HHN: Double Feature

Icons: The Director and The Usher 

Premies: The Usher and Director team up together for the first time for a scareathon of horror movies

Houses 

The Director invites you to a double feature at the Hollywood Drive In Theater for a midnight marathon of film's greatest horror films. From the classic black and white to the modern masterpieces in blood red technicolor.    

Take a behind the screams tour through an abandoned warehouse, where the monsters aren't born but made. Extracted from the blood, sweat, and tears (and spare body parts) from mankind, these manufactured monstrosities are made to order for the event of Horror Nights. 

  It's the annual homecoming at Hollywood High, but the blood thirsty greasers have crashed in and are armed to the teeth. A surviving group have decided to fight back with wooden stakes as they escort civilians through the halls and room of Hollywood High School.     

In an Arctic outpost, a group of men have found something beneath the ice for thousands of years. An alien organism that can assimilate the form of it's victims, as paranoia spread like an epidemic as everyone is turned against each other. Not knowing the difference between man or monster.    

In October 21, 1994, a group of film makers shoot a documentary film of a local legend with the woods of  Burkittsville, Maryland. They were never seen again. Relive through the camera leanness of the found footage that changed face of the horror genera. 

Remember those fairy tales you're parents use to tell you before bedtime, those weren't stories they were warnings. Based on the hit TV series on NBC, see through the eyes of a Grimm   as you find yourself in the forests and back alleys of Portland inhabited by creatures that were thought to be the stuff of legend.Confront you're inner beast and see the darkness that lurks within us all. 

The ancient traditions of Samhain or All Hallows have survived years into what is now known as Halloween, but after years of commercialization have left these traditions to the history books but there's a reason these rules were meant to never be broken, now you will see why humans used to fear this time of year as Zombies, Vampires, Witches, Ghosts, Werewolves, psychos and the spirit of Halloween himself descends upon the small town of Waren Valley, Ohio. So put on your costume, light your jack-o-lanterns and remember check your candy! Or you'll never live for another year.

You've inherited a house from you're eccentric uncle. But you are not alone in this house, it home to 12 souls imprisoned within the glass walls. The First Born Son, The Jackal, The Torn Prince, The Withered Lover, The Hammer, The Bound Woman, The Pilgrimess, The Anger Princess, The Juggernaut, The Great Child and Dire Mother. But their is only one more ghost to become a part of you're collection of souls, will it be you?    

Within this decaying English manor house, a vengeful spirit wanders through the halls as she never forgets and never forgives. When ever she is seen, a child in the village will die. Do you dare tread cautiously through the house before the specter of the Woman in Black claims another victim?  

Scare Zones

Lets all to the Lobby: The Usher beckons you to a screening of the latest creature feature at the Universal Place Theater. Where flickering lights of the camera are a portal to world where monsters are flesh and blood.

Universal Monster Cinematic Universe: Welcome, to a new age of gods and monsters. Dracula, The Frankenstein Monster, The Mummy, The Creature of the Black Lagoon,  and The Wolfman as you have never seen them before.

Retribution on Parade: The town of Shady Oaks Massachusetts is having their annual Thanksgiving parade, however the spirits of the native tribes have returned from The Spirit World and reclaim what was once theirs.

Aokigahara; Suicide Forest: At the base of Mt Fuji, is Aokigahara known as Suicide Forest. For centuries the forest was home to hundreds of disappearances, deaths and suicides. Some say the souls of those who have perished tempt mortals to lose themselves within the forest of death. Will you make it out alive?

Roaming Hords: Walkers, Purgers and Trick or Treaters  

Phantom Theater

This is based on the former attraction at Kings Island and see what if it had improved and refurbished. 

Guests will begin their journey through the queue line of a small graveyard of the performers and stagehands with humous epitaphs. (Like the one in the Haunted Mansion.) That then lead them to an abandoned turn of the century theater with boarded up windows and a run down ticket booth.   

   

Once inside, guests will navigate through the lobby of the theater and encounter their eccentric yet somewhat sinister Maestro. He welcomes guests by telling the Theater's tragic history and warns guests to leave or tempts them to venture further into the haunted halls.

Guests will then travel through a short hallway of posters of the performs when they were alive. Including The Maestro, The Great Garbonzo(daredevil), Hilda(opera singer), Lionel Burrymore (thespian actor), Wilbur Warbler (comedian), Madame Zolton ( clairvoyant), and the Mighty Bosco (strongman). Turing to the left they will then find themselves on a loading stations with a moving platform.

The hologram of a disembodied usher gestures guests to take their seats on their private boxes and wear their opera glasses. (Which are actually 3D glasses.) 

  

Once on board, they move into a dark conner where the Maestro pulls a curtain and beckons guests to venture forth into the theater. 

Guests then enter a portrait gallery of the performers which will morph into ghostly versions of their formal selves. 

In a conner we meet one of the newest additions to the attraction/theater is the famous clairvoyant Madame Zolton. She warns guests of the dangers to come on their journey.    

Traveling through the backstage corridors of dressing rooms doors, where one of them opens to revel one the performers Willard Warbler, tells us to close that door. Another door is The Mighty Bosco,  who has trouble getting out.

Inside the dressing room of Hilda in viking garb, rehearsing for her performance. When she hits a high note which causes her to break a mirror. 

Moving on, we encounter a couple of bumbling stage hands. Where one of them is all tied up, literally, and hangs upside down.

In a dark corner, a voice is heard, "Hey! Who's there?" The lights turn on by man controlling the light switch, "Go on now!" he waves with his flashlight, "the backstage area is restricted." Once he switches the lights off, he becomes a glow in the dark skeleton. 

The Usher again points us to the auditorium where the finale performance will taking place. 

Guests then find themselves in a balcony overlooking the grand stage with ghostly guests sitting on boxes.  The ghostly actors performers reenact their routines. Madame Selena and Huedini summon spirits from beyond the grave, Garbonzo shoots out from his cannon and crashes into a wall, Lionel Burrymore recites lines from Shakespeare's works from his decapitated head, while the Maestro plays a haunting refrain on his argon.    

Turing a conner, we enter Madame Zolton's spirit parlor. She warns guests of more dangers to come and must leave immediately while instruments float around her.

Inside the Prop Room artifacts and come to life, a gargoyle and speaks to us as he greets us. An Egyptian sarcophagus opens to reveal a mummy and lunges at the guests. A marionette puppet dances on it's own by invisible hands. A wooden crate containing something or someone tries in-vain to escape from it's confines. 

Guests then decanted into the Boiler Room, where two men stoking the fires for the furnace opens up to look more like a portal to Hell. A blast of hot air hits guests and their car spins out of control. 

We finale confront the Maestro for one last time as he taunts guests that they will never escape the Theater. Eventually, he struck by lighting. Afterwords guests will then disembark from their cars and return to the world of the living.     

HHN: Collections of Fear

Icon: The Collector

Backstory:In his life, he collector strange and unusual artifacts from around the world to display in his private museum. His obsession made him insane until his death and still searches to find one more thing to add to his collection. Each of these artifacts are the mazes that will be featured at the event.

Artifact 1:Lament Configuration
Artifact 2: Hatchet 

Artifact 3: Vintage Wedding Photogrpahs
Artifact 4: Voodoo Doll

Artifact 5: Sacrificial Dagger 

Artifact 6:Necromicon 
Artifact 7: Antique Mirror 
Artifact 8: Aztec Idol

Houses:

Collectors Den; Enter the Collector's Den of artifacts and curios from around the world. For years he traveled four conners of the globe, searching and collecting to satisfy his obsession. He is looking for one more thing to add to his collection. 

Hellraiser; Angles some, demons to others. Journey deep into the bowels of this hellish puzzle box where pain and pleasure collided. Pinhead and his minions have such sites to show you, it will tear you're soul apart. What's you're pleasure?   

Ash vs Evil Dead; Join Ash Williams in never-ending battle between good and evil, as the dark spirits form the pages of the Necronomicon are unleashed and possessing the living.  

Urban Legends: Goat Man; In the small town of Beltsville Maryland, there is a legend of creature half man, half goat. Some say it's the result of a science experiment gone wrong, others a demon or a guardian spirit of the forest. Those who have encountered this creature have a meet a grisly death. If these rumors are true, will you find out if the legend is or not?     

Blood Sacrifice: Hidden within the South American jungles, lies the ruined remains of an ancient temple that was once a place of worship and sacrifice. A group of archeologists have attempted to excavate this forgotten tomb, only to find that it's not distressed after all.       

Bayou of Voodoo; Deep with the swamps of Louisiana, a cult of voodoo partitioners gather under the blood moon searching for one who is pure of heart to sacrifice. Trudge you're way through the murky swamplands as undead minions prevent you're escape.

Oculus; Hidden beneath this reflected surface, lies an evil presence that have driven it's formal owners to the brink of insanity and claimed their souls. Enter a world where things are not what they appear. Will you're soul make it out alive?  

H. P. Lovecraft; Mouth of Madness; Step through the pages of one of most influential writer of horror of godlike monsters, secret cults and terror beyond our world that will drive you into madness. 

Till Death do us Part; In 1911, a tragedy occurred during the wedding that took place at Craven Manor. Both the bride, groom and guests were all found dead from no unexplained reason. Now the souls of those who have perished on this abounded house are reenacting the event that took place hundreds of years ago. And they need a living witness to take part in this unholy matrimony, are you with the bride or the groom?    

Scare Zones

Collections: The Collector is showing off his latests discoveries on display. From artifacts from the dead past to living specimens, but their is one one thing he wants to complete his curio cabinet.  

Cryptids: For years, many people have claimed seeing creatures that defy reason. Neither man nor beast, these creatures will no longer hide in the shadows. Seeing is believing.   

Ghosts of London: The city of London's past is filled with murder, plagues, and disasters for over the centuries. Now the spirits of the past walk among the living, encounter Ann Boleyn, Jack the Ripper and many more.   

Walk of Infamy; Take a tour through the walk of infamy where one of the most infamous people of history, of it's tyrant rulers, cannibals, killers and madmen.   

Innsmouth: Desperate to survive in the midst of turmoil, town members offered human sacrifices to fish-frog men known as the Deep Ones in exchange for prosperity. Now, the town’s population bears an amphibious look and don’t take kindly to strangers who venture in.

Mafia Monsters: Two rival gang members of the criminal underworld are armed at the teeth, literally. You are caught in the middle of a battle between the vampires and the zombies. 

Trip Report Halloween Horror Nights 26

On October the 14th, my family and I went to Universal's annual Halloween Horror Nights event. Here are my thoughts on the house and scare zones. 

American Horror Story

This house is probably one of the best houses in the event, they had every scene and characters from certain episodes from three seasons. Which included Murder House, Freak Show and Hotel, along with Pig Man, Tate, Rubber Man, Twisty and The Countess.

Tomb of the Ancients

 I myself am fan and expert in mythology and folklore, and this is the second house they did with deities and monsters of ancient mythology including Egyptian ones like Set, Anubis, Sekhmet, and Ammit. The scenery was fantastic with the murals, hieroglyphs and statues. The costumes and make ups were great depicting the demons and gods of the Ancient World.

Ghost Town; The Curse of Lighting Gulch 

 The sets in this house felt like we were in an old west movies, but with ghosts. The make up for the ghosts looked like they were from old black and white photographs, the costumed characters from prospectors, saloon girls, gunslingers and an old school marm. They even had some rain effects inside the house.

The Exorcist

Much like An American Werewolf in London, this house did a great job at depicting scene from the film; including the spider walk, head spinning, and the levitation off the bed. The final scene of house was very creative and surreal where we came face to face with the head of a giant demon.  

Halloween II 

This house is a follow up to the Halloween house from 2014. The scare actors were mostly Michele Myers, but they did have some brief appearances of the heroine, Dr Loomis, and his victims. They did a great job of the screen projections. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre 

This house was based on the original 1974 film of the same name, they had each scene from the movie itself with Leather Face and his demented family. 

Lunatics Playground: 

The Icon house of the event, which it was 3D house and we had to step inside the mad mind of Chance, a formal accomplice of Jack the Clown. It had a very colorful and surreal aspect to it. 

Krampus

Probably one the weakest of the houses of them all, but I'm not saying its not that bad. It had every scene from the film including the evil gingerbread men in the kitchen, the killer toys in the attic, and Krampus workshop. Though we didn't actually get to see the titular character himself and focused on his henchmen.   

Vamp 55

This had a very fun feel to it, where all of the scare actors are dressed in 1950s clothing and make up that ranged from bloody to truly vampiric.

Dead Man's Warf

This scare zone kinda of reminded me of Pirates of the Caribbean and The Fog. The scare actors costumes looked as if they have been in underwater for long. They ranged from fishermen to divers. 

Lair of the Banshees

 The wooded area had a very mythical feel to it, with it's wraiths and evil spirits. They had some traditional Celtic music to go with it. 

Apocalypse Survie or Die

This scare zone had a very Mad Max feel to it, where guests are to choose between two waring factions while being chased with chainsaws and motorcycles.

A Chance in Hell

 A scare zone where guests can get an up close encounter with the icon herself, Chance. It felt like more of a meet and greet photo op area too me.