HHN 33: Most Anticipated House

[TheCodeMan95]

I've always been one to enjoy many of the houses for different reasons. For example, the beauty of Blood moon, the atmosphere in the Exorcist house, the energy of the Yeti house so it makes it hard for me to anticipate much of anything

I really just wanted to say I do anticipate this year. I recall for many years I had wished they had more originals than IP houses as I tend to be more impressed with more of the originals than I do for the IP houses over the years (though each year tends to have one IP that nails it).

There are things I look forward to this year. This is the first year I know a few people working the event so this is more based on what hype 'inside/grain of salt info' folks seem to be pushing this year.

Spoiler: based on employee chatter of a couple of houses

Not knowing what folks consider 'scary', having someone say that 'Insidious is scary with the lights on' intrigues me.

I am curious about 'a quiet place' for folks seem to be making a point to mention it is in a sound stage by itself, keeping it more isolated than if it shared a sound stage, besides, I enjoyed the movie!

Having someone say the change in layout at F&F is in response to fan feedback has me wonder what they did.

Would love to hear more feedback from TMs if you have it!

 

[Frank Drackman]

Would love to hear more feedback from TMs if you have it!

nothing major -- just some small talk w/ some kids working their first job -- the stuff I mentioned sounded like talking points to me so I figured it is info meant to be shared.

 

[SixBillium]

I'm sure I'm gonna change my mind in the next few days, but-

1. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits- sounds like an awesome idea. I'm hoping for a special-effects extravaganza and I'm prepared to see some things I've never seen before.

2. A Quiet Place- Alien vs. Predator 2014 vibes with am extra decade of experience and innovations. I'm sold.

3. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines- The series has only gotten stronger during the mainline narrative (Unmasked doesn't count lol) and I can see this one being talked about a decade later if it continued to take big swings.

4. Slaughter Sinema 2- H.R. Bloodngutz (kinda) + Slaughter Sinema. Probably will land comfortably in my Top 20, so I'm more excited for the sleeper hits.

5. Monstruous- I'm worried about this one. A take on one of Hollywood's strongest haunts at an event that arguably avoids most of Hollywood's strengths. Hoping for From Dusk Till Dawn vibes with the sets, so I'm not worried there, but I am worried about an over-reliance on actors to portray the monsters and not enough cool effects to support them.

6. Insidious: Into The Further- Was more excited before this was announced as a villain mashup. I'm hoping this one is scary, and utilizes darkness in a smart way like The Black Phone- but could also be a snoozefest with too much emphasis on The Red Door imagery.

7. Triplets of Terror- Sounds like a fun idea for a gore house, but maybe a little more Rob Zombie than Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays or Halloween. Still optimistic- but I'm hoping for more of a fun, suburban slasher than a sleazefest.

8. Goblin's Feast- I anticipate this being a HUGE sleeper hit. I have 0 clue on what to expect, so I'm keeping it that way in hopes of being blown away!

9. Major Sweets Candy Factory- Saws 'n' Steam but candy? I'm all for exploring previous original ideas, and I'm not even worried about the "new" F&F location. There's just not much about this concept that intrigues me, personally. Again, I'm optimistic for the results, but I'm far more excited for other ideas.

10. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire- Stranger Things 4 has given me 0 hope for big-budget IPs. Let's hope they've learned and these effects are mindblowing.

 

[Darko]

1. Triplets of Terror — Universal inventing their own slasher? Something they haven’t done since the 90s? Yes I’m excited about this. I absolutely adore slashers, they are my guilty pleasure. And I can’t wait for an HHN original slasher.
2. Slaughter Sinema 2 — The first is one of my favorite houses ever. This would be number one if it wasn’t for the fact I always worry about the sequel not being as good as the original. But huge shark puppet makes me excited and honestly the scenes sound amazing. Mummy Strippers anyone?
3. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits — Love the idea of a museum house. And honestly there is something about the concept that just disturbs me for some reason. Other houses have sibling mutilating a whole town of people, yet the stone that rots everything is more disturbing to me for some reason. Could be that the slasher concept is a far more used trope than “stone that rots things.”
4. Major Sweets Candy Factory — I am excited about evil Willy Wonka house. Not excited about location. But here’s hoping they make it work. The did it with The Black Phone. Can they do it here? I’m just disappointed that there may be no big set pieces here. It’s a candy factory! I want big set pieces. But who knows. The HHN team has pulled incredible feats with limited space before. And bigger isn’t always better (looking at you Stranger Things at 29).
5. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America — I’m very much into urban legends and this house is Latin American urban legends. Many of which I’ve learned of over the years. I loved Chupacabra even with them going in their own direction. I don’t see them doing the same thing here, but it’s always worth mentioning these monsters are myths so some form a interpretation is expected.
6. Goblin’s Feast — My least anticipated of the original but since the original are almost always my favorites every year, that’s not a bad thing. I just am unsure of the concept. Many consider it high concept but I’m not sure how anyone can quantify that. It’s goblins and orcs in a tavern. I don’t think I consider that high concept. Still I am excited about this house as I’ve been playing a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3 lately so I am still excited to go through it.
7. Insidious: The Further — The first Insidious house was from 25 and that is still my favorite event year for HHN. And Insidious was a great house. Great sets, scares were clever, and just an all around intense atmosphere. My love for that house leaves me equally excited and hesitant for the house. Could be too much of a repeat or the perfect sequel house. Can’t wait to find out.
8. Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines — having loved all the previous houses, I’m still excited for this, but disappointment in still no Gill-man puts it closer to the bottom. It’s repeating vampires and the Bride again. I love the Bride to death but she got her house and it was great. Still at least we have new characters with Helsing and She-Wolf I believe? And the premise sounds like a blast as well. So still excited but where’s my Gill-Man Universal? Where… Is… He… Uni… Versal?
9. A Quiet Place — No idea how this premise will work with a conga line let alone a regular group but I’m curious. However it being an experimental idea gives me both pause and excitement. We’ll have to see with this one. Still, I’m please to see them attempt something different instead just another HHN house. Always prefer them to try then stay stagnant even if I don’t mind the formula and still love it every year. Always nice to have a shake-up. Can’t wait to see it.
10. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire — I haven’t seen the movie yet but opinions seem to differ on it. Doesn’t matter. The house executing matters and since I haven’t seen the movie yet, hard to get excited. I liked the OG house but it isn’t one of my favorites, IP or otherwise so that plays a part in it as well.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Can we please keep spoilers about houses in their respective threads?

 

[Tobias]

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 ago, 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!