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Halloween Horror Nights 2018 (USH) General Discussion

Just got out of preview.
Heres a spoiler free review
Best to worst
1. Poltergeist
2. Trick r treat
3. Classic monsters
4. Stranger things
5. First purge
6. Blum house
7. Halloween 4
Terror trams story was cool. Lack luster everywhere else like always.
This can change later in the run. But that's my list.
Stranger things has no facade and the sets are horrible compared to orlando's. Its still really cool to look at but yeah.
Blum house is actually not bad at the end with an orginal idea is there.
Il write a full review later in the season.
 
Since HOB was my least anticipated, I decided to give the walkthrough a watch...
Couldn't see much in the TOD portion, but the Unfriended part looked pretty dang good. And then The Girl portion looked REALLY good, so I just turned it off.

It just goes to show... never judge a book by it's cover.
And even the weirdest properties can be done. I thought Unfriended for sure couldn't work.
So now Murdy... I've seen you work your magic... let's talk about... SCREAM.
 
Get hungry at Halloween Horror Nights Universal Studios Hollywood




This year, “Halloween Horror Nights” brings a taste of Hawkins, Indiana to Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, inviting guests to enjoy foods inspired by Netflix’s “Stranger Things” that also complement the terrifying “Stranger Things” mazes debuting at both parks.

“Halloween Horror Nights” begins on Friday, September 14, 2018.

The specialized foods were created by the executive chef and culinary teams at each park to further enhance the already immersive “Halloween Horror Nights” experience.
 
I love HHN and I get scared very easily, especially at HHN. I’ve always loved HHN, but this was the first year I was disappointed by HHN. I know this is only preview night and I’ve got tickets to come back in a few weeks, so I’m really hoping it improves by then.

Here’s my spoiler free review:

1. Poltergeist: Hands down my favorite maze. Pretty effects heavy and really brings the movie to life. The most traumatizing movie from my childhood did not disappoint as a maze.
2. Stranger Things: Not even remotely scary, but man, is it absolutely gorgeous. The scale of some of it is super impressive. Possibly their best looking maze yet.
3. Universal Monsters: Way more black walls than I would’ve liked, but what was there I loved. Some solid scares and some really beautiful sets. I headed there first as soon as it opened and we had to wait about 20 minutes because they weren’t ready for opening.
4. Trick ‘r Treat: This is my favorite Halloween movie and it was so nice seeing it brought to life finally. Some nice scale to some of the scenes, but because of that it felt very short to me. It was also very light on any good scares.
5. Halloween 4: Unfortunately, nothing really to write home about. It’s not bad exactly, just not nearly as strong as the last two Halloween mazes. Too much use of a certain effect. They use it at least three times in the maze and it’s overkill. Anyone who’s done it will probably know what I’m talking about.
6. Horrors of Blumhouse Chapter 2:
Better than I expected it to be. Didn’t scare me at all, but they got pretty creative with Truth or Dare and Unfriended. Some really nice looking sets. Honestly, I didn’t care a whole lot for the third act of it. I’m hoping I like it more my next time I go through.
7. The First Purge: Hands down the worst maze I’ve ever been through at Horror Nights. Black walls galore. It must be about 40% black walls. Some nice “outdoor” environments, but none of the scares work at all and it’s just so ridiculously stale. Definitely skip this one.

I didn’t bother with TWDA.

I really liked the scarezones, with the exception of Toxxic Tunnel. The only thing I liked about it was that it eased up on the strobe lights so I could see where I was going. There was a medical emergency on our way back through the tunnel, so the lights were all on and we were stopped for a few minutes while they finished it up. Not sure what happened, but I hope everyone involved is okay.

Overall, the scares this year were just creatively bankrupt. It’s the same poop as last year, with the overkill on the “pop out of a window in a black hallway” Exorcist scare. They also recycled the scare from Sinister where someone pops out of a screen with projection on it. I saw it on at least three different occasions. Just because a scare works well doesn’t mean you need to beat it to death. Poltergeist had my favorite scare of the night. I yelled and jumped and it hadn’t me on Edge the rest of the maze.

Oh, and Terror Tram. I’m usually pretty lenient on the tram, and I enjoyed it. It’s really the same as it always is, but the props and costumes and makeup were really great. They also don’t touch on Hollywood Harry’s origin again at all, so if you didn’t see the tram a couple years ago, you won’t know who he is at all.

EDIT: Really surprised by all the positive reviews. Makes me think I must be going crazy, but the group I was with yesterday were equally unimpressed. We must’ve just had bad luck in terms of timing for the scares. Gives me a lot of hope I’ll enjoy it more when I come back in a few weeks.
 
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So I just saw some footage of Trick ‘r Treat, and I’m really happy with it aside from one thing - what is with the unfitting dubstep garbage? Does anyone agree on this or is it just me?

EDIT: Sorry, I should’ve been more specific; I am talking about the scare zone.

The dubstep is really jarring. You go from Slash's eerie, ethereal Masquerade score to... that.
 
I am also now able to share that Poltergeist was the maze workers feared walking through because of the overall atmosfear and more specifically the end scene. Halloween 4 wasn't exactly a mess in my opinion, but I understand what my source said as the maze was weak compared to the previous two and I'm sure a mess to design.
 
Part of me wonders if the choice of dubstep for Trick r Treat was just a placeholder for preview night and he hasn't finished mixing the audio for it, but then again it could have always just been a poor choice
 
Part of me wonders if the choice of dubstep for Trick r Treat was just a placeholder for preview night and he hasn't finished mixing the audio for it, but then again it could have always just been a poor choice

I think it's profoundly strange when you've got the perfectly appropriate Trick r Treat OST right there.
 
What's a fried chicken slider, exactly? haha
And I'm sure the dubstep is what they're going with, that's what they always have in the fire spot. It's probably more for Hell's Harvest and since they're close, there's no point in new music.
 
What's a fried chicken slider, exactly? haha
And I'm sure the dubstep is what they're going with, that's what they always have in the fire spot. It's probably more for Hell's Harvest and since they're close, there's no point in new music.
My guess for the fried chicken slider is like a fried chicken sandwich but just small
 
Oh. And for a moment, I thought it'd be tiny little fried chicken drumsticks. Now I'm disappointed.
Wake me up when they bring back good tacos.
 
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