Goblin’s Feast (HHN 33)

[HHN Maddux]

Yeah, but they never get announced and just show up.

Death Eaters were announced for us last year, it's Hollywood where they just show up (although they also changed from horde to announcement I believe).

 

[Brian G.]

Death Eaters and potentially something else...

Eh. Probably. It’s a nice, tertiary addition.

 

[Kichkinet85]

Death Eaters were announced for us last year, it's Hollywood where they just show up (although they also changed from horde to announcement I believe).

They were?

 

[HHN Maddux]

They were?

 

[Kichkinet85]

Thanks! For some reason I was thinking they weren’t announced.

Edit: seems like even Discoliz forgot they were announced independently lol good to know I’m not alone

 

[EAS]

I initially thought this would be a scary house, but this feels like Dueling Dragons and very whimsical.

I agree with everyone that the podcast had a kind of whimsical vibe, and it was an interesting choice to make the "twist" at the end of the podcast the thing we all know is the premise of the house. BUT, just because the podcast took this tone does not mean the house will too, IMO. There is a lot of content in the podcast - orcs bringing in the "produce" (aka people) in cages, the haunted forest with the dead goblins installed in the trees, the stew pot with people inside, smashing the human skull to start the feast - that could play as grisly and horrific in a house, and this one felt loaded with "this will be a scene in the house" moments. My take listening was that we get the goblin perspective in the podcast and, then, perhaps the human perspective at the event.

 

[HHN Yeti Lover]

I guess I'm the only one that lives this idea. I will gladly accept a fantastical house if it's awesome. I'm actually excited about it now

I'm excited about it lol, I loved Dragons! I thought it would have a creepy atmosphere, but if it's kin to Wicked Growth, then I am hyped either way.

I agree with everyone that the podcast had a kind of whimsical vibe, and it was an interesting choice to make the "twist" at the end of the podcast the thing we all know is the premise of the house. BUT, just because the podcast took this tone does not mean the house will too, IMO. There is a lot of content in the podcast - orcs bringing in the "produce" (aka people) in cages, the haunted forest with the dead goblins installed in the trees, the stew pot with people inside, smashing the human skull to start the feast - that could play as grisly and horrific in a house, and this one felt loaded with "this will be a scene in the house" moments. My take listening was that we get the goblin perspective in the podcast and, then, perhaps the human perspective at the event.

Right! We don't know much about the house and we might get surprised, but I still get that feeling ya know? But that is a great observation too.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I'll be honest - I try not to glean too much from the podcasts. The podcast for Blood Moon last year gave me very different vibes from what the house ended up being.

 

[Boodini]

I liked the podcast, it gave me Jim Henson fantasy vibes like Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. I’m curious to see the execution in concept and scare energy for sure.

 

[amar831]

My take listening was that we get the goblin perspective in the podcast and, then, perhaps the human perspective at the event.

That’s exactly what I’m feeling. The podcast was mystical and whimsical, but the goblins are talking about the feast like it’s their thanksgiving/4th of july. I’m sure a turkey wouldn’t have very nice things to say about thanksgiving lol

 

[Lucky Planet]

That’s exactly what I’m feeling. The podcast was mystical and whimsical, but the goblins are talking about the feast like it’s their thanksgiving/4th of july. I’m sure a turkey wouldn’t have very nice things to say about thanksgiving lol

we need a Thanksgiving house

 

[Midnight Detective]

This house is going to be awesome (biased) but also I have no doubt that even if its fantastical, it'll still be scary.

On the nose because it's literally comparing Orcs and Orks but something I see people say a lot when discussing Warhammer 40k is how Orks don't fit because they're kind of goofy. In the same vein, I'm seeing a lot of people putting a lot of weight on the silly podcast forgetting that this house is going to be filled with angry monstrous killing machines, smaller green (maybe funny) killing machines, and what sounds like a finely dressed Hobgoblin, who when not selecting a fancy outfit is... probably also a killing machine.

In my humble opinion, it's a bit like saying a clown house won't be scary because clowns are entertainers

 

[EAS]

This house is going to be awesome (biased) but also I have no doubt that even if its fantastical, it'll still be scary.

On the nose because it's literally comparing Orcs and Orks but something I see people say a lot when discussing Warhammer 40k is how Orks don't fit because they're kind of goofy. In the same vein, I'm seeing a lot of people putting a lot of weight on the silly podcast forgetting that this house is going to be filled with angry monstrous killing machines, smaller green (maybe funny) killing machines, and what sounds like a finely dressed Hobgoblin, who when not selecting a fancy outfit is... probably also a killing machine.

In my humble opinion, it's a bit like saying a clown house won't be scary because clowns are entertainers

As amar831 excellently put it, the turkey would not find Thanksgiving a cheery festival. While there is ghoulish humor in the comparison, I also think it makes the horror more effective: the goblins are not dumb animals, they have a culture as sophisticated as human society, it just so happens that we humans are livestock rather than peers, and we'll get treated accordingly, with no mercy.

 

[Disneyson1]

Here are my bits, bobs, musings, and predictions about the podcast:

Spoiler: Potential spoilers for Goblins Feast

- I really liked the framing device here of using the narrator for every voice, as if narrating a children's book. I think this will translate into a Tooth Fairy-style set design.
- Doag's house, with thatched ceiling and all, gives me the sense of what the rest of the structures in the house will look like. I'm picturing the cottage of the Seven Dwarfs. Another style point I feel will be echoed is "Over The Garden Wall".
- I think the sleeper hit character of the house will be Doag's easily-enraged mother with a threatening ladle, which I imagine we will eventually meet while in the middle of cooking prep. She probably won't appreciate being disturbed from her prep work.
- Basilwretch the Witch sounds like a fun character! Yes, Chef.
- I appreciate the attention of creating textual female characters in this house - the split this year seems to favor female performers... I wonder if Ghostbusters was taken into account to slot all of the white male face characters this year.
- Calling it: the Mill & water wheel will be the mid-house big-surprise-room. This is where Grubbish the Orc (with Battle Axe) will live. Of course, I predict a gauntlet of Orcs trying to seize us throughout (they're bigger than Goblins and can overpower us!)
- I appreciate the lore drop of Elves being defeated, and imagine that guests who normally don't care about bratty kids or scream queens getting killed may feel a stronger emotional attachment to the elves. When I heard that, I instantly realized that this is as close to a "Lord of the Rings" version of the infamous Universal houses like Maximum Carnage and The Fallen as we will ever get. I love it when Universal takes their success in making us believe that fantasy worlds are real and turn it against us, though it makes my stomach churn when the good guys lose. Hopefully WB sees the execution of finishes and creature effects in this house and considers it a sort of "test run" for future LotR projects.
- I'm interested in the Trolls and Giants, but especially the Giants.
- The Great King, Hobgoblin Royalty, and the Royal Table feel like a finale set piece. I'm picturing "Brave" or "How To Train Your Dragon" in throne room execution.
- It's gonna smell like yeast in there.
- Gnick is a silly name for a bartender goblin.
- I hope Doag's Father is realized in the house. The picture of a snot-riddled, hunchbacked, big-gutted Goblin is giving Hitchiker's Guide To The Galaxy.
- I wonder how badly this house will skewer "patriotic holidays". There's a version of this that's very funny and campy, and another that recalls real-world politics and can make one's skin crawl. "The Great Snuffing" is an excellent spooky name for a holiday, and feels like a perversion of Dia De Los Muertos.
- We will definitely be seeing Doag and her big mallet somewhere in the house.
- ...and we will certainly be spit upon by an Orc.
- The Burial Forest feels to be the creepiest part of the house, and I can already picture the strange skeletons of the creatures lodged into the trees.
- I wonder if we will see a live microphone for the Hobgoblin Messenger. Hopefully there will be a very large and frightening pig puppet for him to ride.

- FINAL PREDICTION: Guessing that the facade will be the tavern? General logic seems to indicate that this would be the finale, but I think we'll see feasts bookend the house. The flow seems to me that we'll move from the tavern and bar (like Darkest Deal) to the kitchens with Basilwretch (like The Fallen), escaping out the back of the kitchen and traveling through the countryside with the mill (Like Lightning Gulch) and through the Burial Forest while being chased back into farmyards and holding pens with caged Elves inside (like AHS), before being "dragged" into the Great King Pusnubus's Castle.

I really, really do not think this is going to be as lighthearted as people think it is, and imagine it will take a similar tactic as Scary Tales. I didn't find that house particularly "funny" as much as it was creative. I thought it took itself very seriously, actually.

 

[SeventyOne]

No one is talking about this one??? I dug the hell out of it,

Spoiler

Nice variety of nasty goblins and trolls. Doesn't necessarily tell a linear story, but still lots of good storytelling in that old school Disney Pirates of the Caribbean/Haunted Mansion way. Far from a comedy house, but some organic humor nonetheless. And some effective scares.

Only thing that didn't work for me is the screenz-based giant. But ... the animatronic here is a better figure than the much hyped ones in Monstruous and better used as a distraction rather than the full focus of the scene, I'm sure some of the sets were recycled from Wicked Growth but they felt fresh here.

I've yet to do Sweets, but pretty easily my favorite original house this year. A really creative house here.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Shockingly low amount of discussion on this.

3rd on my list right now - I dug this so hard. The atmosphere of an Irish pub with Goblins and bloody corpses scattered around really hit me right for some reason.

 

[sjago13]

I am not sure what it is but this house just isn't working for me. I think it's in this limbo for not being either funny/gorey/scary enough and just kinds comes off goofy for me. Sets are beautiful but I am not sure if I have just been super unlucky with timing cause I see so many spots where I think a scare should be that has been dormant every time I've gone through. Sweets to me goes for absurdity and gore and it works for me and this just comes off as Irish goblins which just makes me think it would have worked better as a leprechaun house.

 

[Rhian]

I liked this house conceptually. More dialog referring to humans as food or calling out random guests (something like "This one looks delicious!") in addition to the jump scares would've made a difference. I know there's at least one line in the beginning that makes a reference but I don't think it comes up again throughout the house but I could've missed them.

The sets themselves were great except the giant ogre on the screen. That didn't work for me and I completely missed it the first couple of times going through.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

I liked this house conceptually. More dialog referring to humans as food or calling out random guests (something like "This one looks delicious!") in addition to the jump scares would've made a difference. I know there's at least one line in the beginning that makes a reference but I don't think it comes up again throughout the house but I could've missed them.

The sets themselves were great except the giant ogre on the screen. That didn't work for me and I completely missed it the first couple of times going through.

As we were leaving the final room I heard "the food is escaping!!!!"

Made me chuckle lol

 

[Midnight Detective]

This is one of the best houses as far as setting, design and goblins that I've ever seen. Unfortunately not very scary but I'd take one of these a year just to let creative flex