Final HHN 28 Review

[HHN Pro]

Welp. The time has come. HHN 28 has come to an end, and the speculation is about to begin for HHN 29. So, why not get my final review out?

 

This year was a very strong year. I've been going since 2015, and this is hands-down the best year I've done. So many good houses, strong scare zones, and good theme.

 

So, let's get started with the rankings!

 

 

HOUSES

#1 - Poltergeist - Hands down the best house of the year. When I first saw the film, I was very concerned as to how it was going to transfer over into a house, and they did it perfectly. Great sets, very good scares, and it feels like you're part of the movie. Also, that opening is a great way to start the house, and now one of my favorite scenes in an HHN house. - 5/5

 

#2 - Slaughter Sinema - SUCH A FUN HOUSE!!! Hilarious movies, great scares, simple yet good sets, and just fun! Barber Chop was definitely my favorite, since the barber (the bald one) started recognizing me, and I always had fun with him when I entered that room. I hope that from what I've been hearing is right, and that this will become our next HHN franchise. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite houses. - 5/5

 

#3 - Seeds of Extinction - Another fun house. Brilliant scares, great atmosphere, cool sets, and lots of fun easter eggs! I got to go through this house completely on my own twice on Tuesday night (which everyone knows was a completely dead night) and one of them followed me throughout the whole thing. And the second time, he was waiting for me at the front! I loved this house. - 5/5

 

#4 - Dead Exposure: Patient Zero - A very good house... When it's daytime. During the daytime, this house works perfectly. Your eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet, so the pitch black/blindness concept works throughout the whole thing, and the scares are on-point. But at night, you can see everything which not only ruins the scares, but also the concept of you being blind. A great house, but only at certain times. - 4.5/5

 

#5 - Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After - A solid house. Amazing façade, fun storyline, and twisted fairytales! The only problem is that it doesn't have the best scares. Don't get me wrong, it does have quite a few good scares, but the rest of them fall flat unfortunately. But... There is one amazing thing about this house that shall be remembered for years... IT SO YUMMY IN MEH TUMMY! - 4.5/5

 

#6 - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - A short and sweet house. Michael is everywhere of course, a fun cast, a couple of clever scares, and it's just fun. But, the only problem is of course... We've seen this already, and done in a much better way. That plus the fact that the sets really aren't the best. Other than that, still a solid and fun house. - 4/5

 

#7 - Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces - A bit of a disappointment. Beautiful sets and atmosphere, but only like two good scares in here. Plus that the best scare of the year (metal barrels from Earnest Lee) were removed, replaced with a plastic dummy, then replaced with plastic barrels that made no sound at all, ruining the scare. A cool house, but pretty disappointing. - 3.5/5

 

#8 - The Horrors of Blumhouse - Come at me haters. While this house lacks in having the best scares and best sets, it makes up for it with how fun it is and good it does at making you feel like you go through these two movies. Happy Death Day is hands-down the best part, with Babyface being everywhere and a fun killer, and that it makes you feel like you're walking right through the movie. But then you get to The First Purge... The first and last parts of this section are good, while the rest of it sucks. The first section is fun with the party guys, and the last section had a very good scare with the guy behind the door. Still wish the whole thing was Happy Death Day though. - 3.5/5

 

#9 - Trick 'r Treat - What the hell happened to this house?! At the beginning, it was a great house with good scares and good sets. By the end, there were no good scares, and the sets lost their feel! I don't know if the Scareactors just lost their timing and pace, or if they toned down the lighting on the grand sets, but something happened that hurt the greatness of this house. - 3/5

 

#10 - Stranger Things - What a generic and horrible house. Nothing but Demagorgans, not a SINGLE good scare, and amazing puppets that were shoved off to where nobody could see them. I know it's going to happen, but I really hope this doesn't come back for next year. - 2/5

 

 

SCARE ZONES

#1 - Revenge of Chucky - What a pleasant surprise! This zone is so much fun! Great character interactions, Chucky roasting and cursing out people is amazing, and the operator being added was great! I had this at the bottom of my hype list for scare zones, and I was astonished at how much I loved it. - 5/5

 

#2 - Killer Klownz from Outer Space - What a fun zone. The Klownz are amazing, the ice cream brothers are so much fun, and smoke bubbles! Wish the projections were more utilized though, as I doubt anyone noticed the shadow puppets or the tent taking off. - 5/5

 

#3 - Vamp '85: New Year's Eve - At the beginning, this seemed destined to be the best zone. With fun 80's characters and music, a live dance show, and a DJ going around. But by the end, the zone lost it's fun. The DJ was getting annoying by spamming the "YEEEEEEEEH" button, and if you saw the dance show, you pretty much saw the whole zone. - 4/5

 

#4 - The Harvest - An unworthy sequel to Scarecrow, but still a cool zone. The Scareactors and costume designers saved it. Still confused though as to why the IP's where put on the sides for no reason at all (like, why put them there if you're not going to have the IP characters there)? - 3/5

 

#5 - Twisted Traditions - A rip-off of Trick 'r Treat. Pretty yes, but good or scary no. Generic, reused props from Trick 'r Treat, and just lame. - 2/5

 

 

SHOW

 

Academy of Villains: Cyberpunk - Disappointing. Generic music, lame plot, and misuse of the stage. You have this giant stage that could be used for a much bigger and grander AoV show, and they cover it all up with a platform and the actors only use the center of it. Hands down the worst of the three AoV shows. - 3/5

 

 

Thank you for reading this review! Now let the HHN 29 speculation begin!

[OhHaiInternet95]

2 hours ago, HHN Pro said:

Welp. The time has come. HHN 28 has come to an end, and the speculation is about to begin for HHN 29. So, why not get my final review out?

 

This year was a very strong year. I've been going since 2015, and this is hands-down the best year I've done. So many good houses, strong scare zones, and good theme.

 

So, let's get started with the rankings!

 

 

HOUSES

#1 - Poltergeist - Hands down the best house of the year. When I first saw the film, I was very concerned as to how it was going to transfer over into a house, and they did it perfectly. Great sets, very good scares, and it feels like you're part of the movie. Also, that opening is a great way to start the house, and now one of my favorite scenes in an HHN house. - 5/5

 

#2 - Slaughter Sinema - SUCH A FUN HOUSE!!! Hilarious movies, great scares, simple yet good sets, and just fun! Barber Chop was definitely my favorite, since the barber (the bald one) started recognizing me, and I always had fun with him when I entered that room. I hope that from what I've been hearing is right, and that this will become our next HHN franchise. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite houses. - 5/5

 

#3 - Seeds of Extinction - Another fun house. Brilliant scares, great atmosphere, cool sets, and lots of fun easter eggs! I got to go through this house completely on my own twice on Tuesday night (which everyone knows was a completely dead night) and one of them followed me throughout the whole thing. And the second time, he was waiting for me at the front! I loved this house. - 5/5

 

#4 - Dead Exposure: Patient Zero - A very good house... When it's daytime. During the daytime, this house works perfectly. Your eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet, so the pitch black/blindness concept works throughout the whole thing, and the scares are on-point. But at night, you can see everything which not only ruins the scares, but also the concept of you being blind. A great house, but only at certain times. - 4.5/5

 

#5 - Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After - A solid house. Amazing façade, fun storyline, and twisted fairytales! The only problem is that it doesn't have the best scares. Don't get me wrong, it does have quite a few good scares, but the rest of them fall flat unfortunately. But... There is one amazing thing about this house that shall be remembered for years... IT SO YUMMY IN MEH TUMMY! - 4.5/5

 

#6 - Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers - A short and sweet house. Michael is everywhere of course, a fun cast, a couple of clever scares, and it's just fun. But, the only problem is of course... We've seen this already, and done in a much better way. That plus the fact that the sets really aren't the best. Other than that, still a solid and fun house. - 4/5

 

#7 - Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces - A bit of a disappointment. Beautiful sets and atmosphere, but only like two good scares in here. Plus that the best scare of the year (metal barrels from Earnest Lee) were removed, replaced with a plastic dummy, then replaced with plastic barrels that made no sound at all, ruining the scare. A cool house, but pretty disappointing. - 3.5/5

 

#8 - The Horrors of Blumhouse - Come at me haters. While this house lacks in having the best scares and best sets, it makes up for it with how fun it is and good it does at making you feel like you go through these two movies. Happy Death Day is hands-down the best part, with Babyface being everywhere and a fun killer, and that it makes you feel like you're walking right through the movie. But then you get to The First Purge... The first and last parts of this section are good, while the rest of it sucks. The first section is fun with the party guys, and the last section had a very good scare with the guy behind the door. Still wish the whole thing was Happy Death Day though. - 3.5/5

 

#9 - Trick 'r Treat - What the hell happened to this house?! At the beginning, it was a great house with good scares and good sets. By the end, there were no good scares, and the sets lost their feel! I don't know if the Scareactors just lost their timing and pace, or if they toned down the lighting on the grand sets, but something happened that hurt the greatness of this house. - 3/5

 

#10 - Stranger Things - What a generic and horrible house. Nothing but Demagorgans, not a SINGLE good scare, and amazing puppets that were shoved off to where nobody could see them. I know it's going to happen, but I really hope this doesn't come back for next year. - 2/5

 

 

SCARE ZONES

#1 - Revenge of Chucky - What a pleasant surprise! This zone is so much fun! Great character interactions, Chucky roasting and cursing out people is amazing, and the operator being added was great! I had this at the bottom of my hype list for scare zones, and I was astonished at how much I loved it. - 5/5

 

#2 - Killer Klownz from Outer Space - What a fun zone. The Klownz are amazing, the ice cream brothers are so much fun, and smoke bubbles! Wish the projections were more utilized though, as I doubt anyone noticed the shadow puppets or the tent taking off. - 5/5

 

#3 - Vamp '85: New Year's Eve - At the beginning, this seemed destined to be the best zone. With fun 80's characters and music, a live dance show, and a DJ going around. But by the end, the zone lost it's fun. The DJ was getting annoying by spamming the "YEEEEEEEEH" button, and if you saw the dance show, you pretty much saw the whole zone. - 4/5

 

#4 - The Harvest - An unworthy sequel to Scarecrow, but still a cool zone. The Scareactors and costume designers saved it. Still confused though as to why the IP's where put on the sides for no reason at all (like, why put them there if you're not going to have the IP characters there)? - 3/5

 

#5 - Twisted Traditions - A rip-off of Trick 'r Treat. Pretty yes, but good or scary no. Generic, reused props from Trick 'r Treat, and just lame. - 2/5

 

 

SHOW

 

Academy of Villains: Cyberpunk - Disappointing. Generic music, lame plot, and misuse of the stage. You have this giant stage that could be used for a much bigger and grander AoV show, and they cover it all up with a platform and the actors only use the center of it. Hands down the worst of the three AoV shows. - 3/5

 

 

Thank you for reading this review! Now let the HHN 29 speculation begin!

I think if they try the barrel scare again in the future, they should place the barrels parallel to the guests, with a grate between the guests and barrels (like in the slamming panel hallway)--that way, you get the loud noise and thus the scare without the metal flakes getting in people's eyes.

[zombieman]

When I was there 10/27-10/30 the barrel gag and Earnest Lee were there, and it seemed to me they added a metallic crashing sound timed to the impact of the plastic barrels.  That worked for me. 

I assume they used an AAT, but maybe they had a microphone embedded in the stationary barrel that amplified and distorted the crash to make timing a nonissue; that's how I would have tried to do it.