We attended HHN last night. I was going to take notes to share my experience in case it helps anyone to plan, but I quickly knew it was going to be an unusual night.
We didn't have power for a lot of the day and felt like getting out of the house, so we arrived at HHN around 11:30. We got some food, then started hitting houses. Judging by the walkways, it looked like decent crowds, but we did not wait for one house. The only wait was the time it took us to walk the empty queue and enter the house.
We started with Chupacabra, then Hellblock. Met up with some friends, did Bug House, Destruction, Legends, Weeknd, Dead Man's Pier, Blumhouse, Halloween, Coven and then a repeat of Dead Man's as the clock struck 2.
I know for sure the lagoon show was not running, not sure about the dance show. The scare zones were pretty empty, heard that scare actors from there got pulled to go into houses, but all the scare zones still had a few scare actors. A couple food stands were closed, but honestly, I didn't notice that much not open.
I do think last night might have ruined me for the rest of the event. It was so great just walking up to houses, and going through some of them just with your group and not a conga line.
As last night was the first time we did Blumhouse and Bug, I can finally do a ranking.
Overall, I am somewhat disappointed with this year. I always love the event and have been going since 2015, but this is the first year I found myself missing houses from past years. Keep in mind with my rankings, I don't really get scared at HHN, so these are based more on story, set design and things like that.
Obviously there will be spoilers in my descriptions below so stop reading if you don't want to know.
RANKING HOUSES
1. Monsters
I've always enjoyed the Universal Monsters houses and this one does not disappoint. Wolfman is my fav monster, so points for him showing up. I am also fairly obsessed with ancient Egypt so being inside a pyramid is so much fun for me. I just smile during the entire house. I love the jackal guards as well. I definitely need to do this house many more times.
and very narrowly missing out on the number one spot:
2. Dead Man's Pier
Once again, Universal hits it out of the park with original houses. From the moment you enter into the chilly town center with the statue you're just fully immersed. I love the ship captain behind the bar who sets the scene at the start. This house even smells amazing! The banshee playing the violin on the giant ship set is just so amazing.
3. Bugs
This ranking might change because I've only done this house once, but I very much enjoyed the whole 50s housewife aesthetic. I actually expected it to be a lot worse with bugs, but beyond the puffs of air and hanging wire, seemed like most of the bugs were gross makeup or B movie type large bugs.
Next 3 are somewhat interchangeable and will most likely change order dependent on the most current run.
4. The Weeknd
My favorite is the corridor with all the lights like from the Super Bowl show. I like the room with the stage. Some of the only moments of the event so far when I even get startled have come twice now from the wallpaper guy. Which is even worse since I knew he was there the second time. It just gets me, so points for that.
5. Chupacabra
I enjoy this house, but also feel like it could have been so much better. I like the design of the sets, but am a bit confused by the actual Chupacabra. Isn't it usually depicted as a gross, hairless kind of thing? These look more like werewolves, I wouldn't mind one as a pet. I wonder if it was cheaper just to throw a fur rug over the creatures than to try to make them gross and hairless. For some reason I also wish there was music in the house? It would kind of make sense, seems like they were having a party when the chupacabras attacked.
6. Halloween
This is a very solid house. I think I would have ranked it higher if I hadn't already seen so many Halloween houses. At some point, you just kind of feel like you've seen it before, even if it was based on a different Halloween movie. Still very solid, and I can see that it might be a favorite of people who love the movies or never saw the other Halloween houses.
7. Descendants of Destruction
Just very meh with this house. I like the day glow people at the end. The subway portion wasn't bad, but Dead Exposure did a subway so much better I can't help but compare it to that. I also feel like HHN over uses the slaughter house scene at this point.
8. Hellblock Horror
I know this was the house that was put together at the last minute, and I think they did an ok job. I think there is a deeper storyline to this that I need to read, but I'm just not that impressed. Seems like they just tossed in random costumes of creatures they had from years past and the sets are pretty uninspired.
9. Spirits of the Coven
I feel like this house is just missing a piece and it could have been great. I like the NY prohibition start we get, though once again that just makes me think of Case Files from last year. Just seems like a weird storyline, we start out in alleys and nightclubs then go underground (yet another slaughter house scene) and then end up in some weird tunnels. I dunno, just doesn't do it for me.
10. Blumhouse
Admittedly, I have not seen either movie. But this house came across as very uninspired. Maybe my interpretation of what the movies are about might amuse some of you who have seen them, so Freaky seems to be your standard high school freaky masks/kill the boys at the dance type movie. Black Phone seems to be about a black phone that keeps showing up nailed to the walls. I think the phone strangles Ethan Hawke at the end?
RANKINGS SCARE ZONES
1. Graveyard
Love this scare zone so much. Has some very freaky and cool creatures. I also like the occasional flashing light.
2. Scarecrow
Reminds me of growing up back home in southwestern PA near WV. This seems to always be a good scare zone in this area and I actually really like the corn monsters, they are pretty cool looking.
3. Sweet Revenge
This scare zone would be ranked higher if it weren't always so crowded. I love David Tennant pumpkin guy, and the floats and the little Halloween festival set up are very photogenic. I know we've seen them before in other scare zones, but I like the kids in old fashioned costumes. The robot is a particular favorite.
4. Horrors of Halloween
Lil Boo is my fav, and the pumpkin archway is really pretty. The Pumpkin Lord is also very entertaining. This would probably be ranked higher but there isn't much to it besides the Pumpkin Lord (and of course my Lil Boo).
5. Conjure the Dark
Meh. I hate that they always put a scare zone in this area, it's always terrible to walk through. It immediately (and unfairly) is usually at the bottom of my list just because it's always so congested it's hard to enjoy.
When I watched the HHN youtube videos it doesn't look scary to me. I suppose I'd jump if someone came up behind me and yelled "boo", but I wouldn't call that scary to the point my kids shouldn't visit. I didn't know if I was missing something though, so I thought I'd ask for 2nd opinion.
to the various staff members who are staying at the hotels, away from their own homes, to make sure their guests’ needs are covered. Unsung heros IMO
