Final HHN 30 Overview & Final Rankings

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.

HOUSES

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.

10. REVENGE OF THE TOOTH FAIRY

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. 

9. BEETLEJUICE

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.

8. WELCOME TO SCAREY: HORROR IN THE HEARTLAND

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.

7. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

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. 

6. THE HAUNTING OF HILL 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. 

​5. THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN LIVES

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. 

4. PUPPET THEATRE: CAPTIVE AUDIENCE

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.  

3. CASE FILES UNEARTHED: LEGENDARY TRUTH

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.

2. HHN ICONS: CAPTURED

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. 

1. WICKED GROWTH: REALM OF THE PUMPKIN

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. 

SCARE ZONES

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.

5. 30 YEARS 30 FEARS

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. 

4. CRYPT TV

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. 

3. GOREWOOD FOREST

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. 

2. LIGHTS, CAMERA, HACKTION: EDDIE'S REVENGE

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. 

1. SEEK AND DESTROY

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.

FINAL RATING: 8.5/10

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.