HHN 32 is back with 10 new houses. This year there are 4 main houses featuring well know franchise and 6 original themes from the Universal minds.
Dr.Oddfellow’s twisted origins
Dr.Oddfellow is the unofficial mascot for this year. The house has a creepy circus vibe and is the origin of previous years icon Jack. There was so much going on in this house but it got quite dark which made it hard to see. For those who don’t like clowns this is the house to skip because there are a bunch both actors and props. We see Dr.Oddfellow several times throughout and the zodiac symbols are all over which are big in the theming this year.
Stranger Things
The Stranger Things house is based off season 4 of the show. There are scenes from Eddies trailer, the lab with young Eleven and 001. Plenty of jump scares with Vecna including the house where he grew up and the infamous grandfather clock. The house itself didn’t feel to scary but was more just a fun recreation for fans, my favorite was the scene with Eddie and Dustin. We did not get a Demogorgon at the end of our run through, but we saw one scaring other guest while exiting another house next-door. My girls did like that they had Running up that hill playing as we exited.
The Darkest deal
The synopsis for this house is a Blues player sells his soul to the devil to become a famous musician. This was our favorite house of the year, the visuals in this house were just so good. The lighting effects just made it top notch, between the signature on the contract and when the musicians’ soul was being taken. The costumes and scares throughout with the storyline just made this a great house.
Chucky: Ultimate kill count
Many are familiar with this evil doll that can be found in multiple films and a current tv show. Chucky is trying to get the most kills and has possessed other to achieve his goal. This takes place in the same place as the Blumhouse from last year so the house is split into 2 separate houses. Not sure if we had a bad run but the second half had almost no scares and was just several rooms of darkness. This was hands down our least favorite house of the year which was disappointing because the girls were really excited for this one.
Yeti: Campground kills
This house takes us through a campground at Shadow creek state park where a family of Yeti’s has taken over killing anyone that gets in their way. It was a bit dark in this house so it made it hard to see some of the details but there were plenty of jump scares from Yeti’s of all sizes and some of the park guests trying to survive.
The Last of us
This house is based off the video game and not necessarily the tv show that came after. This was one of the best lit houses we have been through, it was so nice to be able to see all the work that went into these sets. Now I have not played the game, but I know the general premise and the house was great. There were scares from Clickers and a cameo from Ellie and Joel near the end.
The Exorcist: Believer
This is unique house in that its based off the new Blumhouse movie that is set to come out this October. Most people are familiar with the original Exorcist where the girl was possessed by a demon. This too has a similar storyline but there are 2 girls being possessed this time. Several rooms in the house look exactly like what we have seen in the movie trailer. Of all the house this year the smell in this house was the only one that bothered me. The visuals in here were cool especially the hallway that the girls appeared in. There were a few jump scares that got the group behind us that had me and my oldest laughing for the rest of the night.
Bloodmoon: Dark offerings
This was one of my favorite original houses for the theming. The setting is Parish town a colonial village and has a moon worshiping cult. The sets in here were so cool, it felt like we were back in this old-time village. This is the house that my girls said was the scariest. There were some well-timed jump scares but this was a bit darker than I would care for, I ran into a bed post that was sticking out into the path so use caution in this one.
Universal Monsters: Unmasked
The house is in the same building as last years Monsters house but features all new Monsters this year that we havent seen as much. Phantom of the opera, Jekyll and Hyde, the Invisible man and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are haunting Paris. The scenery in here was great but I didn’t care for the direction they went with the Phantom character. Plenty of good scares especially the way they had the Hunchback coming towards us.
Dueling Dragons: Choose thy fate
The story behind the house involves Merlin and the dual between two warlocks turned to dragons after getting Merlin’s spellbook. This was one of the best houses visual wise the costumes and the scenery were awesome. The house itself was not very scary even with the trolls and fire/ice wizards jumping out. We actually did this house twice because you have to choose 1 of 2 paths towards the end and we wanted to experience both.