Halloween Horror Nights 26 Discussion | Page 173 | Inside Universal Forums

Halloween Horror Nights 26 Discussion

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Its not even about it being SCARY or SCARES just have the actors show up, period. If you're building these massive sets and putting all this effort to drop the ball on the actual soul of the house (the scare actors) that's sad.

If I dont get an actual scare thats not the point. If the actor at least tries to go for me or we have some type of interaction, they get points.

I find the scares to be cheesy and annoying.
:saywhat:.... nevermind... lets move on..
 
It just depends on your perspective. The only reason I go into the houses is to see the sets and interesting effects. I've never found any of the houses to be scary. In fact while I appreciate that other people get scared and that's what they're there for I find the scares to be cheesy and annoying. For me it's all about being immersed in an environment, if I just want someone to stick their hand in front of my face and startle me I don't need to spend the money to go to HHN.
I am the same way. Not saying I don't get startled from jump scares, but I don't really find these things scary. I honestly am looking the most forward to Krampus because I want to see how well it matches the movie.
 
There are some great points here.

The thing I point to most is that this is Universal Studios where you can "Ride the Movies". If you're just looking for some hillbilly to jump out and say "boo", you can go to any local haunt. This is held to a higher standard, and we want that immersion into the set.

I'm not saying that houses don't need to be scary, but there are different types scares. Just like there are different types of horror movies.

Look at the differences between Body Collectors and FvJ last year. I would argue that Body Collectors concentrated a bit more on atmosphere, while FvJ relied much more on "slasher" type jump scares.

Both were great houses because they mixed the two together really well. Both houses featured both elements, but had them in a much different mix.
 
I have noticed there is a strange contingent of HHN fans that enjoy houses just because they look cool. Could be completely devoud of scares and effects but still ranks high. I've never understood this. Winter's Night, Nightingales and Ghost Town are the perfect examples.

Yeah it looks great but where to hell is everyone?

Yeah, the scareactors are the least important thing to me, unless it's something like Freddy vs. Jason. I definitely appreciate when there's a great costume and set-up and everything, but that's not why I go.

It's nearly impossible for anyone to scare me, so I look forward to enjoying HHN for the sets, production values, mood & ambiance.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It's just a great opportunity to get immersed in a whole other world even moreso than what you get from theme parks during the day.
 
That's it exactly. I'm scary lookig, so they tend not to try to get me. II watch others get got.
Lol ... that is how I always feel, it is like they know I am coming, so they take a break lol. I love atmosphere though, and I think this is more difficult to create than scares (or gore, or anything else for that matter.
 
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I always feel bad when they come after me, I know they enjoy getting a reaction from guests and I'm just not good at faking one.
Every so often I get into a staring thing with a scare actors, does not happen often, but when it does it means the world to me because it adds to the atmosphere and I feel like I am a literal part of the house. This means more to me than any scare.
 
I always feel bad when they come after me, I know they enjoy getting a reaction from guests and I'm just not good at faking one.

I always tell them "nice job" with a big grin if it looked like they were trying to get a bump out of me.

Every so often I get into a staring thing with a scare actors, does not happen often, but when it does it means the world to me because it adds to the atmosphere and I feel like I am a literal part of the house. This means more to me than any scare.

At 24 Facilier got in my face to do a staredown and he held it pretty well until I told him I had just run into his cousin down the street at MNSSHP. He broke and went looking for another "victim".
 
I have noticed there is a strange contingent of HHN fans that enjoy houses just because they look cool. Could be completely devoud of scares and effects but still ranks high. I've never understood this. Winter's Night, Nightingales and Ghost Town are the perfect examples.

Yeah it looks great but where to hell is everyone?
It isn't really scary unless they make you sign a waiver.

It is also pretty difficult to scare people over all with the crowds and conga line at universal. It breaks immersion pretty bad. The average person would probably have more scares at any onther major haloween event.
 
I'm still impressed that it appears (to me) that UNI listens to feedback and attempts to adjust. I do not know if these things came from feedback or anything, but as an example, last year, I recall being annoyed that I had to shut my Freestyle cup and stuff the straw inside the cup before entering a house.

I didn't say anything, but this year, the HHN Freestyle cups have a screw on top and a way to fold the straw on the outside.

This is only the 2nd year where we got Express and I noticed folks on here talking about FB groups complaining about Express waits...well last year, we once went through a house were the scanner wasn't working and they were just letting folks through. This year, when we were at a house where the scanner wasn't working, we were asked to take our ticket out of our lanyard...we saw them marking passes, not sure if the would mark our RoF as the tech finished rebooting the system our something right when we got to that point.

Just little things, but it impresses me that they seem to try. I am certain the 1st night AHS was scanning way up at the merge point, on my 2nd night, they scanned further back (which I think helps the line move a bit more efficiently.

I also noticed something missing this year which I assume is out of respect....

Just small stuff, but for some reason, it makes me think they care...
 
For me personally, I go to HHN for the attention to detail and production value. Its not about how 'scary' the event was but how memorable it was. My first HHN was Islands of Fear and I can remember so many details of Scream House. Both sets and scares. I don't remember any other houses from that year so I consider Scream House a great house.

Last year I remember details of most of the houses but not much from TWD, Run (other than the entrance), and Purge. All the other houses have distinct features that stood out to me (sets and scares) so I consider them all great.

Bill and Ted was fun last year but not very memorable. The only joke I remember is "Sex Tail!" That is the way that show is every year for me. Funny in the moment, but not a lasting memory.

I do wonder if the fan service of the event is starting to hurt the events production though, especially in the scare factor, most notably in the scare zones. At Islands of Fear I had a true dred of walking around the park not knowing what was lurking in the shadows, fog, and bubbles. Every year that seems to fade. Now there are selfie zones not scare zones.