HHN 2011: Alice Cooper's Welcome to My Nightmare

[HorrorNights93]

Yeah, he only does it for several words in ONE song, and many reviews are erroneously saying it's an "Autotune album". And you think that's not bad enough? He RAPS on one track - albeit intentionally terribly.

As I was listening to the first track, I was driving home, and thought I heard the tell-tale un-natural warble of Autotune in one word, so I immediately rewound, and cringed when I heard it again. I let it bother me way too much, and it poisoned the rest of the song (and CD). But on the second listen through the CD, I focused on the 99.9% that was not Autotuned, and "got it". Even though Steven only reappears briefly in this album, it's just long enough to seal Alice's fate.

In the original, Alice was a boy, afraid of things that kids are afraid of: the dark, things under the bed, what their toys do at night. Back then, Steven was banished to the recesses of Alice's mind. It's now 30 years later, and Alice is still afraid, but of things that a 40 year old would be afraid of: lawyers, being forced to work for the machine, women who may be the devil, and of course - disco. Steven awakens in the first song, and this time he's not going away.

wait the autotone and alice is true i need to listen to this albulm

[Grindhousehero13]

Seeing what a diehard Alice fan Murdy is, I'd expect him to stick to the "spirit" of the original album, so you have to look at what the album was selling: In the original, Alice was a boy, afraid of things that kids are afraid of: the dark, things under the bed, what their toys do at night. Back then, Steven was ultimately banished to the recesses of Alice's mind. In the sequel, it's now 30 years later, and Alice is still afraid, but of things that a 40 year old would be afraid of: lawyers, being forced to work for the machine, memories of his abusive father, and of course - disco. Steven awakens in the first song, and this time he's not going away.

So I'd expect to see things that Alice would be afraid of. I think that as much as Steven provided him comfort, he was still afraid of the things Steven showed him. We already know to expect Cold Ethyl. We also know we will be hearing melodies from non-Nightmare songs. Ballad of Dwight Frye will be a great section that should mesh well with Steven, as should Halo of Flies and I Love the Dead. Perhaps we will see executioner Alice around the time we hear "Killer".

So, all this conceptual artwork where all of the monsters have "Alice Eyes" to me means they are characters from his nightmare.

okay I get it its a pretty cool concept hopefully it works out

[DTH316]

Yeah, Ethyl did nothing for me. Lyrically, some of the songs could produce some good imagery if you sat there and thought about them independently but with consideration of tempo, mood, rhythm, atmospheric setting and just the overall SOUND of how the song is, not much about it says "horror" to me. Basically like making a maze out of an Eminem song - - he says some morbid shit too it's just his instrumentals wouldn't necessarily supply that type of imagery either. I just think this concept isn't very apt for Alice Cooper on the surface just looking at it and hearing it, FOR ME, but we'll see in about 4 days. As said before, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie stuff is much more horror generated and brings up imagery in not only lyrics but also how it sounds. Murdy is brave for attacking this project and hopefully his imagination will make it scary instead of the "hokey" (I really hate to overuse that word but that's all that fits for me haha) way everything sounds.

But alas, I'll walk in open minded and hopefully exit with my mind blown.

[zombieman]

Murdy is brave for attacking this project and hopefully his imagination will make it scary instead of the "hokey"...

...But alas, I'll walk in open minded and hopefully exit with my mind blown.

As one of the loudest Murdy detractors over the past few years, I really do applaud him for giving us not one but two original mazes this year. I'd go so far as to say that the "Stab" area of the TT would count as original theme, since Stab can be anything Murdy wants it to be.

Extra kudos to him for biting his tongue while we (mostly me) were basing him daily for not giving us original content. If I was in his position, I wouldn't have been able keep from dropping hints of original content just to shut people up.

If you emerge from Alice with a blown mind, that would be great (that often happens when expectations are set low). I think it's more than likely I'll emerge shaking my head (that often happens when expectations are set too high).

I don't know about everyone else, but this is the first time since 2006 that I've been genuinely pumped about HHN Hollywood.

[HorrorNights93]

^^the only years i wasnt pumped for HHN was 2008 and 2010....both repeat years lol so the facade for this turned out well. Wouldnt say its the best of this years but they did a good job with it IMO. out of all the mazes this is the one i feel like i dont know what im walking into so i'll know ill be surprised . Sure i know the overall concept of it but this one seems the most original to me. I cant wait to see how it turns out. imma set my standards low only so they can be exceeded.

[DTH316]

My expectations are BEYOND low so it should be fairly easy to impress me with this. If it can't even do that, that's when I know it'll be bad. And just to let everyone know, I'm not trying to have a self fulfilling prophecy of hating this maze on purpose or anything because what would be the point in that? Just so I can go, "I told you so?" Not like it would make a flippin' difference. I go to HHN to have fun and I want all of it to be fun, not to walk in and just critique the hell out of everything like a bitter bastard. I just personally think this idea sucks horribly

[HorrorNights93]

ugghhh count it on DTH to be such a negative nancy all the time lol no im just kidding with you i understand were your coming from the concept all together seems kind of skeptical to me to. A maze based on a rock star of horror ? but then again it seems interesting. Its as if the song will be telling us a story as we walk through this haunted attraction. Thats what i wanted in 2010. or any year at that hasnt done this. To tell a story throughout the process and the way i view it is a cool idea. If i havent already said it enough i knew nothing of this Alice Cooper before it was announced. Not sure what kind of horror hes know for...corny ? gory ? humor ? so this will all be a surprise to me. I'll save my judgement for after the maze though. And its HHN so i know were gonna see some cool stuff throughout the maze and if im wrong and it totally bombs (knocks on wood) than hey thats that

[Onca]

When I was listening to both Welcome to my Nightmare and Welcome 2 my Nightmare, I just had the impression that this would be the "fun house" of the group. Sure, there will be some scares.. But to me the music was kinda "feel good" (the instrumentals and most lyrics for W2MN) and fun, to listen to. Not "hokey" at all to me.

Edited September 19, 2011 by Onca

[HorrorNights93]

ughhh i keep saying that im going to listen to these two tracks but a part of me wants to just wait til opening night to hear it >.<

[DTH316]

Well I don't know, personally fun and horror shouldn't mix which comes out either dark, horror comedy or hokey haha.

Dark, horror comedy would be like Idle Hands or even Drag Me to Hell, which is a sub genre I appreciate.

Hokey, as said before, would be Haunted Mansion buahahaha

Knotts is notorious for having a crap load of hokey mazes... last year's perfect examples being Uncle Bobos, Dia De Los Muertos.. granted these are 3D mazes but they usually have the upbeat soundtracks to them (which is kinda what I hear when I hear WTMN). Murdy said they'll be fit to a horror soundtrack though, so we'll see how this all works out... very experimental project and very ballsy so I give major kudos for trying something new.

[Trevler]

Dude. YOU DID NOT JUST CALL THE HAUNTED MANSION HOKEY.

Thats it, I can't talk to you anymore. DEAD TO ME.

[Mike Murder]

I believe he is reffering to the horrible film starring Eddie Murphy, and not the vaunted Disneyland attraction upon which it is based. Just sayin.

[HorrorNights93]

lol can we clarify everyones definition of the word hokey. the correct definition is [obviously contrived, especially to win popular appeal or support; phony.] so when its used are we referring to it being phony ?

idk i think its going to be a good maze but i dont want to get my hopes up.

[the ghost]

Well I don't know, personally fun and horror shouldn't mix which comes out either dark, horror comedy or hokey haha.

Dark, horror comedy would be like Idle Hands or even Drag Me to Hell, which is a sub genre I appreciate.

Hokey, as said before, would be Haunted Mansion buahahaha

Knotts is notorious for having a crap load of hokey mazes... last year's perfect examples being Uncle Bobos, Dia De Los Muertos.. granted these are 3D mazes but they usually have the upbeat soundtracks to them (which is kinda what I hear when I hear WTMN). Murdy said they'll be fit to a horror soundtrack though, so we'll see how this all works out... very experimental project and very ballsy so I give major kudos for trying something new.

I'm with Trevler... FEUD! Haunted Mansion is NOT HOKEY at all!

[DTH316]

Mike Murder is correct, I'm talking about the film! DON'T SHUN MEEEEEEE!!!! :'( lmfao

I love the Haunted Mansion... but with how often I go to Disneyland, it's always a drag going through queue 1 then the elevator then queue 2 so I often skip it. I wish there was a way to bypass the elevator and queue 2! I can take "is this room ACTUALLY STRETCHING" so many times... the ride is awesome though.

Phony sounds wrong... but I don't know what the right word is... hokey just "sounds" right haha

Perhaps "cheesy" is what I'm looking for...

Whatever the terminology is to scare children but is obviously in no way going to scare an adult buahaha

That's just what I've gotten from the announcement video, the albums and the scareactor art thus far.

Edited September 20, 2011 by DTH316

[Onca]

I would like Dia De Los Muertos if it wasn't the tacky glow in the dark 3D boat of fail that it is. I liked the idea and concept for it, of course.. Its just the art direction that I don't like.

Lost Vegas is the same, I wanna see a serious demon/haunted casino concept or else I'll write one myself dammit. I was actually starting to do one when I was bored at work, but I cancelled it.. Need to get back to that.

ANYWAY!

Back on topic, I'm giving this maze the benefit of the doubt and taking what I can out of it. Like DTH said, this is an experimental attempt for Murdy to do a vaguely original maze alongside La Llorona. If these come out as huge successes then we may as well expect more throughout the years, this year may be a turning point for us.

Um.. Did we say that last year, too? I forget..

[HorrorNights93]

Phony sounds wrong... but I don't know what the right word is... hokey just "sounds" right haha

Perhaps "cheesy" is what I'm looking for...

lol i just copied and pasted the def. off dictionary.com i doubt they would be wrong but when i think of hokey cheesy is what comes to mind first

[Trevler]

I would like Dia De Los Muertos if it wasn't the tacky glow in the dark 3D boat of fail that it is. I liked the idea and concept for it, of course.. Its just the art direction that I don't like.

Lost Vegas is the same, I wanna see a serious demon/haunted casino concept or else I'll write one myself dammit. I was actually starting to do one when I was bored at work, but I cancelled it.. Need to get back to that.

ANYWAY!

Back on topic, I'm giving this maze the benefit of the doubt and taking what I can out of it. Like DTH said, this is an experimental attempt for Murdy to do a vaguely original maze alongside La Llorona. If these come out as huge successes then we may as well expect more throughout the years, this year may be a turning point for us.

Um.. Did we say that last year, too? I forget..

Not to de-rail into Knott's discussion but I -really- like the art direction in Dia. It reminds me of Pyschonauts (Blackvelvetopia in particular). I fully argree with Vegas though. It'd make such a great dark maze, instead it was just plain.. goofy.

[Freak]

ANYWAY....lol

I wonder if they'll play Cooper's music in the queue. I hope so.

[DTH316]

I hope NOT. With it playing all the way down the star way and in the maze, it'll be overload!

Perhaps go the La Llorona route and have a narration of some sort explaining the Steven backstory with Alice Cooper narrating himself?

With the music not being so horror oriented, I just have a feeling that the overload of this stuff is gonna turn a lot of crowds off and only Murdy himself and Cooper's fans will understand it.

[the ghost]

Will it be playing down the Starway or will they be playing Rammstein for the Reapers scare zone?

[Freak]

Rammstein will be playing in the lower lot. Cooper will play in the escalators.

[Onca]

Not to de-rail into Knott's discussion but I -really- like the art direction in Dia. It reminds me of Pyschonauts (Blackvelvetopia in particular). I fully argree with Vegas though. It'd make such a great dark maze, instead it was just plain.. goofy.

I meant the whole use of black light florescent paint, that's tacky, the set pieces and backgrounds themselves are beautiful. I was a little pressed for time as I was on break so I was typing what came to mind at the moment.

If W2MN's music is played on the escalator then it should be fine. Who would really pay too much attention to the music, when they're conversing with their friends while travelling down the Starway the music is just like background noise. The tracks on W2MN are varied and best as that, the Underture works as queue music since there is no lyrics and its a medley of the album's tracks. That is why I think that track in particular would work best in the queue.

[zombieman]

I hope NOT. With it playing all the way down the star way and in the maze, it'll be overload!

Perhaps go the La Llorona route and have a narration of some sort explaining the Steven backstory with Alice Cooper narrating himself?

Dude, you would have SO hated Howl-O-Scream last year. Their icon was a home-made female rocker. They penned four original songs for the event that were actually not that bad, but they promoted the hell out of one of them. As you walk in the gate, inside TWO of the houses, on a concert stage every hour. I mean, you hear the same verse and chorus 25 times in each house. You would have been BEGGING for Alice Cooper - Cold Ethyl and all.

With the music not being so horror oriented, I just have a feeling that the overload of this stuff is gonna turn a lot of crowds off and only Murdy himself and Cooper's fans will understand it.

I'll be sure to provide a Cooper-to-DTH translation for ya.

In all seriousness, I don't think it will turn people off (just you). I, for one, hadn't heard alot of Zombie's stuff before riding the escelator, and I purchased a couple of CDs as a result. One could argue that Zombie on the escelator was totally out of place since there was no Zombie maze in the lower lot, but there was a maze in the upper lot. I didn't hear people crying overkill.

If the house turns out to be a disaster, then the escelator will just be a sad reminder of the whole thing; otherwise, it will add to it.

[zombieman]

If W2MN's music is played on the escalator then it should be fine. Who would really pay too much attention to the music, when they're conversing with their friends while travelling down the Starway the music is just like background noise. The tracks on W2MN are varied and best as that, the Underture works as queue music since there is no lyrics and its a medley of the album's tracks. That is why I think that track in particular would work best in the queue.

I predict the following tracks will be played on the escelator:

• I'll Bite Your Face Off
  
• What Baby Wants
  
• I am Made of You
  
• The Congregation
  
• Disco Bloodbath
  
• Ghouls Gone Wild