Greetings internet dwellers!

I was most interested to see what the reaction would be to this one. Obviously, Blumhouse has appeared at the event before, to let's say, mixed results. While the Horrors of Blumhouses houses weren't the greatest, I did have some fun with them. Since I really like Happy Death Day, I was quite fine with that one. 

I guess it doesn't hurt that this version, will feature films that are quite quite well received. Freaky, is quite good, however I have not yet seen The Black Phone, as it doesn't open until tomorrow. The film does have a great critical response though. 

Given the shaky nature of past Blumhouse appearances at the event, I suspect this may not go over well with some folk. I personally like Freaky, so I am down to see where this goes. 

You can see the announcement video below.

​Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

In June of 2012, I hit the button and everything went live. It was a tough road for me to create this space. I basically created the site using an old netbook, which barely worked. It took me over a year to complete everything. While I am far, far, from an internet guru, I am proud of what I have created. 

At the same time I also created my Youtube page, which has grown a lot since then. One of my main goals, was to do as much on Youtube as possible. I think I have succeeded in that. For better or worse.  

Some who have followed me since the beginning, know that I walked away from all of this in 2013. If you glance at the blog archives, you will find that's why they start in June of 2014. I wiped everything clean in late 2013.

There was a change in the air in 2012 and 2013, especially amongst the HHN fanbase. There was a lot of discourse and it was demoralizing. So much so, that I decided it wasn't worth it to continue. Flash forward to now and in a way there are a lot of parallels, just different noise. 

In addition, I learned very quickly that other bigger sites, don't play nice. I have contended with some of the worst this planet has to offer, with other places around the net. And individuals. It got exhausting. Still does sometimes. 

This past year, I have made an effort to work on myself. I am in active therapy for things like anxiety, and PTSD. This year, hell, the last few years, have been very difficult. I know that in 2022 things have been really different from me because of my self help. I appreciate all who continue to follow and share in the love of this event. 

That is why I keep going. That is why I will keep going. Noise is noise. Fake people are fake people. I pride myself on being honest. I pride myself on never sugarcoating anything. What you see from me, is me. 

We love this event. And again, I continue to appreciate those who support me. As a gift, I combed my archive and found the very first Youtube vlog I ever did. It vanished during that lost few months. 

Enjoy the awkwardness. And thank you all. 

Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Well, in a weird two days, both Hollywood and Orlando have announced the return of Halloween to the event. Since its initial debut at Halloween Horror Nights, the event has seen two other stabs at Halloween. 

Halloween: Hell Comes To Haddonfield and Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers, were both featured at the event after the original. While no official details have been given to the location, it seems Halloween will be given the upgrade treatment and will be put in a Soundstage. 

I know there will be groans here. However, the original house is an all-timer, and if it is getting the Soundstage upgrade, I can't wait to experience this. 

You can see the announcement video below.

Hasta La Bye-bye for now.

Greetings internet dwellers!

The Universal Monsters may have lost their quick service restaurant, but their presence at HHN will continue. HHN announced today that the monsters will be returning in an all new house. Of course the last few years, the Universal Monsters have been featured prominently at the event. 

This time we get a little bit of a versus house in Universal Legends: Monsters Collide, featuring The Mummy, Dracula, and The Wolfman. The story involves an amulet, which The Wolfman believes can cure him of his curse. However, Dracula and The Mummy have other plans.

Express tickets also went on sale this morning.

You can watch the announcement video below. 

Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Early. Early, early, early. Halloween Horror Nights 31 will begin on September 2nd, and run through October 31st. Tickets, Unmasking The Horror Tour, and RIP Tour, all went on sale through the Universal Orlando website, which redirects from the Orlando link, on the HHN site. 

Initially, things went up early via the Universal Orlando app.

Single Night Tickets online, start at $73.99. As of this writing, nothing else has been revealed yet, but the season is upon us. One other note, is that hotel packages have also gone on sale. 

Multi-night tickets will come at a later date. 

​Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

HHN 30 has ended. It was a long road to get to the event. It was a stressful, chaotic, and unknown road. But it happened. HHN 30 managed through all of the unknowns, and crossed the finish line. As did us of course. Through all of it, HHN 30 somehow managed to do good. Sure, there were some things that were off brand, or a little different. However, for the most part, HHN 30 was a solid event.

A couple of quick notes before we get to the final rankings. There was a lot of talk this year, about shenanigans among the HHN fanbase. I'm not going to use the "D" word. Shenanigans in the HHN community is nothing new. I think the biggest problem right now, is the fandom has become a cult of personality. However, it's nothing new. I often compare HHN fans, to the Star Wars fandom. They are often just as vocal, just as passionate, and sometimes go a tad overboard. I kind of miss the days when fans were just pissed off at the marketing department, but I digress. 

I have more or less learned to tune most of it out. Sometimes things slip through, and I'm swept up in a whirlwind of shit, but it is what it is. Look, we all love the event. We are all very passionate about the event. As members of the HHN community, we should all feel like family. Sometimes families fight and have disagreements. I think the last few years things have gotten louder, as more people join the fandom. It's kind of a weird moment to be in the HHN fan community. It is what it is. So I'll just say, let's all treat each other with respect, stop vague Tweeting about things, and just be good people. 

Tying into this, I wanted to address a trend I saw this year in regards to crowds. I hate to be the one to tell you guys this, but HHN wasn't as busy as some would have you believe. Sure, most nights were steady. However, it was nowhere near what we have seen in recent times. On average, house wait times were about 70-75 minutes on busier nights. Yes, I know there were a lot of "sold out" nights, but it was obvious to me, that "sold out" wasn't truly a "sold out" night. 

I attended quite a few sold out nights this year. I tried to visit the event, with my own Covid precautions in mind. When visiting one of these nights, I was worried. However, I never ran into a situation where I couldn't do houses because of wait times. I've said this multiple times, but I don't have express. I've only had express one time during my twenty plus years of attending HHN. Every night I visited, I could have easily done nine or ten of the houses on that particular night. Because of the way I approached the event this year, I often left early.  

We have just come off a ten year stretch where houses on a night that was sold out, or extremely busy, were horrific. You haven't truly lived until you approach a house with a wait time of 180 minutes, and are overjoyed when you exit the house and only waited 90 minutes. 

I saw a trend this year, that was akin to the start of the pandemic. People would post pictures back then, of horrific crowds waiting to get through security, at park open. Then they would complain on the internet about how crowded it was. I mean, what do you expect to happen at park open?

If you arrive at HHN between the hours of about 8:30pm and 10pm, you are going to wait in traffic to get in. This is how it's been for a long time. It is nothing new. A lot of times, people are just waiting for free parking. Traffic tends to back up because of that. HHN, generally has a second rush of people coming in about 10pm. It's been this way for a long time, and most people should know better. 

A lot of times, this would not reflect what was actually going on in the park. I even saw pictures of crowds being let out of Nightmare Fuel, and people complaining about how crowded it was. It's going to look busy when you take pictures of people leaving the show. 

I just never experienced anything to level of busy people were yelling about on Twitter. It never reached a level compared to what we have seen in recent times. It was actually a nice breath of fresh air.

Let's talk houses. Overall, the house lineup this year was really solid. Despite the challenges of Covid, I think Universal pulled off the houses really well. Even with the plexi, face coverings, and masks. I was quite happy at the end of the day, and the event this year, was truly made on the strength of the houses. 

As per usual, we will start at the bottom and work our way up to number 1.

FINAL RATING: 6.5/10
​I got to experience this last year during the Halloween festivities. It was my least favorite then, and it still was this time around. This was also the house I did the least during the event. I don't think everything quite worked, and things that they tried just didn't gel overall. I really like the concept, but the scares, repetitiveness, and even design, just didn't work for me. Outside of the facade, the house was just kind of bland. 

FINAL RATING: 7.5/10
Beetlejuice wasn't the scariest house this year at HHN. However, I think where the house succeeded, was in what HHN does best. The team did a great job transporting you through the film. The house was colorful, lively, and fun. If you are an uber fan of the film, then I think the house did it justice. For me, I found it a little boring, with a desire for more scares. However, I think it worked overall.

FINAL RATING: 8/10
While I think sCarey mostly succeeds, personally I was looking for something a little bit more in here. The flow of each segment, seemed a little too abrupt, and for the most part were really short. In the end though, it was a good time revisiting some of the spooky town's greatest hits. Some genuinely creepy moments, especially in the Schoolhouse segment.

FINAL RATING: 8.5/10
Do not let this placement fool you. Texas did a lot of things right. I think out of all the houses this year, TCM was by far the house with the best scares overall. I went through this house with a few people who were newbies to the event, and they pegged this one as the scariest. I think that says a lot. I really like the compromise in here with the original film, and TCM 2. I think it played well, as a greatest hits of the films. It also offered some unique visuals and gags that I really enjoyed. The pig segment for example, was pretty neat, and the Leatherface running along the windows was fun. Overall, a solid house. 

FINAL RATING: 9/10
The Haunting of Hill House is one of the best looking houses, HHN has done. The facade alone was something to behold. There is no doubt of that. It was creepy, had some great scares, and was a fantastic greatest hits for the show. The only real issue I have, is that a lot of the scares were dependent on timing. More times that not, timing was way off here. Still, when Hill House was firing on all cylinders, it was great. 

FINAL RATING: 9.5/10
It was my favorite house last year during the Halloween festivities, and I loved it even more this year. I adore the story in here. I love the atmosphere. I love the soundtrack. I love the scareactor's in here. I simply love this house, and what it did. 

FINAL RATING: 9.5/10
Spooky, creepy, scary, and fun. Puppet Theatre was dripping with atmosphere, and packed full of scares. I love the setting in here, and thought everything translated quite well. I enjoyed the gimmick of the marionette room. I'm going to be hearing the hum of that dancing gnome for a long time in my head.  

FINAL RATING: 9.5/10
Sure, the house was a little too inside baseball, but I think one could enjoy it without all the knowledge of what was actually happening. Those HHN newbies I went to the event with liked the house quite a bit, and still got good scares. The marriage of HHN lore with Horror Unearthed, Legendary Truth, and Boris Shuster, worked well. The setting, the scares, the sets, and the atmosphere, were all great in here. I think the Shrek location has gone out with a bang.

FINAL RATING: 9.5/10
I've said it multiple times, and it's gotten me in trouble multiple times. I really don't care about Icons. I enjoy them for what they are, but an event isn't swayed for me if we have Icons or not. I don't know if it was my state of mind during the event, or perhaps some longing for nostalgia, but HHN Icons: Captured really hit for me. I loved how they wove all of the Icons into Fear's lantern. I loved the atmosphere, energy, and the house had some great scares. The throne gimmick was fun, and it was blast trying to see all the Icons on the throne at any given time. Just a fun love letter for an anniversary year. 

FINAL RATING: 10/10
There was a lot happening in Wicked Growth. One of my favorite elements of the house, was how it transitions from a creepy, almost Texas Chainsaw vibe, into this journey through Halloween. From the radio message in the old farmhouse, you immediately get what's going on. Wicked Growth, I felt, was the scariest house at the event. It oozed atmosphere & energy, and had some cleaver scares. Like the gnome in Puppet Theatre, I will probably be saying "I am Halloween!" and burping for a long time to come. 

Truth be told, I don't think the scare zones overall this year were particularly strong. However, I think most of them were fun overall.

FINAL RATING: 5/10
I think everyone thought this was going to be something different. The characters we actually got in the zone, killed it though. I think it did succeed at giving off that old school HHN vibe, but I think we can all agree it was missing those familiar, classic HHN characters. 

FINAL RATING: 6.5/10
CRYPTIC! Ahem. The biggest issue with Crypt TV, were the placement of the little show scenes. San Fran can get pretty crowded, and the stages at either end, didn't help matters. Still, I really enjoyed the quick trip with these characters. All the performers were great. 

FINAL RATING: 7/10
Central Park tends to have the same problem as San Francisco. It can get pretty crowded. Still, I really like what they did here. The characters were all great, and the atmosphere at night was superb. Of course, I am particularly fond of the Knucklegrunts. Cerebin rules. 

FINAL RATING: 8/10
I do find it funny that all of the former would-be Icons of HHN, had a presence at the event outside of HHN Icons: Captured. The Terra Queen of course was in Gorewood, Cindy was in sCarey, and Eddie had his own zone. I love the chaos of this zone, and Eddie was great to see. At times, Jack of course, would join his brother on stage. A great zone to just take in, and enjoy the sights and sounds. 

FINAL RATING: 8/10
I more or less, embraced the weirdness of Seek And Destroy from the beginning. Over the course of the event, they improved on things and the zone got better. The cast in here was always fantastic, and they brought the energy. Seek And Destroy wasn't particularly fantastic, or an all-timer zone. However, it was fun, weird, and fantastic just to stand and watch. 

A brief word on the shows. I only saw Nightmare Fuel once, as I did not feel comfortable sitting in the theater. However, I waited for a slower night and finally got to see it. I enjoyed the show. I would like to see where it could go in the future. Marathon of Mayhem: Carnage Factory was fine, but I thought it lacked the energy of 2019's show. 

So as we close out here, I just want to say thanks to everyone for following along as usual. It was an incredibly long year. Longer even, because of the 2020 cancellation.

There's still a part of me, that can't believe we actually got an event. Given the challenges with the pandemic, I think Universal did a good job with the event. I think it's crazy that the event turned out as good as it did, given the circumstances.

So with that, we close out another year for Halloween Horror Nights. I'm hoping that next year can be fully back to normal, but I'm trying not to jinx it. 

Halloween Horror Nights 30 was a strong year. It was fun, and a nice slide back into some sort of normalcy. I think this year will be memorable for a lot of reasons. And I am grateful we all got to experience it.

And that will do it. You can see all of my HHN 30 coverage, on the HHN 30 year page. Also don't forget to check out the Youtube channel. There's lots of content this year, including house walkthroughs. 

Back to a more normal park updates schedule.

Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

It's hard to believe that we basically are at the mid-way point of Halloween Horror Nights 30. As I mentioned at the beginning of the event, my coverage was going to be a little different this year. I continue to be overjoyed at the fact, that I am actually walking through the fog of HHN 30. However, I personally am doing so with covid in mind. Yes, that word. I am tired of hearing it, as most are. However, I have tried to approach the event this year with the pandemic in mind. 

I am not attending as much as I often do, and I am not at the event for as long as I usually am. Because of that, I have not been keeping a running commentary on the houses, like I usually do. In a normal year, I will update my house rankings every week. Because I am not constantly running through the houses as often as I usually do, I needed a little more time to process them. 

That being said, it is time to update my house and scare zone rankings. I will probably do one more, when the event reaches its climax. 

I did rank everything after opening weekend, with my initial reactions. Things have changed a bit, as they often do. In that aspect, it's pretty much par for the course. 

​The house content this year is very strong. While I think all the houses are pretty solid, there are one or two, which I may not be so high on. That being said, HHN 30 is a strong year when it comes to the houses.

As per usually, I'll start at the bottom and work my way up.

10. Revenge of the Tooth Fairy - 6/10
​It's a good house with some awesome visuals, but a bit boring and repetitive in its execution. 

9. Beetlejuice - 7/10
​A good comedy house for the year. It's bright, colorful, and fun. However, I think it's a bit sparse and lacks any real good scares. Still a joyful romp overall.

8. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - 8/10
I am a bigger fan of this house than most. I love the twist with TCM 2, to offer something a bit fresh. Some really good scares and a great atmosphere. 

7. Welcome to sCarey: Horror in the Heartland - 8/10
A fun nod to HHN's past set in the creepy town. Great atmosphere, and some nice scares. I think I personally wanted something a little bit more in here, but it's fine the way it is. 

6. The Haunting of Hill House - 8.5/10
Hill House really improved for me over the last few weeks. It's dripping with atmosphere, and has some nice scares. The set design is something to witness. It nails the creepy mansion vibe pretty well. 

5. The Bride of Frankenstein Lives - 10/10
I love this house. I love it so much. I just love it. 

4. Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience - 10/10
Creepy, scary, eerie, and pulsing with energy. Lots of good scares, and the design in here is fantastic. 

3. Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth - 10/10
There is so much happening in here. I love it. I love all the Legendary Truth and Horror Unearthed history in here. Great design, and some nice scares. 

2. HHN Icons: Captured - 10/10
A wonderful love letter to HHN with some great design, energy, and scares. The rotating Icons on the throne is a nice touch, and offers a unique drive to do the house multiple times. 

1. Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin - 10/10
It is Halloween. From design, to energy, to atmosphere, to scares, Wicked Growth has it all.

The scare zones are interesting. They are trying, some more than others. I'm spending a lot of time in them, so I've gotten pretty acquainted with the zones.  

5. 30 Years 30 Fears - 5/10
Eh. 

4. Crypt TV - 7.5/10
The biggest issue with Crypt TV, is in its location. The bottleneck of people over there, can make it impossible to enjoy. The Scareactors in here are great, and elevate the zone. 

3. Gorewood Forest - 8/10
No surprise, it's a great use of the space. It also suffers a bit from the same problem as Crypt TV. Both Central Park and San Fran, tend to have bottlenecks. However, the design in here is great, and the atmosphere is fantastic. 

2. Seek And Destroy - 8/10
They've made some tweaks. And it's worked. Energy from everyone in here. The victims add something to the overall zone, and it's fun to watch. 

1. Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie's Revenge - 8.5/10
Fun, loud, and a nice nostalgia trip for HHN. Lots of great interactions in here. 

So there you have it. It's been a fun run through the first half of HHN 30. I look forward to getting back out there next week. I've been trying to vlog while I'm down there, but keep getting distracted. I did do one this past Thursday, you can see that below.

I also did another episode of Into The Fog, talking about the Legions of Horror, and how they tie into Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth. If some of the story in the house is confusing to you, gander at the episode for some insight. You can also see that below.  

Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Well, it hath begun. Halloween Horror Nights 30 opening weekend, has come and gone. It was an interesting couple of days. Things seemed to go smoothly, despite my own personal nerves and jitters. It was a fun and tiring time. 

While there are some houses that may not be high on my list, pretty much all of the houses are strong. Each have unique strengths, which help most of them standout. 

I was given a unique opportunity on Friday, to join the members of the media for opening night festivities. This gave me the opportunity to film the houses. It was a weird experience for me to actually do this. It felt odd, to be recording through the experiences. 

I vlogged, all of my opening weekend shenanigan's. While I won't be keeping a running commentary this year of my ranking changes weeke-to-week, I will give a quick list, and some numbers. 

Houses
1. HHN Icons: Captured 10/10
2. Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth 9/10
3. Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience 9/10
4. Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin 9/10
5. The Bride of Frankenstein Lives 9/10
6. Welcome to sCarey: Horror in the Heartland 8/10
7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 8/10
8. The Haunting of Hill House 8/10
9. Beetlejuice 7/10
9. Revenge of the Toothfairy 6/10

Scare Zones
I need to spend more time in the zones, but here are my favorites so far.

1. Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie's Revenge 8/10
2. Gorewood Forest 8/10
3. Crypt TV 6/10
4. Seek And Destroy 6/10
5. 30 Years 30 Fears 6/10

So with that, we move on to next week. You can see the vlog below.

Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

To say that things are a bit rough around these parts, is kind of an understatement. Tempers are flaring, diverticulitis is flaring, Covid is flaring... The discourse has been getting louder, and louder. This morning, Halloween Horror Nights has tried to silence some of the discourse, by dumping everything in one announcement. 

The remainder of the houses, all of the scare zones, and the shows, have been revealed. To say this kind of feels like a limp to some kind of victory, I think would be a little bit disingenuous. It feels like a victory, finally, to have all of this stuff finally revealed. I am reminded of my childhood here. Hours and hours spent, playing a Nintendo game (more than likely Super Mario Bros.), stuck on a level for weeks, only to finally beat the level. There's a feeling of "OK, now what?" 

Regardless, we have our stuff. All 10 houses, all 5 scare zones, and two shows. 

Houses Announced Today:

​Welcome to Scarey: Horror in the Heartland
The town placed a sign at the entrance to Carey, Ohio, saying it’s a nice place to live. Unfortunately nobody lives here very long. No one escapes from Carey, where bad things just happen, and new terrors rain down year after year.

Casefiles Unearthed: Legendary Truth
Follow the trail of a private eye as an investigation into the supernatural leads you into a dark world of ghouls and terrifying creatures.

Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin King
There’s no breaking free from the vines of the Pumpkin Lord, here to entrap you in his ever-growing evil.

Revenge of the Toothfairy
The innocent traditions of the tooth fairy hide a darker ritual. It’s an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.The innocent traditions of the tooth fairy hide a darker ritual. It’s an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Puppet Theatre: Captive Audience
A puppeteer and a ballet troupe trapped in a deserted theatre for years are about to turn you into a human puppet. That’s your cue to scream.

Scare Zones

Crypt TV
Step inside Crypt TV, a dark universe of monsters that reside in the same reality—on your screen, in your pockets and now San Francisco.

30 Years 30 Fears
The monsters you’ve most dreaded from past Halloween Horror Nights have taken over the streets. They’re back and you’re history.

Seek And Destroy
In Seek and Destroy, guests will find themselves in a New York dystopia where a ruthless alien cyber regime, led by The Controller, has taken over – relentlessly scanning the city streets for humans and turning them into fuel.

Gorewood Forest
Sixteen years after the gory sacrifices of Terra Cruentus, the heartless Terra Queen is back. Evil is in her nature.

Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie's Revenge
Get ready for the feel-bad movie of the year. Eddie Schmidt, Jack the Clown’s brother, is filming a horror film and the monsters are real.

Shows

Halloween Nightmare Fuel
A new show is igniting Halloween Horror Nights, featuring fire, pyro and aerial performers.

Marathon of Mayhem: Carnage Factory
There’s no manufacturing the screams as a terrifying show comes to life in Universal Studios’ lagoon. It’s a fear factory.

So there you have it. Everything is revealed. The HHN Tribute Store is starting to take shape. Scare Zones are out, and houses are ready. Regardless of how the event is put forth this year, it's happening.

Be good people. 

​Hasta La Bye-bye for now. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

In an unusually early announcement, Halloween Horror Nights dropped a bunch of thing. Let's start with this, Frequent Fear passes and Rush of Fear passes are on sale. So y'all can stop bellyaching. We move on from that. 

Icons: Captured, was also announced. The house will feature all of the Icons. The house will also have a unique twist. Depending on when you visit, a different Icon will reign supreme. So different Icons will take the spotlight at different times. 

I apologize for the tardiness this morning. I actually slept last night, and I'm still fending off this diverticulitis. 

Anyway, HHN 30 trudges on. We are less than one month away from the start of the event. FFP and Rush of Fear are now on sale. Things. Things are trudging forward. You can see my latest construction updates below. As well as the house announcement video. 

​Hasta La Bye-bye fornow.