HHN REVEALS OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP BEING IMPATIENT AND JUST WAIT

Greetings Internet dwellers!

Let's talk HHN reveals for a moment. I've been seeing a lot of false implications over the last week, about "how far behind" HHN is, with their reveals. There is some truth, and some really bad information in regards to this notion. The noise level on this is starting to irritate me, so I'm going to vent off some steam.

1. "LAST YEAR, WE HAD 4 HOUSES AND 2 SCARE ZONES REVEALED AT THIS POINT."

I came across this the other day, in a forum post. I usually discourage people from going to these cesspools. HHN forums are typically filled with Whiny, grumpy, feel-entitled fanboys, who like to spew garbage like this. This particular post, even came packaged with a false "screenshot" of last year's site, claiming his "info" was correct. Even despite evidence to the contrary. 

Now, the initial post was made on July 22nd. So, the claim was 4 houses and 2 scare zones had been revealed up until that date last year. The truth of the matter is very different. Only four pieces of info had been revealed. Two were houses, two were scare zones. 

Last year shook-up like this:

The Walking Dead- June 9th 

From Dusk Til Dawn- July 14th

Face Off- July 16th

The Purge: Anarchy- July 21st

AVP- August 4th

Dracula Untold- August 7th

Dollhouse, Giggles, Roanoke, Bayou, Unstitched- August 12th

Halloween- August 27th

Now, there are some important points to remember here. Two of the announced things, were scare zones; scare zones, which were based on Intellectual Properties (IP's). The Purge: Anarchy, was released in theaters on July 18th, 2014. Season 7 of Face Off premiered on July 22nd, 2014. See the pattern here? 

In the pantheon of HHN reveals, scare zones are second fiddle. They aren't announced with the same fanfare as houses. They are scare zones. The only reason both properties were announced last year when they were, were because they were IP's And their debut's coincided with the reveals. 

If one wants to make a giant leap, they can surmise that perhaps, there are no IP based scare zones this year to announce with fanfare. If you examine the August 12th reveals, HHN revealed two scare zones lumped in with three houses. This is an entirely different scenario than Face Off and The Purge: Anarchy. Those five things were announced, as a mark of good faith about the "original" content that would be featured at the event. The blog headline said it all: "Halloween Horror Nights 24 Original Content Revealed."

It wasn't to announce scare zones with the sole purpose of announcing scare zones. HHN die-hards have a poor taste in their mouths, when it comes to "un-original" content. With everything up until that point being IP based, including a return of the fanboy hated The Walking Dead, it was done to ease concern. It was also done at the tail end of reveals. 

This brings up another point. This practice of revealing everything systematically through Social Media, is a fairly new phenomenon. It started in 2012. Why was it started? IP's. Getting the rights to something, can be incredibly difficult, and almost always comes with baggage. When does the property come out? How can we co-advertise? How can we build hype for the property, and the event? And so on. Case in point, The Purge: Anarchy and Face Off. Their announcements close to the individual properties coming out, are no accident. It also adds buzz among the general public.

The same rule applies in the opposite direction. Anything is possible behind the scenes. Let's look at Insidious. Why wasn't it announced the weekend the film came out? I'm willing to bet it wasn't because they just didn't want to do so. With Insidious, you also have another factor here: HHN Hollywood. Insidious is obviously a shared property, however both houses are going to be different. It is entirely possible they were just finalizing deals, and working out details. 

2. THIS YEAR, IS THIS YEAR

Who says that HHN has a set "reveal" schedule? What happened last year, happened last year. Why they chose to announce what they did, in the time- frame they did, had a purpose. This year's circumstances, are different than last year's circumstances. 

In a certain point of view, they've already announced three things for the event this year. What was the first thing they announced again? Oh, yeah, Jack The Clown is returning as host. How quickly the mindset changes when something isn't a house, or scare zone. And it was done in MAY. May, for crying out loud. It's also a testament to how fanboy rage changes on a daily basis. 

In essence, we have had one reveal every month, since May. That pretty much lines up with what they did last year, just, one thing isn't a house, or scare zone. So we have had three reveals up until this point. I could argue that Bill & Ted has been confirmed to return as well, but I digress on that point. 

3. ANOTHER REVEAL WEEK?

If you are going to systematically reveal things, as HHN has done over the last few years, then timing is everything. Reveal something too early, and people forget (especially if it isn't a known property). Reveal things too late, and people complain.

The blitzkrieg of reveals that happened in 2012 and 2013, is actually a good marketing strategy. Films follow a similar pattern. If it's a big Hollywood movie, say like Star Wars, you get that early teaser. In Star Wars' case, last November. As you get closer to the film, you have the balls-to-the-wall advertising blitz, leading up to the release. 

With a reveal week happening in early August, or mid August, it's great timing, as usually the site is finalized the last week of August. The event starts September 18th this year, so a reveal week happening around that time in August, fits perfectly. You are one month removed for the event, and at the end of August, early September, the full advertising blitz begins for the event. 

With HHN, for sake of perspective,  the teaser this year would be Jack, sprinkled in with a few announcements, and you hit a reveal week in August, followed by the marketing push. I'm pretty sure people forgot about those reveal weeks. Last year, was handled very differently than 2012, and 2013. 

Again, every year is different. I'm not saying that is what's happening this year, but as time goes on, it's possible that's where they are headed. 

4. PATIENCE AND PERCEPTION. 

I get that we live in a society these days, where everything needs to be done now. Everything must happen at this moment. However, it is still July, and still early. People act like the event will implode if things aren't revealed by August. There is no vast conspiracy happening behind the scenes, as some would like you to believe. 

Things are done a certain way, for a reason. HHN XXV will be just fine, even if they waited until the end of August to reveal everything. Which, hey, remember when they used to do that? I do.

Is HHN really "behind" in revealing stuff? That depends on your point of view. Are two missing scare zones, really that big of a deal? I hear people cry that Howl-O-Scream has revealed more stuff at this point. They've announced four houses, all of which are returning from previous years...

The argument is that at least "it's something". Sure, it's something, but how impatient are you that "it's something", is good enough for you? In terms of houses, they are on point with their reveals. Last year, AVP was next up on August 4th. 

We all just need to chill. 

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