Inside Universal Forums

Welcome to the Inside Universal Forums! Register a free account today to become a member. Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members and unlock our forums features!

  • Signing up for a Premium Membership is a donation to help Inside Universal maintain costs and offers an ad-free experience on the forum. Learn more about it here.

HHN '18: Most Anticipated House

Which haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights - Hollywood are you most looking forward to this year

  • Trick 'r Treat

  • Poltergeist

  • Stranger Things

  • Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

  • The FIrst Purge

  • Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter 2

  • Universal Monsters


Results are only viewable after voting.
In descending order -
7. HOB2 - *sigh* I just hope this really surprises me, I have some of the lowest expectations for this maze and it's probably my least anticipated of all time. I have a feeling the section we're most excited about, with the logo scene, will literally just be one room as we're walking out, but hopefully I'm wrong. Truth or Dare is one of the worst movies I've ever seen and Unfriended I liked more than most, but out of any movie that's ever been said to "not have maze material," this takes the cake so it just makes me long for things like Scream even more. I think that's the thing about this maze... it almost feels like an insult to everything everyone ever wanted and never got.

6. The First Purge - Other than that down note above, everything else I'm fairly excited for. I'm glad we're getting our first maze based on the Purge, I want to see what they really can do with the idea in maze-form, once and for all. If the cast can be aggressive, than this can be a big winner.

5. Halloween 4 - It's weird putting this so low, but I think that shows how stacked this year is. Most people may be "disappointed" by the lineup, but if you have at least 5 awesome sounding mazes, then we're in for a treat. Halloween has a really good track record at HHN also, and I'm just hoping for another cool ending.

4. Stranger Things - If this wasn't in a soundstage, it'd be a little lower, but seeing how much effort (ahem, and money) into this, I'm excited at least from a design standpoint. I'm not sure if it'll even be scary but it should be one of the best mazes we've ever visually seen. Like walking into the actual show, which will blow a lot of fans' minds. I think the main key here is if they actually get the Demegorgon right, in movement and in look, especially the mouth.

3. Trick R Treat - It's about dang time! And they're doing double duty with a scarezone, looks like they really want to put a lot of cards into this. This is a Halloween staple for me and finally being able to live in it will be truly something special.

2. Poltergeist - Usually the classic house is my number 1, but something even moooore classic has taken it's spot. Considering how creepy this movie is, there's a lot of potential to do this right or fail hard. This was one of the first horror movies I ever saw as a little little kid and probably one of the main reasons I'm into horror. If anything, it'll be a nice ode to my childhood and nostalgia (which Stranger Things is playing off of for some older fans).

1. Universal Monsters - The REAL classic maze of the year! My hope is they don't go an anthology route with this and have the monsters mix just a tiny bit, otherwise it's just HoH all over again. I've missed HoH and this is one of our more creative and original mazes, so at the very least, it should be fun. If they can pull off hard hitting scares in here, that'll just be the bonus to take it to the top! Like TrT, it's getting a scarezone, so it looks like Murdy is truly giving the fans what they want this year. Obviously we're not getting the heavy hitters like Conjuring or It anymore, but other than that, I think we're getting some of the better IPs. HHN took a major blow by WB and this is their first year adjusting at the last second, so I'm sure next year they'll have stood right up and figured out their next move without their library. HOB is the only real miss on the lineup but even that has potential, so everything else sounds top notch!!!
 
1) Universal Monsters: This is clearly going to be Murdy’s passion project and swan song. There’s no way he’ll let this suck. Really excited to see a truly gothic maze at HHN, finally.

2) Stranger Things: Love the show. Also love it will be in a sound stage allowing for some big sets and awesome effects. Hopefully they maximize the venue.

3) Trick ‘r Treat: Anticipating this just for the beautiful set design.

4) Poltergeist: Movie is pretty good. I don’t think it holds up as well as people think, but I’m sure the effects will be really cool.

5: The First Purge: not excited at all to have Purge for like the sixth time, but hey, this might surprise us. This could be the sleeper hit.

6: Halloween: Yeah, I know, crazy to anticipate the Purge more than Halloween. Don’t ask me why, but I’m just kind of “eh” about it. At least with Purge, I have no idea what to expect. Here it’s just...Michael again...through a bunch of houses and a hospital. Maybe I should watch the movie.

7: Horrors of Bumhouse: That was not a typo. That should tell you what I think of this.

8: Walking Dead: Not counting this

9: Tram: Who cares?

I think this might be a pretty good year aside from Blumhouse.
 
People may think I’m a little crazy for my order of anticipation. But here it is.
  1. Universal Monsters: truly needs no explanation as to why it’s #1 but I will explain. I love the classic Monsters and John has said that this maze is he one he’s most excited for this year and there’s no way he’d to the classic Monsters wrong. The music sounds incredible and without even hearing anything yet from john im incredibly excited. When I first heard about Slash I was hesitant to believe it but then I went back to the god awful 2014 Clowns 3D maze and truly the best part of the maze to me was Slash’s music. He’s an incredibly diverse artist with almost as much love for the monsters as John. If that teaser trailer is any indication of what we can expect, I think the music will be incredible and this maze will be one of the greatest. Plus the featuring of the gauntlet entrance, the full Parisian courtyard maze, and then continuing the theme out into the Monster Masquerade scarezone makes the experience massive.
  2. Trick ‘r Treat: I love this movie. The last time Dougherty was featured at HHN they knocked it out of the park. John’s been wanting to do this maze for years and now finally with the chance to do it I think it’ll be incredible.
  3. Stranger Things: Of course I’m excited for this maze. It gets a soundstage so the effects can be pulled off to the full extent and the fact that John seems very passionate about this one as well makes me think it’ll go very well. I love the show and the fact that they’re focusing on just one season makes me even more excited cause they’re able to focus solely on that potential and make the best maze possible based off of season and tackle 2 at a later date.
  4. The First Purge: Yeah this is where it gets crazy. I didn’t love the movie, and I’m one of the people who are sick of the purge at the event. Truthfully, only the top 3 and #7 stick out to me as needing to be separated from the rest, be it in a good way or bad way. I thought the movie had great maze potential despite not being that great and I’m very interested to see how they pull off a full indoors Purge maze.
  5. Halloween 4: The past two times Halloween has been featured by the event (I know it’s been 3 times, I just wasn’t around for the first one) John has knocked it out of the park. Although Halloween 4 is kind of a terrible movie, it’s Michael Myers. That’s all you need for a Halloween maze to be successful. I hope the maze follows the path of the most recent 2 and goes with an original ending because the H2 ending remains my favorite maze ending to date.
  6. Poltergeist: Yeah again, probably another place where people will think I’m crazy. Honestly, I’ll agree with Freak here, the movie is good, but it didn’t hold up to me as well as I thought. The effects heaviness of the maze makes me feel like we’re in store for another Exorcist style maze. I loved the exorcist maze and I think this maze will be good, I’m just not super excited for it because I’m not as big of a fan of the movie as others.
  7. Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter 2: Is anybody else truly gonna rank this above 7? The movie choice is understandable for rights issues, but that’s where I stop understanding. Truth or Dare was terrible but I’m sure it’ll atleast be halfway decent as we’re gonna experience scenes not seen in the movie. Unfriended is gonna be interesting to see how it’s pulled off and honestly I’m not excited for it, I’m just intrigued. The best part of this maze is gonna be its original ending experiencing the Blumhouse logo.
 
1. Stranger Things: I was super surprised to have fallen in love with this show. After it's second week of being released (season 1), I gave into the hype and watched it; I was hooked and couldn't wait for future seasons. Given that I love mazes that tend to have cool looking monsters (AvP, AWIL, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper), and I love the look of the Demogorgon, it's gonna be a blast to see this up close in person; especially since it's in a Sound Stage!

2. Poltergeist: This was the 3rd horror movie I watched growing up (1st being Exorcist and 2nd Dario Argento's Demoni), and I always loved the creepiness of it, mixed with Steven Spielberg's touch. I'm kinda miffed that they're not adding elements from 2 & 3 into this maze, given those films have a lot of maze potential in terms of characters, but I for one am super happy this turned out to be at the event, given the "original rumored lineup" we had before Summer started.

3. Trick 'r Treat: I'm just stoked they finally brought this here! I'm curious to see the scare zone as well, but I just love this movie and watching each October. Plus I'm excited for the werewolf scene; not too excited for the candy vomit part though. I know Murdy always said he was waiting for the sequel, but Dougherty was busy with Godzilla 2. Perhaps he can find a way for Hellraiser to come next year, given that he uses a similar excuse for not bringing it to HHN (waiting for that reboot).

4. Universal Monsters: I know this one is lower on the list, compared to most of y'all, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited for it! I don't doubt Murdy will treat this maze will lots of respect and care. And after watching that announcement video, mixed with hearing that guitar, the designs of Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the Wolfman, as well as exiting in Monster's Masquerade, I'm uber excited for this. If there is only 1 concern, is that they're bringing that mini gauntlet in the Universal Plaza back, which kinda helped kickstart that awkward line back-up last year in the Purge zone leading to the movie house. Hopefully that doesn't happen with this when the event starts.

5. Halloween 4: Despite what a lot of people here say, I think Halloween 4 is a fine movie. It's in my top 3 Halloween franchise films (critics even loved this one) and it has some unique kills. Plus the ending always got to me when I was little. I'm looking forward to whatever creative ending Murdy is gonna give this one, like he did in 2015 and 2016.

6. Horrors of Blumhouse 2: There. I'm the one who put this maze above 7. After reading his tweets about what's gonna happen: including deleted stuff in Truth or Dare, the original ending portion, and my curiosity of how Unfriended will look, executed in the flesh, I have to say this maze peaked my interest, at least enough to avoid number 7.

7. The First Purge: I'm really not a fan of the Purge movies. IMO, the franchise started going downhill after the 1st, which puts my opinion in the minority, but whatever. The first one I thought was fine, Anarchy was okay, but the concept got tiring. Election Year was annoying, laughable (in a bad way), and too preachy. I barely saw the 4th one two days ago on a last minute double date at a dollar theater and it was just as predictable and boring as I expected it to be. I've constantly said this maze and HoB 2 both feel like corporate moves honestly. I could definitely see the original concept maze being replaced by either of these 2, but HoB 2 has more "variety" to keep me more intrigued than this film. But who knows?

Finally, I'm stoked for Terror Tram, since 2016's really blew me away. Not gonna do The Walking Dead Attraction or Jabawockeez, like last year. All in all, I think this year's maze lineup at least blows 2017's out of the park. Can't wait since it's less than 4 weeks til Opening Night!
 
Last edited:
1. Stranger Things:
I love this show and I absolutely cannot wait to see it come to life. I’m most curious to see the Upside Down and I’m expecting to see a whole lot of 80s pop culture easter eggs in here.

2. Universal Monsters:
It’s about time! If Murdy and Slash are this passionate about the classics, there is no way this maze won’t be given justice. As bad as Clowns 3D was the music was actually okay and did its job. Despite this being located in Parisian Courtyard, I think the sets could be very beautiful.

3. Trick R Treat:
I really like this movie, I’m a sucker for anthology horror. I’m almost certain that this one will have incredible sets and I hope the scares deliver as well. This might suffer from the Post-TitE Mummy Venue Syndrome (horror classic that Murdy wanted to do for over a decade and stays true to the film but is filled with black walls) but as long as the overall vibe and atmosphere are on point, I’ll be very pleased.

4. Poltergeist:
This film is truly a classic and definitely deserves some representation in HHN. I know the movie all too well thanks to my mother (it’s one of her all time favorite movies) and I hope they pull all the scary scenes off very well. It’s really got everything: ghosts, demons, corpses, clowns, creepy children, even hungry trees! And I’m pretty hyped to see all of it in person. If I don’t hear the “this house is clean” line, I will be bitter! Lol

5. Halloween 4:
I’ve actually never seen this movie... It seems to have some fans but on the other end a lot of people say it’s awful. But you can’t go wrong with Michael friggin’ Myers! Every time he’s at HHN, it’s truly magical and I hope this year is no exception. Sure it’s not the Blumhouse movie, but I’m sure we’ll see that next year (but then again that would be Myers overkill)

6. The First Purge:
*sigh*
We’ve actually never seen this franchise represented in enclosed claustrophobic environments so I’ll give it that. I haven’t seen the movie yet but I try to stay away from watching the Purge films. So in a way it feels like an original property when I experience it at Horror Nights.

7. The Walking Dead Attraction: I hope the cast doubles like in 2016.

8. Blumhouse of Horrors Number Two:
Yes I know that’s not what it’s called but I don’t care! And yes I’m more excited to see TWD again than whatever this is. I just watched Truth or Dare yesterday and kept asking myself, “Why?” “Why am I watching this?” “Why does this movie exist?” “Why is this part of a maze?” I still have yet to see Unfriended but the overall plot just doesn’t seem very maze-worthy. I absolutely cannot stand when things are made just to be a big commercial or ad, similar to Chucky’s involvement with last year’s tram, and this house was simply made to sell Unfriended and Truth or Dare Blu-Rays. I am interested to see the original finale but that’s pretty much it.

Overall this year on paper already sounds better than 2017. Let’s hope the execution is just as good, if not maybe even better.
 
As awful and stupid Unfriended and Truth or Dare sound, I will take that any day over Saw again.
I actually think there's ALOT more they could do with Saw, if they ever went back. There's tooooons of traps they haven't used and they easily could do an entirely original maze out of the concept, if they wanted to. The Terror Tram in 09 was a fun concept they could revisit with new icons or they could just make a Jigsaw House of Horrors that you have to live through. They could steer away from overuse of the pigs, which I think is the thing that wears out its welcome since they're not that vital to the scares in the franchise. With WB taking up Freddy and Jason, they may need some new Titans of Terror if they want a Volume 2 of that idea.
Saw's only been done 3 times (one or two of those times in an era when a lot of fans hadn't gone yet), compared to some things being done 5 times (up to 3 of which modern fans have seen). It has another 2 rounds to go, in my book, as long as they try something new with it.
 
1. Universal Monsters
The Classic Monsters have always delivered for me, haunt-wise. Their hyper-scary revitalization here looks on the money - I think we're underestimating the talent involved in their design (Murdy name dropped the guy who worked on Jurassic Park and some Burton films). The Slash music appears to be pushing the boundaries of what he's traditionally known for and won't be a cop-out rock score. Tons of potential in environments, and a huge variety in memorable characters. Everyone is confirmed except Creature... if the Gil-Man makes it in, this could be an all-timer.

2. Trick r Treat
The compact Mummy venue gives me pause, but other than that, this seems like a slam dunk. Dougherty films are made for maze adaptations, as Krampus readily proved. Trick r Treat is arguably even more maze-ready, with a plethora of diverse environments, visually exciting characters, and a lovely Halloween spirit. The film is a seasonal favorite of mine, and it's only held up even more on repeat watches. Scenes write themselves, and the talent known to be cast promises a solid execution on the acting side.

3. Stranger Things
This barely qualifies as horror, and I won't be at all scared going inside. That said, this ought to be a spectacular adaptation of the show and a real treat for genre/80s fans. I'm concerned about the number of Demagorgons that will almost certainly populate the scares, and I fear the human characters (and trust me, there are quite a few) won't ably carry scares on their own. The soundstage environment means we're going to get some fantastic visuals, but the scare design itself is going to be what makes or breaks this.

4. Poltergeist
I wish I could place this higher, but I'm still struggling to see how this translates into a maze without becoming Exorcist 2.0. Poltergeist is a great family-horror picture, but its scares are almost entirely rooted in emotional drama. There are a few solid scares - the clown, the swimming pool graveyard, the giant spirit heads, and the face peel - and those are all almost certainly going to make appearances. But Poltergeist lacks the dread and religiously charged terror of a defined, humanized demonic force - it trades Pazuzu for mute ambiguity, and I'm not convinced that's a strong trade-off for a maze. It could very well surprise me with strong scare design, but I'm anticipating a black wall boo-hole/puppet bonanza lacking the thick atmosphere that made Exorcist legitimately unpleasant to be inside.

5. Blumhouse of Horrors: Volume II
This really should be lower, but I'm ranking these on the anticipation of experience itself, not the quality/relevancy of the properties selected. Truth or Dare/Unfriended are bottom of the barrel selections that fly right in the face of the supposed "rules" of what makes a good maze... Even still, immense creative liberties are being taken here. When no one cares about the how the property is executed, one gets a tremendous amount of flexibility. I'll admit I have a little more insight as to how this is going to play out, but I am somewhat excited for both the Truth or Dare and finale "haunted house" portions. (Unfriended sounds silly to me, but we'll see, I guess. It kind of hinges on the effectiveness of the unseen demon.) Blumhouse was a surprise hit last year, and I could see it upsetting again thanks to motivated casts and solid, unexpected design choices.

6. The First Purge
Many of my comments regarding Blumhouse also apply here. First Purge is objectively a bad idea if they're doing a direct adaptation of the film: it's extremely politically charged to the point of outright discomfort in a real life setting. The most memorable characters are Klan/Nazi stand-ins, which obviously will not be included. This means that many creative liberties are likely to be taken, with a probable mix of older characters (wouldn't be surprised to see teddy bear face return) and new, original creations. The last-minute Purge maze in Orlando got by on sheer energy alone, and as long as this maze sports competent design, the casts will likely have the freedom to turn this into something enjoyable.

7. Halloween 4
They shouldn't have done Halloween when they couldn't get the 2018 reboot. It feels weird and embarrassing on a presentation level, especially as we're recreating mediocre moments from a film no one has any legitimate emotional investment in. Michael Myers is an icon, of course, and I'm sure he'll do his thing just fine; he's personally my least favorite of the Titans, as he just doesn't have the bite of the other slashers in a maze setting. I'm sure the maze will be technically competent and the casts will make it work, but if anything really feels like it's a cynical checking of the box, it's this.

8. Terror Tram
We keep knocking it, but Hollywood Harry was the best Tram we've had in years, and a legitimately clever/compelling original story that organically incorporated the Universal backlot. His return feels a little forced here, as much as I love the kitsch of low-budget/public access television gone amok (see also: Bloodengutz). Perhaps it's because Harry as a character holds an actual level of menace, which feels incompatible with the sort of inherent silliness of the premise. The execution might convince me otherwise, but I have a feeling we're just going to get an assortment of disjointed mini scare zones with Harry popping up in-between. That would be fine if the Tram route were longer, but it appears we'll be once again repeating mistakes and trying to funnel hundreds of guests into a narrow, all-too-short corridor.

9. Walking Dead
I mean, sure. It absorbs people, but this hasn't been fun since they doubled the cast in 2016. I'm under the impression that isn't happening this year, so this becomes completely disposable.
 
I'm gonna go with classic monsters, and trick or treat. rest seems meh too me. A lot of parks i gotta check out, warner bros, sinister point, etc a lot of competition for universal.
 
I actually think there's ALOT more they could do with Saw, if they ever went back. There's tooooons of traps they haven't used and they easily could do an entirely original maze out of the concept, if they wanted to. The Terror Tram in 09 was a fun concept they could revisit with new icons or they could just make a Jigsaw House of Horrors that you have to live through. They could steer away from overuse of the pigs, which I think is the thing that wears out its welcome since they're not that vital to the scares in the franchise. With WB taking up Freddy and Jason, they may need some new Titans of Terror if they want a Volume 2 of that idea.
Saw's only been done 3 times (one or two of those times in an era when a lot of fans hadn't gone yet), compared to some things being done 5 times (up to 3 of which modern fans have seen). It has another 2 rounds to go, in my book, as long as they try something new with it.
I hope they eventually bring back Saw! I agree, there are more traps we haven’t seen yet. There are plenty of movies which means plenty of traps. Plus, from what I remember at least, it was so gross last year that it made the maze that much more scary haha.
 
I hope they eventually bring back Saw! I agree, there are more traps we haven’t seen yet. There are plenty of movies which means plenty of traps. Plus, from what I remember at least, it was so gross last year that it made the maze that much more scary haha.

Honestly, the biggest problem I have with Saw is just how brightly lit the whole thing is! Like, there's nowhere for the Pig creatures to hide, you can just see everything. >:O

I'm actually getting more and more excited for Blumhouse the more I hear about it. Which is weird and crazy to say, but I just rewatched Unfriended and it was a genuinely pretty decent film. I hope they find a way to replicate the skype glitches. I want to see how they incorporate video effects.
 
TRT and UCM are both visually stunning mazes with incredible interiors. TRT honestly competes with an HHN Orlando soundstage maze and has quality similar to that of La Llorona 2012. It really has the potential to blow people away this year.

They are tied for my number 1 spot for my most anticipated (with ST following close second). Stranger Things will be a HUGE maze and I'm sure will too be eye candy, but it's been pretty secret in that stage:lol:
 
TRT and UCM are both visually stunning mazes with incredible interiors. TRT honestly competes with an HHN Orlando soundstage maze and has quality similar to that of La Llorona 2012. It really has the potential to blow people away this year.

They are tied for my number 1 spot for my most anticipated (with ST following close second). Stranger Things will be a HUGE maze and I'm sure will too be eye candy, but it's been pretty secret in that stage:lol:

Just out of curiosity, how are Poltergeist and Blumhouse shaping up?
 
Honestly, the biggest problem I have with Saw is just how brightly lit the whole thing is! Like, there's nowhere for the Pig creatures to hide, you can just see everything. >:O

I'm actually getting more and more excited for Blumhouse the more I hear about it. Which is weird and crazy to say, but I just rewatched Unfriended and it was a genuinely pretty decent film. I hope they find a way to replicate the skype glitches. I want to see how they incorporate video effects.
I haven’t seen Unfriended but when I saw truth or dare, I was pretty disappointed. The only thing that is creepy/scary in that movie are the masks LOL...at least in my opinion
 
I haven’t seen Unfriended but when I saw truth or dare, I was pretty disappointed. The only thing that is creepy/scary in that movie are the masks LOL...at least in my opinion

Have not seen Truth or Dare myself, so...... guess I'll look forward to the masks then!
 
Top