Archive for August, 2010

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Jason and Saw to Return to Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Universal Hollywood finally announced their complete maze lineup this morning. We already knew 3 of the mazes, but the final 2 were revealed today. Here is the complete list:

Mazes

  • A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again All New!
  • Friday the 13th: Kill, Jason, Kill. All New!
  • Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses in Zombievision! (3-D) All New!
  • Saw: Game Over New traps!
  • Vampyre: Castle of the Undead All New!

Scare Zones

  • La Llorona
  • Klownz
  • Freakz
  • Nightmarez
  • Lunaticz
  • Pigz

HHN opens on September 24. Online prices range from $34 to $54 (depending on the date). If you buy your tickets at the gate, they will be $59. There’s also a “Killer Deal Nights Pass” that gets you 9 select nights for only $59.

Posted in Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, Southern California | 1 Comment »

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando: 2010 Details Revealed!

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

Well, they finally announced the maze and scare zone lineup for this year. Here it is, kids:

Houses

1. Catacombs: Black Death Rising

2. Hades: The Gates of Ruin

3. Horror Nights: The Hallow’d Past

4. Havoc: Dogs of War

5. ZombieGeddon

6. Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate

7. Psychoscareapy: Echoes of Shadybrook

8. Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes

Scare Zones

1. The Coven

2. Zombie Gras

3. Saws ‘n Steam

4. Esqueleto Muerte

5. Fear Revealed XX

6. HHN 20 Years of Fear

Soooo…what do we think?

Posted in Florida, Halloween Horror Nights Orlando | 1 Comment »

2010 Haunt Profile: Step Right Up for the Circus Circus Fright Dome

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Circus Circus Adventuredome has announced that it’s 2010 Fright Dome will once again feature a haunt themed to SAW, and will offer a new haunt themed to My Bloody Valentine. It’s interesting how they are using haunt concepts that were also at Universal’s 2009 HHN just down the road (5 hrs down). We’ll like to see how their versions stack up. Rounding out the 5 haunts will be the original mazes Flesh Feast, Chainsaw Massacre, and Hillbilly Hell. Scare zones will include Zombie Apocalypse and Clown Evil Alley.  They also will feature two haunted ride simulators Elvira’s Superstition and Dracula’s Haunted Castle.

In addition, they are expanding the haunt into the hotel itself with a Haunted 13th Floor Tour of the Circus Circus hotel tower. This ”tour” of the hotel’s real 13th Floor will take place daily from 2pm to 10pm everyday in October and will have guest  visit 13 frightening rooms on the 13th floor. Appropriately the tickets will cost $13.

The Scare Zone may be packing up our bags for a quick road trip out to Vegas in October.

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Update: New Queen Mary Name Not So Lame After All

Friday, August 20th, 2010

A couple weeks ago, we reported that Queen Mary Shipwreck was changing its name to “Halloween at the Queen Mary.” Well, we were wrong. Apparently, that was just a teaser, and the actual new name is “Queen Mary Dark Harbor.” Of course, this is much more interesting. In addition, they have added a back story:

A “once-mighty seaport” is taken over by three she-demons, who will terrorize guests who dare enter the area after sunset.

There will be three mazes on the ship and two on land. A new, “darkened, tactile labyrinth awaits” in the dome. We’re not sure what to make of that, or even if that counts as one of the on-shore mazes. The Queen Mary has struggled in the recent past with security issues and poor-quality mazes, but we’ve heard that they have designers on board this year who have experience creating some great haunts (e.g., a designer from Sinister Pointe).

The Queen Mary put out a graphic press release stylized as a comic book. It’s worth checking out.

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Posted in Southern California | 5 Comments »

Six Innovative Scare Concepts

Friday, August 20th, 2010

The shaker can, the bait and switch, the black-light dot room, the air cannon, the shifting floor, the drop panel: these scare tactics have been employed by haunts for years and no longer scare anyone who’s been to a fair share of haunts. Some theme parks rely on the same approach year after year, and you come to predict exactly where that monster is going to be and when the scare is going to come.

However, every once in a while, you might venture out of the theme park and into a home haunt or a smaller commercial haunt that has a truly innovative and unique concept for scaring. And sometimes theme parks get it right, too. We hope that as haunted attractions become more and more popular, they will be forced to become more innovative and original when thinking out their scares.

Here is a list of some of the noteworthy scare ideas over the past decade or so. Some of them didn’t work, some of them were brilliant, but we applaud the effort of them all.

Six Innovative Scare Concepts

1. 13th Gate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

We haven’t actually been to this haunt, but the descriptions and reviews online make this sound awesome. There are crematory ovens and hearses to crawl through and maze of underground tunnels. PLUS, live bugs and rodents. Gross. And scary.

2. “Run,” Halloween Horror Nights (Orlando, Florida, 2001)

This maze was set up as an actual maze–you had to find the correct way out. It was little more than an empty warehouse with chain link fences, but the scareactors worked hard to separate you from your group, coming at you with chainsaws from every direction and actually encouraging to do what the name of the maze suggested (and what theme parks usually frown upon in their mazes)–RUN!

3. “Lost in Jason’s Woods,” Jason Woods (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

No hayride wagon, no plywood walls to keep in  you line…this attraction takes you outdoors into the dense woods of Pennsylvania, filled with monsters (i.e., werewolves).

4. “Pitch Black,” Halloween Horror Nights (Orlando, Florida, 2001)

Another innovative concept from HHN Orlando: this one turned out all the lights. I mean, completely turned them out, so it actually was Pitch Black. Unfortunately, instead of being scary, it was completely annoying: you ended up grabbing onto the person in front of you to find your way, which also means that some stranger was grabbing onto your shoulder as well. They had scareactors with flashlights jumping out of dark corners, just another annoyance. From this maze, it was easy to realize that the anticipation that’s built up when you can see “something” coming up ahead is very important in setting up a scare. Not being able to see anything at all? Just lame.

5. “Fear,” Sinister Pointe (Brea, California, 2009)

This was a remake of the “Saw” maze of the previous year, which we did not attend, but we heard that some of the scares were reused from Saw. Each room had an interactive task for the guests to complete before the door would open to the next room. Never have instructions such as “push this button” been so terrifying! Because you KNEW that as soon as you pushed that button, something bad was going to happen. This maze had some of the best and most fun scares I’ve ever had in a maze.  A brilliant way to build up suspense, and without the need for elaborate sets or props.

6. “Alone,” Howl-O-Scream (Tampa, Florida, 2010)

Ok, so this this maze hasn’t even opened yet, but we’re excited by the very concept. If you’re the type who says “you go first” before entering any maze, you probably won’t like this one. You’ll be forced to go first, and with no one to hide behind, there’s no way to escape. We can’t wait to hear reviews of this one.

Posted in Haunt Reviews | No Comments »

Busch Gardens Tampa: Howl-O-Scream 2010 Details

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Howl-O-Scream Tampa revealed (finally!) their full Web site this week, including a list of all mazes, scare zones, and shows for their annual Halloween event.

The theme this year is “Revenge Rocks,” and it features a band (I’m not actually sure if this is a real band or if it’s made up for the event) called “My X,” featuring the character of Sylvie, an emo-type rocker chick out to get revenge on an ex-boyfriend. Or something like that. Scary? Not so much.

Of note is an all-new, different type of maze concept: A maze you enter BY YOURSELF. What! This sounds insane. I would actually love to go in this, although just thinking about it ramps up the anxiety. Note the upcharge; however, the experience sounds worth it. Although I think they might get more takers if they allowed you to enter in groups of 2 or 3. Sharing the maze with a friend is part of the fun.

Mazes

Here are the new mazes for 2010:

Alone… (A personal experience in horror)
The deranged Master Alexander Daedalus opened Minotaur Storage to house his vast collection of “cultural” remains. But now his sinister obsession with hoarding has expanded to stockpiling people. Escape this lunatic’s labyrinth or you will become part of his collection. Can you make it out alone?
Alone is a unique, all-alone experience through the haunted house. This house has an additional cost of $24.95 if purchased in advance online or $34.95 at the park.

My X: Revenge Rocks
My X is the hottest underground band in town, and its devoted fans are dying to meet Sylvie and her killer group. After sneaking backstage and discovering the disturbing truth behind the cruel lyrics, the quest to “get in with the band” quickly changes to a life-or-death race to get out.

Returning mazes:

Nightshade Toy Factory: Son of Nightshade
By day, the old Nightshade Toy Factory appears abandoned. But as night falls, the mysterious manufacturing plant is aglow and hums with blood-curdling shrieks. You’ll run for your life when this already-bizarre factory tour turns into the Son of Nightshade and his possessed playthings seeking revenge on his twisted, toymaking father.

Delta Epsilon Delta: Extreme Rush (DEDer)
Sisterhood is forever, and the torture and pain of sorority life amp up to a new extreme during Rush Week 2010. ΔΕΔ alumni return to celebrate a new chapter in the house’s dark history, marked by the mysterious chapter’s new My X anthem, “It’s never been better than to be D.E.D.er!”

Deconstruction: The Doctor Is Out of Control
Dr. Edger VonAngst has the skill and technology to make you over… but what will you become? This mad reconstructive surgeon has fallen one notch deeper into insanity, putting people back together with mechanical pieces, combining flesh, bone and steel in the most hideous ways.

Death Row Vengeance: No Escape
The inmates at Grey Echo Penitentiary are slated for execution, and they blame you. With their last breath, they curse those who do nothing to save them from the electric chair or lethal injection and vow to haunt those who watched them suffer. Will you make it out alive when they come back to make good on their dying promise?

Taste of Blood: A Different Vein
Once revered as royalty, hordes of undead vampires have now been forced underground into the subways and sewers to avoid the sunlight. By day, they feed on rats to survive. But as night falls, these fanged fiends take to the streets to seduce fresh blood.

Trapped in the Walls: Ghostchasers
The gruesome fate of an innocent family made headlines when their bodies were discovered years ago. Today, you’ll join a paranormal research team as they attempt to reveal the house’s horrible history by investigating the dark demons trapped by the lingering evil that has seeped into the walls.

Scare Zones

Xtreme Fanatics

My X’s most devoted and deranged followers call themselves X-treme Fanatics. They unite to share their obsessive dedication in hopes of finding new converts and erect a shrine to their beloved Sylvie and her killer band. They will stop at nothing to prove they are the ultimate fans!

Road Trip
Free-wheeling college students set out on a road trip to see their favorite band, My X. But when their van breaks down on a deserted road, the stranded students soon discover that the forest surrounding them is filled with half-man, half-beast creatures with a taste for human blood.

Crazed Love
The bleeding hearts of jilted lovers unite through their stories of heartbreak. From the bride left at the altar to the woman who has been cheated on one too many times, these depressed devotees will go to any length to un-break their hearts and claim revenge. Happy Together doesn’t happen here.

Spiders and Snakes
A meteor crashed to earth, creating a glowing beacon that lures all things creepy and crawly. Snakes slither and spiders sneak in swarms larger than your nightmares can imagine. Shivers will crawl up and down your spine when you traverse this path infested with some of the most feared creatures on earth.

Light of Doom
Try to collect your senses as specters of light and shadow blur the line between this world and the next. Here, you will be challenged to wander through a maze of illumination and fog. Eerie apparitions confound and confuse as they try to trick unsuspecting guests “into the light.”

Shows

My X Live

The killer band, My X, will rock all 18 nights of Howl-O-Scream with performances at 10:30 p.m. and midnight every night on the Gwazi Plaza stage.

Blood Relations
Ready for a bloody good time? In the great hall of Blood Manor, the will of the recently deceased Lady Betty Blood is read for her surviving relatives. This sinister musical is packed with sadistic humor and a family of relatives with more than just skeletons in their closets. Performing nightly at the Desert Grill.

Fiends
Is there a doctor in the house? These captivating creatures of the night will infect you with dance fever and keep your pulse pounding with their deranged dance party. But when Dr. Freakenstein’s naughty nurses start operating, the diagnosis is always “code pink.” Performing nightly at the Stanleyville Theater.

The 21 and over nightclub and horror gift shop also return with some tweaks for 2010:

Club X
Grab your entourage and head to the transformed Marrakesh Theater to party like a rock star at Howl-O-Scream’s exclusive 21+ dance club. This adults-only nighttime playground keeps the energy pumping with non-stop music, premium signature cocktails, drink specials and exclusive appearances by Howl-O-Scream’s most terrifying stars.

Howl-O-Scream Shop of Horrors
Remember your evening of evil with the perfect Howl-O-Scream souvenir, including Sylvie’s signature jewelry, exclusive My X concert T-shirts and other Halloween-themed gifts. Then, smile through the pain and snap the perfect party pic with the ΔΕΔ girls at an exclusive photo op that’s not for the faint of heart.

Howl-O-Scream opens September 24.

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Posted in Florida, Howl-O-Scream | 4 Comments »

1, 2, Freddy’s Coming for You…Again

Friday, August 20th, 2010

Like a true horror movie franchise that just can’t stop making sequels, Freddy Kreuger will be back to invade the nightmares of guests at HHN Hollywood this year. If you liked the Nightmare on Elm Street mazes in 2007 and 2008, then it’s your lucky day!  But if you hated the 2010 remake movie, your luck just ran out, because the maze is “brand new” and will be entirely based on the 2010 film remake.

According to Bloody Disgusting, the maze, called “A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again,” will feature scenes from the Barham Day Care Center and Freddy’s underground lair in the school, which served as the location of the final showdown in the movie.

Although the movie remake was a bit of a disappointment, I think there is good potential for a maze here. The abandoned day care center and Freddy’s hidey-hole were pretty creepy. Plus, Freddy is pretty scary himself. And we know that if anyone can pull off an incredibly immersive, terrifying maze, it’s Universal.

Freddy will also be featured as the main character for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights for Hollywood, so look for his face on ads and billboards in your neighborhood soon.

Don’t Forget the Vampyres

Also announced this week was another new maze for HHN: Vampyre: Castle of the Undead. We assume this will be the theme for the House of Horrors, replacing the Chucky maze from last year. I think this theme fits in well with the location. Universal was also casting vampire go-go dancers last week, so that’s another sign this maze will go in the House of Horrors, since the go-go dancers are typically placed in that area, near the park entrance.

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Posted in Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, Horror Movies, Southern California | No Comments »

Que Horror! La Llorona Comes to HHN Hollywood

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Universal has announced that La Llorona (the “crying woman”) will be terrifying guests in her own scare zone as well as on the Terror Tram this year at Halloween Horror Nights, in Hollywood.

The story of La Llorona is popular in Mexico and other Spanish-speaking cultures. According to the legend, La Llorona drowned her two children because she was jealous of the attention her husband paid to them. Her ghostly cries of “Where are my children?” are often heard near water. Children are cautioned not to venture out in the dark, lest La Llorona think they are hers and snatch them away.

It’s a creepy story, and the potential for a creepy scareactor is good. We’re looking forward to seeing some concept art and the actual manifestation of this.

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Posted in Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, Southern California | 1 Comment »

Jason Returns to HHN?

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

I’m not sure if this sounds right? An unconfirmed source at Bloody Disgusting says Universal Studios Hollywood’s Horror Nights will host a maze based on the 2009 remake of Friday the 13th. I could see them doing this using some of the old My Bloody Valentine props (which were the old Friday 13th props) and recreate Jason’s underground lair. We’re hoping that this year’s Hollywood HHN  isn’t going to be a bunch of remake mazes….

HHN 2007

The 2010 “Halloween Horror Nights” event at Universal Studios Hollywood will offer up scary new mazes based upon horror’s most twisted inhabitants. Many people within the industry, including Rob Zombie, are working hard in partnership with Universal Studios Hollywood in the creation of new, terrifying and exciting attractions for the Halloween season! When there is more news on this, we will be sure to let you know!

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Posted in Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, Horror Movies, Southern California | No Comments »

Queen Mary Shipwreck Gets a New Name

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

It’s been known as “Shipwreck” for many years, but for 2010, the Queen Mary is changing the name of its haunt to something even LESS original: Halloween at the Queen Mary.

Their Web site is promising a “new name, new concept, and new scares.” There are no details yet, but they’re currently casting through YouTube. If you’re interested, you have until August 15 to upload your video. Selected performers will be asked to an in-person casting on August 19. You can read the rules here.

We hope this is an effort to improve the quality of the actors in the mazes. We went to the Queen Mary for many years, but the quality of the mazes and especially the actors declined greatly over the past few years, and we finally decided to skip it in 2009. One of the main problems we had with the actors was that they would laugh after getting a scare out of someone. Although I’m sure some guests’ reactions are funny, breaking character to chuckle after every scare really does nothing for the atmosphere in the maze. Another issue with the Queen Mary is the lack of consistent theming. They rely heavily on black light 3-D  mazes, and also include multiple discordant themes within a single maze (eg, mummies and Michael Myers together in a single maze). We hope their “new concept” involves rethinking their catch-all approach to maze themes. If so, Scare Zone might consider returning to the Queen Mary for 2010.

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Posted in Southern California | 2 Comments »

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