My Personal Favorite Houses and Scare Zones at Halloween Horror Nights Part 1

These are a few of my personal favorite houses and scare zones in my opinion at my experince at Halloween Horror Nights. So I hope you enjoy this.

2010

This is one the best mazes they based it on one of my favorite subjects. Being an expert on Greek Myths, I can recognize some these monsters of classical mythology. Such as Medusa, the Cycoples and the Minotaur. I think they should do some other mythology/folklore based houses. 

I though that they did a good job on the backstory. A welthy bussines man goes berserk after losing his fortune of the stock market crash of 1929. Murders everyone. A group of ghost hunters break into the house. The rooms of the house were very well done and elaborate. It like The Haunted Mansion, but with more scares. Great illusions and effects. 

I they did a great job creating a scare zone. Using the enchantress as a distration, to lure gusest to their doom, and the hags as the real scares, coming ot of huts.    

This one of most uniqie scare zones, using images and skeletons from the Meican Day of the Dead. It less scary and kinda family freindly. 

This one of the best scare zones of them all. Giving a nice tribute all the characters and creatures from the past houses and scare zone of the decade, including the icons and the overlord of Fear himself.  

  2012
As I perviously mentioned in my blog post. 2012 was the best event in my opinion, so far.

 This is what I call a haunted house. An abandoned turn of the century style manor house at the end of the street. Dilapiated, dust collecting. The atmosphere and seting is perfect for an old dark house. Most the scares were possesed inainmate obgects coming to life. They should have added more  ghosts scaractors. The finale room had a surereal tone to it 

It was nice to show Universal paying homage to their legacey of horror from the 20s to 40s. The Blacklighting effect was great, and a little disorinting.

The sets were ortante and had great specal effects of flying gargoyles.

The Tradtionals was a great seting for Woody Wookpeker was a great place to set the iconic images of Halloween.

Trick or Treaters

Scarecrows

 

Witches

The Phantom of the Opera

The maze is loosley based on the Lon Caney film and novel by Gaston Leroux. Not the ALW musical.

Facade: Very much similar to the Paris Opera House.

 Grand Staircase/Masqurade: Once inside, guests enter the masked ball, where 4-5 elegantly dressed scareactors mixed within a few costumed dummies will attack from areas among a mirror maze on the sides of the room. Guests will encounter the Phantom dressed in his Red Death costume from a balcony in the center of the room.

 The Theater: Guests will have to make their way the balcony seating section of the Paris Opera House. The seats on either side of the aisle would be filled with patrons (mostly dummies, but a few scareactors mixed within). There would also be an audio mix that of a perfomance of Faust, where Carlotta is playing the role Margurite. Not Christine. However, when Carlotta sings, she crokes like a toad. Suddenly the ceiling would be struck by lightning causing the chandelier to spark and fall.

Apollo's Lyre: We proced up to the rooftops of the Oper House overlooking the Parisian cityscape. The scene is very peacful, however The Phantom can be seen flying from statue to another. If that dosn't scare you, then the living statues will.  

Catwalk: Making your way through hanging ropes & sandbags, the Phantom appears (on a platform a little higher up) with the body of Joseph Buquet, a noose around the neck. The body then comes back to life andl warn you to keep the hand at the level of your eye because you wouldn't want to fall victim to the Phantom's punjab lasso. The floor would suddenly "drop" a little complete with the sound of the catwalk collapsing.

Backstage Corridor: The backstage area would utilize the same red ornate walls found within the rest of the Paris Opera House. So that it gives it that much more of a luxurious feel to it. 

Prop Room/Costume Department: The prop room is littered with portraits, statues, trunks, crates, antiques, and furniture. A couple of scareactors are hidden amoung the manneguins in costumes, so they could blend in and scare the guests as they pass by.

Christine's Dressing Room: After passing through a backstage corridor, you'll enter Christine's dressing room. There will be a full length mirror in the room, which would actually be a two-mirror scare from the Phantom. Christine would appear from behind an oriental room divider (used for changing clothes) to warn you "He's here, the Phantom of the Opera"

 Sceret Passageway/ Catacombs: The guests will make their way through a secret passage (behind the mirror) that will lead them down into the sewer and underground tunnels beneath the opera house. There would be a damp musty scent in the air, water dripping from rusted pipes, and every few feet there'd be mini air hoses on the floor to simulate rats on the floor. The floor would ramp downwards to give the illusion that you're descending deeper beneath the building. The Rat Catcher will make his apperance by figtening guests from an agasent passageway. 

The Phantom's Lair: Guests emerge into the underground lair of Erik, the Phantom of the Opera.  The masked fiend alternates between scowling at guests and playing his organ, which activates air jets and a burst of noise from the organ pipes behind the guests. As guests attempt to flee through the crypt, they are attacked by Erik, now without his mask. 

Tourcher Chamber: Guests will have to make their way through a mirror maze. The room seems to be heating up. Raoul and the Persian tell guests that they must leave now.

The Graveyard/ Finale Scene: After escape the Phantom's clutches. Guests are no longer in The Paris Opera House, they are now in the graveyard. Christine can be seen sitting at the side of her deceased father's grave. The haunting sound of a violin can be heard within the night sky. A pile of bones will sping to life, lunging at the guests. As the guests exit the house, the The Phantom himself will give guests one finale scare. 

Scareactors:
- Masqueraders
- Red Death
- Theater patrons 
- Joseph Buquet
- Christine Daae

-The Rat Catcher
- Erick; the Phantom

-Raoul

-The Persian

Soundtrack: Phantom of the Opera 1989 OST
Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera

The Haunting of Hellgate Manor

Synopsis: Set in the late-'60s, early-'70s. A paranormal investigator and his team spend a night of terror in England's most haunted and accursed mansion. 

Maze back story: Highgate Hall was built in the 16th century by Lord Ambrose Highgate for his bride Lucretia. They lived happily together, until Lucretia fell gravely ill. Lord Highgate tried in vain to cure his wife, hiring every physician that money can buy, but at no avail. Eventually Lucretia died. The devastated Lord Highgate was desperate to bring his beloved back from the grave, so he dabbled in dark spells and arcane rituals that would promised to bring Lucretia back life in exchange for a living soul. The attempt was successful, but something was wrong with her, she was not the same woman that he new but something hallow. This became the first series of tragedies, murders, suicides, and other unspeakable acts of evil. Catherine gave birth to a deformed child during the pelage of 1609. In 1796, Elizabeth was murdered on the eve of her wedding by her lover for her money. The biggest death occurred in 1910, when the Highgates were hosting a dinner party with friends and associates. Vincent became possessed and murdered his family, party guests and the servants. Devastated of the atrocities he had committed, Vincent committed suicide. Since then, tortured souls of the Highgates and their victims haunt the ground of the halls for all eternity. The locals now called this cursed place Hellgate Manor. On May 11th 1969, Professor Victor Graves and his team of psychics and paranormal investigators explore the accursed grounds of Highgate Manor. By the 13th, they were never seen again.

Facade: A gothic victorian manor house

 Living Room/Foyer (Transitional)
The appearance of the mansion's foyer is condemned and abandoned, there's dust gathering on the furniture, the portraits are faded because of age, and the room smells like rotted wood.

Grand Staircase

On the staircase, the ghost of young woman can be seen gliding up and down the stairs or standing midway. Without warning, another ghostly enity pops out of nowhere. 

 Seance
Graves and group of clairvoyants are gathered around a table performing a seance. The room is set up with a variety of Graves' ghost hunting equipment (recorders, cameras, and an EMF reader). The head medium is apparently under a trance where her eyes are revealed to be pale and white and lashes out on the guests. Whenever the reader rapidly beeps, the camera flashes in like a strobe light and the ghost of Lord Highgate emerges from hidden door, frightening the guests.

Library/Private Study

The guest enter the library, now Professor Graves' private study and find him in a state of panic, Graves begs you to run away. All his equipment and machinery are going haywire the lights of the room start to flicker, as paper and books are flying on the ceiling. The ghost of Elizabeth emerges from a trapdoor tries to attack the quest with a cleaver.

Portrait Hallway
The guest have to pass through a hallway with the portraits of the Highgate family ancestors. Some of them will change right before guests eyes. At the end of the hallway stands the ghost of Lord Highgate, once agian. He vanishes, but reapers right in front of the guests. 

Nursery

The bedroom/playroom is adorned with porcelain dolls and old fashion wind-up toys. Child like giggles can be heard within the room. Her rose-pink canopy bed appears to be empty, but when wind-up toys move by themselves and a music box plays "O Willow Waly," the ghost of Catherine cradles her deformed baby in a rocking chair as ghostly children pop out in darken corners. 

 Dressing room

In a woman's bedroom, a group of ghost women try to seduce the guest, obviously succubi-like ghosts. As you enter the room, you see a the still-twitching corpse of their last victim hanging by the neck of a noose. 

 Conservatory
A possessed clairvoyant (similar to Eleanor's character in The Haunting) is in a state of trance and is dancing aimlessly in the conservatory. However, real scare comes when an angelic statue in the conservatory comes to life and attacks the guests. 

Celler
A fairly typical looking basment with a variety of crates and furniture draped in linen sheets. Strangely enough there are also mannequins in the room that are also covered in sheets. A couple of scareactors are hidden among the mannequins wearing sheets so they could blend in with the mannequins, as to scare the guest as they pass by. Another scareactor will pop up from behind one of the crates or underneath the stairs. 

 Hidden passage/Catacombs
The guest enter a hidden doorway and into a narrow hallway lined the with skulls and carcasses.. Some of will attack the guests behind boo-holes.

 Dungeon or Torture Chamber
The hidden passage leads to torture chamber where Lord Ambrose Hellgate reappears sporting an executioner's hood, torturing another investigator on a rack.

Hellgate Cemetery
Snow is falling on the tombs, ghouls and zombies pop out of random places in the cemetery (via tombs, crypts, etc.). The ghost of Lady Hellgate wanders the cemetery crying tears of blood. 

The Crypt
. After the cemetery, guests will enter a crypt where we see Elizabeth's body being laid to rest.  As you pass by, two other Angels of Death attack from an adjacent crypt.

Characters:
Ghosts - Deathly pale specters with hollow eyes and Victorian era clothing.

Lord Vincent Highgate - A physically imposing figure dressed in British aristocratic clothing, so think of Barnabus Colins from Dark Shadows.

Lady Elizabeth Highgate - A Ghostly woman, in an 18th century wedding gown but with an emaciated appearence. 

Lord Ambrose Highgate- A ghastly man in cloaked shroud. 

The Possessed - Human victims with dead-white eyes.

Professor Victor Graves - A professor with a conservative 1960s' style attire. Tattered and in a state of delirium due to the hauntings.
Investigation Team - The human Victims of Hellgate Manor. 
Angels of Death- Angelic statues depicting as weeping, therefore the cover the face. When they show their face, it's revealed to be monsterously demonic. Based on the ones from Doctor Who

Sleepy Hollow at Greenfeild Village

Sleepy Hollow is a family frendily halloween event, taking place at Greenfeild Village

 Guests will begin their journey at the village of Sleepy Hollow. It is indeed a quaint little hamlet with characters in period style costumes, interacting with visitors in friendly words of warning.
The street is all decked out with jack o lanterns, and corn husks. The doors are adorned with rings of garlic and crosses, just to protect themselves from any dark spirits, as well as offering of sweets to the good spirits left at the doorsteps. 

Moving on, guests will enter a loft barn, where a Halloween party is being thrown by The Van Tassel Family. Music, dancing, games and treats will be provided for tonight's entreatment. Outside, a fire is burring brightly as patrons roast marshmallows, sip hot cider, as the storyteller weaves stories of ghost, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night.

After guests leave the comfort and warmth of Sleepy Hollow. They'll notice a shift in the autumn air. Only the bravest soul will continue their journey. Passing by the church and graveyard, guests will pause an read some epatheas inscibed with dark humor.

Ethereal music floats through the night air, as spirits in 18th century clothing dance the night away.

An old school house comes into view. It seems empty, but look inside and you'll find furniture being overturned, school books hovering, writing on the blackboard. Listen closely, as the school bell sounds an ominous toll. Is this work of mischievous spirits, or a just some prank.

In the forest, invisible sprits play ticks on your senses. Spectral lights gleam and drat from tree to tree.

Within the woods, a groups of gypsies have set up camp. Entreating guests with music, dance and having your fortunes told. They may even conjure spirits and perform fire dancing.

  A once grand manor house comes into view. On the upper balcony, the spirit of a young woman all dressed in white tells her story of love, betrayal, and death.

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A covered bridge comes into view, in which guests must make their way through. The sounds horse's hooves can be heard within, as if the sudden approaching sounds that The Headless Horseman could be sneaking up on you

After emerging from the bridge, guests know that their not out of the woods yet. As the massive figure of the infamous Headless Horseman appears before guests. Galloping with amazing stunts, with a carved out jack-o-lantern in one hand and sword in another. This will be ending for a Halloween adventure. 

Thoughts and Idas for Kings Island Halloween Haunt

Mazes 

The ones that will be stayin are 

CareEvil

Corstalkers

Wolf Pack

Tombstone Terrortory

Madame Fatetale's Cavern of Terror

Here are some of my ideas for some new mazes

Litterary Terror: A maze in which geusts will enter an old libbary and into a world of litterature's most terrifying works. From Edgar Allen Poe, Dante's Inferno, H P Lovecraft, and many others.

Phantom Theater: The house will be a tribute and homage to the past attraction. Combinding the props, and live actors that will make this maze a unique experince. It will be dark, but with some humor in it.

Fright Factory: A steampunk themed maze, in which geusts will encounter mechanical monsters.

White Chaple: Streets of Blood: Here gustes will travel back in time to 19th century London, where they will encounter Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd, Dr Jeklly/Mr Hyde and Count Dracula. 

The Flight of Fear will be conterted into a new maze. Within a top secert millitary base, a group of reasherches have unwitingly unleashed a dark engery from within the an ailen spacecraft. 

In addition to the scare zones, their will be roaming hords wondering around the park. From escaped lunitics, werwolf packs, witch covens, zombies and many others.