My Employee Preview Revue
DISCLAIMER: The contents in this review are solely MY opinion, and will merely state as that. If you do not like my opinions on certain houses/Scarezones, then you might as well stop reading on. There are also potential spoilers in this review, so be wary when reading this.
Rating System
My rating system is going upon the total amount of houses/scarezones are in this year’s event, and my rating towards them.
So, last night I had the pleasure of attending the HHN XX: 20 Years of Fear Team Member Preview, or ‘Advance Screaming’ as they like to call it. Let me just say, that I felt that the event was truly better than the past 2 years combined. The houses seemed more intense than last year and the Scarezones, although some lacking in scares, had great amounts of detail. So, with that brief introduction, let’s get things rolling, shall we?
HAUNTED HOUSES
Catacombs: Black Death Rising - While waiting in line, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “This house could be scary, could not be scary. What is it going to be like?” Well, it turns out that this house was definitely a scary haunted house to me. The scares were really there and the really enclosed passageways really made you feel like you were in a cave with morbid doctors trying to kill you. The details were awesome, and I think this is the better house in the tents this year. My Rating: 7 out of 8 skulls.
Havoc: Dogs of War – I think this is one of the worst houses the sprung tents have ever housed, to be perfectly honest. While the details were good and the scareactors doing a great job, the scare factor just wasn’t there for me, to be honest. I think I made it out of that house without even jumping once. In my opinion, the theme of a military-based haunted house is just not that appealing to me and the only exception to that statement is The Thing: Assimilation. I am hoping that this house will improve as the event progresses. My Rating: 5 out of 8 skulls.
Horror Nights: The Hallow’d Past – This house left me speechless to no end upon exiting from the house. The detail Art and Design put into this house was phenomenal. While it is true that the scareactors really didn’t come into play until the middle part of the house and that the house really focused on events post-2005, the theme of the house is what drives this to being a fan favorite. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how the scareactors improve in this house. My Rating: 8 out of 8 skulls.
Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate – As an avid member of Legendary Truth: THE COLLECTIVE, I was pumped up to be experiencing the very first Legendary Truth haunted house. The theme of the house intrigued me as I have never seen a paranormal-based haunt at HHN in the years I have been attending. The technology in the house was out of this world, but I feel that I kept missing the best of it. That isn’t nothing that several more runs will not accomplish for me. The house was one of the best I had been through and truly a unique concept. My Rating: 8 out of 8 skulls.
Hades: The Gates of Ruin – Let me start off by saying I am an avid fan of ancient Greece and Greek mythology. When I entered the soundstage and saw the façade, I absolutely fell in love with this house. The costuming, scares, and details were beyond amazing, and I felt that the scareactors were doing a phenomenal job. The unfortunate character that was missing from the house was Hades, and I sure do hope that they find him soon. I can see this being a runner up for House of the Year at the end of the run. My Rating: 8 out of 8 skulls.
ZombieGeddon – I was pleasantly surprised by how scary this house was. The Disaster! queue and the JAWS queue are notorious for having “bomb” houses each HHN. ZombieGeddon is by far not a sleeper hit. The details were amazing, as well as the theme of the house. Hey, you have to admit that it’d be tough to survive a zombie Armageddon. I entered the line with the assumption that this would be a comedy house, and it turns out I was wrong. My Rating: 7 out of 8 skulls.
The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes – Ok, so this is the second haunted house this year that I have to be kind of sour about. While it was great seeing Cindy in her own haunted house this year, the storyline and details could have been significantly better than what they are now. If they had stuck to keeping Cindy with the Caretaker, this house would have been a huge hit. But unfortunately, I don’t see how a house about a bunch of little kids burning down their orphanage can be a really good house. Maybe it will grow on me during the event, but as of last night, it really didn’t impress me at all. Oh, and only like, what, 10 seconds of the fire in a house? REALLY? My Rating: 4 out of 8 skulls.
SCAREZONES
20 Years of Fear – This scarezone, along with Fear Revealed, proved to me to be the better of the scarezones at this year’s event. It was great seeing all of the characters from years’ past, including Mary Shaw and the Red Queen from Asylum in Wonderland again, but the best part of the scarezone was they had the CRYPT KEEPER. My Rating: 6 out of 6 skulls.
Fear Revealed – Seeing the icons of years past really brought back a lot of memories, and a first photograph with Jack for me! It was awesome seeing Eddie in the scarezone, but I wish they had put someone in that role with black hair. The blond hair just doesn’t really cut it. Chance was looking awesome as was Cindy. Fear is a badass. Let me just say that now. My Rating: 6 out of 6 skulls.
Esqueleto Muerte – There really isn’t much to say about this lackluster scarezone. The area looked GREAT at night, but the scares weren’t all that abundant. The scareactors in this area looked rather bored and uninterested with scaring anyone. My Rating: 2 out of 6 skulls.
Zombie Gras – This was the first year in a while we have seen Creative link a house and a scarezone together, and while the concept was amazing, the actual scary part of this zone was not…well, scary? Not once did I jump during the scarezone after 2 times of walking through it, but the thought of a Zombie Mardi Gras just doesn’t really seem to be scary to me. Sorry to anyone in this scarezone, but the following rating really reflects on how they are doing. My Rating: 0 out of 6 skulls.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Unfortunately, I missed out on seeing Saws and Steam, The Coven, Brian Brushwood: Menace and Malice, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure¸ and PsychoScareapy: The Echoes of Shadybrook due to time constraints. I am, however, returning to the event on Friday evening to check out these remaining attractions before I can say I am a HHN 20 veteran. From what I have seen last night, this year’s event is amazing, and I cannot wait to see where it goes from here.