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Halloween Horror Nights 23 Wishful Thinking


Mark M.
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I've done it. Two years. I've add an e-prom one night in two years. It's a lot easier to scare without them than you think.

I agree. Having been Active Backup for three years straight, the roles that I filled without e-proms were easier for me to get the scare than the ones I had to rely on them for the scare. Most of the time, the sounds that the e-proms triggered got more laughs and stupid comments from the guests than effective scares. Some of my best scares were in Legendary Truth on the only night I filled in for that house in the hallway of doors. No e-prom, just open and close a door that I was hiding behind.

On a side note, I can't recall any roles that I filled that were out in the open (the Jock in AC, Goldilocks in Scary Tales III as examples [meaning I did not fill these roles]) that had e-proms. Any other Scareactors here know of any roles they can think of that did?

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UO needs to train there actors and teach them the art of the scare.. Granted most people have been doing HHN for yrs but there are a lot of noobs.. Scaring isnt just going out and saying "BOO!" there is an art to it.


UO cast people based on looks, not acting....

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The event is more intense, more polished, and more cohesive by far than it used to be. We are just immune to it. You can only go so far with a scare. Technology, scareactors, costumes, music, and sets are just tools. Also, familiarity makes things even less scary.

This is so true. Every time now that I go through a house at HHN I kinda know what to expect and where the scareactors will be hiding within the house. Familiarity is a good word if you've been going to HHN for a while. Maybe Universal will mix things up inside the houses at some point. Make it Unfamiliar.

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I'm always interested by the requests for a "scarier" event.

All the requests ask for visual stimuli or more aggressive scareactors.

The one thing that isn't ask for, or at least I haven't seen it, is better sound.

Sound? One might ask.

The most terrifying house I've been in was Dead Exposure. I became more and more apprehensive of it as I approached the house. The facade didn't cause my apprehension and fear to start. It was the sound. Not the music being played in the queue, but the sounds of the house. A low level hum. Barely audible. Almost like wind or white noise , but it vibrated in your bones. And with each step, it sent waves of discord. It felt off. Out of sync.

Sound plays a large role in human perception. Major chord = happy. Minor chord = sad. Augmented can place us on edge.

For everyone who went through Catacombs, close your eyes and think about that house.

What do you hear?

How excited were you the first time you heard the siren from SH last year?

I think sound plays a key role in our experience. I've also sensed a lack in the sounds the past couple of years. They seemed less refined for me. There is either too much or too little or they seem very cliche.

A perfect house would be a well balanced assault on all our senses.

Well except for taste. No tasting the houses. :P

this is totally right. I agree with this post about the sound. Sound is something that can really scare you, specially if it is done correctly.

In some houses it is better used than others. I do wish they focused a little more on the sound aspects of the houses as well.

I saw pictures of that Llorona puppet scare you are talking about and I kind of wish we got something like that for Orlando (IF they already had something like that before then I either did not attend that year or totally missed it)

I am a big fan of puppets and animatronics. Not only because they really scare me the first time I see them, but after I visit the house again it is really cool to see and pay attention to it. They are just really interesting to look at over and over. The Alien creature in the Thing house (2011) hanging from the roof is one of my favorite things they have done at HHN. Just like some of the puppets they had for the Thing House in 2007, again that was really amazing to see.

One wishful thinking I have every year is that I wish they used more of them. I know they always say that people will break them but I don't like that excuse because they could always place them out of reach of people. They don't have to be within reach.

I do wish they used puppets or animatronics at HHN more often. I really really like them. We don't really get that many of them. (or they were going to use them but then they end up cutting them from the house, which makes me kind of sad)

I also love seeing masks (and prosthetics) being used at the event more than make up. That is just my personal opinion but I am not a big fan of make up or human characters (or victims) at HHN. They are just not that interesting. I love seeing really elaborate costumes and seeing cool masks (And prosthetics). I am always really happy when I see then being used in houses or scarezones.

Now Let me explain. I have nothing against the actors working at HHN. They all do an amazing job that most people couldn't. They are really great.

I also have nothing against using make up I just like masks and prosthetics more. I know some houses that have been amazing only used some make up (like Havoc:Dogs of War) I loved that house just as much as everyone else did. I just don't like it as much when the actors only have a little bit of make up on their face.

Edited by Mr. Black
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I hate gore myself but you rarely see blood at HHN...

Run: Hostile Territory, Screamhouse, Saw, Psychoscareapy, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Body Collectors, and even H.R. Bloodengutz. All of these houses were gory and bloody. And thats only a few of them. There has been a bunch of gore/bloody houses at HHN.....

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This is so true. Every time now that I go through a house at HHN I kinda know what to expect and where the scareactors will be hiding within the house. Familiarity is a good word if you've been going to HHN for a while. Maybe Universal will mix things up inside the houses at some point. Make it Unfamiliar.

The event has been at Studios for the last seven straight years. Having at least parts of the event at IOA would be unfamiliar for a lot of people who've only been able to go the last seven years. Heck I'd go as far as to say the veterans who've been going for longer than that would feel a little different because they've gotten used to the last seven years.

Even Nevermore had a bit of gore. The Pit and The Pendulum had Poe's severed head and a guy cut in half and don't forget about the girl with the axe in her forehead.

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The event has been at Studios for the last seven straight years. Having at least parts of the event at IOA would be unfamiliar for a lot of people who've only been able to go the last seven years. Heck I'd go as far as to say the veterans who've been going for longer than that would feel a little different because they've gotten used to the last seven years.

Even Nevermore had a bit of gore. The Pit and The Pendulum had Poe's severed head and a guy cut in half and don't forget about the girl with the axe in her forehead.

I am still waiting for the event to be held in parts of IOA or something like that. I know it is kind of impossible to have the event done there completely but I always wish every year that they do something with the parks.

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I prefer it stay in one park, the studios in particular, but with express lines having 20+ minute waits at times you have to wonder if the event needs to grow. After this past year I'm planning on doing frequent fear with express just to save myself the headache (or foot/leg aches realistically). Ideally 8 houses should be enough, but without express even on non-peak nights I've had to skip houses. Capacity seems to have no limit. And I'm sure I will be joined by many others in adding express, lol.

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I prefer it stay in one park, the studios in particular, but with express lines having 20+ minute waits at times you have to wonder if the event needs to grow. After this past year I'm planning on doing frequent fear with express just to save myself the headache (or foot/leg aches realistically). Ideally 8 houses should be enough, but without express even on non-peak nights I've had to skip houses. Capacity seems to have no limit. And I'm sure I will be joined by many others in adding express, lol.

By proxy though if everyone adds express... then whats the difference with the regular line? If it is already 20+ minutes wait time for express.

I haven't missed a house (unless by choice) on any night I've gone in the past few years. Now last year we went an extra night with friends and I think we saw three houses. but that was nearing the end.

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I'm pretty sure that there were a lot of blood and gore in many of the houses of HHN Past. Still I think that some of the people say there has been very few houses with blood and gore because IMO as we keep going to HHN, we slowly become immune and unphased by the same amounts and levels of scare, like insects becoming immune to the same pesticides. One solution to losing immunity would be to not going for the next 5 years, but no one would do that haha.

Still, I agree that there are a FEW things that could be improved. Take the event being more PG, for example. Sure, there are a lot of kids that go to the event, but do they really have to focus on them? Also, having some balance with the senses is something I'd like as well. Just little improvements that only we fans would notice is something as well.

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Now that I think about it, some of my fondest memories of my early HHN visits include sound. In Pitch Black, I remember the sounds of a child whispering "Hey! Over here!" And in Superstition, where they had the dead hanging cats bleeding on you, they also had the cat hissing/howling sounds. Shoot, even in the original Doomsday (I think that's the one), there was the sound of the subway as you were walking through the car. Yes, it didn't have to be loud or startling, but I remember it being effective. Mostly because I actually remember it all this time later.

Effective use of sound should be on the list - check.

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Now that I think about it, some of my fondest memories of my early HHN visits include sound. In Pitch Black, I remember the sounds of a child whispering "Hey! Over here!" And in Superstition, where they had the dead hanging cats bleeding on you, they also had the cat hissing/howling sounds. Shoot, even in the original Doomsday (I think that's the one), there was the sound of the subway as you were walking through the car. Yes, it didn't have to be loud or startling, but I remember it being effective. Mostly because I actually remember it all this time later.

Effective use of sound should be on the list - check.

I could not agree with you more. Sound helps with the immersion factor. It puts me into the scene that much more.

I also love when they use scents. I will never forget HHN 13 in Psycho Scareapy the overwhelming smell of feces in one of the rooms. As sick and disgusting as that smell was, that was the moment they had me hooked for good. Coming from Pa I had never experienced a "haunted house" with smells before. I have only once or twice smelled a scent at local haunts in the 10 years since then and don't notice them at HHN anymore.

I don't need a bunch of blood and gore because honestly it fits in some houses and it doesn't in others. I don't want extreme amounts of gore just for the sake of gore. I would much rather the blood and gore that they do have is placed properly in a realistic fashion, with scent.

As far as the e-proms go, I hate them. I'm not a scareactor and have never been one. Talking strictly from a guest standpoint they become predictable, especially when you go through a house multiple times. I have better experiences all around without them. I don't mind one here or there but last year they were just ridiculous.

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I could not agree with you more. Sound helps with the immersion factor. It puts me into the scene that much more.

I also love when they use scents. I will never forget HHN 13 in Psycho Scareapy the overwhelming smell of feces in one of the rooms. As sick and disgusting as that smell was, that was the moment they had me hooked for good. Coming from Pa I had never experienced a "haunted house" with smells before. I have only once or twice smelled a scent at local haunts in the 10 years since then and don't notice them at HHN anymore.

I don't need a bunch of blood and gore because honestly it fits in some houses and it doesn't in others. I don't want extreme amounts of gore just for the sake of gore. I would much rather the blood and gore that they do have is placed properly in a realistic fashion, with scent.

As far as the e-proms go, I hate them. I'm not a scareactor and have never been one. Talking strictly from a guest standpoint they become predictable, especially when you go through a house multiple times. I have better experiences all around without them. I don't mind one here or there but last year they were just ridiculous.

I think Mystique first brought up the sound aspect a couple of pages ago, and I'm so glad she did, because I agree too.

And yes, scent. I can't say that PsychoScareapy was the first house with smells, but it's the first one I remember having smells. Although I also remember the smell of grass and gasoline in the Screamhouse (Revisited, I think) that same year. Still, a truck stop bathroom does have a more memorable scent.

I also agree when she said it needs to incorporate all of our senses. However, I still think taste should be on the table too...

Alice Cooper house? Tastes like chicken :P

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I agree. I think the initial factor of gore is its shock. Our culture is inundated with graphic scenes. It means nothing anymore. Gore may get you at first but ultimately you become more and more desensitized and jaded to everything.

They DID use smells (did you smells hell's kitchen?... Psychoscarapy? :wacko:) They make people complain.

I've smelt the smells of the past, even the smells from last year, but those smells weren't of blood and decomp. That's why it loses reality for me. Those two specific smells. I also know A&D could never use those two smells. People would complain and probably get sick.

I love the smells, they do incorporate.

The one thing that will never happen....

Pulse the lines!!!!

I'm glad you agree. The cough from Catacombs stands out for me.

I love the smells as well.

But I refuse to taste the houses. I don't know who or what has touched them. :P

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Okay I know it's a bit delayed......BUT!!! Making "Mama" a house would probably be a really stupid move. The movie was dumb as hell. If they were to do any recent horror movie for an IP maze, they need to do Sinister.

Quick rundown I have in my head is periodically being brought through a film or two that Ellison found, seeing his film recreated, and then some original or older killings, maybe from the ancient times?

I don't know though I'm just kind of spit balling.

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I've smelt the smells of the past, even the smells from last year, but those smells weren't of blood and decomp. That's why it loses reality for me. Those two specific smells. I also know A&D could never use those two smells. People would complain and probably get sick.

They actually have used the smell of decomposition before, or "simulated rotting flesh." They used it in the original Screamhouse from 2002. It's mentioned in the Art of the Scare movie. To be specific, this is the section where they talk about it:

It happens at about a minute and half in. They briefly touch upon it and then later in the film they explain the logistics of pumping scents into rooms, but I'm not sure where that portion is.

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I'm pretty sure that there were a lot of blood and gore in many of the houses of HHN Past. Still I think that some of the people say there has been very few houses with blood and gore because IMO as we keep going to HHN, we slowly become immune and unphased by the same amounts and levels of scare, like insects becoming immune to the same pesticides. One solution to losing immunity would be to not going for the next 5 years, but no one would do that haha.

Still, I agree that there are a FEW things that could be improved. Take the event being more PG, for example. Sure, there are a lot of kids that go to the event, but do they really have to focus on them? Also, having some balance with the senses is something I'd like as well. Just little improvements that only we fans would notice is something as well.

I also don't need blood or fake guts that much, some houses need it but some house don't need gore. I mean, gore is good depending on the subject of the house but a house doesn't need gore to be scary.

It depends.

What I wish they did for houses was bigger scares. The actors flying is a good way to surprise you and get you scared. Big puppets are another way to surprise you and scare you. Like the Llorona puppet example from Hollywood, the really big puppet they used. I kind of want to see bigger things at HHN, literally bigger things, bigger effects, bigger masks maybe.

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I, honestly, do not recall any noticeable scents in Screamhouse. And no one else in the cast complained about the smells. They may have wanted to use it, but I really don't think they did.

I remember dead flowers and dirt in Scream house... actually smelled a lot like BPAL's Zombi fragrance.

BUT in Hell's kitchen the smell of blood and decomp was so overpowering it made me nauseous.

I know I've smelled it other times I just can't remember when. It's actually really simple to do. they sell a product called body bag. A few drops and a place reeks of decomp. Having said that I don't like when its used. I pretty much want to puke any time I smell it. Under extended exposure I get nasty headaches. think of the poor scare actors that have to breathe it in.

Smells are great and forever burn a house into my memory. the boggy pete moss smell in Dead Silence, the fried flesh smell of Meats Meetz and Creatures, the electric smell in Zobigeddon, the poo and mildew in Psychoscareapy, etc.

I think the level of nastiness in the barn of TWD was the right level. You smelled it but didn't want to vomit.

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I also don't need blood or fake guts that much, some houses need it but some house don't need gore. I mean, gore is good depending on the subject of the house but a house doesn't need gore to be scary.

It depends.

What I wish they did for houses was bigger scares. The actors flying is a good way to surprise you and get you scared. Big puppets are another way to surprise you and scare you. Like the Llorona puppet example from Hollywood, the really big puppet they used. I kind of want to see bigger things at HHN, literally bigger things, bigger effects, bigger masks maybe.

Bigger scares would be cool, and I know other people have mentioned wanting something like the Llorona puppet, so I may be the odd one out, but I don't think that puppet is scary at all.

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auguh3.jpg

This? Its a cool gag but not scary. It isn't directed at you in the least. The best it could be is a distraction scare. Actually... I think this is re-purposed from a Freddy house they had if I'm not mistaken. I know I have seen this as Freddy.

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auguh3.jpg

This? Its a cool gag but not scary. It isn't directed at you in the least. The best it could be is a distraction scare. Actually... I think this is re-purposed from a Freddy house they had if I'm not mistaken. I know I have seen this as Freddy.

You are correct. This was a Freddy - and used in the same manner.

For La Llorona, this was one of three large puppet/animatronics at the end of the house. The still you see here is not that scary, but when you get hit three times in a row at the end by the progrssively more intense figures, it is truly impressive.

I've been through so many houses in my life that I look at the reaction of the patrons as much as I look at the scenery. And these three rooms at the end got amazing responses. The scaryness cannot be evaluated by one pic.

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UO needs to train there actors and teach them the art of the scare.. Granted most people have been doing HHN for yrs but there are a lot of noobs.. Scaring isnt just going out and saying "BOO!" there is an art to it.

UO cast people based on looks, not acting....

I'm surpried you say this about HHN-O. I don't see a lot of that at all in UO.

You want to see every single scareactor jump out and screm "Boo", just go to Howl O Scream...

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I'm surpried you say this about HHN-O. I don't see a lot of that at all in UO.

You want to see every single scareactor jump out and screm "Boo", just go to Howl O Scream...

They don't jump out and say, "Boo," because they have a trigger that screams "Trick or treat," instead. But scaring is a talent that Universal doesn't develop.
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