It's hard to believe its been ten and a half months since I last walked through the gates of Universal Studios for Halloween Horror Nights. But it has and tonight will mark the beginning of my fourth year attending the event. 2010 was my first year, and although many hardcore fans say it was an average year, to me it was incredible because it was my first time experiencing it. 2011 has been far and away the best of the 3 years I have attended so far, and many long time attendees say its in the top 3-5 best years in the events history. 2012 was to many people a major dud, for a myriad of reasons, some beyond the control of the people who create and run HHN. There were several reasons why 2012 was dissappointing..
1. 7 houses. for some reason the traditional amount of 8 houses didn't happen in 2012. We only got 7 but of course ticket prices remained the same as always. Naturally, one less house led to
2. Longer lines. With one less house to eat up people, the lines for the seven houses there were were ridiculously long all night every night. Even traditional slow nights such as opening night, Wednesdays, and Halloween night were much busier than normal. This was a major headache for many long time goers who cherished those precious few "slow" nights.
3. No scare zones: Universal ditched their usual scare zones last year for a "street experience." Instead of set zones where there would be actors throughout the parks, actors would be able to go anywhere throughout the park, even in stores and restaurants. The idea was there would be no "safe" zones and it would make the event scarier. The result was way to much "dead" space and the street experience idea was a major flop.
4. Inferior Houses: After the incredible houses of 2011, 2012 was a massive let down. On the HHN fan site, fans rated the 8 2011 houses with an average score of 8.1, with 6 of the 8 scoring at least an 8, and only one scoring less than a 7. In 2012? the average score of the 7 houses was only a 7.1, a full point lower. Only two houses scored at least an 8, and three houses scored less than 7.
So why so much optimism for 2012?
First off, there's going to be 8 houses again. The big reason however, was word has gotten out from some employees who were lucky enough to preview some of the houses before the event officially starts and the initial verdict from pretty much everyone was : WOW! So far 6 of the 8 houses have been getting unanimously rave reviews, with only one house of the lot getting not so great reviews. Here's what I think happened. NBC purchased the Universal parks in early 2012. They have not been shy about throwing money around, as evidenced by building a new hotel, new golf course, Transformers, Harry Potter 2.0, the list goes on. Many people believe they didn't realize just how big a deal HHN was and were reluctant to throw a lot of money at it when there was already a ton of money going elsewhere. The result was a cheapened 2012 event. When the less than stellar reviews rolled in, they realized just how popular the event was in the state, and have responded by throwing a ton of money into the event for 2013. So here's a preview of each of the 8 houses
1. Cabin in the Woods: This house along would make me jacked for the event. Ever since I saw this movie I wanted it turned into a house at HHN, and I can't believe I actually got my wish. This is by far the most anticipated house for me, and initial reviews have been so positive it's got me even more excited.
2. Havoc: Derailed: The first "sequel" house in a while for HHN. In 2010 Havoc: Dogs of War was a house at HHN centered around super soldiers, an experiment gone wrong. That house took place in the lab the experiment failed in, this year the house takes us to a train, where the Soldiers are being transported for further testing, but the train crashes unleashing the soldiers on the public. So far Derailed has been the one house getting not so good reviews but its definitely worth noting that on preview night in 2010, Dogs of War got negative reviews also and by the end of the event it was so loved it ended up winning House of the Year. Maybe history will repeat itself
3. Afterlife: Deaths Vengence: The yearly 3-D house at HHN this year, the premise being that a serial killer is getting attacked by his victims in the afterlife. So far very positive reviews as is normal for the 3-D house.
4. Evil Dead: Based on the cult horror movie classic from the 1980's. Very positive reviews so far
5. Resident Evil: Based on the video games of the same name. Average reviews so far, fans of the games are impressed, non fans not so much. I'm not a fan of the games so I'm not expecting much here.
6. La Llorona: This is one of the two potential "game changers" this year. There are three different locations for HHN houses, queues, tents, and soundstages. Typically soundstage houses are much more big and have a grander scale than the other two because there is much more room to work with. Every year this is 4 soundstage, 2 tent, and 2 queue houses. La Llorona is one of the two tent houses and initial reviews say it is the best tent house ever. Somehow Universal managed to build this at such a grand scale you would think you were in a soundstage. I can't wait for this one.
7. Walking Dead: Dead Inside: For the second straight year a Walking Dead house makes its way to HHN, and while last years house was very average, so far many say this years version is much, much better.
8. American Werewolf In London: This is the one. Based on the cult horror movie classic, many people who have had the privilege of going through it already say this is one of the best, if not the best house in HHN history. The leaders of the people who Build the HHN houses are massive fans of the movie and have been trying for 10 years to acquire the rights to build a house off of it. They finally got the rights this year and they planned on taking full advantage of the opportunity. I can not wait to see what this house has in store.
So that's HHN this year, and of course Bill and Ted will be there as always. It's not HHN without Bill and Ted. Of course there will also be other entertaining traditions such as fights and people getting arrested, the usual stuff that occurs when a bunch of drunk people are in the same space. That first time I see somebody getting punched then immediately getting restrained by police I'll just smile to myself and say "Yup, HHN is back!"
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