HHN reviews (possible spoilers)

[Jason71]

Guess you could, but when I walked through, not really set up for it. Unlike, say, last year, or the year the icons lined Rodeo Drive. Cramped space, a lot of characters up on the balconies. Will take another look tonight.

Yes--quoting myself. You can try to get pictures with "scary" Lady Lucks at ground level, but some seem more cooperative than others. But the lighting is bad, and it's still cramped. Very little theming. Overall, kind of a bust, definitely the weakest scare zone.

The ladies of 7 seem much more open to being photographed--tho often as a ruse to let their cohorts sneak up behind you!

Only got to do two houses preview night because my friends and I were all stuck doing an event until 11 ... The Acid Assault projections were awesome, but no scareactors? Will they add them?

There were scareactors Wednesday night. It POURED rain early on last night, and the event ended at midnight (so they would have been in by 11:30 anyway), so I'm not sure if they were out at all, but they are part of the zone.

 

[PammyK]

Went last night and arrived just in time for the massive electrical storm so I ended up stuck in the Boulangerie for a while before hitting the houses.

Of those I saw, Winter's Night was definitely my favorite. Had some good scares in there and I loved one bit that seemed to me to be an homage to the Weeping Angels - man do those things creep me out!

Nightengales was great as far as design and I liked some of the technical elements such as the aerial work, but overall I didn't find the banshee nurse vampire things all that frightening.

HR Bloodengutz was cool and I think one that will grow on me more and more over time.

The Thing was also just okay for me as far as scares although the overall design of the house was pretty nifty.

Saws N Steam was probably my 2nd favorite and I'm looking forward to going through again when it maybe isn't so wall-to-wall and when I'm not so tired (we went through at around 11:40pm).

I didn't find the scare zones particularly frightening but that may have been due to complications from the weather. I did think the projection work on the crumbling facades was extremely well done.

We did see Bill & Ted and while the opening was incredibly promising, after the first 5 minutes it needed to end. It just wasn't that funny or entertaining. It did pick up when Charlie arrived but not enough make up for the mediocrity of the rest of the show. Kudos to the performers though, they did the best they could with the mediocre material they were given.

I'm looking forward to checking out the remaining 3 houses, maybe tonight or if not, then during the week.

As far as an overall impression, I thought they relied too much on obvious looking prosthetics for the scareactors instead of letting the scareactors actually create the scares using their body language and facial expressions. I'd prefer they use makeup, masks and some prosthetics such as false teeth or scars that still seem real and allow the scareactors to give some real expression and emotion to their characters. Unfortunately, the obviously plastic extensions covering the scareactor's heads/faces or extending from their chins was too patently fake to be scary for me.

 

[xApril]

I just want to say that the difference between preview and opening night was quite great.

In-Between is still up in the air for me. I caught it on a cast change when I wore the glasses so I didn't get the full effect with scareactors.

I still like H.R. Bloodengutz about the same.

The Thing has increased in intensity and is definitely a lot more scary than it was before.

Winter's Night is a lot scarier and more fun now.

Nightengales is still one of my favorites for the scares.

Finally got to do Saws 'n Steam and I like it for the most part, but for me it's more fun than scary.

Forsaken was one I'll have to do again. The lady in front of me didn't know where she was going so we had to keep stopping and scareactors had to point her the right way. :\

Nevermore was another scary one for me. The first time we went through, a photographer asked if she could follow us and take our picture throughout the house. She kind of set us up for some scares. Maybe we'll be featured in an ad somewhere! We came back later to do the house again, since the flash had blinded me before. Definitely a fun house packed with scares.

Going to be a great year!

 

[Metro West]

One of the things I like about HHN and being able to go throughout the month is seeing how the scareactors grow into their parts.

I'm sure my opinions will change as the event progresses...as it does every year.

 

[Marquibiri]

Im a huge Edgar Allen Poe fan myself since I could read.Have read all his work.Poems,short storys and qoutes and love 'em all.

Question,any hint of The Masque of the Red Death in the house??One of my favs.

"And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

Hey all!!!!! I'm sitting in my room at RPR at the moment, just returned from HHN.. The UTH tour is sooooo worth it... I will add details in my TR...

Here's the answer to your question Donald: YES

and... a short clip....
http://s871.photobucket.com/albums/...HN21vids/?action=view&current=09242011279.mp4
Marquibiri

 

[Marquibiri]

Here's my mini trip report from tonight:

I arrived at the Studios around 4:20pm which is late for me. I had time to get a drink but not to eat since food service ends at 4:30pm. I walked around a bit and then headed for the holding area. I found a nice covered spot (in case it rained) and settled in for the wait. I spotted a guy walking around in a t-shirt that looked kinda familiar...then when I saw the name "Marquibiri" on the back, I realized it was Marco from Panama. I introduced myself while he was snapping a few pictures. We chatted a bit and then moved into position as the barriers were being taken down so we could head into the park and to the houses.

We hit Winter's Night first (I'll give my thoughts on each house later) and then headed to The Thing. Next came H.R. Bloodengutz and finally Saws 'n Steam. There was a problem with Marco's Rush of Fear Pass w/Express so I insisted we head to Guest Services so he could find out what the problem was. We stopped at Lost & Found and I introduced him to Phamton. He went to GS and I stayed and chatted with Phamton a while. After Marco came back out...the rains came! I was stuck in the covered area beside the restrooms for 30-45 minutes or so waiting for it to stop. After about 20 minutes, Marco realized he only two nights to see everything so he put on his poncho and headed out alone.

Finally...the rains stopped and I decided to continue on. My first stop was The Forsaken, then The In Between and Nevermore. It sprinkled a little but the really heavy rains moved on and it was a pretty nice evening. My last house of the evening was Nightingales. I hit the Universal Studios store on my way out for my yearly t-shirt with the house logos on the back and the glass shooter. As I exited, I was asked to complete a survey on the evening which took about 10 minutes then I headed to the car and home.

Nicely done Todd! It was so great to meet you! I had no idea you waited it out and then carried on! Excellent. I'll write my TR later, I am tired though... It's 2 am.

Here's my short review of the Houses....

Winter's Night: Loved the house! It was on the UTH tour and so worth it..

Nightingales: Wonderfully designed! Loved the phases of the banshees as the were transforming. Amazing... The trenches, the sound...

**** SPOILER ****
Loved the part where the soldier's torso is ripped off and dragged backwards while the bottom half of his body stayed standing with guts hanging out.
The banshee biting into the horse was wicked!
Phase 3 of the banshee... Looks very scary... Keep a close look once you enter the Surgery room...

The Thing: Possibly my favorite house. Why? IMHO I think it had the best costumes.. The masks covered the scareactors arms and torso too. Brilliant.

**** SPOILER ****
The two headed disfigured creature rattling right after the pool table scene is completely out of this world. Make sure to catch it at the right time.
There is a scareactor in the room where the creature comes out of the ice block it was hibernating in and his mask was very creepy.

Bloodengutz: Very similar in style to Leave it to Cleaver... and in the same area too. Go when it's dark... To really understand this movie watch the projection while on the queue and everytime you enter a new room, there is a TV where Bloodengutz explain the scene of the next room you will enter... Sometimes it will be hard to follow since the queue is moving but it was fun!

Saws N' Steam: Quite a good house. Queues get incredibly long real quick!

****SPOILER****
There was a torso being torn apart in a machine which was pretty cool.
The body parts in the water were quite nasty..
The machine pressing down on the chunks of human flesh did it for me!

Nevermore: If you don't know much about Edgar Allan Poe, you'll be like but this house was very good. It was on the UTH tour and when I went through it at night I was like this rocks!

****SPOILER****
Many of Poe's work is portrayed in this house... I liked the sheets of paper hanging from the ceiling... Look out for Virginia...

The Forsaken: My second favorite house.. The themeing is so cool. There's a fourth ship that turned against the three others during Christopher Columbus voyage.. and lost the battle and sunk... Now the creatures have risen and are attacking a Spanish fort.

****SPOILER****
I loved the look of rust on hinges and cell doors (actually made of wood)..
The best room is the part that resembles the bowels of the ship, it's tilted and awesome... Also, the open area where the mast of the ship is and the hanged corpses

The In-between: The worst house for me... I did it a few times and then it was ok... It does have the spinning wheel used in previous years.

Scarezones: Lame... Did like the projection in Acid Assault. Grown Evil was good too.

Overall, from best to worst:

Houses: The Thing, The Forsaken, Nightingales, Nevermore, Winter's Night, Saw's N Steam (All this are very close up top), then Bloodengutz, and In-Between.

Scarezones: Acid Assault, Grown Evil (good). Your Luck Has Run Out, 7, Canyon of Dark Souls (plain average), Nightmaze... possibly the worst scarezone I've seen..

DeathDrums: Good show, held by the Delorean. Scare actors dance while a large scaffold containing many many drums and drummers play. Still only watched about 5 minutes of it. You have to stand there and watch so meh...

Bill and Ted's: Good, as always. They mention movies like Sucker Punch, The Smurfs, Conan, The Green Hornet, Black Swan, Captain America... and other stuff.... Sarah Palin, Glee, Twilight, Britney, Keisha etc...

Marquibiri

 

[BigTiggerGuy]

Went last night so thought I would post my review. I'll be going back about 6 more times this season so I'll see if this changes.

Houses(ranked from favorite to least):
The Thing- great makeup effects and the most scares I had all night
The Forsaken- the bright green glowing eyes give away the scareactors but the theming alone makes this house great
The In-Between- very trippy, lots of disorienting scenes and some good scares
Winter's Night- again, great theming but our first time through we missed the timing and didn't get a single scare
HR Bloodengutz- great, fun house. Some good scares.
Nightingales- great theming again but be sure to look up. First time through I missed a lot of the scares and then my friend told me to look up during the second trip- much better
Nevermore- love Poe, loved the theming but didn't get too many scares
Saws N' Steam- just like the scarezone last year although the fish tanks with the human body parts were a nice touch

The scarezones still need some work. Was really excited to see the Nightmaze but it's essentially a few black walls on wheels that the scareactors move back and forth. Could be so much bigger and better.
7 was the best scarezone of the night. Lots of scareactors around and they were really into it. The projection effect in Acid Assault is very cool but we only counted 5 scareactors in the entire area. Could be better. The other scarezones all kind of blended together.

It poured rain for about an hour and we got soaked but continued on our way and just splashed in the puddles and hit a few houses again. We all have FF w/express but the longest line I saw all night was 45 min. for Saws N' Steam.
I'll be going back again next Sunday so I'll give an update if the list changes.

All in all, I think it's a good year and I'm sure it will get better and better as they work out the kinks.

 

[Jason71]

Nightengales was great as far as design and I liked some of the technical elements such as the aerial work, but overall I didn't find the banshee nurse vampire things all that frightening.

I think you might be onto something here. Given the amazing detail of the set, I wonder if the somewhat "rubber masky" look of the nightingales makes them stand out more, and takes away their scariness. They do seem the weakest part of an otherwise amazing house to me.

W
Winter's Night- again, great theming but our first time through we missed the timing and didn't get a single scare

This is true of Winters Night, and also The Thing. Both seem filled with scares tied to the special light and sound effects, limiting the ability of the scareactors to improvise. It makes for an impressive scare when the effects all work together, but I kind of miss seeing the scareactors pick and choose their marks.

 

[BuckeyeGuy28]

I felt so excited about this year's HHN that I felt like I had to come back here and post a review. We went Friday and Saturday so we saw plenty of everything so hopefully I'm a pretty credible source of info:

1.) Nightingales--by far the best house IMO, never failed to disappoint even after three of four trips. I don't get the Nurse/Witch thing but I feel like it works--they're freaky looking. All around, this house has good sound, FANTASTIC set design, and the scares are well-placed--this was the only house this year that I actually felt a little uncomfortable in (in a good way, lol)--I even got a double-scare which led to some pretty good laughs. This is also the only house I've wanted to actually go slowly through and take the incredible detail in--I love this house!

2.) The Thing--second best to me. Like Nightingales, this one has fantastic sets! The only thing it doesn't have is the wild scares that Nightingales did (for me at least, and we went on both a good number of times). Also, this house was so well-done, it actually has me intereseted in seeing the movie, something most HHN movie-houses don't have me doing.

3.) The In-Between--I feel that between my group and fellow posters this is the most underrated house this year. The 3-D, I think, works surprisingly well (especially compared to past 3-D houses which basically do nothing). This is also the only house that effectively makes me forget that I'm in a tent--the floorless room, laser room, etc. are all so well done that it puts you in a very special sense of 'place'--also, the disorienting effect offers the chance for some unique and surprising scares. The trippy factor makes this the third-best.

4.) Winter's Night--I liked that this is a good old-fashioned haunted house. It doesn't get much simpler than 'ghosts in the graveyard'. Plus, look up for one of the best scares I got all weekend.

5.) Saws n Steam--we only did this house once out of our two days because this one gets crowded, just like every other house in the Jaws area--I will say that this is a good house, but IMO not the best Jaws house, simply because Jason will always hold a special place in my heart lol. I liked this one for the gore and superb probs/effects--really gorey and offers decent scares, and I'm anxious to check this one out again.

6.) Bloodengutz--as everyone knows, this is the comedy house, and I think it's 50-50 as to who likes the comedy element of the house and who's disappointed with its lack of frightening enviornment. I think the set-pieces and queue video are really what set this house apart from former 'comedy houses' and even though there are clever visual puns and some flat-out gross and macarbe setpieces, the scares are there. It takes a certain taste to like this one, but I think I fit it.

7.) Poe--this is a very good house but I can't help but feel a little disappointed in this one. The sets are good but I think they would've been great if they were placed in a soundstage. Also, I'm not very familiar with Poe's work and that is a disadvantage when going through this house as it affected my understanding of the storyline. There are some good atmospheric scares here though.

8.) The Forsaken--I really wanted to like this one a lot, but I just didn't fall in love with it. Again, it's not a bad house--the sets are incredible, especially for the parade warehouse, but the scares just are lacking and the theme/monsters become redundant. I do like the hurricane effect and the rooms all are incredibly detailed to a ship's destroyed interior, but I would choose this one to skip if I had to.

The scarezones really didn't do it for me this year. Besides Acid Assault (I could watch those buildings crumble for hours, it was so cool, and the setpieces were incredible with some pretty neat scareactors) the scarezones are just not as involving as previous years. Lady Luck barely has a presence in her zone. 7 is fun to walk through but there is a big chainsaw drill team-shaped hole in that area. I like the garden zone but miss the pumpkings, even though they're in the Kidzone. Canyon of Dark Souls seems cheap looking to me. And the maze is a joke--the biggest misfire in the history of my experience at HHN. I think with some more scareactors, the scarezones could deliver. And replace the tazer people or whatever they are with the chainsaw drill team...PLEASE!

Some notes on the event overall--much more impressed this year with set design. The tent houses finally have new designs (no more walking through sewers in the MIB tent house) and every house is so much more atmospheric--you truly forget you are in haunted houses when you walk through. Also, I love how HRRR is working this year--it adds a lot of kinetic energy to the soundstage houses queue lines. Also, I felt that overall the houses had more cohesive storylines that were obvious throughout the house and never lost their coherence as the houses went on. While this year may not have as many scares as last year, it definitely has more atmosphere than any other year, which creates scares in its own right. From set design to special effects to staged scares everything physical in the houses is just fantastic. That being said, there are some things missing--the texting game, which will suck when the lines get longer. There is no video that plays at the entrance. AND THERE IS NO CHAINSAW DRILL TEAM!!! Also, while the houses are good and like I said carry good strong storylines, there is no overall theme of luck or presence of Lady Luck at all, which kinda begs the question "what's the point?" Anyways, I know the event will improve but from what I've seen, there's not much they can do to make it one of the best events since Carnival of Carnage (in my opinion)

Sorry for the long post, I'm still excited!

 

[tarrbear]

The Thing: Possibly my favorite house. Why? IMHO I think it had the best costumes.. The masks covered the scareactors arms and torso too. Brilliant.

You know, my group was right behind you while going through The Thing, I saw your username on the back of your tee-shirt, I never got a chance to say hello though!


Anyways, I got myself a Rush of Fear pass, and I went Saturday night (spent Friday night at Howl-O-Scream) and I was quite impressed with the houses this year. We got a late start to the evening (didn't get in till 7:30 ish) but we still managed to see a lot. And by a lot I mean all of the houses, scarezones, Bill and Ted, as well as The Simpsons and The Mummy. We did not have a express pass, now it's time for my review of the houses in the order we did them!

The Forsaken: This was our first house of the night, I did like this house (despite the fact I almost fell flat on my face…) I really liked the hurricane effect and I got some pretty decent scares in this house, my friend got the bulk of them of course. One of the coolest parts though was when you would walk on the tilted ship deck, (was it the deck?) this is where I almost fell flat on my face. When you sort of step up to the tilted platform, I didn’t notice it and if it wasn’t for my friend and ropes to the side that I used to regain myself for a brief moment, I would have went down. 7/10

The In-Between: If I had to describe this house in one word, that word would be, trippy. I did enjoy the 3d effect, it was my first 3d house and I wasn’t sure how it would work so to say. I highly enjoyed this house and I got some pretty good scares here, unfortunately I did not see the no floor gag… too busy trying to focus on everything else… I will look for it next time though! 6/10

Nevermore: This was a great house, I loved it so much! I didn’t really get any good scares in this house (the people in front of us got them) but I loved how well themed it was, I can’t wait to go through it again. 7/10
The Thing: This was a awesome house. I loved the costumes in this house, they were excellent and very cool looking. The scareactors working with the strobes got some good scares out of me, including a few vocal screams might I add. It felt kind of short to me though, maybe I was enjoying it too much 8/10

Nightengales: I actually liked how there wasn’t really a façade and you were just thrown right into the middle of the action, I felt it worked well. I loved the theme and got many good scares in here. I can’t remember where this part was at but there was a moment where a soldier was in a alcove shooting a giant machine gun to the right and another alcove to the left. When I walked by, the machine gun started going off and startled me, I jumped to the right where one of the nurses was perfectly set and ready to give me a great scare. 8/10

Winter’s Night: By far my favorite house, did this one twice! I loved the eerie vibe to it, there is just so much I loved about it. In the beginning of the house with the angels is probably where I got the best scare of the night. 9/10

H.R. Bludengutz: This was probably our longest wait of the night, giving us almost enough time to see all of the videos. This house amused me and got some good scares thanks to the Feaster bunny. I liked how the house was set up with the t.v. sets before each room. Oh and the Thanks-killing room had such a lovely scent. 7/10

Saws-N-Steam: I can’t make too many judgments on this house right now, we went through during a cast change so there weren’t too many scares though. The machine pressing on the flesh and the flesh in the tanks was quite gross though… I’ll give it a number rating one I properly see it.

Scarezone wise: The only ones I really liked was Grown Evil and Acid assaults, the rest were okay and I’m sure they will get better at the event goes on.
Bill and Ted: I liked it and was amused by it, better than the past two years!

Now I only have two complaints. One dealing with the flashlight people in H.R. I get that they need to keep the flow going, but them saying “Keep it moving! Don’t stop!” over and over again kind of annoyed me I guess. I did get a laugh from one though, when we walked by he said, “Keep going guys, you are doing great!”

My second complaint if it even is one, is for Winter’s Night. Have you ever seen the show Doctor Who? If not there are creatures called the Weeping Angels, and I’m quite terrified of them. In the beginning you know those angel statues? They look just like the Weeping Angles from Doctor Who (Here is a short video: http://youtu.be/kokvIMWEuFM ). Now I’m not accusing Universal of ripping off the concept, it just made that encounter that much more terrifying for me.

And I have a question; I’ve seen pictures of people posing with Bill and Ted, do they do a meet and greet or something? I also might edit these reviews soon, I’ll be going again tomorrow night… technically tonight haha

 

[DCTooTall]

You know, my group was right behind you while going through The Thing, I saw your username on the back of your tee-shirt, I never got a chance to say hello though!


Anyways, I got myself a Rush of Fear pass, and I went Saturday night (spent Friday night at Howl-O-Scream) and I was quite impressed with the houses this year. We got a late start to the evening (didn't get in till 7:30 ish) but we still managed to see a lot. And by a lot I mean all of the houses, scarezones, Bill and Ted, as well as The Simpsons and The Mummy. We did not have a express pass, now it's time for my review of the houses in the order we did them!

The Forsaken: This was our first house of the night, I did like this house (despite the fact I almost fell flat on my face…) I really liked the hurricane effect and I got some pretty decent scares in this house, my friend got the bulk of them of course. One of the coolest parts though was when you would walk on the tilted ship deck, (was it the deck?) this is where I almost fell flat on my face. When you sort of step up to the tilted platform, I didn’t notice it and if it wasn’t for my friend and ropes to the side that I used to regain myself for a brief moment, I would have went down. 7/10

The In-Between: If I had to describe this house in one word, that word would be, trippy. I did enjoy the 3d effect, it was my first 3d house and I wasn’t sure how it would work so to say. I highly enjoyed this house and I got some pretty good scares here, unfortunately I did not see the no floor gag… too busy trying to focus on everything else… I will look for it next time though! 6/10

Nevermore: This was a great house, I loved it so much! I didn’t really get any good scares in this house (the people in front of us got them) but I loved how well themed it was, I can’t wait to go through it again. 7/10
The Thing: This was a awesome house. I loved the costumes in this house, they were excellent and very cool looking. The scareactors working with the strobes got some good scares out of me, including a few vocal screams might I add. It felt kind of short to me though, maybe I was enjoying it too much 8/10

Nightengales: I actually liked how there wasn’t really a façade and you were just thrown right into the middle of the action, I felt it worked well. I loved the theme and got many good scares in here. I can’t remember where this part was at but there was a moment where a soldier was in a alcove shooting a giant machine gun to the right and another alcove to the left. When I walked by, the machine gun started going off and startled me, I jumped to the right where one of the nurses was perfectly set and ready to give me a great scare. 8/10

Winter’s Night: By far my favorite house, did this one twice! I loved the eerie vibe to it, there is just so much I loved about it. In the beginning of the house with the angels is probably where I got the best scare of the night. 9/10

H.R. Bludengutz: This was probably our longest wait of the night, giving us almost enough time to see all of the videos. This house amused me and got some good scares thanks to the Feaster bunny. I liked how the house was set up with the t.v. sets before each room. Oh and the Thanks-killing room had such a lovely scent. 7/10

Saws-N-Steam: I can’t make too many judgments on this house right now, we went through during a cast change so there weren’t too many scares though. The machine pressing on the flesh and the flesh in the tanks was quite gross though… I’ll give it a number rating one I properly see it.

Scarezone wise: The only ones I really liked was Grown Evil and Acid assaults, the rest were okay and I’m sure they will get better at the event goes on.
Bill and Ted: I liked it and was amused by it, better than the past two years!

Now I only have two complaints. One dealing with the flashlight people in H.R. I get that they need to keep the flow going, but them saying “Keep it moving! Don’t stop!” over and over again kind of annoyed me I guess. I did get a laugh from one though, when we walked by he said, “Keep going guys, you are doing great!”

My second complaint if it even is one, is for Winter’s Night. Have you ever seen the show Doctor Who? If not there are creatures called the Weeping Angels, and I’m quite terrified of them. In the beginning you know those angel statues? They look just like the Weeping Angles from Doctor Who (Here is a short video: http://youtu.be/kokvIMWEuFM ). Now I’m not accusing Universal of ripping off the concept, it just made that encounter that much more terrifying for me.

And I have a question; I’ve seen pictures of people posing with Bill and Ted, do they do a meet and greet or something? I also might edit these reviews soon, I’ll be going again tomorrow night… technically tonight haha

Thanks everyone for the reviews. I'm so looking forward to tonight!

 

[chataro]

This year’s event really took its time to develop on the website, but once it did, I have to admit that I was excited for what was to come. I, like others, didn’t really see a “casino” event as being a great marketing concept, but with the twist that Lady Luck is just there when people make decisions; I personally thought this took it into a very cool direction and tied her involvement into the event perfectly.

While the event is not perfect, I will say that in my opinion it is one of the strongest years from top to bottom that I have been to since Sweet 16. Here are my thoughts on the houses. I will break each house down into three categories. Scenery, Effects, and Scares.

The Forsaken: (4 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – The scenery in this house was amazing. You felt like you just walked in that Spanish fort just after they were attacked. I was a little disappointed at the lack of the normal huge façade at the beginning, but that was quickly forgiven when I walked into the courtyard scene. I’m pretty sure that that scene is now my all time favorite scene. 9/10
2. Effects – This house gives you the true feeling that you are in the middle of this huge storm going on while the battle rages. Shutters banging, lightening flashing, high winds, and moisture all immerse you into this storm as you walk through. Add the cool effect of the Cathedral’s green screen and the crooked walkway in the bowels of the ship and they really nailed this one. 9/10
3. Scares – Like with all houses at HHN. . .TIMING IS EVERYTHING!!!! Over the weekend we ended up going through this one four times and there were some times my wife got it bad and others that we just missed it. I will say that the green eyes can give away a lot of what it about to happen, but it’s such a cool effect and when done right, it delivered the scares. The final flying scare is awesome if you are lucky enough to time seeing it right. 7/10

The In-Between: (2 visits)

1. Scenery – This house to me was very light on scenery by design. You really only had two main scenes with the dorm room at the beginning and the dorm room at the end. While they were perfectly fine, they didn’t worry about the scenery in this house because this was an effects heavy house. 3/10
2. Effects – Here is where this house stood out. I’ve been through a few other 3D houses in the past including Jack’s, and I don’t think anyone can say that this house isn’t amazing compared to the others. The tunnel starts you off and it only gets more and more impressive as you go from one disorientating effect to the other. This was truly amazing and was such a mind melt. 10/10
3. Scares – Probably the only complaint I will have with this house is that there didn’t seem to be that many scares in it. That might be because it was opening weekend, timing, or what I think, there is so much screwing with your head 3D effect wise, they decided to take it easy on the scares so you could just take the effects in. I would have preferred at least a few more scares out of this one though because they definitely have you distracted with the Effects. 4/10

Nevermore the Madness of Poe: (3 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – This house was gorgeous. They did such a great job of taking you back to Poe’s era and immersing you into each and every story that they chose to represent in the house. Just walking into the Tell Tale Heart scene made you feel the madness, the dancers in the Masque of the Red Death scene made you feel like you were invited to the party, The Black Cat scene made you feel like you were the one being walled up. All the scenes were great in reflecting the madness that was Poe. 10/10
2. Effects - The loud heart beating, the screeching ravens, and if you were lucky enough to see behind the picture all added into the overall feel of the house. I wouldn’t call this house effect heavy, but would say that the Scenery was the stand out in this house. 5/10
3. Scares – This house had very strong scares throughout. From the man with the Vulture’s eye, the ballroom dancers, the rather large ravens, and the poor axed woman, this house was big in misdirection and what I call stealth scares. The scares came fairly often. 8/10

Saws N Steams: (3 visits)

1. Scenery – As opposed to the gorgeous scenery in Nevermore, this house wins hands down for the most disgusting scenery. Don’t take me wrong though, that’s NOT a bad thing when it comes to HHN. This house reminded me a lot of the Cleaver house a couple years back, but I think they did a better job of relating the process through this house. There was so much to see and I truly wish they wouldn’t rush you through so fast so we could “stop and smell the roses” through this house. Great, Wonderful, Nasty, Gross, Disgusting Scenery. 10/10
2. Effects – To say this house was wet is an understatement. There were so many cool effects used that really made you believe that the poor souls that signed up for Horizon had met with truly horrible demises. The presses, the “fish” tanks, the waterfall, electricity all made you feel like you were going to be the next to get squeezed like orange juice. The leg filet was probably the grossest scene I’ve ever seen at HHN! 9/10
3. Scares – I’m 6’3” and there were still quite a few “workers” in there that I had to look up to. They played their part perfectly and made you feel that they were just doing their jobs and you were next. Pretty clear cut scares here with the chainsaws and various other cutting devices, but what they lacked in jump scares, they made up in intimidation scares. Plus anytime you have a chainsaw guy at the exit, it’s a good good thing. 8/10

H.R. Bloodengutz (2 visits)

I will start out by saying DO NOT go into this house when it’s still light out. It’s way too bright in there and that will distract any potential scares.
1. Scenery – This house played the campy/funny house perfectly. I loved going through all the Holiday themed rooms and they were all decorated to a tee. I like the way they did the little break scenes between each Holiday, similar to how they did Silver Screams a couple years back, because the first time we went through, it was daylight and we couldn’t see the pre-house video at all. You knew what Holiday you were in the second you walked in each scene and I’ll just say that I loved the Jack reference and seeing Santa’s beard splattered all over the wall. 8/10
2. Effects – This house was not really effect heavy but they did manage to use smells and “blood” squirting to help the Holidays come to life. I always love it when they use smells to further immerse you into the scenes and really loved the smells in the Thanksgiving scene. Arbor day was a fun “wet” scene and the tree costume was great. 6/10
3. Scares – Very typical scares for the comedy house. You can count on a few good misdirection scares, but primarily, you are going to get the over the top acting scares that make it the comedy house. I loved the Feaster Bunny and the ghillie suit scare in the same scene. That’s always a good scare. 7/10

The Thing: (2 visits)

1. Scenery- Soundstage houses will always be some of the most detailed houses around and The Thing was no exception. As you entered the sound stage, you could swear you just were transported to the Norwegian base. The rest of the house was not a letdown as you worked your way through the base as the alien took over. 8/10
2. Effects- Another effect heavy house. The snow and cold was incredible, and much loved after the 90 degree temperatures. The only thing I will say is that the house felt a little too effect heavy rather than scare heavy. The main problem I noticed was that if you didn’t get to see the animatronics effect as you walked passed, you weren’t going to get to see the next one either. The timing was poor in my opinion and they took too long to reset. I liked the effects in this house, but just thought they could have timed them better. 6/10
3. Scares – Because of the effect heavy nature of the house, I just didn’t see many scares happening. I saw were the scareactors were, but they weren’t coming out. I think the only scares that took place in this house for my group were the loud gunshots startling us. Plus add the bright lights and you couldn’t see the next scare anyways. 5/10

Nightingales: (2 visits)

1. Scenery – This house also didn’t have the traditional façade that soundstage houses normally do, but it made sense as to the nature of the house. You were thrown into the war immediately and no time for gawking. I think Universal nailed look and feel to what I could picture WWI being like. The scenery was not colorful or diverse, but it gave you the hopeless feeling of war. Loved the horse scene and the body room!!!!! 9/10
2. Effects – The battle sounds alone make this a really immersive house. Add in the blood spray, the flying Nightingales, and the smell of dirt all around you, you really do feel like you are in the middle of WWI. I loved the effect of the lights flashing above the trench to make you feel like the battle was just over the dirt ledge. Great effects in this house. 9/10
3. Scares – The way the Nightingales evolve throughout the house was pure genius. You get to see them in three different stages and each one is frightening. Most the scares come from above on this one and that makes sense being you are in a trench. The dead body room to me was just a real eerie area and can really scare the spit out of you. 8/10

Winters Night: (5 visits + UTH tour)

1. Scenery – Once again, when walking into the soundstage, you are hit with the impressive view of the Hawthorn Cemetery. What follows is a totally awesome walk through a cemetery that will give you the feeling of death being everywhere. The tombs, caskets, and outside scenes are top notch and the snow scattered throughout just add to the theme. The brick wall with the diorama scene is amazing! 9/10
2. Effects – Very similar in the effects of The Thing house with the snow and cold. There is a cool effect with a ghost looking like he is crawling out of the grave that we learned was inspired by The Walking Dead TV show. Not effect heavy, but the cold is enough in this house. 6/10
3. Scares – This house to me was very strong in the scares. It begins with the weeping angel and continues on from there. A few of the stand out scares for me was the overhead coffin, the diorama scare, and the final scene. Very strong scare house in my opinion. 8/10

Well this is my review of the opening weekend and I will restate that I really liked this year. I think not only are the houses strong, but most of the scare zones are done very well also. I would have included my review of the scare zones, but this was long enough. I look forward to my return trips to see any improvements that they implement. Well done Universal!!!

 

[DisneyMissy318]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such detailed reviews - this will be our 1st trip to HHN - I purposely wanted to read - and I'm sitting here feeling very anxious, nervous and excited! Definitely looking forward to the experience!

 

[chataro]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write such detailed reviews - this will be our 1st trip to HHN - I purposely wanted to read - and I'm sitting here feeling very anxious, nervous and excited! Definitely looking forward to the experience!

I hope you have a blast!!!!!

 

[Marquibiri]

You know, my group was right behind you while going through The Thing, I saw your username on the back of your tee-shirt, I never got a chance to say hello though!

Shame on you! Just kidding.... You should have said hi!

Marquibiri

 

[ToGreen78]

Shame on you! Just kidding.... You should have said hi!

Marquibiri

I said HI!!! Hi Marco, it's Maggie, we met at UTH room! I saw your shirt and my husband and I were gabbing with you till we got split up into seperate groups

 

[Marquibiri]

I said HI!!! Hi Marco, it's Maggie, we met at UTH room! I saw your shirt and my husband and I were gabbing with you till we got split up into seperate groups

That's right! Ooops... I have shamed myself!!

I did not notice who posted this.

It was wonderful meeting the two of you!

I have officially become addicted to the UTH Tour!
Will do it every time!

Cheers!

Marquibiri

 

[DisneyMissy318]

We are here now! Just waiting for the fun to begin! Thanks for all of the great info!

 

[LMO429]

are there chicken exits in the haunted houses?

 

[macraven]

none that i am aware of.....