Here's my short and sweet review with some added commentary. I will say overall I really enjoyed the event. I, like others, don't get to do this every year so I am not going in looking for something to criticize (why waste energy on that?) but am there to just have fun. Some on here just seemed to have a self-fulfilling prophecy thing going on since the rumors started.
Houses (in no particular ranking)
Gothic - Really cool house. The sets were amazing and I loved the "outside" portion of it. Did not get scared that much except from one gargoyle that seemed to come out of nowhere. 9/10
The Walking Dead - Love the show and I was able to pick out a lot of the "easter eggs" from it. The actor's were amazing in my walk-throughs. Not as scary as the other ones but still enjoyed it. 7/10
Dead End - The most terrifying house of the event IMO. Every single person in my group got at least 1 huge scare. The effects were awesome and the sound effects were equally so. So good. The best one. 10/10
Penn and Teller - Super fun and silly house. Also got in a few good scares as well. The 3-d wasn't used all that much though. What made it was Penn's commentary. 7/10
Alice Cooper - Love his music. The house was really well done and I caught most of the references. The music playing at the entrance got me super pumped for the house. 8/10
Silent Hill - Grew up playing the games and was my most anticipated house. It lived up to my expectations but did not really exceed them. The costumes were phenomenal. Got some really good scares in this one. 8/10
House of Horrors - Definitely the weakest of the bunch. Not terrible, but not great either. 6/10
Street Experiences - The only thing I liked about the dedicated scares zones were their sets. I never get really scared but was missing the set design of the zones. The actors still did a fantastic job of creeping a lot of people out. Even saw some genuine terror with some guests. I had one follow me for a good 50 feet and found myself trying to outpace him. Hope they bring back the zones just for the themeing. 6/10
Shows
Bill & Ted - Always enjoy this show. The only qualm I had about it was the abrupt ending. 8/10
20 Penny Circus - I love these old-timey gags and tricks. Had a really good time with this one. Also helps when the audience gets into it too, which they did. Also Penny is ridiculously hot. Holy smokes! 8/10
Lagoon Show - Saw the Alfred Hitchcock one, the Frankenstein/classic monster show and the tail end of the Chucky show. Very impressive. Well done with this Universal! Really wish I could have seen CineSpec in its original form. 10/10
Last thoughts - We went this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Have never been to a Thursday night HHN but have to figure that it is supposed to be less crowded than what it was. Saturday was even a bit more manageable. Thinking it's a mixture of front loading the park with the premiere houses, the lack of Jaws and the 8th house. Overall, while not as well done thematically, I still had an amazing time with my family. All of us enjoyed it and that's all you can really ask for in a once every few years vacation.