Halloween Horror Nights 29 General Discussion

[Brian G.]

Ah, so they’re definitely switching ish up.

Yup. Basically, you can do 9 houses if you get each tour.

 

[Tbad556]

Can someone provide the houses that open later at 6:30? I know Stranger Things and Ghostbusters open up early, not sure about the others.

I do believe @Tbad556 answers this one.

I think this is roughly correct.

Opens ~5:50 PM - Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, Universal Monsters
Opens ~6:00 PM - Killer Klowns, House of 1000 Corpses, Depths of Fear
Opens ~6:30 PM - Yeti, Graveyard Games, Nightingales, Us

House of 1000 Corpses, Us, and Depths I'm not positive 100% on, but at the very least, they're between 6 and 6:30.

 

[DestinationDoug]

Has anyone tried the smores fries yet? Were they good??

They are very good, but super rich! I would definitely get them if you have somebody to share them with.

Alright guys, I got a question. I'm planning on doing the Finnegans Stay and Scream the first night I go (Wed Sep 25th). I will have Express that night, but still want to maximize the time I have.

So gun to your head, what house should I line up for first? GB or ST?

The S&S crowd for Stranger Things builds WAY faster than the Crowd for Ghostbusters. If you get to the S&S super early, I’d do Stranger Things first. If you get in to the S&S closer to 5, I’d do Ghostbusters.

 

[Jengo_Fett]

Yup. Basically, you can do 9 houses if you get each tour.

I’m doing the 6 and hoping for ST & GB! Fingers crossed

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I’m dipping my toe into this briefly, but I’ve seen a lot of “if you’re not into scary things or jump scares this is the year for you” comments online. While I know this was stated in a constructive and positive way to get new people to the event I wonder for those here if they’ve noticed a drop off in “scary” vs other years. Is it being over stated? Only applicable to ST/Ghost?

 

[Grabnar]

Yup. Basically, you can do 9 houses if you get each tour.

Any word on which houses they’re doing?

 

[SeventyOne]

I’m dipping my toe into this briefly, but I’ve seen a lot of “if you’re not into scary things or jump scares this is the year for you” comments online. While I know this was stated in a constructive and positive way to get new people to the event I wonder for those here if they’ve noticed a drop off in “scary” vs other years. Is it being over stated? Only applicable to ST/Ghost?

[I'm trying to avoid specifics but hiding a couple things out of an abundance of caution]

Very true of Ghostbusters. There's a handful of jump scares, but they are not terribly effective, and they are not the scenes everyone talks about after. Still haven't done ST (keep bumping into Express-less friends), but I'd say Klownz very similar. Although it's more:

Spoiler

the jump shares are puppets or projections rather than live actors. I think that plays a role in perception.

Yeti is much more traditional and in-your-face, as are the back of the park houses. Nightingales and HoTC feel like the most traditional HHN houses, but those are the ones casual fans most likely to skip.

Also, and again only two nights, most houses felt somewhat sparsely populated with scare-actors.The optimist in me thinks

Spoiler

they are trying to innovate past the traditional boo-hole with screens and mechanics.

The pessimist in me fears they are trying to figure out ways to cover 13 houses for HHN XXX with casting for 10.

So far this year, zones feel a little underwhelming as well. Vikings is the most traditional, but feels lightly staffed. Vanity Ball they barely even try to scare, it's all about runway show. Zombie Land just hasn't gelled yet. And Simpsons chainsaw team feels like they were ordered to tone it down a notch--they don't chase down people as much as they used to, and multiple times they've stopped and broken keyfabe to high-five or console a kid too young to be at the event. I think this is driving perception almost as much as the signature houses.

So yeah, some fire to the smoke ... tho enough gore and scares in the back houses that the contrarians can argue the point all season.

 

[Tbad556]

I’m dipping my toe into this briefly, but I’ve seen a lot of “if you’re not into scary things or jump scares this is the year for you” comments online. While I know this was stated in a constructive and positive way to get new people to the event I wonder for those here if they’ve noticed a drop off in “scary” vs other years. Is it being over stated? Only applicable to ST/Ghost?

I think I still need more time with it, but here's my take. I'm a jumpy little coward, so let's get that out of the way for the sake of context.

I think every house this year has still gotten me good at this point other than Stranger Things & Depths of Fear. Ghostbusters actually got me GOOD yesterday despite them being a bit more lackluster on Friday scare-wise. It's obviously less scary than most, but I still think it has some potential. Graveyard is horrifying. Nightingales has wild potential once the cast fully hits their groove. Same with Monsters. Killer Klowns has gotten me good both times, but is obviously also "fun". Yeti isn't the scariest, but it still had a few good scares. Same with House of 1000 Corpses. Us isn't necessarily jump-scare heavy, but it is creepy. The cast is absolutely phenomenal (at least the one I got) and they just make certain moments feel scary intimate.

I think it's overblown and people need to give the casts time to find their strides. My girlfriend is not into scary things at all and is horrified of ever going to an HHN-esque event. By no means do I think this year is somehow tame enough for someone that's that frightened.

Some years simply have more "fun" houses than others. With the event being up to 10 houses now, I see no issue with 1 or 2 being more indulgent towards fun or encompassing films like Ghostbusters. I mean, look at HHN22 for example. 7 houses and one of those was Penn & Teller and one was Alice Cooper. At least with 10 houses, Ghostbusters/Stranger Things are only a small small portion of the houses. It almost checks off all of the boxes for people. Scary heavy houses are here, movie houses are here, fun houses are here, original houses are here, etc.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

[I'm trying to avoid specifics but hiding a couple things out of an abundance of caution]

Very true of Ghostbusters. There's a handful of jump scares, but they are not terribly effective, and they are not the scenes everyone talks about after. Still haven't done ST (keep bumping into Express-less friends), but I'd say Klownz very similar. Although it's more:

Spoiler

the jump shares are puppets or projections rather than live actors. I think that plays a role in perception.

Yeti is much more traditional and in-your-face, as are the back of the park houses. Nightingales and HoTC feel like the most traditional HHN houses, but those are the ones casual fans most likely to skip.

Also, and again only two nights, most houses felt somewhat sparsely populated with scare-actors.The optimist in me thinks

Spoiler

they are trying to innovate past the traditional boo-hole with screens and mechanics.

The pessimist in me fears they are trying to figure out ways to cover 13 houses for HHN XXX with casting for 10.

So far this year, zones feel a little underwhelming as well. Vikings is the most traditional, but feels lightly staffed. Vanity Ball they barely even try to scare, it's all about runway show. Zombie Land just hasn't gelled yet. And Simpsons chainsaw team feels like they were ordered to tone it down a notch--they don't chase down people as much as they used to, and multiple times they've stopped and broken keyfabe to high-five or console a kid too young to be at the event. I think this is driving perception almost as much as the signature houses.

So yeah, some fire to the smoke ... tho enough gore and scares in the back houses that the contrarians can argue the point all season.

You probably saw Weenies tweet which is what I’m referencing. He’s coming from a good place vs “HHN ISNT WHAT IT USED TO BE AND SUX” so I’m really curious.

I wonder if they’ve found a good groove in 27/28 of super scary and gory original house concepts (Scarecrow, Dead Exposure, etc) while keeping it more atmospheric for the big IPs. Trying to have their cake and eat it too.

 

[Captain Tragedy]

I think I still need more time with it, but here's my take. I'm a jumpy little coward, so let's get that out of the way for the sake of context.

I think every house this year has still gotten me good at this point other than Stranger Things & Depths of Fear. Ghostbusters actually got me GOOD yesterday despite them being a bit more lackluster on Friday scare-wise. It's obviously less scary than most, but I still think it has some potential. Graveyard is horrifying. Nightingales has wild potential once the cast fully hits their groove. Same with Monsters. Killer Klowns has gotten me good both times, but is obviously also "fun". Yeti isn't the scariest, but it still had a few good scares. Same with House of 1000 Corpses. Us isn't necessarily jump-scare heavy, but it is creepy. The cast is absolutely phenomenal (at least the one I got) and they just make certain moments feel scary intimate.

I think it's overblown and people need to give the casts time to find their strides. My girlfriend is not into scary things at all and is horrified of ever going to an HHN-esque event. By no means do I think this year is somehow tame enough for someone that's that frightened.

Some years simply have more "fun" houses than others. With the event being up to 10 houses now, I see no issue with 1 or 2 being more indulgent towards fun or encompassing films like Ghostbusters. I mean, look at HHN22 for example. 7 houses and one of those was Penn & Teller and one was Alice Cooper. At least with 10 houses, Ghostbusters/Stranger Things are only a small small portion of the houses. It almost checks off all of the boxes for people. Scary heavy houses are here, movie houses are here, fun houses are here, original houses are here, etc.

Can confirm with graveyard games being absolutely terrifying. That one is scare heavy. Had a great run through monsters yesterday too. Even depths of fear is growing on me. Ghostbusters is a lot of fun, but I only got one really good scare. Us is definitely an interesting house. Agree, more unsettling than outright scary, tho that last room got my friend every time. Actors are really on their game in that house. Stranger things seems off to me. Effects are great, but not really scare heavy.

I still think this year is about as intense as other years, though. I’m thinking because the highest profile houses are the “safe” ones, that this “not scary” line of thought is kind of overblown.

 

[WAJAS]

You probably saw Weenies tweet which is what I’m referencing. He’s coming from a good place vs “HHN ISNT WHAT IT USED TO BE AND SUX” so I’m really curious.

I wonder if they’ve found a good groove in 27/28 of super scary and gory original house concepts (Scarecrow, Dead Exposure, etc) while keeping it more atmospheric for the big IPs. Trying to have their cake and eat it too.

This seems to describe the event pretty well these days, and I’m honestly okay with that.

 

[SeventyOne]

You probably saw Weenies tweet which is what I’m referencing. He’s coming from a good place vs “HHN ISNT WHAT IT USED TO BE AND SUX” so I’m really curious.

Yeah. I disagree with him on Yeti, but I think he has a point. Keep in mind, not sure how many of the back houses he saw, we only hit Graveyard Saturday.

I wonder if they’ve found a good groove in 27/28 of super scary and gory original house concepts (Scarecrow, Dead Exposure, etc) while keeping it more atmospheric for the big IPs. Trying to have their cake and eat it too.

It's definitely an event with a split personality when you have the not-that-scary Halloween party houses up front but a zone with strippers and a Dominatrix and a house

Spoiler

with a dead dog

in the rear. Almost akin to the back room in an 80s video store--maybe that's the vibe they were going for?

 

[jrn14]

They could easily substitute quality and immersion for "scares" it's kind of frustrating all the complaining... What's scarier than a pitch black house... save on effects and let people walk around in the dark and have someone scream in their ears every 30 seconds and flick the lights on here and there.

Also how much complaining is just teen bravado

I'm sick of your whining!

 

[SeventyOne]

What's scarier than a pitch black house

Having done Cold Blind Terror and Terror Mines ... pretty much any house.

 

[MrRoamer]

Having done Cold Blind Terror and Terror Mines ... pretty much any house.

Hey Terror Mines was pretty good, especially if the person with the hat literally forgot that they had the only source of light and looked at everything except what would be helpful :doh:

 

[Jengo_Fett]

This seems to describe the event pretty well these days, and I’m honestly okay with that.

As someone who enjoys the artistry and is new to HHN and scares, this totally helps me feel more comfortable. I hate the dark tight spaces. I’m cool with people jumping out at me. If I can see where I’m going, come at me all you want.

 

[Grabnar]

You probably saw Weenies tweet which is what I’m referencing. He’s coming from a good place vs “HHN ISNT WHAT IT USED TO BE AND SUX” so I’m really curious.

I wonder if they’ve found a good groove in 27/28 of super scary and gory original house concepts (Scarecrow, Dead Exposure, etc) while keeping it more atmospheric for the big IPs. Trying to have their cake and eat it too.

I’ve only been the last two years, but I think that the balance from 27/28 was solid. The level of care and detail that goes into most of the event is what I really enjoy. It’s certainly not the outright scariest haunt in America, but I’d wager that very few people want to go through a truly horrifying experience, and there’s plenty of extreme haunts in America to satisfy that segment.

 

[Neo]

I honestly haven't been scared since the year they had Hellgate Prison, that was my first year. So the fact that I had never been before and it was so beyond anything I had done locally, it blew my mind and scared me.

I partially blame it on "you can only go in once not knowing what to expect" and getting really scared. The other thing I blame is we would stay until closing every night and we'd go through houses with nobody else in them. This was pre-conga line when they had stuff like Jack's chainlink fence maze. You could pulse your party and go through so you knew everybody would have time to re-set after scaring the person in front of you. It was amazing.

But those days are gone. If they allowed you to do that now, lines for the popular houses would be 10 hours.

Now I walk through the houses, marveling at the detail and anticipating where the next scare will come from. Now and then I get a good BOO! scare, but nothing that causes me to actually be scared. However, having said that, still going every year and it's the highlight of my year.

 

[JawsVictim]

And Simpsons chainsaw team feels like they were ordered to tone it down a notch--they don't chase down people as much as they used to, and multiple times they've stopped and broken keyfabe to high-five or console a kid too young to be at the event. I think this is driving perception almost as much as the signature houses.

At scare actor orientation you are told not to go after children. It’s been that way for years.

While performing, I’d accidentally pop out of one of my boo holes and end up terrifying a child that definitely should not have been at the event. Other times, I’d end up scaring a kid that loved it. That’s when I’d wait for them at my second spot, pop out, and give them a high five.

My point is it’s all relative and people shouldn’t get bent out of shape. As long as the event is well designed and fun, it’s on the right track.

 

[vwtech]

Anyone know the nights The Simpsons ride will be open?