HHN 27 SECOND WEEKEND OVERVIEW - CURRENT HOUSE AND SCARE ZONE RANKINGS

Greetings internet dwellers!

Hard to believe we have already passed the second weekend of Halloween Horror Nights 27. As most of you know, I attend the event every weekend. At least 2 days a week, but sometimes more depending on if I have vacation. I keep a running commentary every week, of how things progress.

I said during my HHN Chatcast after opening weekend, that I gave opening weekend a little bit of an extra pass because of Irma. Some stuff in the scare zones weren't completed; and in some cases, the scare zones weren't done at all. I generally do give the event a week to breathe anyway. However, the hurricane did set more back than normal.

Week 2, saw the event ramp-up to its full potential. Festival of the Deadliest, was finally coming to life the way it was supposed to be. The Purge, re-added their stuff that was taken away. The houses began to evolve into the nightmare fuel, they will eventually become.

This past Friday, saw the great HHN Blackout of 2017. That, was an interesting time. For those that don't know, Universal experienced a power outage in the back part of the park. It affected everything from Kidzone, to Springfield. This also included the shutting down of three houses: Ash Vs Evil Dead, Hive and Scarecrow: The Reaping. The clowns were also removed, and sent to the front of the park. That side of the park, never reopened that night as well. 

Universal, has a history with power issues. I heard some talk on Social Media about it being hurricane related. I'm sure Universal is happy people think that, as it may have left some, more sympathetic to the plight, but it was not. Just another one of Universal's power flukes. I have just never seen it occur during Halloween Horror Nights before. For whatever reason, the power tends to be more affected on that side of the park. 

Academy of Villains, still performed on their temporary stage in front of The Pantages theater. Their old permanent stage was completely taken down, as it sustained more damage than first thought from hurricane Irma. A new permanent stage, was being placed where the old one stood. However, the new one does look a little smaller than the last. I have to wonder if we will be getting the full Afterlife show, or perhaps, one that is a bit watered down than originally planned. Time will tell.

​So with all of that, lets get to the good stuff.  

HOUSES

An evolution of HHN houses from week-to-week happens all the time. Things evolve, things change and houses often go up or go down. Even with the interference of Irma the first week, the houses were pretty solid. I said it before, but there really are no "bad" houses this year. There are weaker houses than others. I think a lot of this year, is going to hinge on taste. 

So, let's get to my current rankings. I will start from the bottom and work my way up. 

9. HIVE

CURRENT RATING: 2.5/4
Here's the thing with Hive. It's biggest weakness, is in its repetitiveness. It relies heavily on the cast, and how aggressive they can be. I did Hive a few times this past weekend, and it was inconsistent. However, when the cast is really working, it can be quite effective. I like the concept too, which is a plus. It just needs to gel a bit better. 

8. THE HORRORS OF BLUMHOUSE

CURRENT RATING: 3.5/5
While the house might have its faults, it takes advantage of what Hive does not. This house is a loud, chaotic, sensory overload. It may not have the most elaborate sets, but the cast is really aggressive. There is a lot of energy to Blumhouse. Its major setback, is in the short scenes of Sinister and The Purge. The house is basically Insidious. Which is fine, but the Insidious stuff while good, is not as good as the Insidious house we had in 2015. Still, this one has gotten better since opening weekend. The cast is really stepping up their game. I will forever still refer to this house, as Blumsidious on Twitter. 

7. THE SHINING

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
Despite its low stance on the totem pole, I enjoy The Shining. If you like the film, the house is literally the movie. I love how they represent the madness of Jack Torrance in here. My issue isn't with the design. My issue is with the scares. There's just not a whole lot of scares going on in here. They were still adding and tweaking things, as late as this past Sunday. The frozen Jack Torrance, has finally been added to the end of the hedge maze too. I like The Shining, but if they can kick it up to high gear, this house could be epic. 

6. SAW: THE GAMES OF JIGSAW

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
Surprising to me. However, the house is already miles better than the one from 2009. It has the environment, it has the scares and it has the energy. The cast is really great in here too. There is a wonderful sense of fun going on all through this house. I often forget that Saw is in the Shrek building, which is a good thing. The house could even climb higher, if the cast can continue to keep up its energy. A surprisingly strong house. 

5. AMERICAN HORROR STORY

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
The first two nights of opening weekend, American Horror Story was extremely weak. It suffered from the same problems I had with the house, last year. It was big, with a lot of pretty sets, but little to no Scareactor's populating the great space. In addition, the scare tactics weren't working. However, the Sunday of opening weekend, changed that. Things clicked, the scares got more intense and the methods were quite unique. The energy level had gone up tenfold, buy the second weekend. For me, the weakest section is Roanoke, but its still strong. 

4. ASH VS EVIL DEAD

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
I love this house. Like I mentioned earlier, a lot of this year's enjoyment for some, is going to be purely based on taste. If you're a fan of some of these properties at the event, then literally walking through your favorite property, is going to bring you joy. Ash, is the TV show. They nailed the tone, the fun, the goriness, the grossness, the comedy and the scares. I like the more adult risks they took in here too. I'm surprised that some of it, is still there. Yes, Ash is still in the butt, and "Hello, Pussy's!" is still a thing. For now. My only complaint would be there aren't quite enough scares, but it's still a fun house. 

3. SCARECROW: THE REAPING

CURRENT RATING: 4.5/5
Scarecrow: The Reaping, is a fantastic house. The setting is unique, the scares are great and the energy is superb. I love how close quarters a lot of the houses are this year. Scarecrow takes full advantage of that, and works it nicely. My last run through of Scarecrow, wasn't quite as strong as the others, which is why it got knocked down a bit. However, I'm sure it will be back to all its glory next week. This house is so damn creepy. 

2. DEAD WATERS

CURRENT RATING: 5/5
Dead Waters, is one of those houses that fans will blabber about for years. And for various reasons. I love this house. The facade is great, the setting is great, the energy is great and it all gels nicely. My only complaint, is in its length. Other than that, Dead Waters is a fantastic house. Try doing this when its still light outside, and your eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet. Man, that shit is terrifying. Especially the listing ship part. 

1. THE FALLEN

CURRENT RATING: 5/5
Chaos. Energy. Setting. Scares. Uniqueness. These are things that I love about The Fallen. Yes, they may have abandoned the whole Angel part of the house. However, it plays just as well without them. I love the doomsday trumpets at the beginning. It sets the mood quite well. In a way, this is kind of what I wanted from Gothic. The Fallen, is a bit anti-Gothic. Gothic, was elegant in its design and characters. The Fallen, is dirty. It's characters are dirty. I love this house so much. The Fallen and Dead Waters, often interchange with each other. However, I am finding myself falling more and more, for The Fallen every run.  

SCARE ZONES

And with the houses out of the way, we move on to the scare zones. The scare zones this year, are miles better than the scare zones last year. They put actual thought and effort into them this year. There is really only one bad one. 

5. ALTARS OF HORROR

CURRENT RATING: 1/4
​It's not a scare zone.

4. FESTIVAL OF THE DEADLIEST

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
They finally plugged in the power cord this past weekend. I love the look, feel and energy in here. It's a festival of course, but one for the demons. Strippers, skeletons and minions, oh, my. A solid, fun zone. 

3. INVASION!

CURRENT RATING: 4/5
Yes, it suffers from the same problem as Dead Man's Warf last year. It tends to be a bottleneck at times. However, It's a lot of fun. The setting is unique for HHN. The flying saucer, is yes, glorious at night and the alien designs are awesome. And hey, they even try to scare you, unlike Warf last year. I love this zone. It's a personal hangout for me. 

2. TRICK 'R TREAT

CURRENT RATING: 4.5/5
Trick 'r Treat is a lovely zone. The effort put in to mimic the film, is fantastic. People actually try to do stuff in here too. That's a trend I noticed in the zones this year. Unlike last year, the Scareactor's are doing stuff. They don't just lumber around. At least, for the most part. 

1. THE PURGE

CURRENT RATING: 5/5
The Purge is an awesome zone. The character interactivity alone, is worth spending time in here. So much fun, so much chaos, so much good. Again, this is a true testament to the effort that went into the streets this year, as opposed to last year. 

So that does it for this week. I still haven't seen Bill & Ted yet, by design. I may check it out this Friday if I have time. Considering Microsoft bought out the even for this coming Thursday, I may just be doing houses Friday. We will see. 

The event marches on, and so do I. I will continue to update every week. Both here, and on Twitter. You can, as always follow me there @HHNLegacy, for real-time updates from the event as well. 

​So long, for now.