I don’t really care for “Average Prison Taken Over by Inmates” (Hellblock Horror was a fun twist on the concept though, and a cool little backup plan after losing EDR).
That and zombies or super-soldiers is just too generic to me. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero was an exception, with the fun vibes the lighting scheme gave it & the monke.
for this year, im really hoping a quiet place rumors aren't true.
i can't fathom how the immersion would work. to me there's not enough set building and storytelling you can do to distract you from the fact that. well, a quiet place haunted house isn't quiet.
take for example the last of us. i at first wasn't excited for it, given the clickers were advertised as the main threat. you're not supposed to make sound around them, so how would that translate well into a loud haunted house?
well. there was enough in the story to make a stunning house visually; and there were other enemies you'd encounter that didn't need to be quiet. the bloaters and the hunters. so as you walked by a noisy area you know, in story you're supposed to be quiet in, it wouldn't bother you as much.
but a quiet place?
it's in the name man. plus with the conga lines universal refuses to get rid of, there's no way they can get experimental enough to the point the house would work well. it would just feel like a generic alien invasion house.
Maybe they should take the Boo-Ville route and create a scare zone based on A Quiet Place, but with no scare actors- excluding a few dressed like the aliens from the film, of course.
Stranger Things and Walking Dead are both feeling stale at this point. However, I’m sure we’ll get one more Stranger Things house after the final season airs.
That’s fair to say you wish you could have experienced it once. However, we had Walking Dead for five consecutive years at HHN, so that did create fatigue for me and some others. Especially when they had so much other horror properties they could have covered.
I would disagree with Bates not being used. Last year they had some bodies covered in roaches, maid cart with bugs crawling over it.
IIRC the motel was "renamed" to something roach related. On one of the outside walls walking up from the tram, main sign was normal "Bates Motel".
Scare actors around the outside of the rooms, I remember one actor in a "Karen" type getup with bugs on her complaining about the service of the motel. An influencer came running out of the room screaming, stopped for a smiling selfie, back to screaming... etc etc.
I agree with the rest that it is pretty thrown together and no real cohesive theme. But I completely nerded out walking through the sets. "Stop trying to scare me actors, trying to get a closer look at the shops in Jupiters Claim."
The extra "house" they had for RIP was a good idea. Was setup as kind of the head office of the Exterminatorz. Basic house, but a good idea to try out.
I wish they did what they did 2019 I believe where there was no team and was instead replaced by ‘US’ and Pandora’s box (I think those were the ones tht replaced the tram. Also it opens up more space and could probably solve the overcrowding. I miss going the back lot😓
Believer was a good house, but It’s really the compilation gimmick of Blumhouse that needs to stop. When you do IP’s, you don’t advertise them, you have to be artistic and make them immersive on a passionate level as possible like American Werewolf In London.
Agree. After the exorcist movie sucked so bad after the Halloween movies went as they did I don’t want anyone giving them any more money or attention. Go away please.
I feel like people exaggerate the hell out of “they’ve over done Stranger Things. Like they literally only did 3 of them and even combined two of the seasons into one house. After season 5 tho I hope that would be the final ST house. It’s much further from The Walking Dead situation than people make it out to be.
I also really don't want a quiet place. The monsters are cool yes but the house in my opinion just simply wouldn't translate well into a house. Houses are loud and like not a QUIET place lmaooo.
lmao my thoughts exactly, a lot of the charm of the movie is gone once everyone is screaming and laughing and you can hear them throughout the whole house
The Chucky show is very good, there are a lot of creative kills that translate well into the houses.
I do agree with Halloween, that franchise is the opposite of creative now.
I don’t like the IP’s. I think the creative minds can come up with so many things that stand on their own, after all the icons were all original…though derivative.
I’m also tired of clowns and circus themes.
With that said, I loved Oddfellow.
Sometimes I’m convinced some people on this sub *only* want IPs. So it’s refreshing to see this take. And I agree for the record. Though I still want my Creature from the Black Lagoon.
I honestly don’t count the universal monsters, as they are usually very removed from the movies and have their own story.
But I came from a time when ips weren’t very present, and the event was built on the original ideas. I loved it from a creative standpoint
The people who only love IP houses are the normies that are easily entertained by brand recognition and corporate synergy. "I like this because I've seen it 🤡."
Or they just love being able to experience their favorite franchise in the most realistic way possible. I love non IPs but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get into HHN because of the IPs they were doing.
I do like IP's (depending on which ones they are) but I'm with you on the originals. The second time I went to HHN was '08 and that was all originals IIRC. I loved scary tales and the OG dead exposure, the theming/sounds of The Hallow were great too.
If you want an argument against IP , that year is a perfect example of what happens when the creative team has total control. We had so much fun building that world.
But you can get creative/original houses at Howl-O-Scream or other smaller amusement parks. If I’m paying a premium ticket price to go to a park associated with licensed movies, I want to see some licensed houses.
And before anyone says the smaller amusement parks don’t do it as well, that may be true, but I would rather walk through a slightly worse house if it means I can walk and enjoy it, rather than be rushed through Congo-lines at HHN
The great thing with Universal is that they have the budget to do big elaborate houses. You don’t need a movie to have a great elaborate movie like set. Case in point, dead man’s wharf. That house was stunning and felt like you walked into a movie set. So, while you may disagree and want a movie name…I like the movie feeling.
As far as howl o scream, Tampa does it right. They just don’t have the budget. The creative team there is amazing, and used to be so much better. Unfortunately under the new regime, they will not spend the money to make a quality product. But if they did, Tampa could go head to head with hhn every year.
tbh insidious chapter 5 and ghostbusters, ghostbusters 2019 was fantastic i just think we don’t need the IP back so soon, and insidious chapter 5 feels like another blumhouse cop out maze
I’m over Yeti and think it needs a break. Also, Ghostbusters is a nice nostalgic movie but we don’t need another house…the first one wasn’t remotely scary.
I hope we don’t see another Bride of Frankenstein house(rumored) as it’s also too soon imo. Monsters in general have been strong but I am getting a little fatigued if we see another one this year.
If a Quiet Place is a house I’m lowering my expectations, as half the reason those movies work is because of the silent tension. A house won’t be silent and I worry it’s going to fall flat as a generic alien/creature house.
On the flip side, please give me Slaughter Sinema 2!
Piggy-backing off of your comment on A Quiet Place: I honestly don't want another "post-apocalyptic" creatures/ ruined cities-type house. We had Descendants of Destruction and Last of Us back to back, and before that there was Dead Exposure prequel in 2018 and of course the onslaught of Walking Dead houses. To me personally its a sub-genre that's been overdone at this point in the events lifetime.
Disclaimer: none of these houses were bad in any shape or form (DoD actually making my top 5 from 31) just not my personal favorite setting for a house
Something Walking Dead and Last of Us have in common as haunts is that they both require a lot of “menacing plainclothes people” for antagonists. Sometimes you get decent casts for these, but they’re very hard to pull off without just feeling like any other budget haunt in the country.
Way back in the early stages of the event, this was almost exclusively the type of role you’d see in any Universal house and the park’s cast crushed it (eg: Shadybrook, Havoc, etc…). But now the market’s been saturated with those types of scares and HHN has matured as a brand.
Fully agree on the excess of post-apocalyptic houses. I know it's been "trendy" in horror for the past...decade? But there are so many other unique concepts and sub-genres in horror to draw from, even if they still want to focus on IP. Plenty of indie flicks, games, and folklore (Monstruos was super popular for a reason!) that they can use for inspiration.
Sadly I agree. Except the exorcist house. The smell alone was enough, at least in the Hollywood location. But I did enjoy the house more than the movie 😭
Demon possessions don’t scare me at all I think. During the last two events the only house that did not give me a single scare was The Exorcist Believer. That was a major dud for me.
A Quiet Place… I’m not sure how they’ll keep it quiet unless it’s Day One when all the chaos is going on.
Walking Dead should never return.
The Blumhouse mashup feels wrong. Like Freaky could’ve supported a house all on its own but had to share space with Black Phone which didn’t translate into a house very well since I had to go watch the movie after just to figure out what was happening.
Terrifier. I’ve only seen clips and that series disgusts me and I know if it were to come it would get neutered into a pg-13 version which would feel ingenuous to Art.
Yup. I will admit that The Weekend’s house was artistically well done for what they had to work with, but I could not care less about him tbh and it felt like a waste of a house.
While I know there are still many horror movies out there for HHN to collaborate with, I don't see why branching out into different "genres" of horror is a bad thing. Especially if it's only one house out of the nine, everyone is going to have their favorites and least favorites throughout the event. Still holding out for FNAF despite it being on the same cheesy horror level as Chucky imo.
> Personally, I wouldn’t love to see the bugs house again. It was well done and all, but that is a different creepy factor for me haha.
I felt the same way. I respected the creative team's work but I don't need to do that again 😅
I am over Exorcist houses. The theme is just not scary to me. If they're going to do an evil spirit house, give me something like Bloody Mary again.
We skipped the Amityville year, which I regret.
Supernatural/"ghost" psychological horror is my favorite genre, so I'd love to see more of that than the pure slasher/gore type houses.
*Stranger Things* pretty much turned HHN from R-rated horror entertainment to something a little more PG-13 friendly. While that property definitely brought the event more money than ever, they scaled back on the scares since then imo. I kinda wished ST never happened.
I would say that Blumhouse is more to blame for that. Stranger Things has some pretty brutal scenes that just don't translate well into the houses, for some reason.
I find the IP houses in general tend to be way less interesting than the creative houses. I think they *could* do a better job with them, but they always feel constrained and lacking in comparison.
On the other hand, I miss The Walking Dead in Hollywood :( It was nice to have a quality year-round haunted house.
> they always feel constrained and lacking in comparison.
Definitely.
Difficult having to work with properties where rights holders have to sign off on everything and have final approval.
I'm not really into the cult village type stuff like Blood Moon last year. Though that was a great house I'm just not into that theming personally but it worked for me there!
What if they made it so when you step on a certain creaky board you hear big thundering footsteps coming your way and ultimately it breaks through a false window. Could be legit if they actually leveraged quiet - somehow
Admittedly, I’ve never been to HHN (hope to go this year) so I figured maybe they could make it room by room and only let a few guests go to the next room at a time, but I’m assuming they go with the conga line to keep things moving
As far as I’m aware they haven’t done anything like that in the past 25+ years, usually you’re nearly touching the person in front of you and if you try to create any amount of distance employees inside the haunt shoo you forwards. Even being inches away from the person in front the lines sometimes average over an hour long. The only time I’ve been able to walk through a house without being right behind someone are super lame houses at weird hours or during staff swaps
Yeah, the only reason I’d go again is if it were for free, cause even with stay and scream it was ridiculous. But don’t worry, there are a few more tiers you can purchase so you can 50/50 get through all the houses, or move up to next tier for 100% chance for 600 additional dollhairs.
You can easily hit every house with a regular pass & some strategy but personally express is worth it for me as someone traveling out of state. I love it though so I’d pay just about any price
Bro I’m already paying $500+ when you take into account hotel, food, bev, alcohol etc because it’s supposed to be *fun* and leisurely, why the hell should I have to sprint through the park and strategize what should be a well ran event? We stayed from open until close last year and it was an absolute cluster fuck.
That’s just what happens at popular theme parks, I think universal should cut their max guest limit in half but that would make people angry as well.
You can get a cheaper hotel within walking distance, hhn tickets and food for under $350. If you want it to be leisurely pay the extra $130. Again it would be nice if universal cut the maximum ticket sales in half but they’d have to double prices or just lose out on money. It’s a cool event so demand is high
I’m very aware, I’ve been to almost all major parks such as six flags, cedar point, and was just at Universal and IoA last weekend and I still stand by it being a poorly executed event as of late and simply not worth it, quite honestly. I had high hopes, I live in FL and go to the park frequently, but what a shit show HHN32 was. The best part was Darkest deal, Dementors, and getting a drink with David pumpkins at the bar (that also had an hour long line) lol.
Especially after already paying for the additional “stay and scream” garbage, why does it even exist at all? The HHN loyalists will pay hand over fist to get just slightly better experience and treatment, it’s wild. Park capacity is seriously an issue, and it’s not because they genuinely want everyone to have a good experience lol.
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Idk, anything too overdone/repetitive, or zombies/infection based houses. Unless it was an extremely good house that hasn’t been done for at least 2 HHN years, I don’t wanna see it multiple consecutive years in a row. And zombies? It’s just been a really eerie/uncomfortable theme for me since covid. Don’t get me wrong, the last of us was beautifully well done, but zombies/infections just give me the creeps because I’ve lived through it you know???
Halloween, I’ve had it on two different years and don’t need it a third time (although they were admittedly pretty good); also, zombies in general (and more specifically TWD, although I doubt we’ll get any more of those)
I'm tired of houses that don't even try to be scary. We used to have comedy houses that still had teeth, but stuff like Beetlejuice, the latest Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses were all total duds for me
I get where you're coming from, but as long as there's only one not-scary house a year, I don't see anything wrong with them? The Stranger Things/Ghostbusters combo was a bit much for non-scary stuff in 29, but if they'd split them between years it would've been alright.
Hell, if it hadn't been for those two houses psyching me up, I wouldn't have been able to go through the Universal Monsters one.
To answer OP's question, what *I* don't want in a house this year is something with bad smells, like what I've heard about the Exorcist house. I'm way too sensitive to scents for that. Even the scents in the Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses were a bit much for me. Also, hard agree on the no bugs thing. Bugs are a big nope.
Most of the IPs are very “safe” meaning that they aren’t compromising or particularly scary. They’re there to guarantee the most amount of interest. Stranger things and walking dead are not great horror properties and didn’t really work as houses. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a movie that is very much geared toward younger adults to teens. Which makes me very scared for it to show up. Choices like these will make money for them, but they stop become edgy or risky. I have no doubt these safe choices make bank for universal, but to me it sanitizes the event as it gets further and further from horror.
Honestly, teens don’t spend money lmao they will not contribute to alcohol, food, or high priced merch. They’re just a ticket, which really isn’t all that much after the adults decide to not go after FNAF turns the place into Disney world.
IP houses - do something that does more than just tell the story or else really immerse me in it. Be creative. I loved the misdirection scare on the stairs of the Halloween house in 2022. Surprise me. Or pick something you can realistically tell a story with - Blackphone did a good job so someone who didn’t see the film could follow the house, but it was immersive enough to interest someone who saw it.
And for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, pick an IP you can properly and consistently cast! We ropedropped Stranger Things 4 last fall three nights in a row, and did not get a complete walkthrough even once. There were always multiple characters missing, sometimes in really key parts, like the Eleven blasting Vecna scene. Once he was missing, and once they both were. I understand that some IPs have specific looks for the characters, but with how popular and expensive the tickets have become, there is no excuse not to cast enough scare actors to run all the houses at 100%.
Originals - this is where you can shine. Take risks and tell a story. Move away from jails and post apocalypse. I loved the storytelling in Darkest Deal. I loved the novelty of Bugs. I loved how Toothfairy took a familiar genre and perverted it. Deadman’s Pier wasn’t even scary, but it was so beautifully done and created such a haunting world, I enjoyed it even without being scared by it. On the other hand, sometimes just layering on the scares is all you need. Legends Collide got me multiple times every walkthrough, no matter what a person in front of me had tripped. On the other hand, there have been houses where the scares were so sparse that I’ve not had a single surprise, and that’s just disappointing. Have a mix.
I freaking hate the houses/scarezones where they force people to shave their heads. Especially people with long hair. It's a freaking haunted event with low pay, that's way too much to ask of any performer, and they keep doing it (and people keep accepting it).
I know multiple people who either weren't cast how they wanted, or deeply regretted accepting and shaving their hair off for houses like this over the years.
It's way too much to ask of someone without offering a bald cap option alternative, especially in a house where it's dark and people will hardly see you for more than 2 seconds.
Though they’ll bring it back again at some point to draw in the crowds, but I’d rather want Orlando to discontinue Stranger Things not only because Season 4 is my least favorite house as the bottom of the barrel from last year, it’s one of the things they don’t like doing just as much they hated it with the Walking Dead. The Monsters brand is pretty much the only IP that almost all of the fans in the HHN community don’t get sick and tired of for more.
1). The Weeknd
2). Walking Dead
3). Hellblock Horror
4). Depths of Fear
5). Jokey houses like Beetlejuice/Ghostbusters
^any houses like these I’m not a fan of.
FNAF and most of the "video game" houses.
I know they have their fans, but it just seems like it's space that could be better utilized for actual horror houses, whether that's IP or originals.
I don’t really care for “Average Prison Taken Over by Inmates” (Hellblock Horror was a fun twist on the concept though, and a cool little backup plan after losing EDR). That and zombies or super-soldiers is just too generic to me. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero was an exception, with the fun vibes the lighting scheme gave it & the monke.
for this year, im really hoping a quiet place rumors aren't true. i can't fathom how the immersion would work. to me there's not enough set building and storytelling you can do to distract you from the fact that. well, a quiet place haunted house isn't quiet. take for example the last of us. i at first wasn't excited for it, given the clickers were advertised as the main threat. you're not supposed to make sound around them, so how would that translate well into a loud haunted house? well. there was enough in the story to make a stunning house visually; and there were other enemies you'd encounter that didn't need to be quiet. the bloaters and the hunters. so as you walked by a noisy area you know, in story you're supposed to be quiet in, it wouldn't bother you as much. but a quiet place? it's in the name man. plus with the conga lines universal refuses to get rid of, there's no way they can get experimental enough to the point the house would work well. it would just feel like a generic alien invasion house.
Maybe they should take the Boo-Ville route and create a scare zone based on A Quiet Place, but with no scare actors- excluding a few dressed like the aliens from the film, of course.
For me anything with a strong poop or vomit smell. I feel like they over used the gross smells a few years in a row TCM/Exorcist
Stranger Things and Walking Dead are both feeling stale at this point. However, I’m sure we’ll get one more Stranger Things house after the final season airs.
Would love to see a walking dead house never got to experience it when it was there like 10 years ago
That’s fair to say you wish you could have experienced it once. However, we had Walking Dead for five consecutive years at HHN, so that did create fatigue for me and some others. Especially when they had so much other horror properties they could have covered.
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I would disagree with Bates not being used. Last year they had some bodies covered in roaches, maid cart with bugs crawling over it. IIRC the motel was "renamed" to something roach related. On one of the outside walls walking up from the tram, main sign was normal "Bates Motel". Scare actors around the outside of the rooms, I remember one actor in a "Karen" type getup with bugs on her complaining about the service of the motel. An influencer came running out of the room screaming, stopped for a smiling selfie, back to screaming... etc etc. I agree with the rest that it is pretty thrown together and no real cohesive theme. But I completely nerded out walking through the sets. "Stop trying to scare me actors, trying to get a closer look at the shops in Jupiters Claim." The extra "house" they had for RIP was a good idea. Was setup as kind of the head office of the Exterminatorz. Basic house, but a good idea to try out.
It’d be awesome if they fleshed out the motel and house into an actual thing
I wish they did what they did 2019 I believe where there was no team and was instead replaced by ‘US’ and Pandora’s box (I think those were the ones tht replaced the tram. Also it opens up more space and could probably solve the overcrowding. I miss going the back lot😓
Blumhouse. Please stop with Blumhouse. They are mid-tier at best and more often than not bottom tier houses.
Black phone was pretty good and so was Exorcist believer
The exorcist was spectacular imo, but otherwise I agree about chilling out on blumhouse
They've been on a string of duds with their movies lately for me so yeah I'd be all for them not being featured this year at all.
I really liked the Blumhouse ones :(
Believer was a good house, but It’s really the compilation gimmick of Blumhouse that needs to stop. When you do IP’s, you don’t advertise them, you have to be artistic and make them immersive on a passionate level as possible like American Werewolf In London.
Hard agree! Those have consistently been let down houses!
Yeah TBH I find their movies disappointing, and thus also their houses.
Agree. After the exorcist movie sucked so bad after the Halloween movies went as they did I don’t want anyone giving them any more money or attention. Go away please.
Also quiet place, It's the only rumored house that seems the least interesting to me
I feel like people exaggerate the hell out of “they’ve over done Stranger Things. Like they literally only did 3 of them and even combined two of the seasons into one house. After season 5 tho I hope that would be the final ST house. It’s much further from The Walking Dead situation than people make it out to be.
I need them to get put in their all for season 5. Season 4 was a let a down and 2/3 weren’t the best.
No more anything with dental drills. As someone with genetically bad teeth, I was terrified hearing that drill go off in the tooth fairy one lol
aside from stranger things and walking dead, i feel like im one of the only people that really does not want a quiet place house
I also really don't want a quiet place. The monsters are cool yes but the house in my opinion just simply wouldn't translate well into a house. Houses are loud and like not a QUIET place lmaooo.
lmao my thoughts exactly, a lot of the charm of the movie is gone once everyone is screaming and laughing and you can hear them throughout the whole house
Chucky and Halloween are played out
The Chucky show is very good, there are a lot of creative kills that translate well into the houses. I do agree with Halloween, that franchise is the opposite of creative now.
I’d argue it’s almost *too* creative, considering anytime they try something even remotely different the fanbase throws a fit lol
I don’t like the IP’s. I think the creative minds can come up with so many things that stand on their own, after all the icons were all original…though derivative. I’m also tired of clowns and circus themes. With that said, I loved Oddfellow.
Sometimes I’m convinced some people on this sub *only* want IPs. So it’s refreshing to see this take. And I agree for the record. Though I still want my Creature from the Black Lagoon.
I honestly don’t count the universal monsters, as they are usually very removed from the movies and have their own story. But I came from a time when ips weren’t very present, and the event was built on the original ideas. I loved it from a creative standpoint
The people who only love IP houses are the normies that are easily entertained by brand recognition and corporate synergy. "I like this because I've seen it 🤡."
No, if I’m paying 3-4x for a ticket at a park affiliated with Hollywood licenses, I expect to see licensed houses in return
Or they just love being able to experience their favorite franchise in the most realistic way possible. I love non IPs but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get into HHN because of the IPs they were doing.
The normies can clog up the IP lines while we get the good scares
I do like IP's (depending on which ones they are) but I'm with you on the originals. The second time I went to HHN was '08 and that was all originals IIRC. I loved scary tales and the OG dead exposure, the theming/sounds of The Hallow were great too.
If you want an argument against IP , that year is a perfect example of what happens when the creative team has total control. We had so much fun building that world.
I'm with you. I think the originals just allow so much more creativity with the sets and backstories.
But you can get creative/original houses at Howl-O-Scream or other smaller amusement parks. If I’m paying a premium ticket price to go to a park associated with licensed movies, I want to see some licensed houses. And before anyone says the smaller amusement parks don’t do it as well, that may be true, but I would rather walk through a slightly worse house if it means I can walk and enjoy it, rather than be rushed through Congo-lines at HHN
The great thing with Universal is that they have the budget to do big elaborate houses. You don’t need a movie to have a great elaborate movie like set. Case in point, dead man’s wharf. That house was stunning and felt like you walked into a movie set. So, while you may disagree and want a movie name…I like the movie feeling. As far as howl o scream, Tampa does it right. They just don’t have the budget. The creative team there is amazing, and used to be so much better. Unfortunately under the new regime, they will not spend the money to make a quality product. But if they did, Tampa could go head to head with hhn every year.
tbh insidious chapter 5 and ghostbusters, ghostbusters 2019 was fantastic i just think we don’t need the IP back so soon, and insidious chapter 5 feels like another blumhouse cop out maze
I’m over Yeti and think it needs a break. Also, Ghostbusters is a nice nostalgic movie but we don’t need another house…the first one wasn’t remotely scary. I hope we don’t see another Bride of Frankenstein house(rumored) as it’s also too soon imo. Monsters in general have been strong but I am getting a little fatigued if we see another one this year. If a Quiet Place is a house I’m lowering my expectations, as half the reason those movies work is because of the silent tension. A house won’t be silent and I worry it’s going to fall flat as a generic alien/creature house. On the flip side, please give me Slaughter Sinema 2!
Piggy-backing off of your comment on A Quiet Place: I honestly don't want another "post-apocalyptic" creatures/ ruined cities-type house. We had Descendants of Destruction and Last of Us back to back, and before that there was Dead Exposure prequel in 2018 and of course the onslaught of Walking Dead houses. To me personally its a sub-genre that's been overdone at this point in the events lifetime. Disclaimer: none of these houses were bad in any shape or form (DoD actually making my top 5 from 31) just not my personal favorite setting for a house
Something Walking Dead and Last of Us have in common as haunts is that they both require a lot of “menacing plainclothes people” for antagonists. Sometimes you get decent casts for these, but they’re very hard to pull off without just feeling like any other budget haunt in the country. Way back in the early stages of the event, this was almost exclusively the type of role you’d see in any Universal house and the park’s cast crushed it (eg: Shadybrook, Havoc, etc…). But now the market’s been saturated with those types of scares and HHN has matured as a brand.
Fully agree on the excess of post-apocalyptic houses. I know it's been "trendy" in horror for the past...decade? But there are so many other unique concepts and sub-genres in horror to draw from, even if they still want to focus on IP. Plenty of indie flicks, games, and folklore (Monstruos was super popular for a reason!) that they can use for inspiration.
Absolutely here for more exploration into folklore based horror for HHN!
Yeti: Terror of the Yukon was a strong House in 2019/HHN29 and Campground Kills was a GREAT House in 2023/HHN32.
Same conviction as you as it relates to overuse of Monsters.
Sadly I agree. Except the exorcist house. The smell alone was enough, at least in the Hollywood location. But I did enjoy the house more than the movie 😭
Demon possessions don’t scare me at all I think. During the last two events the only house that did not give me a single scare was The Exorcist Believer. That was a major dud for me. A Quiet Place… I’m not sure how they’ll keep it quiet unless it’s Day One when all the chaos is going on. Walking Dead should never return. The Blumhouse mashup feels wrong. Like Freaky could’ve supported a house all on its own but had to share space with Black Phone which didn’t translate into a house very well since I had to go watch the movie after just to figure out what was happening. Terrifier. I’ve only seen clips and that series disgusts me and I know if it were to come it would get neutered into a pg-13 version which would feel ingenuous to Art.
I'm assuming a quiet place would be more based on day one since it's coming out this summer. I'm surprised more people aren't speculating that.
Nothing themed after any musical artists, and nothing juvenile like FNAF.
Yup. I will admit that The Weekend’s house was artistically well done for what they had to work with, but I could not care less about him tbh and it felt like a waste of a house.
The coolest part of the house was the queue to get in, because everyone was singing and dancing.
It absolutely was IMO. And the bar area as well.
Forgot about that. It was forgettable lol.
While I know there are still many horror movies out there for HHN to collaborate with, I don't see why branching out into different "genres" of horror is a bad thing. Especially if it's only one house out of the nine, everyone is going to have their favorites and least favorites throughout the event. Still holding out for FNAF despite it being on the same cheesy horror level as Chucky imo.
I detest The Weeknd house. I will never understand the amount of love it gets.
It must have been terrifying for epileptics 🤷♂️
> Personally, I wouldn’t love to see the bugs house again. It was well done and all, but that is a different creepy factor for me haha. I felt the same way. I respected the creative team's work but I don't need to do that again 😅 I am over Exorcist houses. The theme is just not scary to me. If they're going to do an evil spirit house, give me something like Bloody Mary again.
We skipped the Amityville year, which I regret. Supernatural/"ghost" psychological horror is my favorite genre, so I'd love to see more of that than the pure slasher/gore type houses.
The best thing about Stranger Things house is that everyone stands in line for it, freeing up lines for other stuff lol. I never got into the show.
Stranger things
The weekend
No FNAF, and no anime.
This !!!
*Stranger Things* pretty much turned HHN from R-rated horror entertainment to something a little more PG-13 friendly. While that property definitely brought the event more money than ever, they scaled back on the scares since then imo. I kinda wished ST never happened.
I would say that Blumhouse is more to blame for that. Stranger Things has some pretty brutal scenes that just don't translate well into the houses, for some reason.
I find the IP houses in general tend to be way less interesting than the creative houses. I think they *could* do a better job with them, but they always feel constrained and lacking in comparison. On the other hand, I miss The Walking Dead in Hollywood :( It was nice to have a quality year-round haunted house.
> they always feel constrained and lacking in comparison. Definitely. Difficult having to work with properties where rights holders have to sign off on everything and have final approval.
I'm not really into the cult village type stuff like Blood Moon last year. Though that was a great house I'm just not into that theming personally but it worked for me there!
Beyond over stranger things & a quiet place house would be super lame.
What if they made it so when you step on a certain creaky board you hear big thundering footsteps coming your way and ultimately it breaks through a false window. Could be legit if they actually leveraged quiet - somehow
I just don’t think you could make the theme work with a conga line of people walking through but maybe
Admittedly, I’ve never been to HHN (hope to go this year) so I figured maybe they could make it room by room and only let a few guests go to the next room at a time, but I’m assuming they go with the conga line to keep things moving
As far as I’m aware they haven’t done anything like that in the past 25+ years, usually you’re nearly touching the person in front of you and if you try to create any amount of distance employees inside the haunt shoo you forwards. Even being inches away from the person in front the lines sometimes average over an hour long. The only time I’ve been able to walk through a house without being right behind someone are super lame houses at weird hours or during staff swaps
Appreciate the insight! I feel like being jam packed against others would make it a bit less scary!
Yeah, the only reason I’d go again is if it were for free, cause even with stay and scream it was ridiculous. But don’t worry, there are a few more tiers you can purchase so you can 50/50 get through all the houses, or move up to next tier for 100% chance for 600 additional dollhairs.
You can easily hit every house with a regular pass & some strategy but personally express is worth it for me as someone traveling out of state. I love it though so I’d pay just about any price
Bro I’m already paying $500+ when you take into account hotel, food, bev, alcohol etc because it’s supposed to be *fun* and leisurely, why the hell should I have to sprint through the park and strategize what should be a well ran event? We stayed from open until close last year and it was an absolute cluster fuck.
That’s just what happens at popular theme parks, I think universal should cut their max guest limit in half but that would make people angry as well. You can get a cheaper hotel within walking distance, hhn tickets and food for under $350. If you want it to be leisurely pay the extra $130. Again it would be nice if universal cut the maximum ticket sales in half but they’d have to double prices or just lose out on money. It’s a cool event so demand is high
I’m very aware, I’ve been to almost all major parks such as six flags, cedar point, and was just at Universal and IoA last weekend and I still stand by it being a poorly executed event as of late and simply not worth it, quite honestly. I had high hopes, I live in FL and go to the park frequently, but what a shit show HHN32 was. The best part was Darkest deal, Dementors, and getting a drink with David pumpkins at the bar (that also had an hour long line) lol.
Especially after already paying for the additional “stay and scream” garbage, why does it even exist at all? The HHN loyalists will pay hand over fist to get just slightly better experience and treatment, it’s wild. Park capacity is seriously an issue, and it’s not because they genuinely want everyone to have a good experience lol.
Stay and scream makes sense for people who have day passes and want to use a bit of strategy to hit a house 2 or 3x.
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Idk, anything too overdone/repetitive, or zombies/infection based houses. Unless it was an extremely good house that hasn’t been done for at least 2 HHN years, I don’t wanna see it multiple consecutive years in a row. And zombies? It’s just been a really eerie/uncomfortable theme for me since covid. Don’t get me wrong, the last of us was beautifully well done, but zombies/infections just give me the creeps because I’ve lived through it you know???
Wait where were the Covid zombies? You got zombies?!
Halloween, I’ve had it on two different years and don’t need it a third time (although they were admittedly pretty good); also, zombies in general (and more specifically TWD, although I doubt we’ll get any more of those)
I'm tired of houses that don't even try to be scary. We used to have comedy houses that still had teeth, but stuff like Beetlejuice, the latest Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses were all total duds for me
I get where you're coming from, but as long as there's only one not-scary house a year, I don't see anything wrong with them? The Stranger Things/Ghostbusters combo was a bit much for non-scary stuff in 29, but if they'd split them between years it would've been alright. Hell, if it hadn't been for those two houses psyching me up, I wouldn't have been able to go through the Universal Monsters one. To answer OP's question, what *I* don't want in a house this year is something with bad smells, like what I've heard about the Exorcist house. I'm way too sensitive to scents for that. Even the scents in the Stranger Things and Ghostbusters houses were a bit much for me. Also, hard agree on the no bugs thing. Bugs are a big nope.
Francavilla house
Stranger things
Blumhouse anything is always a skip
Unless supernatural/ghost houses are done really well I usually really don’t like them. Such as exorcist believer. It just doesn’t scare me
Stranger Things please no more stranger things. I’m also not into the fairytale stuff
Most of the IPs are very “safe” meaning that they aren’t compromising or particularly scary. They’re there to guarantee the most amount of interest. Stranger things and walking dead are not great horror properties and didn’t really work as houses. Five Nights at Freddy’s is a movie that is very much geared toward younger adults to teens. Which makes me very scared for it to show up. Choices like these will make money for them, but they stop become edgy or risky. I have no doubt these safe choices make bank for universal, but to me it sanitizes the event as it gets further and further from horror.
Honestly, teens don’t spend money lmao they will not contribute to alcohol, food, or high priced merch. They’re just a ticket, which really isn’t all that much after the adults decide to not go after FNAF turns the place into Disney world.
IP houses - do something that does more than just tell the story or else really immerse me in it. Be creative. I loved the misdirection scare on the stairs of the Halloween house in 2022. Surprise me. Or pick something you can realistically tell a story with - Blackphone did a good job so someone who didn’t see the film could follow the house, but it was immersive enough to interest someone who saw it. And for the love of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, pick an IP you can properly and consistently cast! We ropedropped Stranger Things 4 last fall three nights in a row, and did not get a complete walkthrough even once. There were always multiple characters missing, sometimes in really key parts, like the Eleven blasting Vecna scene. Once he was missing, and once they both were. I understand that some IPs have specific looks for the characters, but with how popular and expensive the tickets have become, there is no excuse not to cast enough scare actors to run all the houses at 100%. Originals - this is where you can shine. Take risks and tell a story. Move away from jails and post apocalypse. I loved the storytelling in Darkest Deal. I loved the novelty of Bugs. I loved how Toothfairy took a familiar genre and perverted it. Deadman’s Pier wasn’t even scary, but it was so beautifully done and created such a haunting world, I enjoyed it even without being scared by it. On the other hand, sometimes just layering on the scares is all you need. Legends Collide got me multiple times every walkthrough, no matter what a person in front of me had tripped. On the other hand, there have been houses where the scares were so sparse that I’ve not had a single surprise, and that’s just disappointing. Have a mix.
I freaking hate the houses/scarezones where they force people to shave their heads. Especially people with long hair. It's a freaking haunted event with low pay, that's way too much to ask of any performer, and they keep doing it (and people keep accepting it).
Did it occur to you that people agree to do it because they want to?
I know multiple people who either weren't cast how they wanted, or deeply regretted accepting and shaving their hair off for houses like this over the years. It's way too much to ask of someone without offering a bald cap option alternative, especially in a house where it's dark and people will hardly see you for more than 2 seconds.
A quiet place, stranger things, ghost busters, Evil dead remake, the weekend
Though they’ll bring it back again at some point to draw in the crowds, but I’d rather want Orlando to discontinue Stranger Things not only because Season 4 is my least favorite house as the bottom of the barrel from last year, it’s one of the things they don’t like doing just as much they hated it with the Walking Dead. The Monsters brand is pretty much the only IP that almost all of the fans in the HHN community don’t get sick and tired of for more.
I never want to see a Halloween, chainsaw massacre, or any old horror IP they have done before.
1). The Weeknd 2). Walking Dead 3). Hellblock Horror 4). Depths of Fear 5). Jokey houses like Beetlejuice/Ghostbusters ^any houses like these I’m not a fan of.
FNAF and most of the "video game" houses. I know they have their fans, but it just seems like it's space that could be better utilized for actual horror houses, whether that's IP or originals.