Cleaver was great fun and the Child's Play house had one of my all-time, top 10 scares, they were weren't as much fun as those top four. I declined Saw and Spawning on my last few visits.

I LOVED War of the Dead. Again with the scareactors...they even got me in broad daylight! I loved the set pieces and the costumes and it was fascinating to be in that zone. The sound and lighting effects were awesome, especially for an outdoor venue. It was where I started my night every time, cutting through there to get to Horrorwood and Silver Screams. The Horrorwood Die-In is, I think, quintessential HHN. The atmosphere was fantastic, down to the popcorn stand and the cheesy 70's 'make-out' van. The shift changes were almost as fun as the previous year's Skoolhouse changes (almost). Lights, Camera, Hacktion! never failed to amuse and entertain and I do love the smell of metal, oil and gasoline. Containment and Apocolypse didn't start out so good in my opinion, but they both improved tremendously and by the last weekend they were in fine, fine shape. I didn't think much of the Cirque du Freak, perhaps it was just too crowded.

I liked HHN 19, but it did have some things that weren't my cup of tea. It started as a bit of a disappointment after the previous year, but there was still lots to enjoy.

I'll have to add more later. Time to go home!

Mae