Some thoughts as we gear up for the event's final stretch.
There is such a palpable and noticable energy to this event. There is always something happening, no matter where you are. There's always something to do. Roaming Art the Clown, Ghoulish, the great selection of houses that keep a healthy variety of wait times, Death Eaters and low wait Gringotts, plus Transformers. It's energizing to be met with interesting HHN offerings around literally every corner.
The year also has wonderful cohesion between its' many elements. Everything works to form a complete whole. Origins of Horror, El Artista, and fhe Tribute Store set the vibe and tone that the entire event plays with. The crazed machinations and creations of an artist plagued with horrors. Recurring motifs of Art, cats, crows and ravens, bad luck, graveyards and gargoyles, metallic gates. These signatures echo across the houses, zones, shows, even the lighting and soundtrack loop, in wonderfully subtle and obvious ways. It's a specific vibe to this event, that is also firmly rooted in the most basic of horror and Halloween tropes. A balance that isn't exactly easy to strike. It's easily the most cohesive year since 31's Halloween theme.
Casts are also giving a great amount of energy this year. Some moreso than others, there's been some remarkable growth over the run. Some houses like FNaF, Grave of Flesh, El Artista have lagged a bit in energy unfortunately; but others like Fallout, Dolls, and especially Hatchet and Chains have really found their stride and are firing with everything they've got. While Zones are better on the whole than last year, they're only middling generally. Besides Cat Lady of Crooked Lane, which is far and away the best Central Park zone I've seen, and one of the best zones generally across my time with the event. Incredible execution of such an out-there HHN concept; it flows incredibly naturally and flips the inherent limitations of its' location into pure positives. Even smaller offerings like the Clownsaws and the Mels Zombies are giving a lot more to their roles than I've seen their equivalents give in previous years, a number of these performers are having a lot of fun and it shows in the work.
And all of this in spite of the current state of USF as a park. Without Shrek, MiB, the parade buildings as usable locations. With Rip Ride Rock-It not only not operating, but actively being completely deconstructed. Without the regular Fall Tribute Store space usually borrowed from Mummy extended queue. With a daily-ops parade floating by throughout the entire event run. And right after a considerable amount of expense devoted to opening a new theme park. What they were able to pull off given all of those constraints is ridiculously impressive. This event could've been an unimaginable mess, but what we got is one of the most unified and naturally flowing events in a long time.
It will be a tough year for 35 to beat or even match, especially saddled with all of the baggage that an anniversary year assigns. This year isn't perfect, but a remarkably passion-forward and eclectic IP lineup and uniquely consistent quality across all of its' offerings make it one of the best events I've personally experienced.