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Halloween Horror Nights 24: Reviews & Photos

I definitely agree it's something that needs to be fixed. The disaster area was so weird empty and it would've made all the difference if it was full. Don't get me wrong I liked AVP along with every house of the event this year. Just compared to the others I wasn't that impressed with it especially with the gigantic "best house ever" hype surrounding it. Also I didn't find the aliens to be as impressive as the werewolves, not enough violent motion to get me through the room quicker

I missed on a lot because of cast change I think, but seeing the Video for AVP, I do agree that they needed to add more. And the facehugger rooms felt like Filler to me.
I wish instead of having facehuggers in the windows they had more alien puppets. I still love the house but I do agree with your review in the sense that Werewolf had more puppets and they were scarier.

that part is true. very true. the puppet scares are not as strong as the werewolf scares.

I know I was kind of negative in my review and I did not love the houses the same way everyone else does, so i did not want to add more negativity about the AVP house because i did love it, but yeah the house is not as strong as American werewolf
 
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Soooo...I have a question. I was there last night and for a period of time (I noticed it around 8PM) AVP was closed "indefinitely". By the time my boyfriend and I got out of Dracula, it was back up (maybe 9?). I knew to expect the SPOILERS crouching bit in AVP, but to my recollection, we never experienced it. I am rather short, but my boyfriend also did not experience it. Is there another way through they could have used with our group because something was off? I watched a video and felt so ripped off lol
 
Soooo...I have a question. I was there last night and for a period of time (I noticed it around 8PM) AVP was closed "indefinitely". By the time my boyfriend and I got out of Dracula, it was back up (maybe 9?). I knew to expect the SPOILERS crouching bit in AVP, but to my recollection, we never experienced it. I am rather short, but my boyfriend also did not experience it. Is there another way through they could have used with our group because something was off? I watched a video and felt so ripped off lol

I was searching around the Internet and aparrantly someone had a heart attack in the house. Idk if it was in the tunnel or not but that's what happened.

And the tunnel is the last part so you just walked past it on the way out. The just covered the opening with a curtain. But if you would have looked back you could have seen it and the alien puppet inside.
 
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I was searching around the Internet and aparrantly someone had a heart attack in the house. Idk if it was in the tunnel or not but that's what happened.

And the tunnel is the last part so you just walked past it on the way out. The just covered the opening with a curtain. But if you would have looked back you could have seen it and the alien puppet inside.
Oh that is awful! Yikes. Thanks for enlightening me. No wonder the ending felt so odd.
 
Not a bad house in the bunch this year and a few of the weaker ones I can easily see getting tweaked and getting stronger as the event evolves over the the next 6 weeks. With that being said my overall rankings here are from the opening weekend and will change over the course of the event. Between casts still getting adjusted, tweaks, and so on these houses will evolve and most will become stronger as the event progresses. I again want to stress there are no dud houses this year and all the houses are beautifully themed and well designed. So here is my initial rankings from opening weekend runs...

1. Halloween: OUTSTANDING HOUSE! Intense, well themed, great scares, awesome cast, this house has it all!!

2. Giggles and Gore: The cast here nailed it! The whole house was intense and in your face. Surprise of the night for me after hearing some other reviews.

3. Dollhouse of the Damned: Can you say creepy? Does anyone have any powder? :lol: Another intense house but by far the creepiest and great cast as well.

4: AVP: Loved the puppets and predator costumes which were all spot on. I think I may of missed a few scares due to cast change though. Good but not great...yet

5. Walking Dead: Alright another surprise of the event, this house actually delivered where other Walking Dead houses failed, it actually had scares!! Kudos to the cast and wow I can't believe how massive this house truly is.

6. Roanoke: The finale was awesome but the rest of the house was a little off sync. Could be a house that really gets a lot better with some tweaks or actor experience.

7. Dracula: WOW! This may very well be one of the best looking houses this year. It goes from scene to scene while depicting amazing themed experiences and actions. I really didn't like the costume design of this as all I could think was Braveheart while walking through but man did those sets make up for it.

8. Dusk til Dawn: Again another beautiful house but really fell short in the scare department. But I am almost 100% sure I missed a lot due to cast change so I really can't be to negative on it.

Bill and Ted: I freaking loved the show this year! Is theone in it? Nah I don't think so but who cares the show rocks! Loved the Frozen jokes and man I could of sworn I heard that Avatar reference before ;)

Rocky Horror: God this show sucks... I mean the cast is outstanding and I thought they did AMAZING but just overall I was never a fan of the film and had honestly forgotten how much I didn't care for it. I was quickly remind why I didn't care for it.

The zones were ok not great and definitely not bad. I really enjoyed Bayou of Blood and the Purge. Masquerade was also good but didn't really get to see it for long. I really was disappointed by Face Off for what it was. Yeah its great we get like a meet and greet scare zone but at the same time there comes a point where standing on a flood from one section to the next becomes repetative and somewhat boring. Loved and I mean loved the costume design but overall didn't much care for the haunt.

So, so far its a very strong year and I will be visiting throughout the event to give a better review at the end of the events run.
 
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I'll have more tomorrow. I'm le tired. Quick review: It's a strong year.
 
I was searching around the Internet and aparrantly someone had a heart attack in the house. Idk if it was in the tunnel or not but that's what happened.

And the tunnel is the last part so you just walked past it on the way out. The just covered the opening with a curtain. But if you would have looked back you could have seen it and the alien puppet inside.
That's absolutely terrible to hear but understandable because of how claustrophobic some can be. I'm glad I experienced the crouch room but my thoughts are with that person and their family, hopefully all is well
 
Bill and Ted: I freaking loved the show this year! Is theone in it? Nah I don't think so but who cares the show rocks! Loved the Frozen jokes and man I could of sworn I heard that Avatar reference before ;)

I keep seeing this reference, what/who is theone? btw nice to meet you and the OU crew!
 
man I could of sworn I heard that Avatar reference before ;)

Word of God is that the writer intends to use this same joke, word for word, every year until Avatar World actually opens. Which to me presumes a level of job security I might not take for granted right now, but hey, I loved 2013 when a lot of people didn't, so what do I know. I am curious how the show will play with a crowd who doesn't live on theme park message boards.
 
My thoughts on the event so far

1. Halloween: Wow, Scareactors killed it!! This house is awesome! Wasn't super excited for it at first, but it was great. They even managed to use Halloween 3 effectively, which I thought was impossible. Finale Rules!!!

2. Dollhouse of the Damned: This house was another amazing house. It gave me the same feeling that PyschoScarapy in Islands did. Very unnerving and great house, the giant babies are insane.

3. Roanoke: The house had a really good feel to it. Really dug the environment, some pretty creepy effects and loved the smells. Scareactors were good and liked the finale. Only downside was some of the characters reminded me of the Knights of Ni from Monty Python Holy Grail.

4: AVP: The puppets were awesome aliens were even able to bite with their little mouth! Environment was spot on and the scareactors were good. Predators reminded me of Powdered Toast Man a little bit. Good but lots of room to improve.

5. Giggles and Gore: Buttons!!!! The cast was good, some really creepy scenes. I feel like the discarded turned into a strange direction and made the house feel slightly confused. Definitely look forward to when it gets its legs. One question I have is why is that giant queue set up at the exit.

6. Walking Dead: The placing on this house is not due to it being a bad house. We were stuck behind a terrible group in our go through killing any suspense or chance of getting scares. Luckily we were stopped by a cast change for 5 minutes or so halfway through the house splitting us. The finale was great!

7. Dusk til Dawn: Very good environment, some nice scenes. Missed a lot of it due to cast changes.

8. Dracula: Pretty environment but I had no idea what was going on in this house. I feel like they have the theme and everything down on this one just not sure where they go to make it better.

The zones were good with Bayou and Purge being the real standouts, I like that they have mini shows in the zones. Purge felt really chaotic. Face Off is definitely not scary but had some really impressive outfits, on Saturday I did notice a few application issues though (Scarecrow is awesome!) MASKerade had some incredibly detail costumes, really liked those a lot. Little too short and unfortunately I don't think they pulled off the concept of faces falling off. Looks more like blood underneath a mask.

Bill & Ted was awesome. Overall story was very funny, pokes at Disney all over, and some very memorable characters. I felt the Avatar joke worked very well. The dragon is the highlight of the show for me.

Overall a very strong year, and can't wait to go next weekend and throughout the rest of the event.
 
Word of God is that the writer intends to use this same joke, word for word, every year until Avatar World actually opens. Which to me presumes a level of job security I might not take for granted right now, but hey, I loved 2013 when a lot of people didn't, so what do I know. I am curious how the show will play with a crowd who doesn't live on theme park message boards.


Actually last year they said that Avatarland would open in 2065. This year he said 2075
 
My personal opinions, after doing each of the houses 2-3 times(without too many spoilers).

Halloween- 10/10.
The second time I went through this house made it shoot to the top of my list. I was so afraid that it would be overly-repetitive with "Mikey" popping out in every room, making a generic stab motion and then returning to his corner. But they really blew it out of the park. The details are RIDICULOUS for a house tent. You literally feel like you're in the Myers' house, in the garage, outside etc. We have Dr. Loomis. We have Laurie and her friends. And we have Michael's EVERYWHERE. I was with a group of frequent HHN attendees, and this house made us scream more than we have in years. There were points at which we couldn't move due to having actors coming at us from all sides. Also, great nods to the film with the Silver Shamrock masks and The Thing playing on TV. This is one you should truly consider doing a lights on tour of to get as much out of it as possible. Bravo A&D!

Giggles & Gore Inc. - 9/10
I may be particularly biased on this one, due to my serious fear of clowns, but the three times I have been through G&G have been a blast. There are certainly some dark comedy moments that get you chuckling, along with a boat load of scares and actors playing up the twisted aspect of the house. I have had many a friend have panic attacks in here already (literally, we needed help carrying people out). Unfortunately several of my friends work this house, so my group may have been a target, but I honestly think anyone with a remote dislike of clowns would have issues with this one. I'm hoping by the end of the season I'll get through it without screaming ;)

Dollhoue of the Damned- 8/10
This is one of those houses that makes you feel dirty inside. As soon as you walk out you get that feeling of "What the hell did I just see?". The facade itself is a beautifully wicked setup. When you step in you are almost instantly choked with the overwhelming smell of baby powder (yuck). Each of the rooms have different doll themes, so you get a bit of everything. Baby dolls, teddy bears, ballerinas etc. Chucky is in the house, but you've gotta keep an eye out for him. This is another I'd like to do with the lights on. Its almost claustrophobic due to the cluttered mishmash of things happening inside. Check it out, enjoy it, then go take a shower to wash off all the bad feelings.

The Walking Dead: End of the Line- 8/10
Alright, I know we’ve all got some harsh feelings about TWD. But, I think HHN has finally done it right. Yes, the house is huge. You walk past the prison façade (keep an eye out for Hershel’s head) and straight in to season 4. They delivered with detail and with their promise of a huge cast. Walkers are everywhere. I haven’t watched the show, so I can’t comment on exactly how accurate everything is, but I believe they successfully presented everything they wanted in this house. If we hadn’t had zombies the past two years, this would have been more exciting and possibly earned a higher spot on my list. However, I will say don’t bash it til you try it. This year it deserves a chance. (Just get in line EARLY).

Roanoke: Cannibal Colony- 7/10
This house has been a hit or miss for me. The first two times I went through I had a blast. Energized cast, nice sets, and more gore (yay!). The atmosphere, though obviously meant to be disturbing, is actually pretty fun. Some of the characters talk back and clearly there’s plenty of jokes to be made about tasty meat if you like interacting with them. There are also drums playing in the background, which was fun for our group (we danced our way through). Keep an eye out for the decapitated guy, he’s a hoot. The scares aren’t as intense as I had hoped, but it’s a good original house that I will visit frequently throughout the season.

From Dusk Til Dawn- 6/10
When I first heard that this house was taking the spot of “Ritual” (the LT based house), I was pretty upset. I didn’t need two vampire houses this year, and I wasn’t sure how this would turn out. Reluctantly I watched the TV series and ended up being slightly more excited to see what A&D came up with. You enter through the façade of “The Twister”, and thankfully they’ve got the snarky doorman up front directing people in to the house (don’t worry kiddos, he’s still not allowed to mention particular lady parts). This house is much more aesthetically pleasing than it is scary. Not a lot of scareactors in here but the sets are pretty and follow the show accurately. The best scene is probably the last, where you emerge from under the temple and arrive back at the Twister bar to see the infamous Gecko Brothers battling it out with some sexy vamps. Not a MUST DO, and Hollywood’s admittedly looks better, but if you like the movie/show at all I’d suggest giving it a shot.

AVP: Alien Vs. Predator- 6/10
Admittedly, I’ll probably get some backlash on my rating of this house. Its obviously a favorite for many of the people that have written reviews on the event so far. However, I think people are more excited by the fact that its AVP than the house itself. I honestly have not had a single scare moment in the house. The alien puppets and predator costumes are spot on, but they’re just sort of there to look at. The predators walk out, glance at you, and return to their hiding spots. For a large portion of the maze hardly anything happened at all. Perhaps I have gone through at bad times, but I honestly think its lacking in personality. There’s also an obnoxious crouching section in this one that leads you nowhere but the exit. I may get shunned for my thoughts on this, but I just can’t get excited about it. It was one of my most anticipated houses this year and I find it truly disappointing (again, Hollywood’s looks much better).

Dracula Untold- Reign of Blood- 5/10
As expected, this is the sleeper of the year. I LOVE the Dracula/Vlad story and was truly looking forward to some vampire action, but this just isn’t where to find it. Again we have some beautiful sets, but the rest of the house is lackluster. Perhaps it will earn some points once the movie has been released, but for now no one can really tell what the hell the storyline is. There’s just something missing. Hardly any vampires are present and the rest of the actors seem out of place. I did see one exciting moment on my last walkthrough, so I’m hoping it will get better with time. Even though this earns my lowest rating, it is still better than the worst houses of previous years. I’d suggest approaching all 8 of the houses at this year’s event an open mind and high expectations.

Scarezones are back and they are fierce. I’m SO SO happy to have this sort of interaction with sets and characters again.

The Purge is huge, and depending on when you walk through you may be surrounded by chaos. There are characters from both films, lots of weapons, and an overall feeling of rebellion. I have yet to watch an entire auction scene, but I love that fact that they are doing it. There are also some well-acted abductions that really help add to the atmosphere of no one being safe. I’d like to spend a night in here just watching people interact with the scareactors. Definitely a lot going on at all times, if you pay attention. This zone is more about personal mini-experiences than spectacle.

Face Off –In the Flesh is exactly what everyone thought it would be. There are five stages set up with a rotation of 10 “popular” Face Off makeups (I watch the show and didn’t recognize half of them…not sure they made the best choices). Just like “7” from HHN 21, the main character stands on the stage as a distraction for photo ops while minion characters run around on the ground trying to get jumps out of people. This is also hit or miss. I enjoy my time walking through, but I wouldn’t say there is anything scary happening. There are some good actors trying their best though, particularly the drunk pirates. And at least you can walk through various times throughout the night and have new character experiences. And, if you’re a fan of the TV series, then its certainly fun to see the makeups in person.

My favorite area this year is absolutely Bayou of Blood. The set isn’t that intricate, but the actors are SO perfect. Truly take your time walking through the zone and try to interact with as many people as possible. They are scary, the are crazy, and they do not break character. The hourly sacrifice is the perfect addition to this year, bringing back a bit of HHN past that everyone loves. The Voodoo Queen is the new love of my life. By all means talk to her, because it will be one of the most fun conversations you’ll ever have. She has completely immersed herself in this character and could not possibly be more fantastic. Also keep an eye out for Ken Stricker. He is fabulous, as always.

MASKerade:Unstitched is small, but lovely. On opening night all of the actors were grounded due to the rain, but for the rest of the event’s dry nights a majority of them are on stilts. I somewhat preferred this area without the stilts, as it was easier to play with the actors and lose sight of them in the fog (better scare moments). The costumes are beautiful and have a wonderful elegant vibe. I enjoy the candelabra/knife props that were made for this zone; very clever. Overall though, it’s a bit underwhelming.

Bill and Ted is what it always is. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t. Pop culture from 2014. What else is there to say? ( I do like the Disney bashing in this year’s show, and per usual I’m expecting the jokes to grow on me throughout the season).

I haven’t seen RHPS yet, simply because I have seen it enough and don’t expect anything new.

As a whole I am extremely impressed and extremely excited for this year. HHN may be out of its dark ages. Hooray for us all.
 
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^ best review so far well done, finally someone with the same opinion as me when it comes to AVP. I definitely agree with talking to the voodoo queen too she's a blast. Also forgot to mention this but look for woody woodpecker in giggles. Really cool cameo
 
^ best review so far well done, finally someone with the same opinion as me when it comes to AVP. I definitely agree with talking to the voodoo queen too she's a blast. Also forgot to mention this but look for woody woodpecker in giggles. Really cool cameo

Thank you :) Near the end I was like, damn I'm writing too much, lets finish up quickly haha. But I try to be as honest and unbiased about the houses as possible, even though I'm one of those HHN freaks that typically sucks up too much ;)

I didn't know about Woody Woodpecker. Where is he?
 
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