Initial house and scarezone impressions/rankings (Spoiler Free):
Houses:
**1st tier - very little separation between 1-4**
1. Slaughter Sinema - Just brilliant. #2 is scarier, but this house is so original/creative and fun that it wins overall. It does have decent scares. The facade in the queue is the best of the event, hands-down.
2. Poltergeist - Very pleasantly surprised by this house. They absolutely knocked it out of the park. Scariest house of the event. It definitely "feels" like the same vein of The Exorcist and The Shining from the last couple years, but this one is much better.
3. Trick r Treat - It was great as a scarezone and it's great as a house. Need to be a fan of the movie to really enjoy it.
4. Carnival Graveyard - 2nd best facade, elaborate set design (think Ghost Town or Dead Waters), high energy cast, some good scares. Surprisingly long.
**2nd tier**
5. Halloween 4 - Probably the weakest of the Halloween/Halloween 2/Halloween 4 trio of houses they've done since 2014, but still a good house. Myers always makes for a good house. They did a great job translating the film to a house (as they did w/ the last two), but the 2 things that held it back for me are 1) it didn't include what was by far the most intense moment of the film (rooftop), and 2) it felt a little short -- probably a result of being in the Shrek building. It was going along really great and then just kinda abruptly ended.
6. Stranger Things - The opposite of our Poltergeist experience -- we were very excited with super high expectations for this house, and it didn't quite delivery (though it has room to improve). There were reportedly a lot of technical issues with the house on opening night (audio triggers not working for characters, costumes not fitting, etc) and it felt like we missed a lot. 2nd night it was better. I think once everything gets ironed out, this could make it into the top tier of houses. I was just a little stunned at how it under-performed, especially when comparing to how Universal absolutely crushed the blockbuster American Horror Story houses the past 2 years -- I thought this would be even better as the underlying IP is better.
7. Dead Exposure - A very good house with cool effects; I just prefer the above 6.
8. Scary Tales - Same as #7. Still a good house. It's easy to miss some of the best scares in this house if you don't have the luckiest timing during your walkthrough (similar to The Fallen last year).
**1-8 were all really good houses**
9. Blumhouse 2 - Not a bad house, but not the best. Just decent. I don't understand the need to mash 2 partially-complete houses together into one house. It would've worked much better as just an entire Happy Death Day house that was fleshed out a bit more (could say the same for The First Purge, but Purge at HHN is a little worn out at this time).
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10. Seeds of Extinction. Did not like this house at all.
Scarezones:
1. Vamp '85 -- #1 with a bullet, and probably my favorite scarezone ever (already topping Trick r Treat from last year). I mean, Michael Jackson, Prince, and Freddie Mercury vampires, lol. The set pieces and background music selections are fantastic, and the "show" that kicks off each cast change is also great. The energy level among scareactors is very high in this zone -- they know how awesome it is and they are living it up.
2. Revenge of Chucky -- well done set pieces and the Chucky puppet and voice are well done. I also like the projections on the buildings and the set pieces.
3. Killer Klowns -- this may end up #2; we didn't spend as much time here. Again, the set pieces and decorations are great. Also, keep an eye out for shadow projections on the building above the scarezone -- a very neat nod to the film if you're familiar with it.
4. Twisted Tradition -- didn't find this to be scary or particularly fun either. A couple of nice costumes/decorations, and the lit pumpkins are always nice.
5. The Harvest -- as has been the trend the past few years for the entry area zone, this hardly qualifies as a scarezone.
Overall, a VERY strong year for HHN -- easily the best since HHN 25 and maybe the best we've been to (we've gone to HHN 22 and then 24-28). Really looking forward to going back several more times and seeing the houses once things are running a bit smoother (and when it isn't so HOT!).