Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[Rikku]

Attended last six nights of the event. I will always have fun at the event and love it and truly think it is the best overall packaged haunt event. As a collective my partner and I thought it was some of the most beautiful houses we have seen but also one of the less scary years ever or like other users have said lacked some energy or that special mojo that has made other years standout. However what worked well this year REALLY worked, the house ops in my experience was the nicest they have ever been and never rushed me, Express for me was the most efficient it has ever been except for rush hours during Halloween night and overall I had a blast every night. Side note I thought Sweetz was unbearably loud, just me? I'm used to the event being dialed to a 10 but Sweetz felt painful.

Any who....

1. Universal Monsters: Legends Collide - This was the one exception for the scare factor, every time we visited the cast was super aggressive and really went for it unlike any house I had ever seen here before. On Halloween our last run I was trying to soak up all the details one last time and a Mummy got me so good I literally threw myself against a wall because I was so blind sighted by the scare even after walking this house 3 times earlier that evening. Both me and my partner got got by the Dracula mirror scare on two separate runs. The "collide" scene were all three monsters attack you was fire. Also it was just extremely well themed, incredible sets the opening dig site and Anubis statue! I mean come on... this is where all the HHN magic happened for me this year and I think it is in my top 3 of all time and I have been attending since 18. I just haven't been gotten like I have here in I can't remember in years at HHN if ever, I hope the cast and team of this house get all the recognition they deserve. GOAT

The rest of the houses, except for Hellblock, have beautiful aesthetics but overall kinda missed out on something to give it the magic of HHN excellence. Not to say I didn't have fun or some good runs and scares. I mean basically I would look forward to going to them but it was missing anything that I would say I would remember down the road and didn't give me that "I can't miss out on this" energy. Years prior I was always counting how many runs I could do of each house but with the exception of Monsters on Halloween, every other night I did each house only once per night and would even skip out on my bottom three regularly. It missed that edge, but despite all of it I am still a huge HHN fan and can't wait for 32 and see what they do.

2. Halloween
3. Dead Man's Pier
4. Descendants of Destruction
5/6. Fiesta De Chupacabra/ Bugs: Eaten Alive
7. The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare
8. The Horrors of Blumhouse
9. Spirits of the Coven
10. Hellblock Horror

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Attended last six nights of the event. I will always have fun at the event and love it and truly think it is the best overall packaged haunt event. As a collective my partner and I thought it was some of the most beautiful houses we have seen but also one of the less scary years ever or like other users have said lacked some energy or that special mojo that has made other years standout. However what worked well this year REALLY worked, the house ops in my experience was the nicest they have ever been and never rushed me, Express for me was the most efficient it has ever been except for rush hours during Halloween night and overall I had a blast every night. Side note I thought Sweetz was unbearably loud, just me? I'm used to the event being dialed to a 10 but Sweetz felt painful.

Any who....

1. Universal Monsters: Legends Collide - This was the one exception for the scare factor, every time we visited the cast was super aggressive and really went for it unlike any house I had ever seen here before. On Halloween our last run I was trying to soak up all the details one last time and a Mummy got me so good I literally threw myself against a wall because I was so blind sighted by the scare even after walking this house 3 times earlier that evening. Both me and my partner got got by the Dracula mirror scare on two separate runs. The "collide" scene were all three monsters attack you was fire. Also it was just extremely well themed, incredible sets the opening dig site and Anubis statue! I mean come on... this is where all the HHN magic happened for me this year and I think it is in my top 3 of all time and I have been attending since 18. I just haven't been gotten like I have here in I can't remember in years at HHN if ever, I hope the cast and team of this house get all the recognition they deserve. GOAT

The rest of the houses, except for Hellblock, have beautiful aesthetics but overall kinda missed out on something to give it the magic of HHN excellence. Not to say I didn't have fun or some good runs and scares. I mean basically I would look forward to going to them but it was missing anything that I would say I would remember down the road and didn't give me that "I can't miss out on this" energy. Years prior I was always counting how many runs I could do of each house but with the exception of Monsters on Halloween, every other night I did each house only once per night and would even skip out on my bottom three regularly. It missed that edge, but despite all of it I am still a huge HHN fan and can't wait for 32 and see what they do.

2. Halloween
3. Dead Man's Pier
4. Descendants of Destruction
5/6. Fiesta De Chupacabra/ Bugs: Eaten Alive
7. The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare
8. The Horrors of Blumhouse
9. Spirits of the Coven
10. Hellblock Horror

The screaming audio in Sweet Revenge always blew my ears out lmao. That zone was ridiculously loud.

 

[Rikku]

The screaming audio in Sweet Revenge always blew my ears out lmao. That zone was ridiculously loud.

Glad it wasn't just us. It felt way over the top this year haha

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Glad it wasn't just us. It felt way over the top this year haha

Even though Sweet Revenge had that problem, it was still my favorite zone this year

 

[Legacy]

I have no idea what company builds which houses or if it is just one company that builds all of them but for some reason the stylings of Coven reminded me of Tooth Fairy. Was it the same people that built both houses or different people?

The companies that build the houses are just creating what they’re told to create. There may be some minute differences in how specific companies apply textures or carve statues but there is very little flexibility for them to apply personal flair. They’re paid to bring what is designed by the artists to life. Any stylistic similarities is more likely due to the same artist design houses.

That said, there are two-three firms that actually construct the houses, depending on the year.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Random thoughts, ( I guess I like to compare things to movies in general, so here we go: )


Dead Man’s Pier:
-The entire time I did this house I was strongly reminded of I know What You did Last summer, no one might make that connection but that's what they all reminded me of. It felt like I was inside that movie.
- the sets reminded me a lot of the Friday the 13th house from 2007. Or the Jaws queue.
-But, I realized that I personally enjoy it more when every room in a house feels different,
with Pier, ever room felt repetitive. As great as it was, some rooms felt identical to each other. (The village at the entrance was beautiful, the rest felt like the same boat dock from Jaws over and over..)
The violin player was great, incredible. Loved her. I Loved the last part of the house. Going down in the ship at the end was awesome.

Bugs:
-Felt like a ride from Epcot. Some parts literally felt like it belonged in Epcot lol. I kind of disliked it on first visit, ( because I missed every single big bug) but now i like it more. It was fun and creative when I understood the story.
-I kind of hate when houses are full of "victims", and I wish it had more actors in big suits or more giant bugs. The little plastic bugs did nothing for me, the bugs in the screens were cool but not scary. I preferred if it had more puppets.
The sets were cool, the story was pretty cool. The big mosquito was amazing. All the big bugs looked incredible.

Chupacabra
-The sets were excellent. Very realistic looking. It really felt like a real town. The entrance was very incredible
-A huge amount of details and colors, each room had something cool(the complete opposite of Pier in how colorful and different each part of the house felt. )
-It had a lot of tiny details in the decorations and stuff written in the walls that were pretty cool for Latinos. I really loved the little details. I felt a lot of appreciation in all the little details.
-The masks kind of felt like tribal tiki masks. (Reminded me of CRASH BANDICOOT)
- the chupacabra creature itself, I learned to like it but it was cute instead of scary. I wish it had more puppets. I wish we fully saw him from the beginning, I wanted many more appearances of chupacabra. There was very little of him. I know they had shadows and stuff, but he was barely in it.

Blumhouse
-I kinda liked it on first visits but now it's my least favorite now. I kinda hate it. A LOT of black walls, scenes from Freaky did not translate well at all. The freaky part was a big missed opportunity. ( So many black walls....) The killer's mask was not that cool in person. The Freaky girls took too long to set up in their scenes. The sets weren't great

-black Phone was better, and the grabber was really cool, but it felt like happy Death Day (the same sets repeated) they didn't even do everything they could have from the movie. A lot of missed opportunities. They could have used the ghosts more.
The entire house is a blur of dark walls.

Coven
- very very long. Super long ( which could have been a good thing ) this house reminded me of some Marilyn Manson music videos ( from his Golden Age of Grotesque era) a lot of this house felt like a music video. The lights, the dancing witches, the bar, in a way, I loved this house more than Blumhouse because of it.
The first half was cooler and nicer looking and the second half was scarier. It did not feel like it was related to witches, besides for the end, and the witch masks. It barely felt related to witches or magic. Huge missed opportunities on magic effects. It needed more witchcraft.

Halloween,
As a horror fan I was happy to see him, and as a horror fan I am very angry that we see him so many times instead of Freddy or Jason or Ghost face. Michael is a horror icon but I'm tired. I'm tired of his movies.
-The original house felt longer and had more scenes. Original house was better. It was set up in a better way. The tent back then had more stuff.
I think I preferred all the other Halloween houses instead of this one. I honestly preferred all previous Halloween houses.

Hellblock
I'm the only person on Earth that really loved this house. I Always had a great time. It felt kind of incredible to me. I really loved the concept and I really loved the actors in here.
This was another house that felt like a movie house, felt like Men in Black combined with guardians of the Galaxy. I really loved the writings on the wall. I loved the masks, I loved the energy.
Sets felt like the RUN house from 2006. A Blast from the past. I truly loved you hellblock horror. I truly loved you lol.

Monsters
Loved everything. Loved the sets, loved the actors. Loved the wolfman. It had the best quality of the entire event. Best sets. Best costumes. Best scares. Wonderful design. Everything felt real.
Like a real museum or something. Most realistic house.

Descendants
Everyone says that this had reused sets and costumes from older years but I really don't remember. I can't really point out what was reused.
Very incredible use of space. Amazing energy. Every single run was good. Very strong casts. I loved this house. Very effective.
Those subway cars were huge. ( Maybe the ending wasn't the best, but the actors were all great) I loved every actor in here. Very strong casts.

Weekend
A big party of a house. Excellent translation from video to house. I really loved every room in here.everyone was having fun, the cast, the guests, there was fun to be had in the queue.

It wasn't necessarily scary. But it was high energy and very colorful. A lot of crazy lights and stuff. The most fun I have ever had in a hhn house. The actors were really into their roles.
I hope Weeknd returns
Very creative rooms, excellent size, I love how different each room was. Each room felt very big ( complete opposite to blumhouse)
Weekend and chupacabra were both big, colorful and vibrant. Both had big rooms, a lot of space.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Attended last six nights of the event. I will always have fun at the event and love it and truly think it is the best overall packaged haunt event. As a collective my partner and I thought it was some of the most beautiful houses we have seen but also one of the less scary years ever or like other users have said lacked some energy or that special mojo that has made other years standout. However what worked well this year REALLY worked, the house ops in my experience was the nicest they have ever been and never rushed me, Express for me was the most efficient it has ever been except for rush hours during Halloween night and overall I had a blast every night. Side note I thought Sweetz was unbearably loud, just me? I'm used to the event being dialed to a 10 but Sweetz felt painful.

Any who....

1. Universal Monsters: Legends Collide - This was the one exception for the scare factor, every time we visited the cast was super aggressive and really went for it unlike any house I had ever seen here before. On Halloween our last run I was trying to soak up all the details one last time and a Mummy got me so good I literally threw myself against a wall because I was so blind sighted by the scare even after walking this house 3 times earlier that evening. Both me and my partner got got by the Dracula mirror scare on two separate runs. The "collide" scene were all three monsters attack you was fire. Also it was just extremely well themed, incredible sets the opening dig site and Anubis statue! I mean come on... this is where all the HHN magic happened for me this year and I think it is in my top 3 of all time and I have been attending since 18. I just haven't been gotten like I have here in I can't remember in years at HHN if ever, I hope the cast and team of this house get all the recognition they deserve. GOAT

The rest of the houses, except for Hellblock, have beautiful aesthetics but overall kinda missed out on something to give it the magic of HHN excellence. Not to say I didn't have fun or some good runs and scares. I mean basically I would look forward to going to them but it was missing anything that I would say I would remember down the road and didn't give me that "I can't miss out on this" energy. Years prior I was always counting how many runs I could do of each house but with the exception of Monsters on Halloween, every other night I did each house only once per night and would even skip out on my bottom three regularly. It missed that edge, but despite all of it I am still a huge HHN fan and can't wait for 32 and see what they do.

2. Halloween
3. Dead Man's Pier
4. Descendants of Destruction
5/6. Fiesta De Chupacabra/ Bugs: Eaten Alive
7. The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare
8. The Horrors of Blumhouse
9. Spirits of the Coven
10. Hellblock Horror

The screaming audio in Sweet Revenge always blew my ears out lmao. That zone was ridiculously loud.

I Hate that scream used in sweet revenge lol.
Haaate it.
The zone was fun but the music and screams got annoying.

Zones for me were
1. Scarecrow ( very high quality. Amazing sets and scenery)
2. Conjure the dark. Excellent music. Excellent costumes. Great use of space. Great stage
3. Graveyard. Actually scary. Very nice
4. Sweet revenge. Kinda annoying sound wise lol
5. Horrors of Halloween, felt empty.
Needed stages with dancers like last year.

 

[Darko]

I truly did enjoy this year, but after attending Howl-O-Scream Orlando again this year, can’t help but find myself much preferring it to HHN.

HHN is unfortunately a victim of its own success. With increasing popularity comes a decrease in fun for me. The scare zones in particular are severely affected. The scare zones at HOS were so much better it’s like not even close. Yes they were better this year than they have been in awhile. But the crowds keep doing the zones a major disservice.

The houses were solid but again, much preferred the experience at HOS. Obviously the sets and effects are much better at HHN, but HHN has a massively larger budget than HOS. The fact HOS looks as good as it does is impressive honestly on such a shoestring budget.

But I again, I do enjoy the way houses look and everything. But HHN has (as Sheikra has pointed out before) become more of an experience than a true haunt in many ways. Literally nothing got me at HHN quite like many of the scares at HOS.

I’ll certainly continue to go to HHN as I love seeing what effects or sets or whatever that they bring to the table. It’s just that it’s become something a bit too automated. Flashing lights, loud sound, scare actor pops out and goes back in over and over (not to mention canned audio and dialogue now). Again most of these are necessary evils thanks to the crowds and needing to pump people through.

Just sometimes feels like the heart of the event is not quite right. I don’t wanna say gone, there’s clearly still love and passion put into it, but the needs of corporate and such is becoming a bit too obvious now. Whereas HOS has tons of soul, heart, and spirit, HHN feels like it’s fighting for its heart and soul.

Either way, HHN means a lot to me. It’s so much fun speculating with you goofballs every year about the next year’s event. I just hope it finds its heart and soul again. It’s there, certainly pieces of it were there this year. But I can’t help but feel the corporate side is showing a bit too much.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

I truly did enjoy this year, but after attending Howl-O-Scream Orlando again this year, can’t help but find myself much preferring it to HHN.

HHN is unfortunately a victim of its own success. With increasing popularity comes a decrease in fun for me. The scare zones in particular are severely affected. The scare zones at HOS were so much better it’s like not even close. Yes they were better this year than they have been in awhile. But the crowds keep doing the zones a major disservice.

The houses were solid but again, much preferred the experience at HOS. Obviously the sets and effects are much better at HHN, but HHN has a massively larger budget than HOS. The fact HOS looks as good as it does is impressive honestly on such a shoestring budget.

But I again, I do enjoy the way houses look and everything. But HHN has (as Sheikra has pointed out before) become more of an experience than a true haunt in many ways. Literally nothing got me at HHN quite like many of the scares at HOS.

I’ll certainly continue to go to HHN as I love seeing what effects or sets or whatever that they bring to the table. It’s just that it’s become something a bit too automated. Flashing lights, loud sound, scare actor pops out and goes back in over and over (not to mention canned audio and dialogue now). Again most of these are necessary evils thanks to the crowds and needing to pump people through.

Just sometimes feels like the heart of the event is not quite right. I don’t wanna say gone, there’s clearly still love and passion put into it, but the needs of corporate and such is becoming a bit too obvious now. Whereas HOS has tons of soul, heart, and spirit, HHN feels like it’s fighting for its heart and soul.

Either way, HHN means a lot to me. It’s so much fun speculating with you goofballs every year about the next year’s event. I just hope it finds its heart and soul again. It’s there, certainly pieces of it were there this year. But I can’t help but feel the corporate side is showing a bit too much.

HHN means a lot to me as well. In my honest opinion, nothing beats it, but yes, the crowds suck. I think it's time to bump the house count to 11 or possibly even 12. They have enough facilities to accommodate that many houses. Could open more attractions as well like The Simpsons or if they dare, Minion Mayhem. A third show could be put in the Bourne theater, but I feel like that would cause crowding issues.

Even though I've been going for years, there are still things that'll get a jump out of me. I think the actors need just a little bit more breathing room in the houses to let their talent shine, cause popping in and out of a tiny boo-hole might not allow for it. I expect them to get up close and personal with me, but it seems that either they're not allowed to do so or just physically can't. Going through the houses alone makes them A LOT scarier to me. I figured that out this year lol. The houses should have trigger scares, but I don't think every scare should have an audio trigger.

EDIT: The audio triggers, I believe, also play a role in not letting their talent shine.

 

[SeventyOne]

HHN means a lot to me as well. In my honest opinion, nothing beats it, but yes, the crowds suck. I think it's time to bump the house count to 11 or possibly even 12.

While I'm not opposed in theory to more houses/shows (tho that runs a risk of spreading staffing too thin), the simple fact is it's not just entertainment--HHN can't park the cars and feed the guests they get now.

Every negative review this year seems to boil down to two complaints:

• Too crowded
• Actors have become "organic audio-animatronics," to borrow Seth K's phrase

The latter is a design issue I'm not sure how to fix effectively. But the former comes down to two things -- much lower caps on attendance, or much higher prices. One solution costs Universal money, one makes Universal money.

 

[Darko]

While I'm not opposed in theory to more houses/shows (tho that runs a risk of spreading staffing too thin), the simple fact is it's not just entertainment--HHN can't park the cars and feed the guests they get now.

Every negative review this year seems to boil down to two complaints:

• Too crowded
• Actors have become "organic audio-animatronics," to borrow Seth K's phrase

The latter is a design issue I'm not sure how to fix effectively. But the former comes down to two things -- much lower caps on attendance, or much higher prices. One solution costs Universal money, one makes Universal money.

Yep, HHN has essentially become a series of temporary dark rides. Tribute store Theme this year makes so much more sense now. O:

 

[Brian G.]

Just stepping in to remind this is for Reviews only. Please carry the discussion over to the HHN 31 News and Info thread.

 

[HHN Maddux]

My final HHN 31 review!

To start things off, let me just say that in my 7 years of attending, this is the best house line-up I've seen. Not a single house was bad (though there were some that were definitely weaker), and at long last, all of the scare zones were great! The main negative this year, as many have pointed out, have been the insane crowds and the BRUTAL new queue entrances. As many others have said, I hope this leads to 11 houses next year and a 3rd show, hopefully a comedic one like Bill & Ted.

Enough of that though, let's get to the rankings!

Houses
(NOTE: This is the hardest year I've had for house rankings, with the exception of my #10)

1. Descendants of Destruction - When the third speculation map dropped and listed Seeds of Extinction 2, I might've been the happiest HHN fan that day. SoX is one of my all-time favorite houses, and I was so excited to see it brought back, even if it was just a spiritual successor as some were suggesting. This house is fantastic, from the story, to the dark and cryptic sets, to the intensity and well-placed scares, it had it all! As time went on, I grew a very personal connection to this house, and it skyrocketed to becoming my new all-time favorite house. On the final night, my final run of Descendants of Destruction was run #100, so that was a very nice note to end it on. Loved this house and miss it every day.
   
   
2. Monsters: Legends Collide - Being honest, this isn't even #2, this is tied with DoD for my #1. What an amazing house, dare I say it, a perfect house. So much in-your-face scares, great smells and sets, awesome story, and lots of repeatability. That triple scare will go down in the history books as one of the best scares in any house ever, holy crap. Will forever be sad though that Dracula won on the final night instead of Wolfy.
   
   
3. Bugs: Eaten Alive - At the beginning, this was my #10. To me it was such a massive disappointment, especially after all the hype and build-up the creatives were doing for it, describing it as one of the most terrifying houses ever, the creature designs, and how not many people would be able to finish it... Then on opening night, I walk in and it was less terrifying and more campy, almost no actual bug scares and more regular humans with some buggy makeup, and I came out of there with a huge sigh. But as time went on, much thanks to influence from friends, the house started growing on me, began crawling up my list (pun intended). By the end of the run, I was having a blast every time I went through this house, and I noticed an uptick in the intensity about half-way through the event. Hoping to see a sequel in the form of a scare zone in NY!
   
   
4. The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare - I think I'm not alone when I say I went into this house not expecting much, but man was I surprised. Thematically, this is potentially the GOAT, with the way each scene masterfully blends the song with whatever dark reflection/subject it's covering. Add in the fact that there were surprisingly a good amount of scares (Frog Man and that final room particularly stand out), and you have a great house! Hoping to see Dawn FM next year, or just another good musician house.
   
   
5. Spirits of the Coven - COME AT ME! I loved this house. This house managed to capture something that I don't think any other house I've gone through has done: Make me feel genuinely uneasy. When the vibe goes from this happy, roaring 20's music to just... silence as you pass by pig corpses and see blood flowing out of the brews. I really felt like I had to get out of there fast, elsewise I'd be joining those that came before me.
   
   
6. Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake - Opening weeknd, this was my #1. As the season went on though, it began slipping (pun intended) down the rankings. Set-wise, this is undoubtedly GOAT in my opinion, and I think many can agree to that. Where the house starts to go down though is in the scare department, as besides a small handful, the scares in here just didn't hit that hard. Add in there not being much movement from the scareactors themselves (which I think was likely because of the costumes), and you have a slight problem. Still a great house though.
   
   
7. Fiesta de Chupacabras - Right off the bat, this house has one major pro and con in my eyes. The pro being that set-wise, this is another amazing house, and there's a very good dose of smell usage. The major con though is... why is there almost no actual Chupacabra? I was so excited for this to be a Chupacabra version of AWiL (a house I never got to experience properly), only for there to be few actual Chupa scares, and just like Bugs, there being much more human scares. Now, if this was a Day of the Dead house, this would probably be in my top 3, but as a Chupa house? It goes down the list. Not to say I disliked it, there were still some good scares in here, but I wish we had more Chupa.
   
   
8. Hellblock Horror - HELLBLOCK SWEEP! We all know what happened here, what with Evil Dead Rise getting delayed, but I still kinda loved this house. The concept is brilliant (and I think can maybe turn Hellblock into a new house franchise that especially fits for anniversary years), and the energy from the cast made this house. Also helps that I'm a huge SCP fan, and this is probably the closest we'll ever get to SCP: CB house.
   
   
9. The Horrors of Blumhouse - I'm being fair and ranking this as one house. If I was ranking both sections individually, Black Phone would be my #3, and Freaky would be #11. It baffles me how much they flunked the Freaky section, with lots of scenes you think would be obvious to put in missing (golf course???), plus this section being rather short, and a lack of solid scares (besides those Butchers at the beginning, who were killing it every night). Now, there's the Black Phone section, which single-handedly carries this house with its surprising intensity and great usage of the tent and Grabbers.
   
   
10. Halloween - Oh, Michael... I love ya, the Halloween franchise is one of my favorite horror franchises... but man how far you've fallen from your 2014 and 2016 houses. I only had one good run of this house, and that was on the last night. Every other time, there was just a lack of good scares and intensity from the Michaels. Please, let's not do another Halloween house for a good long while.

Scare Zones

1. Graveyard: Deadly Unrest - What a beautiful and atmospheric zone. From the scareactors, the story they all tell through their makeup and interactions, to Death and Sleep being extremely metal, this was a fantastic zone. Would love to return to Nettlewood some day.
   
   
2. Sweet Revenge - This is essentially tied with Graveyard for #1. A very fun and interactive zone! Now, I may be slightly biased as one of my friends was a scareactor in here, but I loved to just hang out in this zone and interact with the scareactors. Hoping to see Major Sweets return next year as a potential Icon with his own house!
   
   
3. Scarecrow: Cursed Soil - Another fun and creepy zone. The scarecrow designs in here were fantastic (particularly the pig and raven), and of course, who can forget Corn? First time since Trick 'r Treat that I liked the Central Park zone, and hope for this to continue in the future!
   
   
4. Conjure the Dark - It's medieval, so that's an automatic yes. Also, the incantation that starts Halloween and the birth of the Pumpkin Lord?! Double yes!
   
   
5. Horrors of Halloween - It may be at the bottom, but it's still a good, fun zone. I just wish the Pumpkin Lord have a live mic, could've made his interactions much more fun.

Shows
Halloween Nightmare Fuel: Wildfire - Loved it even more than last year's show, and hope to see these guys and gals return again next year!

Ghoulish: A Halloween Tale (RIP) - Hands-down the best lagoon show they've done so far. Hopefully we see a contingency plan next year in case of a hurricane.


And that about covers it! A great year, and I'm excited to see what Halloween Horror Nights XXXII brings us.

1. 31
2. 28
3. 27
4. 29
5. 25
6. 26
7. 30

 

[Sir Austin]

This was my favorite year so far. I thought I would go ahead and share my house thoughts and rankings.

1. The Horrors of Blumhouse
WOW. What a standout house! I was worried about this one due to the previous installments, but it quite literally exceeded expectations at every turn. Freaky was very good and got me several times, the Butchers we're really putting effort in and the Millies were fun to interact with. I may be biased since the Black Phone is one of my favorite horror films, but not only was the Black Phone half perfect, it singlehandedly made Blumhouse the scariest house of the year. My god. Absolutely relentless and horrifying.

2. Bugs: Eaten Alive
This house was an absolutely great time! I loved the 50s vibe and the campiness of it all. Sandra/Barbara whatever you want to call her was a highlight of the house, and the bugs genuinely creeped me out.

3. Universal Monsters: Legends Collide
Absolutely relentless, just like Black Phone. Both casts absolutely understood the assignment and made it so great. The sets were extremely impressive as well! And the effects? A standout.

4. Spirits of the Coven
The backlash this house faced is absolutely absurd. There were a few spots that seemed empty, but it certainly was an extremely strong house. And the cast once again made it their own and made it great. It really was incredible to experience this one.

5. Fiesta De Chupacabras
WOW. These sets were amazing and I'll even say they surpassed Pier's sets in my opinion. The Chupacabras were a joy and the villagers/victim actors really added so much to the already amazing experience.

6. Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake
Absolutely beautiful sets, incredible costume design, and solid scares. Wonderful atmosphere as well. Only complaint is it felt...short. It's hard to explain.

7. Descendants of Destruction
This was another house that was genuinely scary. The sets were also so impressive for being in a sprung, it kind of reminded me of Wicked Growth in that sense. Loved the finale scene.

8. Halloween
I did enjoy how accurately this one captured the film, but I honestly enjoy IP houses more when they add some originality and don't extract everything directly from the film. Cast was on point though and got me several times, especially the mirror scare.

9. The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare
This house was fun, dark, and a little creepy. However, it didn't do as much for me as it did for others. I enjoyed listening to the music throughout the house, and my first run I was definitely scared several times.

10. Hellblock Horror
I truly did love every house this year, including this one. However, the others set the bar super high and this one just unfortunately did not exceed too many expectations. Enjoyed seeing familiar monsters though! Cast was also very good in this one.

Scare Zones this year were absolutely the best I've ever seen them. Very well established atmospheres.

1. Graveyard: Deadly Unrest
2. Sweet Revenge
3. Conjure the Dark
4. Scarecrow: Cursed Soil
5. Horrors of Halloween

Another absolutely wonderful year of Horror Nights.

 

[Brian G.]

Found a couple more photos: