Opening Weekend Review. (long w/spoilers)

[Chataro]

This year’s event really took its time to develop on the website, but once it did, I have to admit that I was excited for what was to come. I, like others, didn’t really see a “casino” event as being a great marketing concept, but with the twist that Lady Luck is just there when people make decisions; I personally thought this took it into a very cool direction and tied her involvement into the event perfectly.

While the event is not perfect, I will say that in my opinion it is one of the strongest years from top to bottom that I have been to since Sweet 16. Here are my thoughts on the houses. I will break each house down into three categories. Scenery, Effects, and Scares.

The Forsaken: (4 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – The scenery in this house was amazing. You felt like you just walked in that Spanish fort just after they were attacked. I was a little disappointed at the lack of the normal huge façade at the beginning, but that was quickly forgiven when I walked into the courtyard scene. I’m pretty sure that that scene is now my all time favorite scene. 9/10

2. Effects – This house gives you the true feeling that you are in the middle of this huge storm going on while the battle rages. Shutters banging, lightening flashing, high winds, and moisture all immerse you into this storm as you walk through. Add the cool effect of the Cathedral’s green screen and the crooked walkway in the bowels of the ship and they really nailed this one. 9/10

3. Scares – Like with all houses at HHN. . .TIMING IS EVERYTHING!!!! Over the weekend we ended up going through this one four times and there were some times my wife got it bad and others that we just missed it. I will say that the green eyes can give away a lot of what it about to happen, but it’s such a cool effect and when done right, it delivered the scares. The final flying scare is awesome if you are lucky enough to time seeing it right. 7/10

The In-Between: (2 visits)

1. Scenery – This house to me was very light on scenery by design. You really only had two main scenes with the dorm room at the beginning and the dorm room at the end. While they were perfectly fine, they didn’t worry about the scenery in this house because this was an effects heavy house. 3/10

2. Effects – Here is where this house stood out. I’ve been through a few other 3D houses in the past including Jack’s, and I don’t think anyone can say that this house isn’t amazing compared to the others. The tunnel starts you off and it only gets more and more impressive as you go from one disorientating effect to the other. This was truly amazing and was such a mind melt. 10/10

3. Scares – Probably the only complaint I will have with this house is that there didn’t seem to be that many scares in it. That might be because it was opening weekend, timing, or what I think, there is so much screwing with your head 3D effect wise, they decided to take it easy on the scares so you could just take the effects in. I would have preferred at least a few more scares out of this one though because they definitely have you distracted with the Effects. 4/10

Nevermore the Madness of Poe: (3 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – This house was gorgeous. They did such a great job of taking you back to Poe’s era and immersing you into each and every story that they chose to represent in the house. Just walking into the Tell Tale Heart scene made you feel the madness, the dancers in the Masque of the Red Death scene made you feel like you were invited to the party, The Black Cat scene made you feel like you were the one being walled up. All the scenes were great in reflecting the madness that was Poe. 10/10

2. Effects - The loud heart beating, the screeching ravens, and if you were lucky enough to see behind the picture all added into the overall feel of the house. I wouldn’t call this house effect heavy, but would say that the Scenery was the stand out in this house. 5/10

3. Scares – This house had very strong scares throughout. From the man with the Vulture’s eye, the ballroom dancers, the rather large ravens, and the poor axed woman, this house was big in misdirection and what I call stealth scares. The scares came fairly often. 8/10

Saws N Steams: (3 visits)

1. Scenery – As opposed to the gorgeous scenery in Nevermore, this house wins hands down for the most disgusting scenery. Don’t take me wrong though, that’s NOT a bad thing when it comes to HHN. This house reminded me a lot of the Cleaver house a couple years back, but I think they did a better job of relating the process through this house. There was so much to see and I truly wish they wouldn’t rush you through so fast so we could “stop and smell the roses” through this house. Great, Wonderful, Nasty, Gross, Disgusting Scenery. 10/10

2. Effects – To say this house was wet is an understatement. There were so many cool effects used that really made you believe that the poor souls that signed up for Horizon had met with truly horrible demises. The presses, the “fish” tanks, the waterfall, electricity all made you feel like you were going to be the next to get squeezed like orange juice. The leg filet was probably the grossest scene I’ve ever seen at HHN! 9/10

3. Scares – I’m 6’3” and there were still quite a few “workers” in there that I had to look up to. They played their part perfectly and made you feel that they were just doing their jobs and you were next. Pretty clear cut scares here with the chainsaws and various other cutting devices, but what they lacked in jump scares, they made up in intimidation scares. Plus anytime you have a chainsaw guy at the exit, it’s a good good thing. 8/10

H.R. Bloodengutz (2 visits)

I will start out by saying DO NOT go into this house when it’s still light out. It’s way too bright in there and that will distract any potential scares.

1. Scenery – This house played the campy/funny house perfectly. I loved going through all the Holiday themed rooms and they were all decorated to a tee. I like the way they did the little break scenes between each Holiday, similar to how they did Silver Screams a couple years back, because the first time we went through, it was daylight and we couldn’t see the pre-house video at all. You knew what Holiday you were in the second you walked in each scene and I’ll just say that I loved the Jack reference and seeing Santa’s beard splattered all over the wall. 8/10

2. Effects – This house was not really effect heavy but they did manage to use smells and “blood” squirting to help the Holidays come to life. I always love it when they use smells to further immerse you into the scenes and really loved the smells in the Thanksgiving scene. Arbor day was a fun “wet” scene and the tree costume was great. 6/10

3. Scares – Very typical scares for the comedy house. You can count on a few good misdirection scares, but primarily, you are going to get the over the top acting scares that make it the comedy house. I loved the Feaster Bunny and the ghillie suit scare in the same scene. That’s always a good scare. 7/10

The Thing: (2 visits)

1. Scenery- Soundstage houses will always be some of the most detailed houses around and The Thing was no exception. As you entered the sound stage, you could swear you just were transported to the Norwegian base. The rest of the house was not a letdown as you worked your way through the base as the alien took over. 8/10

2. Effects- Another effect heavy house. The snow and cold was incredible, and much loved after the 90 degree temperatures. The only thing I will say is that the house felt a little too effect heavy rather than scare heavy. The main problem I noticed was that if you didn’t get to see the animatronics effect as you walked passed, you weren’t going to get to see the next one either. The timing was poor in my opinion and they took too long to reset. I liked the effects in this house, but just thought they could have timed them better. 6/10

3. Scares – Because of the effect heavy nature of the house, I just didn’t see many scares happening. I saw were the scareactors were, but they weren’t coming out. I think the only scares that took place in this house for my group were the loud gunshots startling us. Plus add the bright lights and you couldn’t see the next scare anyways. 5/10

Nightingales: (2 visits)

1. Scenery – This house also didn’t have the traditional façade that soundstage houses normally do, but it made sense as to the nature of the house. You were thrown into the war immediately and no time for gawking. I think Universal nailed look and feel to what I could picture WWI being like. The scenery was not colorful or diverse, but it gave you the hopeless feeling of war. Loved the horse scene and the body room!!!!! 9/10

2. Effects – The battle sounds alone make this a really immersive house. Add in the blood spray, the flying Nightingales, and the smell of dirt all around you, you really do feel like you are in the middle of WWI. I loved the effect of the lights flashing above the trench to make you feel like the battle was just over the dirt ledge. Great effects in this house. 9/10

3. Scares – The way the Nightingales evolve throughout the house was pure genius. You get to see them in three different stages and each one is frightening. Most the scares come from above on this one and that makes sense being you are in a trench. The dead body room to me was just a real eerie area and can really scare the spit out of you. 8/10

Winters Night: (5 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – Once again, when walking into the soundstage, you are hit with the impressive view of the Hawthorn Cemetery. What follows is a totally awesome walk through a cemetery that will give you the feeling of death being everywhere. The tombs, caskets, and outside scenes are top notch and the snow scattered throughout just add to the theme. The brick wall with the diorama scene is amazing! 9/10

2. Effects – Very similar in the effects of The Thing house with the snow and cold. There is a cool effect with a ghost looking like he is crawling out of the grave that we learned was inspired by The Walking Dead TV show. Not effect heavy, but the cold is enough in this house. 6/10

3. Scares – This house to me was very strong in the scares. It begins with the weeping angel and continues on from there. A few of the stand out scares for me was the overhead coffin, the diorama scare, and the final scene. Very strong scare house in my opinion. 8/10

Well this is my review of the opening weekend and I will restate that I really liked this year. I think not only are the houses strong, but most of the scare zones are done very well also. I would have included my review of the scare zones, but this was long enough. I look forward to my return trips to see any improvements that they implement. Well done Universal!!!

[Shadybrook Oddfellow]

You've made me angry that I decided to go to HHNH this year. !@#$!