My wife and two of my friends just got back from a weekend trip down to Universal for HHN28 and we all had a truly spectacular time. We stayed at Royal Pacific for the weekend so we had the unlimited express pass during the day. On Saturday, the day we were going to HHN, we left the parks in the afternoon to have lunch at City Walk and head back to our hotel for a little rest before the evening. We took the boat back and got into the park around 4:30pm. We then went over to the stay & scream area by Finnegan's and very luckily found a bench in the shade to sit on and have a drink before the evening's festivities. Of note, the last time I was at HHN I was in a much worse place in my life and had a hard time dealing with the sensory overload and constant jump scares of the houses. This time, while I certainly found certain things scary and some jumps definitely go me, I was able to handle everything fairly well and enjoyed myself thoroughly. For the record, we all had the express pass and did 8 of the 10 houses and saw the Academy of Villains show, which was a ton of fun with great music and dancing. The 2 houses we didn't do were basically because we decided not to and used that time to ride The Mummy, Transformers, and Men in Black. Below are my thoughts/rankings of each house...
1. Trick R' Treat - By far my favorite of the houses, I was basically awash in amazement the entire time. Keeping in mind that I am a big fan of the movie, this house felt like a perfect re-creation of many of the iconic scenes from the film. The scale and attention to detail was astounding, with so many wonderful set pieces and a lot of good scares too. For obvious reasons this one is also the most Halloween-y of the houses and really got me into the spirit of the season. More than any other I wish I could've gone through this house a second time. I tried my best to take my time and really take it all in, and luckily I didn't feel rushed. With the express pass we waited about 15 minutes for this house, and part of that was certainly the rather long walk towards the entrance.
2. Stranger Things - While this was probably the least scary of the houses, it was also the most impressive in terms of re-creating a piece of IP in a way that felt accurate and passionate. As a fan of the series I was like a kid in a candy shop. The details are spot on and the actors they cast for various scenes look so much like their television counterparts. This house captures the entire first season of the show and was a joy to walk through. With the express pass we waited about 20 minutes; the posted wait was 90 minutes.
3. Slaughter Sinema - My favorite of the non-IP houses, this one was split into very deliberate sections and while a few jump scares got me really good, there was also a strong element of comedy (albeit very dark) that really tickled me. Each little section was beautifully designed and many could've sustained their own house. I love cult cinema and cheesy 80s horror movies and this was a loving ode to those. The amount of creativity that went into creating each of the fake movies was awesome. With the express pass we waited 5 minutes, so basically we walked right in.
4. Poltergeist - We headed to this house right after we were let in from the Stay and Scream area (which was at about 5:50). Whether because this was the first house or simply because it was so well done, we all felt that this was by far the scariest house of the evening. More so than just the jump scares, this house felt very dark and very disorienting. Like the other two above based on IP it captured the source material beautifully and actually expanded on it a bit, taking you into elements of the film that we only could have dreamed of. This house also has some incredible puppets that scared the heck out of me, frankly. We actually didn't use our express pass for this one as we went right in line after Stay & Scream in case we wanted to do it again, and we waited for about 20 minutes.
5. Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After - Based on the world of dark fairy tales, this house had some comical moments and some truly scary ones, especially the ending which I won't reveal here. I loved the dark gothic imagery and the playful elements of twisting these fairly tales upside down. The entrance to the house is truly stunning and has a stunt/effect that was one of my favorite elements of the evening. With the express pass we waited about 15 minutes.
6. Seeds of Extinction - With the express pass our wait would have been 10 minutes, however an incident occurred in line right before us involving someone who got sick and then they shut down the house for a little bit, I assume to check and see if the aforementioned incident caused any issues in the house. After waiting about 30 minutes (and dealing with some obnoxious people in line behind us who wouldn't keep quiet and exercise some patient) we finally got through the house. For me this was the second scariest house of the night, but it was also a bit monotonous as there wasn't a lot of variety of the types of monsters/creatures. However I'm splitting hairs as I genuinely loved all of the top 6 houses on this list. Seeds also featured some awesome effects involving water and a slanted section (there's an alternate route if you're not comfortable walking on this) that had some of the best scares of the night. This one was like getting lost in the jungle and had some really impressive design work.
7. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers - It saddens me that a house involving Michael Meyers is one of my least favorites, but alas this house never fully came together for me. Perhaps because Halloween 4 isn't that great of a movie or perhaps because it ultimately becomes very repetitive, the house had a few decent scares but never made much of an impression with the design elements or the sets. There were a few decent jumps and I had a good time regardless, it just felt a bit like a shrug compared to some of the other houses. With the express pass we waited 15 minutes.
8. The Horrors of Blumhouse - The first part of this house, based on Happy Death Day (a really clever horror comedy) is a lot of fun but I wish it had captured the silliness/comedy of the movie a bit better. That being said it does capture the look/feel of the film really well, although I didn't find this section scary at all. The second section, based on The First Purge, was very disappointing although a bit scarier than the first half. It sort of just felt like Universal was going through the motions with this part of the house. I could imagine a Purge house being excellent; this wasn't it. With the express pass we waited 15 minutes.
As for the scare zones, my favorite was probably Killer Klowns From Outer Space just because it was so fun and it was great to see the wonderful costumes based on the designs from the film. Vamp 85 was also a ton of fun with great music. The scariest scare zone for me was probably Twisted Tradition over by the iconic central park pumpkin trees as it gets really dark back there and you never see anything coming. The Harvest zone, right by the front of the park, has some really cool stilt walkers and nice costumes. I also love the roaming band of chainsaw guys over by Springfield. It's fun to sit and have a few Duff beers (as we did) and watch people scream and run away from the chainsaws.
All in all, we had a wonderful/scary/awesome time. I wish I could go again this year as I'd love to go through some of the houses again, particularly the top 3. I don't see how the night would be worth it on a busy weekend without the express pass as the crowds are really out of control. Luckily we were able to make it all work for us financially although I know that's not the case for all.
