Agreed with
@FaceBagman , this year is providing quite the varied list from everyone!
So last year was one of the hardest anticipated lists for me to make, and in ways I'm thankful this year wasn't as hard for me. As a preface, I'm fine with all ten houses here. Each one has the opportunity to be fun in their own way, and for the most part it's truly up to the casts to bring each one to life, and they can always take a concept that's near the bottom and send it way to the top. (Last year's Exorcist: Believer was a prime example.) And conversely, a weak cast can also drag a house down no matter the concept.
Also, my actual #1 anticipated house is never placed at #1. I'm a firm believer that overhype is usually self-inflicted, so I keep my expectations in check and it's honestly worked every time! Hard to be disappointed if you don't put your expectations too high. An if something does disappoint, that's incredibly telling on its quality! Without further ado, from the bottom up...
10.) Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire - While I did enjoy the original house in 2019, it did weaken over the weeks as casts dropped out and effects broke down, and since I've got an idea of what to expect along with an array of concepts I find more intriguing, this is a pretty easy house to place in the 10th spot.
9.) Major Sweets Candy Factory - Sweet Revenge from 2022 is hands down my favorite NY zone, a very fun concept that was a manic party that was great to hang out in. I'm definitely looking forward to this one, though there's a lot of unknowns since I've been told from someone in the know that this house is weird (hard to say if it's a good weird or a bad one.), and then there's the big unknown of how it'll all work in F&F with the new layout.
8.) A Quiet Place - I think it's safe to say this is the definitive "Dark Horse" house this year. As the core concept alone goes against your typical haunted house in so many ways! It'll be interesting to see if they can pull it off, either way this is no doubt a big risk, which I honestly applaud HHN for taking it on! Even with this event being one of the biggest in the world, they should still be taking risks and I'm happy they are.
7.) Goblin's Feast - I do enjoy a nice medieval fantasy kind of theme, and Dueling Dragon's was pretty fun. This could provide some pretty cool set pieces and costumes, and I look forward to seeing how the new sprung tents are!
6.) Triplets of Terror - This feels like another curveball/wildcard house, and I'm totally here for it! An original slasher drawn up from A&D can be a lot of fun and all sorts of f'd up, so I'm looking forward to this one quite a bit!
5.) Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines - When this house was first rumored, I wasn't sure what to think. But once the synopsis was revealed, I'm more excited for this one! It's giving me vibes of Legends Collide which was honestly one of the more intense Universal Monsters houses they've done, if the ladies here can get close to that, this house is gonna' kick butt!
4.) Slaughter Sinema 2 - My first HHN was 2018, and the first Slaughter Sinema was hands down one of my favorites. This is the kind of concept that can keep on giving, just give A&D some time to come up with a bunch of crazy ideas and let them loose. I would have this way higher, but I'm purposely putting it down here to avoid overhype. But yeah, this is the sequel house I've been waiting for!
3.) Insidious: The Further - I do love me a good scary ghost house, and HHN can be very good at them. After all one of my favorite houses is 2019's Graveyard Games. Also, the Insidious franchise is honestly well-made to be a house. And with this being a best-of kind of house where they're just throwing you into the Further and telling you "Good Luck!", I have a feeling this'll get me in the best way.
2.) The Museum: Deadly Exhibits - Out of all the houses this year, this is the one I'm the most intrigued by. They've been very vague/hush-hush on what this house fully entails. All I publicly know is it's a folklore museum where the new Rotting Stone exhibit unleashes all sorts of heck inside. Everything else (except for what kind of scares which I do know), is a giant unknown, and for me that's very exciting!
1.) Monstruous: The Monsters of Latin America - I do love me a good creature house, and I also enjoy when HHN explores various monsters from all around the world. Hollywood's house last year looked really cool, so I'm glad Orlando is taking a spin this year. This house could be chock full of great sets, scares and atmosphere, so this one is pretty easy for me to place in the #1 spot!