Re-Review of HHN30:
So like I mentioned a few weeks ago after my Opening Night trip I had a 2 week trip from 9/21 to 10/4 which I'm at the Airport right now as I type this.
Overall of the 5 Events I've done this year being HHN Orlando, HHN Hollywood, Knotts Scary Farm, Six Flags Fright Fest, and Howl O'Scream Orlando this was 100% the best one and really did blow me away in every aspect.
Atmosphere - The Atmosphere of this Event was fantastic. The Music playing Hard Metal/Rock throughout the park when not in a Zone was really great since I'm so accustomed to Figure/Dubstep playing at HHN Hollywood. Actually feels like I'm going into a HORROR Event in HHN Orlando which is great!
Food - I'm sure others will have tried more stuff than me but I'm focusing mainly on the Sawyer Gas Station Food which I thought was great. The Lamb was fantastic and I'm genuinely not a fan of Lamb. Liked the Ribs as well. Grandmaw's Skeleton Tray was fine. The Chicken was okay and the Sausage was lmao.
Shows -
Marathon of Mayhem Carnage Factory:
This was actually my most anticipated Show after seeing on Youtube how fantastic the 29 Lagoon Show was. And seeing it was awesome. But that's as far as I would go. Just awesome. Not amazing or fantastic but awesome.
Genuinely kinda wished there was a Solo Bride of Frankenstein Lives segment instead of a full on Monsters segment. Hill House was kinda fine. Texas was awesome and the rest was also awesome. It's a good show that I really enjoyed.
Halloween Nightmare Fuel:
If any of you follow me on Twitter (Shameless Plug:
@HHNManics) then you know I just saw this last night. And what did I think?
Incredible like absolutely stunning. Really impressive how they pulled some of those effects off. It felt extremely adult and mature which I enjoyed a lot. Congrats to everyone involved for an extremely well done show filled with talented people. Loved it.
Zones -
I'll go over this Quickly as I want to get to the Houses.
30 Years, 30 Fears was fine. Genuinely wished it was more than a Photo Op and actually had the Icons walking around but it was fine.
Gorewood Forest had great decor and a great atmosphere but lacked actors.
Crypt TV albeit a Photo Op zone was visually fantastic and felt very accurate to the shorts. Costumes were amazing.
Seek & Destroy genuinely grew on me. The Actors being on Ground Level and roaming aside from one other zone helps a lot. It's Goofy definitely but it was really fun to go through this Zone.
Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie's Revenge was no doubt my favorite. This Zone has a perfect mix of everything. Photo Op Stages, Roaming Ground Actors, Stilts, and Chainsaws. One of my favorite Scare Zones I've been through this year at any event.
Houses (From Least Favorite to Favorite) -
Welcome to SCarey Horror in the Heartland (21x): It's somewhat a testament to how strong the lineup is that I actually have this at the bottom. Genuinely loved this House. Getting to see a lot of Houses I've wanted to see like Dead End, H.R. Bloodengutz, and Leave it to Cleaver. It's very fun to go through and I really loved the Cheesiness of it all.
My only issue is the Ending and that I wish there was more a Commitment to the Town Theme. Like having a Sign at the end saying "You are now leaving Carey, Ohio!" or having the Radio Broadcaster throughout the House tell where you are going next would've been great.
Still loved this House though.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (17x):
This House initially I was not looking forward to but I did Opening Night and I loved it. Coming back and this House definitely got scarier like the Cast absolutely kills it in this House. So absolutely aggressive and mean.
I genuinely prefer this over Hollywood's Blood Brothers. Seeing Nubbins Corpse as a Scare Twice was amazing. And all of the little subtle touches in making it a Texas Chainsaw Sequel like the Boarded up Window before sitting room which is the Window Sally jumped out of.
Strangely I do prefer Hollywood's Texas Maze this year but this House is still strong. Smells awful too which made it very immersive. Only complaint was that I wish there was a Dinner Table Scene.
Beetlejuice (18x):
I know this House has been getting a lot of Hate but everytime I went through this thing it grew on me a bit more. I genuinely enjoy how much this commits to the tone of the Film in being fun. Yes it doesn't make a Great Haunted House experience but a great experience for fans. Don't think Hollywood would have been able to pull this off.
The Tone is perfect and feels exactly like Tim Burton's film. There are so many fun scenes in here with the Attic, Graveyard, Wedding. It's genuinely fun and funny to see Scenes play out.
Revenge of the Tooth Fairy (16x):
Another one that grew on me overtime but only after I did the Unmasking the Horror Tour. The Facade is so absolutely creative and the House is wonderful in it's storytelling. Unlike Hollywood's Bride which is another Maze that a Storybook Aspect this House sticks it's text up at the top of the scene or in the Middle for all guests to hear which they can also because the Audio Mixing is well done. It isn't like you can barely hear the Dialogue because Audio for everything else is too loud and the text for each scene is at the very bottom where guests won't look and is in a Black Hallway Transition each and every ttime.
Anyway this House was great and I slowly began to appreciate it over Knotts Version. It is more Campy and fun. The Tooth Fairies are great and the Black Wings are a nice touch. The Drill Scene and Finale were probably my Favorite Scenes of the House.
Universal Monsters The Bride of Frankenstein Lives! (18x):
Bride of Frankenstein is one of my all time Favorite films so I was genuinely excited to check this out. Blew me away in every way possible. The transition from Black and White to then the first resemblance of color being the Monsters Green Skin (Which was told to me on the Tour as intentional) was amazing. The Whole Opening is incredible as it genuinely feels like the Bride is mourning.
Seeing the Storytelling Unfold and the whole Trial and Error aspect of this House was so much better than just "The Bride fights Vampires!" like I can't stress enough that it works much better to her literally struggle and fail in the Blood Draining Scene instead of Hollywood's where everything just works out for her and she just coincidentally ran into the Brides of Dracula after escaping the Castle.
The Finale has tension and is incredible to watch. Seeing the last Scare be the 2 of them instead just the Bride killing another Bride of Dracula is so much better.
HHN Icons Captured (18x):
This one also grew on me overtime. And yes! I got to see all of the Icons on the throne. My favorite which isn't my favorite Icon was Lady Luck because of her playing Cards on the Stage which looked awesome.
Tons of incredible scenes in this House. The Director gets some of my favorite scares in this house and he is my favorite Icon as well. The Theater was huge and nostalgic as hell. Having the Jack in the Box light up that Jack was captured in right before his scene was a wonderful touch.
The Haunting of Hill House (21x):
Still believe this is my Favorite IP House of all time of the ones I've done from Hollywood from 2015 onward and this bring my first year for Orlando.
The Facade is possibly my Favorite of all time. The Set Design is absolutely gorgeous. It feels and looks exactly like like Show. They include every single ghost in here which was incredible.
The Dancing Nell Scene was incredible and very well done. Along with the Finale being the Fears of the Crain Children which was very well done and creative.
Puppet Theatre Captive Audience (26x):
Genuinely Creepy House. One of my runs I was alone for the first hallway and the guy with the 3 Masks popped out and I literally speed walked to catch up with a group ahead of me lmao.
The Set Design in here is wonderful as well. The Costumes is fantastic and genuinely creepy. The Theater Scene is huge and very active and the Puppet Hallway was also fantastic.
Case Files Unearthed Legendary Truth (27x):
This House was so much fun. The Storytelling is very cool and the Aesthetic is incredible. Most prevalent in the Outside of the Kitty Kat Club. Seeing actually locations for Orlando NY was incredible and very immersive.
The Costume Design is also incredible. The Finale is awesome and this House is so genuinely creative and fun.
The Wicked Growth Realm of the Pumpkin (28x):
Put a lot of thought into this and I think this is my Favorite House of all time. Aside from Origins the Curse of Calico I haven't felt this way about a House. I was genuinely sad when I went through it for the last time last night and I got an alone walkthrough.
Someone said that every scene could be a Finale and they're right it can. It captures the Spirit and Tone of Halloween down to a Tea. The Costume Design, Lighting, Actors, Set Design, just everything was perfect.
You can just tell the amount of Love that was poured into this House. I don't think there will be another House ever at any event that will have the same effect this one had on me.
Overall -
A phenomenal event in every sense. So much love poured into every aspect. I know it was my first year so I'm very over the Moon after having done HHN Hollywood 2015 and Knotts since 2013. It genuinely felt like an exciting event in every way to attend and talk about. I'm extremely excited for HHN31!
Here's some photos from my trip including a Photo of me and Eddie lmao.
