Top 10 Favorite Houses

[foREVer56]

My first year was 2005, and I haven't missed a year since.

Top 10 Houses:

1. A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers (2007) -- Scares no matter how many runs through. Creative sets, brilliant pacing. Best ever.

like you, ive been every year since 05, but i didn't have the pleasure of going through the infamous Body Collectors(my party didn't want to wait the 2 hour line, plus i was oblivious to anything HHN until the morning i went, so i had no knowledge of the houses or any kind of route unfortunately :/). i wholeheartedly agree with NOES as #1 though. it was brilliantly done and remains to be the only house ive been through to make me feel actual fear.

[Creeper06]

Bottom 5 Houses:

5. Vampyr: Bloodbath (2007) -- Did ANYONE like this house?

4. Jack's Funhouse in Clown-o-Vision (2007) -- Fart noises and actors that were standing in plain sight, wrongly believing themselves to be camouflaged.

3. Reflections of Fear (2008) -- The biggest let down in HHN history. Bad everything.

2. People Under the Stairs: Under Construction (2006) -- Was there ANYTHING in here besides errant pieces of wood?

1. Dungeon of Terror: Retold (2006) -- Let's never speak of this awful, awful house again.

^^^ Agreed! Like, like, like!!!

People Under the Stairs: Under Construction was one of the cheapest, thrown together, half-assed houses I've ever seen at HHN. Truly embarrassing.

[foREVer56]

People Under the Stairs: Under Construction was one of the cheapest, thrown together, half-assed houses I've ever seen at HHN. Truly embarrassing.

huh. i quite enjoyed PUTS. i actually loved it. mind you i was 10 at the time, so i was a little more nervous than i am presently. i also dropped my helmet at one point and that freaked me out cuz i didn't know what was gonna happen . i will give you that it was definitely one of the most cheapest houses thrown together at the last minute, though. RoF and Spawning are still the kings of crap

[Blizzrock13]

like you, ive been every year since 05, but i didn't have the pleasure of going through the infamous Body Collectors(my party didn't want to wait the 2 hour line, plus i was oblivious to anything HHN until the morning i went, so i had no knowledge of the houses or any kind of route unfortunately :/). i wholeheartedly agree with NOES as #1 though. it was brilliantly done and remains to be the only house ive been through to make me feel actual fear.

My own experience was pretty similar. I used to hate haunted houses and getting scared, but somehow one of my friends convinced me to go that year. I'd skimmed the website a time or two, but snce I wasn't really looking forward to it all that much, I didn't remember much of what was on it.

Luckily, my friend had heard that BC was the best house that year and we made an effort to get in. And man, was it something. My perceptions are doubtless a little colored by my HHN-inexperience at the time (I was scared MUCH more easily the first two years I went), but still, this house gave me chills walking into. The entrance had that cold, lifeless voice (you can still hear it on the HHN15 website's house page) dictating instructions for body part removal. In short, BC had everything -- tons of scares, cool distraction tactics (spine girl, anyone? + body bags, hanging heads, strobes....) and of course the gentlemen's costumes were fantastic. Unfortunately, I only got one walkthrough.

huh. i quite enjoyed PUTS. i actually loved it. mind you i was 10 at the time, so i was a little more nervous than i am presently. i also dropped my helmet at one point and that freaked me out cuz i didn't know what was gonna happen . i will give you that it was definitely one of the most cheapest houses thrown together at the last minute, though. RoF and Spawning are still the kings of crap

I can see that. See, the problem with helmet houses is that they disproportionately allocate scares towards the front of the conga line (or, more specifically, the guy with the hat), and the other 15 or so people get robbed. I was near the back of the line on my walkthrough. Every actor headed for the guy with the hat, so I was able to see where they all were in advance. I walked through almost unimpeded. I got one scare. For some reason one of the actors was laying on the floor, and I almost stepped on his face. As my foot was coming down he screamed with more terror in his voice than any guest I've ever heard.

The really shocking thing is, I was a young-un' for HHN16. And DoT and PUTS still somehow managed to stand out as two of the least scary and poorly themed/designed houses I've ever seen EVEN WITH that additional terror in my system.

Edited June 15, 2012 by Blizzrock13

[SeventyOne]

• Demon Cantina (these are in no particular order, but probably my favorite house of all time)
  
• The Hallow (loved the idea of exploring Halloween mythology)
  
• Body Collectors
  
• H.R. Bloodengutz
  
• Winters Night
  
• Catacombs
  
• Psychoscarapy—Home for the Holidays (any of the three Psychoscarapy houses probably comes close to being on the list for me)
  
• Scary Tales II or III (the one with Cinderella and Wizard of Oz)
  
• Frankenstein (2009 version)
  
• Legendary Truth
  

Bottom 5

• Terror Mines (great concept, never worked for me)
  
• Interstellar Terror (never felt enough like a spaceship to me)
  
• Reflections of Fear (might not be here if it wasn’t meant to be the signature house that year)
  
• Cold Blind Terror (was too warm, too well-lit, and too understaffed to be terrifying)
  
• Blood Ruins (strange, but The Coven, which had basically the same theme, would be in my top 5 scare zones)
  

[Creeper06]

huh. i quite enjoyed PUTS. i actually loved it. mind you i was 10 at the time, so i was a little more nervous than i am presently. i also dropped my helmet at one point and that freaked me out cuz i didn't know what was gonna happen . i will give you that it was definitely one of the most cheapest houses thrown together at the last minute, though. RoF and Spawning are still the kings of crap

Well my comment was completely having to do with the theming... or total lack of it. The entire house was 2x4s and plastic sheets. It was like they were out of money and time and said "crap... what do we do for the last house? Let's say it's "Under Construction" so we only have to build the skeleton of it." No doubt there were a couple scares in there but the effort in the design was far below what we have come to expect from HHN.

[Venom]

My Top 10 (been going since 2001, haven't missed it a year since)

1. Friday the 13th: Camp Blood (2007)

2. Scream House (2002)

3. A Nightmare On Elm Street: Dreamwalkers (2007)

4. All Nite Die In (2003)

5. Body Collectors (2005)

6. The In-Between (2011)

7. The Thing: Assimilation (2007)

8. Interstellar Terror (2008)

9. Body Collectors: Collections of the Past (2008)

10. Horror Nights The Hallow'd Past (2010)

Memorable Mentions

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds (2007)

Terror Mines (2005)

Demon Cantina (2005)

The Hallow (2008)

Scary Tales: Once Upon A Nightmare (2008)

Hades: The Gates of Ruin (2010)

RUN (2001)

All Nite Die In: Take 2 (2006)

Silver Screams (2009)

5 Worst

1. Reflections of Fear (2008)

2. Saws and Steam: Enter the Machine (2011)

3. Saw (2009)

4. Vampyr: Blood Bath (2007)

5. The Skool (2005)

Edited June 29, 2012 by Venom

[King_K.]

All Time Top 10:

1) Catacombs : Black Death Rising (2010)

2) Frightanic : Carnage Crew and Fear in First Class (1998)

3) All Nite Die-In (2003)

4) Psychopath : Through the Mind of Norman Bates (1999)

5) RUN (2001)

6) Screamhouse (2002)

7) H.R. BloodeNGutz: Presents Holidays of Horror (2011)

8) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds (2007)

9) PsychoScareapy (2003)

10) The In-Between (2011)

Honorable Mentions:

Hades: The Gates of Ruin (2010)

Demon Cantina (2005)

Body Collectors (2005)

NOES: Dreamwalkers (2007)

Horror Nights: Hallow'd Past (2010)

Museum of Horror: Unnatural History / Chamber of Horrors (1998)

Scary Tales (2001)

All Time Top 5 Worst:

Reflections of Fear (2008)

Saws and Steam: Enter the Machine (2011)

Vampyr: Bloodbath (2007)

Jungle of Doom (2003)

Fear Factor (2002)

[Michele]

Demon Cantina (2005)

Creatures! (2008)

Terror Mines (2005)

Scream House (2002)

All Nite Die-In (2003)

Castle Vampyr (2004)

Winter’s Night (2011)

Horror Nights Nightmares (2004)

PsychoScareapy: Home for the Holidays (2007)

The Wolfman (2009)

Kinda random order, although Demon Cantina is number one, and probably always will be.

[pehyde]

These are in chronological order instead of purely top 10. As a note, I've been going since '06 when I only went through 2 houses, and have done all of the houses besides Reflections of Fear since that year.

PsychoScareapy: Maximum Madness (2006)

A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Walkers (2007)

Dead Silence: The Curse of Mary Shaw (2007)

Dead Exposure (2008)

Scary Tales: Once Upon a Nightmare (2008)

Silver Screams (2009)

Hades: The Gates of Ruin (2010)

Winter's Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery (2011)

Nevermore: The Madness of Poe (2011)

The Forsaken (2011)

Every year my memories of houses change so that's why I didn't give an order, but A Nightmare on Elm Street, Dead Silence and now Winter's Night are pretty much my top 3.

[Jakemeister]

I decided to list my two favorite from every year I've gone because quite frankly making a top 10 list is too much of a pain in the ass.

2006

PsychoScareapy: Maximum Madness

Psycho Path: The Return of Norman Bates

2007

A Nightmare On Elm Street: DreamWalkers

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Fleshwounds

2008

Body Collectors: Collections of the Past

Dead Exposure

2009

Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned

Dracula: Legacy of Blood

2010

Catacombs: Black Death Rising

Horror Nights: The Hallow'd Past

2011

Winter's Night: Haunting of Hawthorne Cemetery

The In Between

I can however make a bottom 5 list.

5. The Spawning

4. Zombiegeddon

3. The Orfailanage

2. Vampyr: Blood Bath

1. Reflections of Failure

[foREVer56]

^ good idea. i think i'll do the same as i'm not even absolute about my list besides my top 4, NOES, SH 3, WN, Catacombs.

2005

The Skool

Demon Cantina

2006

Screamhouse: Resurrection

Psychoscarepy: Maximum Madness

2007

Nightmare On Elm Street: Dreamwalkers

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Flesh Wounds

2008

Dead Exposure

Scary Tales: Once Upon A Nightmare

2009

Silver Screams

Chucky: Friends Til The End

2010

Catacombs:Black Death Rising

The Orfanage

2011A

Winter's Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery

The In-Between

2012

Gothic

Penn and Teller Newkd Las Vegas

Edited November 3, 2012 by foREVer56

[hhnFEARfan]

Here's my top ten! just to let you guys know I've only been going since 2010..so this year(2012) will be my 3rd year!! Which means I don't have a big variety to judge from like everybody else...

#1 The Forsaken- SCARIEST HOUSE I'VE EVER BEEN IN! Mostly because the scareactors kept on targeting me! Great house!

#2 Orfanage ashes to ashes- This one is special to me because I love Cindy! It wasn't really scary but it was creepy..& I loved the atmosphere.

#3 Winters Night- Awesome house! My favorite scare was when the scareactor was dressed to blend in with a pile of bones it got me everytime!

#4 Catacombs: Black Death Rising- Can I just say that the plague doctors in this house were absolutely terrifying!!

#5 The In Between- DEMONS..SO SCARY.

#6 Horror Nights: The Hallowed Past- Not to mention it was my first HHN house ever! I will never forget Jack popping out right in my face at the end of the house as he laughed his creepy laugh!

#7 Saws N Steam-This house had no wait time!It was great! I walked through this house with just me and my friends. nobody infront of us and nobody behind us...We got all the scares...It was an amazing experience!

#8 Havoc: Dogs of War- Really intense house!

#9 The Thing - This house had some awesome scares and effects! It was like you stepped into the movie...It was really intense!!

#10 Zombiegeddon- This house is my # ten because of it's finale scene...Scared the crap outta me... And right when I asked the house I thought it was over..and then a Zombie ran out and chased me I ran so fast all they out of the Disaster queue!!

Edited July 12, 2012 by hhnFEARfan

[Legacy]

1. Screamhouse (2002)

2. Catacombs (2010)

3. Ghost Town (2004)

4. Hellgate Prison (2004)

5. Jungle of Doom - Employee Preview Night (2003)

6. Orfanage (2010)

7. Dark Torment (2001) - I didn't even attend that year, but two words: Ball Pit

8. Ship of Screams (2003)

9. In-Between (2011)

10. The Wolfman (2009)

Least Favorite

5. Fear Factor (2002) - I'm actually fairly indifferent to this house, since I know how it was suppose to be. But it wasn't good by any stretch.

4. Zombiegeddon (2010)

3. HR Bloodengutz (2011)- Notice a trend with that? I go to HHN to get scared, not laugh.

2. Funhouse of Fear (2003)

1. Nightingales (2011) - My hatred for this house is well documented.

[SeventyOne]

So bored on vacation--it's raining--decided to do some number-crunching. I tried to limit myself to the actual top 10 lists, no guarantees in my judgment or my math. 75 houses got votes, so clearly there is a wide range3 of opinion. That said, this is what I came up with:

Top 10 Receiving Top 10 Votes

1) Winters Night/Catacombs (17)

2) Scary Tales III/Nightmare on Elm Street/HHN: The Hallow’d Past/Dead Exposure (14)

3) The In-Between (13)

4) Silver Screams/Psychoscarapy: Maximum Madness (11)

5) Body Collectors (10)

Runners-Up (each with 8): Screamhouse/Nightingales/Nevermore: The Madness of Poe/H.R. Bloodengutz/All Nite DIE-In

Top 5 Receiving Bottom 5 Votes

1) Reflections of Fear (17)

2) The Spawning (13—and no top 10 votes)

3) Zombigeddon/Vampyr: Blood Bath (7)

[Zombiegeddon also had 5 Top 10 votes, probably the most divisive vote, along with the Orfanage, at 5/4]

4) Doomsday/Creature (6)

Clearly there's a bias toward later HHNs, but a couple classic houses are still fondly remembered (as are some older duds). For all the debate over IP houses, Nightmare is well-regarded, as are All-Nite Die-In and SIlver Screams, both essentially IP houses.

[foREVer56]

5. Jungle of Doom - Employee Preview Night (2003)

7. Dark Torment (2001) - I didn't even attend that year, but two words: Ball Pit.

Did they change the house after EP?

BALL PIT?! That's awesome.

[Legacy]

Did they change the house after EP?

BALL PIT?! That's awesome.

Yes. During Employee Preview they had potted plants in the pathway that you had to move around and push out of the way in order to continue down the path. It actually felt like you were lost in jungle. But it also slowed it to a crawl as people couldn't see the path and would have wait for sporadic flame burst to see where to go. It was terrifying, especially in a small group (I went through with four strangers).

They took all the potted plants out though, allowing people to easily go through but killing the tension and suspense.

[Troiandan]

Other than the first, my favorite, these are in no particular order:

Ghost Town

S.S. Frightanic: Fear in First Class & Carnage Crew

Run

Deadtropolis

Catacombs

Havoc

Forsaken

H.R. Bloodengutz: Holidays of Horror

Psychoscareapy

All Nite Die-In

Leave it to Cleaver

Scary Tales

Least Fave:

Disorientorium

Spawning

Any 3D house other than Universal’s Creature Features or The In-Between

Any Jack the Clown House other than Maximum Madness

Jungle of Doom

Wish list

Scream House

Body Collectors

Demon Cantina

NOES: Dreamwalkers

Dead Exposure

[cwoolboy]

1. Winter's Night: Haunting of Hawthorne Cemetary

2. Nevermore: The Madness of Poe

3. Saws N Steam: Into The Machine

4. Silver Screams

5. The Forsaken

6. Havoc: Dogs of War

7. The In-Between

8. Nightingales

9. Catacombs: Black Death Rising

10. Zombiegeddon

[poofsmoke]

Well I've only ever been through 10 houses so I guess I'll just rank those worst to best.

10. Hallow'd Past - I got ZERO scares in that house and since I'd only been to HHN 19 when I went through, I didn't get most of the references.

9. Saw

8. Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned

7. Legendary Truth

6.Zombiegeddon - This is only #6 because the rest of the houses are great. I loved this house. And the body bags in that one room DRIPPED.

5. Catacombs

4. Psychoscareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook - I know this is on a lot of people's least favorites list, but I got scared SO many times in this house.

3. Leave it to Cleaver - My first house ever. The idea and tone was what made it so awesome. And that last room was pretty freaky.

2. Hades

1. Silver Screams - At HHN 19 we had no idea what we were doing so we honestly lucked out by picking this house, and I'm SO GLAD WE DID! Even if some of the movies were lame (like The Strangers..), they were still scary scenes in the house itself. Plus, Shaun of the Dead.

[foREVer56]

*edit*

Edited September 3, 2013 by foREVer56

[Troiandan]

Updated to include 2012. Okay, I've gone from 12 to 14. Had to add two, and couldn't bear to eliminate any. So, sue me. Again, no particular order other than the first:

Ghost Town

Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare

S.S. Frightanic: Fear in First Class & Carnage Crew

Run

Gothic

Deadtropolis

Catacombs

Havoc: Dogs of War

Forsaken

H.R. Bloodengutz: Holidays of Horror

Psychoscareapy

All Nite Die-In

Leave it to Cleaver

Scary Tales

[helzo]

Nevermore The Madness Of Poe (2011)

H.R. Bloodengutz Presents Holidays Of Horror (2011)

Frankensten Creation Of The Damned (2009)

The Hallow (2008)

HAVOC Dogs Of War (2010)

Dracula Legacy In Blood (2009)

Catacombs Black Death Rising (2010)

Dead End (2012)

Scary Tales Once Upon A Nightmare (2008)

Horror Nights The Hallow'd Past (2010)

[Voorhees]

This was incredibly difficult, but here are my top 20 houses and top 5 scarezones, along with the worst ones. I've been attending since 2002 and it's funny how the older ones have more sentimental value. When I was prioritizing my lists, I asked myself, which houses and scarezones would I walk through right now and enjoy just as much as I did when I first experienced them.

Top Ten Houses (1 = best)

1) The Skool (2005) - I have great memories of this house; usually walked through alone

2) Hellgate Prison (2004) - amazing intensity, great queue video, and it's time for a sequel

3) Scream House (2002) - my first HHN house and a true classic

4) Dead Silence: The Curse of Mary Shaw (2007) - cold, great music, and very memorable

5) Psychoscareapy: Maximum Madness (2006) - an excellent sequel that surpassed the original

6) Body Collectors (2005) - a true classic that sent chills down the spines of many guests

7) Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays (2007) - festive house with superior theming

8) Gothic (2012) - amazing sets, excellent scares, and another true classic has been created

9) Chucky: Friends ‘til the End (2009) - I love Child's Play and the house mastered the movies

10) Hades: Gates of Ruin (2010) - excellent costumes and high energy - I love my Minotaur

Next Ten Houses (I had to include them)

11) All Nite Die-In (2003) - bumped down by Gothic; great tribute to horror movies - go Jason!

12) Scary Tales: Once Upon a Nightmare (2008) - surpassed its two predecessors; amazing sets

13) H.R. Bloodengutz Presents Holidays of Horror (2011) - best true dark comedy house to date

14) Deadtropolis (2004) - very intense and it paved the way for the comeback of the zombie

15) A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers (2007) - I'm not a fan of the movies, but amazing house

16) Terror Mines (2005) - new technology with the helmets - it actually worked (if you had the helmet)

17) Leave it to Cleaver (2009) - great dark comedy house and memorable interactions with scareactors

18) Nightingales: Blood Prey (2011) - excellent concept and it created a claustrophobic experience

19) The Hallow (2008) - who doesn't love going back to the roots of Halloween in a perfect house

20) Silver Screams (2009) - good choice of movies and a nice nod to classic and modern horror

Bottom Ten Houses (1 = worst)

10) Disorientorium (2004) - a disorienting house that confuses my memory more than most

9) The Thing (2011) - were we simply watching a battle between the Thing and the scientists?

8) Blood Ruins (2005) - a complete reuse of the set from Ghost Town; pointless house

7) Creatures! (2008) - I know . . . let's make creature costumes that we can't use - rednecks work, no?

6) Reflections of Fear (2008) - so sad because it could have been so much better

5) Jack’s Funhouse in Clown-O-Vision (2007) - everything was wrong with this house

4) Funhouse of Fear (2003) - more like Funhouse of Stupid Dumbness

3) Dungeon of Terror: Retold (2006) - I hope the original wasn't this bad - it's not possible

2) Vampyr: Blood Bath (2007) - worst use of space and lacked focus

1) Fear Factor (2002) - uhhhhhh, what?

Top Five Scarezones (1 = best)

1) The Skoolhouse (2008) - simply stunning; loved the set, the music, the atmosfear, and the scareactors

2) 7 (2011) - simply amazing; loved the idea and the transformations throughout the night

3) Fright Yard (2004) - very memorable; proves that IOA/USF crossover can work

4) Deadtropolis: Zombie Siege (2006) - intense and unforgettable; good tribute to the house

5) Treaks and Foons (2002) - who doesn't love clowns hiding in foam?

*Honorable mention goes to the Dark Legions of 2012 - kudos for successful roaming hordes

Bottom Five Scarezones (1 = worst)

5) Boo-Ville (2002/2003) - umm . . . carnival music and lighting - riiiiiight

4) Canyon of Dark Souls (2011) - I still don't get what was going on here

3) Containment (2009) - very poorly executed

2) Your Luck Has Run Out (2011) - I don't know which was worse: Lady Luck's masks or her screaming

1) Midway of the Bizarre (2007) - the most epic failure ever

[LV-426]

1. Friday the 13th Camp blood

2. Gothic

3. Catacombs

4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre

5. The Hallow

6. Dead End

7. Nevermore

8. Scary Tales once Upon a Nightmare

9. Frankenstein

10. Dracula