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Halloween Horror Nights 29 (UO): Reviews & Photos

I went down 2 weeks ago. Meant to write a review sooner but life got in the way. I’ll rank the houses from my least favorite to favorite.

10. House of a thousand corpses.
So full disclosure I have not seen either version of the movie. I did read a quick summary before entering the house. I have no doubt my lack of seeing the movie hurt this house. So the story of the house was lost on me. Costumes were really cool but I had a lack of scares. It was a nice change of pace from Bloomberg.

9. Nightingales
Honestly this house was pretty forgettable. What I remember most was the facade outside...so that doesn’t bode well for the house itself. The cast did seem to be giving it their all.

8. Universal Monsters
Oh it hurts me to put this house here. Especially since this was the house I was most excited for. I think they tried to do too many monsters. I would have liked for them to pick just a few monsters so we could spend more time in each monster’s story. As it is you are weaving in and out of so many different stories that it feels very disjointed. For example we are with Frankenstein for one room and a turn. I will give major props to the woman playing the bride she has got some pipes on her with that shriek of a scream she let out. Also I got zero scares. This was a theme for the night. Just bad spots in line all night long. I think the house would have been better if they just picked 3 monsters.

7. Stranger Things
Last year’s house was so good! This year was a disappointment. Like monsters I think they tried to do too much combining seasons 2 and 3. Why not just do season 3? I liked that they started this house off where the last left off. Thought I would see way more demidogs. The women they get to play Nancy look just like her. But we walked through the bus and no actors were there. Also where was Alexi and his slurpee?? And no Murray?? Come on. The giant mind flyer at the end saves the house, as does never ending story music.

6. Killer Klowns
Unlike house of a thousands corpses we did watch killer klowns before the event. This house was just fun. They did a great job recreating the movie from the shadow puppets, to the ventriloquist Dummy, to the spaceship. The costumes were great. But again, not scary. I think those costumes make it very hard for the actors to get a good scare. So very fun house but not scary.

5. Graveyard Games
The set design was fantastic. Maybe the most detailed of any house this year. The atmosphere was incredible because of that. But I wanted to see more ghosts! I wanted them around every corner and in all different forms.

4. Depths of Fear
Got my second best scare of the night in this house. I thought the effects were really cool throughout with the video screens and the mirrors to make it look like you were very high in the air. The costumes for the monsters were really cool as well.

3. Yeti
Told my wife as we were about to enter “I want it to be cold and I want to see snow” well check and check. I am a sucker for feeling like we are outside when we are inside. The Yetis were huge and going through the logger camp was fun.

2. Us
I had the least expectations for this one. Just didn’t know how well the film would translate to a house. Having the music play as you walk in sets the atmosphere and the familiar facade is waiting for you along with the Jeremiah sign guy. Got my best scare of the night as the tethered husband cane at me with a bat and that spot on howl from the movie. Hands down the scariest house of the night for us. The sets were dead on. Felt like walking through the film. A great surprise.

1. Ghostbusters
I went back and forth as to which was my favorite house and ultimately landed here. Is it scary? Not one bit. Is it a ton of fun? Hell yes! A ton of fun from start to finish. The music, meeting Jeanie, the library ghost, slimmer, the proton blasts, meeting all the guys, all our favorite characters are here, and the effects are awesome. Wished I just could of stayed in some rooms for a while and just watched. It was everything I wanted out of a ghostbusters house. They checked all the boxes, and hit all the nostalgia. If it had been scary it would of been the perfect house.

Scarezones
I don’t even bother with these anymore. They are not scary and you might as well rename them SelfieZones. They are just an area to walk through for me to get to the next house.

Marathon of Mayhem
I guess I’m spoiled by Disney’s nighttime shows but this did nothing for me. I wasn’t expecting story telling on Disney’s level but I kinda wanted some sort of narrative. As it is it’s just music from some of the IPs and a few scenes projected as well. Meh. I do applaud Universal for branching out and giving a new attraction though.

Overall
It was a fun time. We did 14 house runs doubling up on Monsters, Depths, Graveyard, and Ghostbusters. But scary? No. The least scary year since I have been going. But what the event lacked in scares it made up for in fun houses.

I don’t know if I’ve become desensitized to it (I only go once a year) or if I just know where the scares are coming from in Horror Night houses, or if I was just constantly in the wrong place in line all night, but very few scares for me this year. I also know where the actors hide and I can’t help myself but to peek around the corner and lock eyes with Nancy from Stranger Things-so of course she’s not going to jump now.

Of course I’ll be back next year, just hoping for some more fright in my Horror Nights.

 
Ugh what an event, I’m officially in love.

We opted for the Springfield stay and scream tonight so I could try Dufftoberfest.

Our plan was to focus on the original houses today and by 11PM we had done;

-7 houses (missing out GB, ST & Us)
-3 Rides
-Marathon of Mayhem (incredible)

Honestly could not have loved everything more and I’m not even sure how to start putting these in order!
 
Hello Everyone! Long time reader, First time Posting. Just got back from my HHN vacation. Did Rush of Fear this year with the wife and went this past Saturday & Sunday 09/28-09/29. We hit Stay & Scream both nights and stayed till about 12 o'clock both nights. Been going for the last 10 years of Horror Nights and for some reason this year just didn't feel immersive for us. We didn't "feel" so much like we were in Horror Nights compared to past years. Not sure if things were off this weekend and we just had bad timing in terms of dates and walk through's of the houses but during our visit my wife was bringing up to me and i agreed with her that we felt the houses this year were very solid and done very well but felt like they were a little underwhelming due to a lot of empty spots & missing a lot of scares. A lot of scares missed because of Conga line, Timing & Resets. I did some research and confirmed when i got back home by watching walk through videos that there was a ton of empty boo holes and scares that were missed during our visit. We also had about 2-3 run through's in all the original houses and 2 run through's in the GB & UM House and still had the same experience every time. With that being said, Here is my rankings for this year.

1. Universal Monsters
This was always the first house we hit when we did Stay & Scream and we were able to sneak in another run towards the end of the night. Though we didn't get every scare, The execution of this house to me was awesome. The set design and size of the house was amazing. I loved the way they gave each Monster their own environment with a unique scare/scene to each was amazing. I wish there was a little more Dracula as the new designed Dracula was awesome and looked fierce.
Favorite Scene(s): Every unique scare each Monster had (Wolfman "Bungie", Hunchback "Rope Drop" Etc.)

2. Ghostbusters

I came into this house expecting it not to be scary but a blast to walk though and it did not disappoint. They nailed it in recreating the movies while making it super fun to go through and at the same time executing creative scares and special effects. Stoked to have been able to experience it.
Favorite Scene: Slimer scares & Slimer getting captured.

3. Yeti: Terror of the Yukon
Facade was great, Yeti's were super effective and the overall Yukon/Snow concept complimented the Yeti idea Flawlessly. Wish i could've had more runs as this was one of the houses that we were only able to go through once but overall loved this house!
Favorite Scene: Overhead Yeti Scene

4. Graveyard Games

Although i didn't get all the scares and timing right, The concept here was solid and felt like a great original Halloween story type house. When the timing was right, The scares were effective and the black whisper and candle hallway was awesome!
Favorite Scene: Candle Hallway

5. House of a 1000 Corpses

This house had a lot of awesome scenes and for being in the MIB tent house, This definitely won the title of best house in the MIB Tent location. All the characters were recreated and executed well. The house had a great blend of being Fun & Gory at the same time. Always was a great time walking through. Loved the "I'm the one who brings home the Christmas Candy Scare".
Favorite Scene: Dr.Satan

6. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

Super fun house. Has its 1 or 2 jump moments but overall not so scary but i felt it was executed so well on the fun side that you didn't care much for the scary aspect in this house.
Favorite Scene: Klownzilla

7. Depths of Fear

The plot of this house is great and the scenic is well executed but this house had felt like it was missing a lot of scare actors through my multiple run through's, Most likely due to the costume design issue. Wish i could've hit this house earlier in the season when it was at it's peak and firing on all cylinders.
Favorite Scene: Beginning Half Hanging Monster Scene & Exit Scene.

8. Nightingales: Blood Pit

Me and the wifey thought this house has lots of potential but unfortunately through our 2-3 walkthroughs of the house, All the actors didn't feel aggressive at all and seem like they were just going through the motion, Hitting their triggers, Popping out and back in. Must've had bad timing and walkthroughs of this house because everyone has been talking about how aggresive this house has been and we got the complete opposite.
Favorite Scene: Lion

9. Us
Great house if you're a fan of the movie and wanted to experience the movie in person. We didn't get a single scare in this house and it honestly just felt like we were walking through the movie set and watching the movie highlight's scene by scene.
Favorite Scene: Underground Rabbit Scene.

10. Stranger Things

Super disappointed in this house. Everything felt like it was a repeat of going through last years house over again but with less effort. Only thing i felt had going for it was the Elevator Scene and the Mindflayer. Everything else was Meh.
Favorite Scene: Eleven/Hopper Scene

Scarezones
Rob Zombie: Hellbilly Deluxe
Vikings Undead
Anarchade
Zombieland
Vanity Ball


Overall it was a solid year. House lineup and design was amazing, Both Shows were solid, Scarezones... Rough with the exception of Rob Zombie. Wish we could have gotten the full experience like I've seen other people describe on Social Media but due to my experience/run and comparing it to the last 4 years in ranking of the event years, These are my rankings. Looking forward to seeing what they are going to bring to the table for HHN 30!

1. 27
2. 28
3. 29
4. 26
 
After attending Sept 29, Oct 2, Oct 3, and Oct 4 here’s my list so far. Not final, don’t ask for thoughts just yet.
  1. Graveyard
  2. Monsters
  3. Yeti
  4. HO1KC
  5. Depths
  6. Nightengales
  7. Us
  8. Ghostbusters
  9. Klowns
  10. ST
Been going since 24 and this ranks higher than 24 but lower than 27 so far.

Wowzer. And ST was your #1 last year!
 
What's going on guys, here's some photos captured from my latest HHN29 trip. Living by the parks, my roomate and I try going almost every week-night during the event.

by BCPHOTOX, on Instagram


BCPHOTOX, on Instagram


BCPHOTOX, on Instagram


BCPHOTOX, on Instagram


BCPHOTOX, on Instagram


BCPHOTOX, on Instagram
Beautiful! I especially love how crisp the Vikings photo turned out! What kind of camera do you use?
 
Some notes I had after three nights at HHN29 (Sep 30th, Oct 2nd, Oct 3rd):

-The house quality was probably the best I've seen in the last six years of attending.

-The zone quality was probably the worst I've seen in the last six years of attending.

-Rob Zombie zone was a hell of a lot of fun.

-Zombieland: Double Tap was barely a scarezone. Almost nothing seemed to be going on there other than a few "zombified" celebs and a group of port-o-johns.

-Whatever they did to combat the crowd flows from the last year or two really worked. Wait times were all manageable, and streets were very walk-able.

-Both shows were fantastic.

-Marathon of Mayhem is probably the best show that I've seen in a theme park.

-AoV is back with a vengeance. This year's is at least as good (possibly better) than their first year.

-Ghostbusters was exactly what I needed it to be.

-Stranger Things had a few decent scenes (cabin battle was really well done), but overall kind of disappointing.

-Clownzilla was better than the Mind Flayer.

-Blood Pit smelled like pee-pee. They needed to turn down the smells a bit in there. You could literally smell it from Graveyard Games if the wind was blowing the right way.

-Graveyard Games was delightfully twisted.

-Depths of Fear continues that tent's reputation for good to great houses.

-House of 1k Corpses breaks that tent's reputation for lackluster houses.

-Great year. Cannot wait to see what they can possibly do to raise the stakes for HHN30!!!
 
Another year is in the books with the crew. Got to see dozens of new and familiar faces over my massive 10 day(!) trip. 8 days were spent in the parks, with lots of sleeping in, resting, an urgent care visit, and more. Saw the final performance of Illuminations, had an amazing dinner at Takumi-Tei, rode Hagrid half a dozen times, and overall just decompressed.

For HHN this year felt off, what first appeared to be a home run "wow what can they do with the 30th" level of hype in the end the five days I attended were middling to very good. No house stood out as transcendent like a Scarecrow or Monsters and Mayhem yet none sunk to the lows of TWD, Chance, or Saw. This year felt the weakest with scare actors, either because they're inexperienced, immature, more interested in friends, more interested in performing vs scaring, bulky costumes, or bad design. Several of these houses, with a stellar cast, could easily dominate the event, see Blumhouse in 27.

Before we get into the houses lets talk about some positives. First of all the biggest surprise is the quality of the merchandise this year. We've gone from "only the Goths wear this" black t-shirts with red blood lettering to an array of colors, moods, and IPs in mugs, cups, socks, shirts, and more. They absolutely knocked it out of the park and into the stratosphere, same goes for the Tribute Store that somehow tops itself year over year in detail and attention.

They took the complaints last year of a lop-sided event to heart and spread out the scare zones and added a second show. Marathon of Mayhem is the #1 thing at the event for me this year, I saw the show every night I was there and took dozens to see it with me. Unlike their normal water show (or World of Color) the show is all killer no filler, a high density 10 minute show. I'm a huge fan of this and hope something similar returns in future years.

I am not the biggest fan of AoV, they're fine but just not my style. This year's show is very good with high quality performances. The acrobatics and shadow segments are the standouts of the show and I hope they focus more on these in the future.

Now, to the houses. This list is based on five days at the event over the course of the whole night. I took into account fresh casts, missing actors, and more. My biggest driver for my ratings are if someone goes "hey lets wait an hour for this" if I say yes or no PLUS what I'd want to hit during the last half hour of the event on my last day.
  1. Graveyard - My favorite house this year, yet still can be dependent on which cast you get and the scare timing. What elevates this house more is the consistent creative scares with the punks, physical props (doll heads, mary-go-round, urns, etc), and a great cast.
  2. Monsters - Similar to why I love Graveyard the cast, art direction, costumes, and sets are fun. Fun fun fun.
  3. Yeti - Here is where the line is drawn from top houses to lower houses. Yeti has a great premise but long resets and odd spacing pushes this down my list.
  4. Depths - I never got to see the Brooders heavy cast but the newer, more dynamic cast works for me. They went Jaws with it, save the Brooders for one or two locations and have the rest be crew in various states of frenzy. But repeating sets and some incomplete effects push it down the list for me.
  5. HO1KC - The standard "throw it all at the wall with scares" house. Makes no sense since I never saw the movie but works in so much "yo there are people doing 'effed up stuff to dead people in here" story. Some neat uses of video screens and projections and an awesome facade.
  6. Us - There's some clever stuff in this house with some good scares but there's too much blank space to really land with me. I enjoy going through this house but I just don't find myself coming back over and over.
  7. Klowns - The scare zone last year was a big party, the house doesn't quite match that fun attitude. It shows just how much of a problem the suits were last year but lemonade was made.
  8. Nightengales - Meh. At least there are hot dudes in it! Only went through twice.
  9. Ghostbusters - This one is a disappointment. I was willing to give Entertainment the benefit of the doubt on this house. After all they gave us the wonderful Poltergeist and Stranger Things last year! I walked into the house with high expectations and I was initially excited, there's a cool ghost behind the books and a good librarian scare! Wow look a live mic'd actor in the house! But quickly the house falls apart with a lack of intensity. The house doesn't quite deliver the comedy or set design either. The house would be higher on my list if the gargoyles were more intense and the scares were more consistent.
  10. Stranger Things - Oooohhhhh boy. This was my #1 house last year; it felt epic, grand, crafted with love, and scary. This year feels lazy, smaller in scope (SOMEHOW), and not as energetic. There's a lot of opportunity with the past three seasons and it just does not land. I wish the demidogs were more intense, I wish there were more actors, I wish there was more details.
As for scare zones they all feel like they're out of step with what the event needs. Vanity Ball executes well and is the closest to being great but is missing an "it" factor. I'm not sure what that thing is at all. Anarcade fills the opening scare zone well: setting the tone and theme for the event. Hellbilly is fun and the most interesting as it ticks the "HHN is a giant party" atmosphere the best. Vikings just doesn't really land for me at all. Then Zombieland, which I thought could work but suffers from set pieces and spread, bring it all in front of Mummy and the Tribute store and the zone would have landed a little better. Still, Zombie fatigue is real.

Overall this year is better than 24 but not as good as 25, 27, or 28. They can't all be winners!

Joe's Ranking of Years
1) 27
2) 25
3) 28
4) 29
5) 26
6) 24
 
First of all the biggest surprise is the quality of the merchandise this year. We've gone from "only the Goths wear this" black t-shirts with red blood lettering to an array of colors, moods, and IPs in mugs, cups, socks, shirts, and more. They absolutely knocked it out of the park and into the stratosphere, same goes for the Tribute Store that somehow tops itself year over year in detail and attention.

Ah man, I knew I forgot something. Yes! There was some really great product design on the merch this year, including one of the best lanyards I’ve seen from them (Ghostbusters). Plus, that tribute store has become an attraction in itself.
 
The event this year is fine, and probably brought down from good/great by the baffling decision not to hire back experienced Scareactors, creating people who are learning on the fly in the houses or dropping out entirely because they didn't know what they were in for. The streets were *terrible*, and I sure hope whoever is in charge next year makes it clear to operations managers that scareactors are there to *scare* not to hang out with their friends in costume.

Houses:
10) Stranger Things - Woof. Overly long for how boring/empty it is. Way too much static figures. Consider the other wasted opportunities revolving around the property this year (where was Scoops Ahoy!?), feels like A&D was over this property after one year.
9) Us - It's fine. I had a decent run through, but man I can't imagine going through this without knowing the plot of the movie.
8) House of 1000 Corpses - Basically the same view I have on Us, but the cast here is at least pretty aggressive.
7) Ghostbusters - Man, what a disappointment. Some great/fun moments, but if you miss any of them, the house just feels devoid of actors.
6) Depths of Fear - Cool costumes, some good scares, and a fun theme.
5) Nightingales: Blood Pit - The cast really brought it the few times I went through this house...but it really did not feel like it capitalized on the Roman setting. Plus the new design of the Nightingales is straight up bad.
4) Killer Klownz - Man, was I wrong on this one! Just a ton of fun start to finish.
3) Yeti - Yeti was great, and had some great scares with an aggressive cast. Only issue is the costumes felt a little same-y sometimes.
2) Graveyard Games - Man, this *could* have been a GOAT contender. But some scenes really needed more actors (candle hallway) or quicker scene cycles (kids room). But when the cast was on point, this was a great house.
1) Monsters - Easily my top for the house. Consistently on-point casts, great costumes, some innovative design, and a ton of fun.

My overall year rankings would probably be:
1) 25
2) 21
3) 27
4) 28
5) 23
6) 29
7) 26
8) 24
9) 22
 
The event this year is fine, and probably brought down from good/great by the baffling decision not to hire back experienced Scareactors, creating people who are learning on the fly in the houses or dropping out entirely because they didn't know what they were in for. The streets were *terrible*, and I sure hope whoever is in charge next year makes it clear to operations managers that scareactors are there to *scare* not to hang out with their friends in costume.

Houses:
10) Stranger Things - Woof. Overly long for how boring/empty it is. Way too much static figures. Consider the other wasted opportunities revolving around the property this year (where was Scoops Ahoy!?), feels like A&D was over this property after one year.
9) Us - It's fine. I had a decent run through, but man I can't imagine going through this without knowing the plot of the movie.
8) House of 1000 Corpses - Basically the same view I have on Us, but the cast here is at least pretty aggressive.
7) Ghostbusters - Man, what a disappointment. Some great/fun moments, but if you miss any of them, the house just feels devoid of actors.
6) Depths of Fear - Cool costumes, some good scares, and a fun theme.
5) Nightingales: Blood Pit - The cast really brought it the few times I went through this house...but it really did not feel like it capitalized on the Roman setting. Plus the new design of the Nightingales is straight up bad.
4) Killer Klownz - Man, was I wrong on this one! Just a ton of fun start to finish.
3) Yeti - Yeti was great, and had some great scares with an aggressive cast. Only issue is the costumes felt a little same-y sometimes.
2) Graveyard Games - Man, this *could* have been a GOAT contender. But some scenes really needed more actors (candle hallway) or quicker scene cycles (kids room). But when the cast was on point, this was a great house.
1) Monsters - Easily my top for the house. Consistently on-point casts, great costumes, some innovative design, and a ton of fun.

My overall year rankings would probably be:
1) 25
2) 21
3) 27
4) 28
5) 23
6) 29
7) 26
8) 24
9) 22
To quickly make note on your scareactor point: Universal needs to change how they cast this event. When someone says they have “Open Availability” on the casting form, many aren’t expecting that by doing that, it means Universal will schedule you literally EVERY DAY. Burnout starts to set in or (most common) people just weren’t expect to work that much and they can’t keep up with it, leading to people leaving the event.

For most people this is a second or third job, too, so that only compounds the above problem.
 
I attended from Sept 25th through Sept 29thcand enjoyed the Rush of Fear pass with express. First time ever with express and can't imagine not doing it again next year if RoF+ Ex is still offered. My house order is as follows-

1. Universal Monsters- Every bit of this house filled me with joy. The Brides of Frankenstein were amazing. Got to do two pretty much solo run-throughs and will never forget them.
2. Yeti- Very memorable and I'll always love the chest burst punch.
3. Ghostbusters- Pure happiness. Hilarious Louis Tully scare.
4. Graveyard- Cool, spooky original that treats punk kids properly.
5. Nightingales- Awesome set design and creature design. I miss you, Lion.
6. Klowns- Bright and happy and kinda creepy and fun. Universal's use of the franchise makes me respect the film more for some reason.
7. Depths- A little hit or miss, but I'm a sucker for an underwater seabase.
8. Us- Very cool, creepy house. Excellent likenesses. Done in a little by the stuffed animal rabbits. Wish they were holograms like the monkeys in dead exposure.
9. Corpses- It certainly was Corpses.
10. Stranger Things- I didn't hate the house, but the use of static figures really lowered it on my list quite a lot.

Scare zones- Eh. Anarchade looked cool, but wasn't even trying to be scary most of the time. Vanity Ball had some decent make-up and scareactors, but there wasn't enough to draw me in.
Dragula is one of the few Rob Zombie things I like, so it was fun to sit and the car and pose with the robot. Also, fire makes it good.
Vikings looked pretty from a distance, but was generally too crowded for me to actually be able to enjoy.
I almost forgot about Zombieland. Trying not to think about it. I try to find the positive in almost every aspect of HHN, but I thought that zone just sucked.

LOVED both shows.
 
9. Corpses- It certainly was Corpses.
Elaborate? Didn’t know where to put this but I wanted to share what I was talking about with a friend about the event today. This friend has seen Corpses, but most importantly, had a horrific first impression of RZ through his Halloween remake. I’m raving on about how much effort the scareactors put into their roles (wonderful story) and he just goes, “Yeah, it’s not hard to act like white trash. All of his characters are white trash.” And honestly, I can’t blame him?
 
Elaborate? Didn’t know where to put this but I wanted to share what I was talking about with a friend about the event today. This friend has seen Corpses, but most importantly, had a horrific first impression of RZ through his Halloween remake. I’m raving on about how much effort the scareactors put into their roles (wonderful story) and he just goes, “Yeah, it’s not hard to act like white trash. All of his characters are white trash.” And honestly, I can’t blame him?
I'm not a fan of the film, or any Rob Zombie feature film, but thought it translated decently into a house. Didn't really wow me, but it was fine for what it was. It was a good house, but I'm not likely to remember much about it.
 
Impressive!! I love these! Is it cool if I send two of these to the respective scareactor? The girl in the first and ninth photos made my night on opening night and I have her Instagram handle !

Sure! Just make sure credit is given and I’m good with that.
 
1. Graveyard Games: Absolutely the best house of the bunch! Beautiful blend of scares, creepy sets and good storyline. This was one of the houses that actually was scary. 10/10
2. Nightingales: Seems to have mixed reviews on here but our group thought it was the scariest by far and some really dark/creepy sets in it! Fantastic house! 9.5/10
3. Yeti: This one was all about the sets! Easily the most immersive house this year. The scares were middle of the road but the sets made up for it! 9.5/10
4. Killer Clowns: This house was a blast! More so a funhouse for the most part but had some good jumps to it! Loved the vibe of this house and a total home run for Universal! 9.5/10
5. Universal Monsters: Solid house with great sets. Couple of scares too! 9/10
6. Depths of Fear: While not a perfect house, we thought it was tons of fun and did a good job blending scares with camp. Totally quirky house and really impressive sets! Better than expected! 8/10
7. House of 1000 Corpses: Kinda middle of the road. Cool sets, but on the shorter side we thought and not many scares. Nothing memorable. 7/10
8. Stranger Things: The sets were pretty fantastic, that's about it though. More props and statues than there should've been. Not scary at all. 6/10
9. Us: The whole thing was disappointing, sets were average and no scares at all. 5/10
10. Ghostbusters: I think we just got bad luck but there was four actors total in the house. Didn't get the hype for this house at all, the sets weren't particularly memorable either. 4/10
 
We attended HHN29 September 15-23. We may have overdid it a bit, going 6 total nights (out of 8), but it was totally worth it!

Overall, I felt that this was an extremely solid year. I was expecting it to maybe be a pushover year with the anticipation of HHN30 and with HHN28 being so strong, but I felt that the scarezones and Marathon of Mayhem really made an impact on the event as a whole and added to the environment.

There was definitely not a "terrible" house this year. At the same time, I didn't feel like there was a best-of-all-time type of house either, but there were some amazing houses and some pretty good ones up and down the list.

Here's my ranking - which ended up surprising me (worst to best):

10) Stranger Things - a step down from last year's house (which wasn't may favorite either) - amazing scenes, but felt like I was just walking through scenes with nothing happening (but it was still fun)!

9) Killer Klownz from Outer Space - was a fun house to walk through - but overall didn't leave me craving more.

8) Us - if it weren't for the soundtrack and the fact that I really liked this movie, I probably would have ranked this lower.

7) Yeti - Terror of the Yukon - Amazing sets and got a few great scares, but not consistently

6) Ghostbusters - The sheer nostalgia of this house was great for me. A lack of scares and the storyline not quite flowing well bumped it down a few notches.

5) Nightingales - Blood Pit - Felt that this house really brought the scares, even though the story didn't really make a ton of sense (if you didn't know the backstory)

4) Depths of Fear - The sets were incredible, especially for a Sprung Tent. Had amazing runs just about every time we went through.

3) Graveyard Games - The storyline combined with the sets and the scares made this a great house.

2) House of 1000 Corpses - The surprise of the year for me - and this house kept getting better and better with each run. Couldn't get enough Christmas Candy! Can't believe the curse was finally broken for the MIB Tent location!

1) Univeral Monsters - Really loved this house. Incredible sets, the storyline from "monster to monster" and the scares were incredible. We had a few runs where we were able to go through alone (generally at the very beginning and very end of the night).

Our usual plan of action was to do the Finns stay & scream, hit one of the sound stages (Ghostbusters) and then head to the back of the park for the parade and tent houses. After the first few nights, we switched over to Springfield S&S because the houses in the back of the park were so strong this year.

I enjoyed Academy of Villains - but Marathon of Mayhem was incredible and so cool to see no matter where you were around the lagoon. We stayed at Sapphire Falls during our trip - which is so great to have the water taxis to start and end the night. The on-site hotels continue to amaze me with their service and quality (and price).

For HHN30, we're going to stay at the Hard Rock for the first time to really go all-out. Can't wait!
 
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