Halloween Horror Nights 24 Discussion

[Cooger and Dark]

I have thought to myself that this year has a lot of potential scare factor. Things like clowns, dolls, zombies, and michael myers have a lot of scare factor for people. I know my friends I'm dragging with are terrified by the lineup this year.

If I had to guess now what the HOTY would be, I would say, in order...AVP, Roanoke, or a surprise hit with Dracaula: Untold.

Giggles & Gore, I think just based on it's location and reports that it's very short...I'm gonna say is not a contender. Dollhouse of the Damned...I just can't really picture this one in my head or really theorize what this is gonna be like. The whole part about the Morgue get's me excited, but it's a tent house and we all know how often those win HOTY...Here's hoping I'm surprised, because I can see that one going either way.

I have heard from an insider that they think Dollhouse of the Damned might be the dark horse house this year which just makes me think of Havoc: Dogs of War, Catacombs, and The Inbetween. If the actors really take it up a notch, I think it could be something special.

Somehow, I sort of think AvP has such high expectations that it might end up disappointing which is why I agree that Dracula: Untold could be the surprise hit of the IP houses.

Giggles and Gore is probably not a contender like you said, but it may get high ratings just do to the clown factor. If it does spill into the streets, I think we could see HHN's shortest house end up with some surprisingly high ratings.

Roanoke looks awesome but may suffer from a lack of knowledge by the GP. I mean, I cannot even tell you how many times I heard people saying 2011's WWII house was okay. The history houses, while my favorites, can get lost in translation.

[ghostdude]

I never had any problem with the hordes in 2012. the actors were everywhere, they were fun, their costumes were interesting.

4 zones sounds very little for a park that is so big. Universal keeps disregarding the streets so much, soon the park won't be any different from the daytime except for the music.

maybe you don't care at all about the streets but for some of us the streets are as important as the houses. Specially when the lines for the houses are 2 hours. when that happens is when the streets really shine because while people wait 2 hours to see a house for 5 minutes you can walk in the zones as many times as you want and get scared just as many times.

The houses are great but they alone do not make the event. the shows and the streets make HHN what it is. take those away and all you get is the regular park with scary music. What's fun about that?

You said it, some of you. I always have tons of fun everytime i go. Btw i never said i didn't care at all about scare zones, but like the MAJORITY of people, i go for the houses and the scarezones are something i pass through to get to those houses, not something i camp in and walk through it over, and over again. They have 4, four, cuatro zones, and big ones at that, and maybe some extras that we don't know about. You got your zones back, so be greatful for that instead of finding something to complain, and cry about.

[Guest kiwisoup]

I'm kinda wondering now....what exactly were the "House of the Year" houses for each year?

[QuestionMark]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Halloween will be our HOTY. I don't see this being anything short of amazing since it's such an iconic IP that they know they have to do justice. Plus it's Mike's favorite horror movie of all time. So it has to be a passion project for him and likely the entire team.

Edited August 14, 2014 by QuestionMark

[Guest kiwisoup]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Halloween will be our HOTY. I don't see this being anything short of amazing since it's such an iconic IP that they know they have to do justice. Plus it's Mike's favorite horror movie of all time. So it has to be a passion project for him and likely the entire team.

I dunno. For one, it's already been done in Hollywood and will probably be similar enough to anybody that's watched the walkthrough videos all over YouTube, two it's a tent house, and three it doesn't really offer up any unique settings or characters or anything original Not a lot of variety. It will be a bunch of Michael Myers running around...probably seeing more than one at a time in a house/asylum setting.

I expect Halloween to be good and am looking forward to it...but HOTY...I just don't see it.

[ForeverEvil1]

I'm kinda wondering now....what exactly were the "House of the Year" houses for each year?

2010: HAVOC: Dogs of War

2011: The Forsaken/ The In-Between

2012: Gothic

2013: An American Werewolf in London

Sorry if I missed any.

[clash]

I have heard from an insider that they think Dollhouse of the Damned might be the dark horse house this year which just makes me think of Havoc: Dogs of War, Catacombs, and The Inbetween. If the actors really take it up a notch, I think it could be something special.

Somehow, I sort of think AvP has such high expectations that it might end up disappointing which is why I agree that Dracula: Untold could be the surprise hit of the IP houses.

Giggles and Gore is probably not a contender like you said, but it may get high ratings just do to the clown factor. If it does spill into the streets, I think we could see HHN's shortest house end up with some surprisingly high ratings.

Roanoke looks awesome but may suffer from a lack of knowledge by the GP. I mean, I cannot even tell you how many times I heard people saying 2011's WWII house was okay. The history houses, while my favorites, can get lost in translation.

I also think that AVP's expectations are so high it might backfire on them. I think D:U will surprise everyone and might be the scariest house

[Cooger and Dark]

I'm kinda wondering now....what exactly were the "House of the Year" houses for each year?

Someone please correct me if I am wrong, I am working from memory and could not find the information anywhere.

2009: Dracula Legacy in Blood

2010: Havoc Dogs of War

2011: The Forsaken / The In-Between

2012: ?

2013: American Werewolf in London

Edit: ForeverEvil1 beat me to it. I feel like we should have this listed for quick reference somewhere on this site. Mods?

[TBfresh813]

I hope fdtd surprises all of you I think you guys are really underestimating it if you have seen the movie and not the show I can see why you would say its not gonna be very good but being a big fan of Robert rodriguez and tarrintino movies I am very exited and if you have seen the show then you know that theres way more than just the bar inside the good ole titty twister wich if done right will be awesome I am also excited for twd house I know yall don't like it much that its back but I have not been able to make it the past few years and I love the show so I for one am glad its back and lets face it Michael myers is the $#!+ with all that said heres my best to worst predictions

scarezones

1.purge

2.boyou of blood

3.mask a rade

4.face off

houses

1.ftdt

2.halloween

3.twd

4.doll house of the damned

5.avp

6.cannibal colony

7.giggle n gore

8.Dracula untold

and I see a lot of yall B!+chin about scarezones and if I recall everything isn't all said and done for all yall know theres hopefully at least one more coming

[Cooger and Dark]

I hope fdtd surprises all of you I think you guys are really underestimating it if you have seen the movie and not the show I can see why you would say its not gonna be very good but being a big fan of Robert rodriguez and tarrintino movies I am very exited and if you have seen the show then you know that theres way more than just the bar inside the good ole titty twister wich if done right will be awesome I am also excited for twd house I know yall don't like it much that its back but I have not been able to make it the past few years and I love the show so I for one am glad its back and lets face it Michael myers is the $#!+ with all that said heres my best to worst predictions

scarezones

1.purge

2.boyou of blood

3.mask a rade

4.face off

houses

1.ftdt

2.halloween

3.twd

4.doll house of the damned

5.avp

6.cannibal colony

7.giggle n gore

8.Dracula untold

and I see a lot of yall B!+chin about scarezones and if I recall everything isn't all said and done for all yall know theres hopefully at least one more coming

I don't think we are discounting those houses, we are just operating under what information we know. I mean, if you look at the last five-ish years the winners are usually the originals or the lesser known IPs. I think the reason for that is, knowing the source material makes it less scary since you know what to expect. That does not mean the houses are not good, it just means there are other houses out there that the GP likes better. It makes sense since part of the appeal of horror is the unexpected.

Edited August 14, 2014 by Cooger and Dark

[ghostdude]

I have Halloween on top of that list, Aliev vs Predator sounds like a strong one as well. Just because a house is on a tent does not disqualify it from HOTY (Havoc Dogs of War, Dead Exposure), and last year wasent't an IP house of the year?

I'll check them out before rolling my crystal ball and making predictions. Competition is very stiff this year.

[Cooger and Dark]

I have Halloween on top of that list, Aliev vs Predator sounds like a strong one as well. Just because a house is on a tent does not disqualify it from HOTY (Havoc Dogs of War, Dead Exposure), and last year wasent't an IP house of the year?

I'll check them out before rolling my crystal ball and making predictions. Competition is very stiff this year.

You make some good points. I am glad you remembered Dead Exposure, because the tents cannot be HOTY argument has always bugged me. Even though The Forsaken won in 2011, The Inbetween was always highly rated.

I know American Werewolf in London won last year, but that was the first time in 5 years that an IP house won and, I have to guess, the GP did not really know the property so it probably took a lot of people by surprise.

I agree, it is going to be a close competition this year.

[TBfresh813]

all good points, ip or not if the house is dope then its dope personally I love experiencing stuff ive seen on screen in person idk why but I just love it that could possibly be why the top end of my list is ip strong but originals are always great ya gotta love new fresh stuff you haven't seen before either way im gonna have a blast I haven't been in like 8 yrs

[Legacy]

2002 - Screamhouse

2003 - PsychoScarepy, I think

2004 - Castle Vampyr

Break

2009 - Dracula Legacy of Blood

2010 - Havoc, with the important caveat that Catacombs was essentially disqualified during the final week. At least Hades didn't win.

2011 - Officially, a tie between In-Between and Forsaken. In-Between had the best numbers throughout the event. Forsaken basically won most improved.

2012 - Gothic

2013 - American Werewolf

The thing with house of the year is that guests reaction have very little to do with who wins. They help, but there are a ton of other variables that go in to account.

CAST TURN-OVER - When a member of a cast quits and has to be replaced, that's a count against them.

LATE/NO-SHOWS

GUEST COMPLAINTS

GUEST THROUGHPUT - How many people that actually go through a house matters a great deal. If a house gets shut down for any extended period of time, that can hurt a house's chances. Also, if the cast is "scaring back" instead of forward, that lowers the number of people that can go through in an hour.

And the most important thing is simply...

WHICH ONE MANAGEMENT LIKES MOST

When you take those things in to account, there are only a couple of things you can actually use to predict prior to anything happening: Throughput and management's favorite. This year, "Giggles and Gore" and TWD may have a major advantage in throughput. TWD will have a massive occupancy rate (but could easily slow down). G&G can rush people through the house and be easy to get repeat visitors. If I had to guess a favorite, the easy bet is Roanoke because it was planned last year.

But that's ignoring the trend... What trend?

Every five years... and Vampire house featuring a castle wins. Castle Vampyr in 2004... Dracula in 2009... and what do we have in 2014?

Edited August 14, 2014 by Legacy

[ghostdude]

You make some good points. I am glad you remembered Dead Exposure, because the tents cannot be HOTY argument has always bugged me. Even though The Forsaken won in 2011, The Inbetween was always highly rated.

I know American Werewolf in London won last year, but that was the first time in 5 years that an IP house won and, I have to guess, the GP did not really know the property so it probably took a lot of people by surprise.

I agree, it is going to be a close competition this year.

Very true about An American Warewolf in London, a big percentage of the public are on the young side and might not ever seem this movie. I'm getting old lol :-)

[ThNdIzNiR]

To this day, I am still completely confused as to how Havoc won house of the year. Maybe it was because I attended HHN 20 on the opening weekend? I really thought that house was awful and possibly the worst one that year.

[Legacy]

To this day, I am still completely confused as to how Havoc won house of the year. Maybe it was because I attended HHN 20 on the opening weekend? I really thought that house was awful and possibly the worst one that year.

Because the cast turned a throw-away budget house (that the year prior was one of the lowest rated in HHN history) in to an intense, unique and visceral experience.

[JackTheREAPER]

It bothers me that everyone has been begging for the return of scarezones, and when it actually happens, they all find something to complain about. "There are only 4 scarezones"

Oh boohoo... there are only 4 scarezones. Yeah, 4 amazingly designed and complex scarezones, including The Purge which covers up the ENTIRE New York area including Sting Alley! That's freaking huge, guys.

Not to mention, we are getting a Walking Dead "queque zone" with zombies and most likely a "Clown exit zone" when we are leaving the Giggles And Gore Inc maze. So everyone just calm down, and think about it. I can GUARANTEE you that just because there are 4 scarezones, the rest of the park will NOT be empty. It's HHN's heart and soul job to turn ALL of Universal Studios into Halloween Horror Nights. I have a feeling that outside of the mazes that are NOT located in scarezones, there will be a themed zone in front of the queque.

One last comment before I end this little assurance message: Scarezones are back. Just what we wanted

[LuitaChris]

I have to say I'm incredibly excited for this years event. This is one year where I really don't see a house where I feel I can skip it. Very pleased with the return of the scare zones also. I think we have one hell of an event on our hands

[ForeverEvil1]

Just because I feel like it, I'm going to rate our speculation, since Hollywood was somehow spot on on everything, with the exception of Conjuring spec they had. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything.

Walking Dead- I feel this was 50/50. Some of us were positive they would have to bring it back. Some of us were positive it had run it's course. By the announcement, I think we mostly had shifted towards the former, though.

From Dusk Till Dawn- This was a bit of a doozy. We thought it was happening, then we thought Roanoke replaced it, then the leak happened. And ironically enough, in the end, it ended up replacing our supposed Boogeyman 3Dish maze. Neither coast actually could have predicted this one, considering it was labeled as the Super Secret Project over in Hollywood.

Face/Off- We had this one down, thanks to Cassilda's clue with the QR Code. It was speculated and I basically think agreed on before we got the QR down, so I think we did good on this one.

The Purge- We also had this one down, thanks to Cassilda's clue and I believe the Orlando Informer website said it was happening or something like that. Though similar to Face/Off, I'm pretty sure we had this down from the Cassilda Clue.

Alien vs Predator- We got the Alien side, so we did pretty good. I don't presently recall whether there was a chat about whether it was going to be AVP or not. Probably was, just can't remember.

Dracula:Untold- All I can say, is that we did predict it. I forget when and why, but I know we did.

Roanoke: Cannibal Colony- We got the Roanoke part down. Cannibalism was mentioned early on (I'm pretty sure), then it got buried under the Wendigo, which ironically enough the Wendigo was half-right anyway. Then the Wendigo got buried under it being an Indian Revenge house, thanks to one website. Personally, I'm blaming the website for that.

Giggles and Gore Inc- We got the making evil clowns point down. We did believe it was Steampunk before it was announced, and the whole Jack thing, which is technically still going on.

Dollhouse of the Damned- We got the Evil/Living Doll part down and the only thing we could have gotten down, so we got what we could.

Maskarade: Unstitched- We got the Masquerade part down, partial thanks to Hollywood for that one. The unstitched part was never really hinted at.

Bayou of Blood- We had this zone down, right down to reusage of the barn if I'm correct.

Halloween- There was initially the Nightingales speculation, but then it changed to Halloween after the clues stopped connecting to Nightingales, and we got Halloween.

Again, correct if I'm wrong on anything.

[clash]

2002 - Screamhouse

2003 - PsychoScarepy, I think

2004 - Castle Vampyr

Break

2009 - Dracula Legacy of Blood

2010 - Havoc, with the important caveat that Catacombs was essentially disqualified during the final week. At least Hades didn't win.

2011 - Officially, a tie between In-Between and Forsaken. In-Between had the best numbers throughout the event. Forsaken basically won most improved.

2012 - Gothic

2013 - American Werewolf

The thing with house of the year is that guests reaction have very little to do with who wins. They help, but there are a ton of other variables that go in to account.

CAST TURN-OVER - When a member of a cast quits and has to be replaced, that's a count against them.

LATE/NO-SHOWS

GUEST COMPLAINTS

GUEST THROUGHPUT - How many people that actually go through a house matters a great deal. If a house gets shut down for any extended period of time, that can hurt a house's chances. Also, if the cast is "scaring back" instead of forward, that lowers the number of people that can go through in an hour.

And the most important thing is simply...

WHICH ONE MANAGEMENT LIKES MOST

When you take those things in to account, there are only a couple of things you can actually use to predict prior to anything happening: Throughput and management's favorite. This year, "Giggles and Gore" and TWD may have a major advantage in throughput. TWD will have a massive occupancy rate (but could easily slow down). G&G can rush people through the house and be easy to get repeat visitors. If I had to guess a favorite, the easy bet is Roanoke because it was planned last year.

But that's ignoring the trend... What trend?

Every five years... and Vampire house featuring a castle wins. Castle Vampyr in 2004... Dracula in 2009... and what do we have in 2014?

why was catacombs disqualified?

[Legacy]

why was catacombs disqualified?

"Essentially" disqualified. Long story short, the cast was playing games with the fans. When the lead coordinator discovered it, she was pissed and reported it to higher.

Edit - I want to clarify that, while it's possible Cats n' Combs had nothing to do with not getting HotY, the house was considered heavy favorites until the last three nights... Which is when the game was reported.

It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme. If you knew what to do, Catacombs became one of the most enjoyable, interactive and unique houses (for the fans) in history. I'd rather be a part of that than just another HotY.

Edited August 15, 2014 by Legacy

[Legacy]

Just remembered that Scary Tales won in 2001.

[Guest]

Games?Like in Penn and Teller?

[Legacy]

Games?Like in Penn and Teller?

I don't know what happened in Penn and Teller.

As soon as Catacombs was revealed, the HHN web community dubbed it "Cats and Combs." Since no one knew what would really be in it at the time, the joke was that it would have a bunch of cats with glorious hair. With that, people started taking stuffed cats in to the house and combing them for the Plague Doctors.

Now, the cast knew exactly what was going on, so we played along. It started with simply petting the cats as they came through. We would stay in character, our characters just liked cats since we had been trapped underground for centuries and hadn't seen felines in such a long time (it's completely logical). Then we took it a bit too far and started stealing the cats and passing them through the house. Most of us recognized which cat belonged to which guest, so we could steal a cat at the beginning of the house and it would be returned towards the end of the house. All the cats got returned except one... the one in mid-travail when we got caught by the coordinator.

We crossed a line. Deep down, we knew it. We got so focused on the cats we were willing to leave our boo holes to pass them on. Leaving boo holes is a bad thing (unless there is a good reason like you're injured or reporting something). But like I said, at least Hades didn't win.