My thoughts:
10. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers: I was cautiously optimistic on this one because the last two houses were strong. This wasn't a bad house by any means, but outside of like one or two brief startles, the actors did nothing for me. Bland sets and weak scares combine for the event's worst house, which is still kind of decent! 7/10
9. The Horrors of Blumhouse: I had no expectations going into the house but ended up pleasantly surprised. I hit basically every scare in the Happy Death Day section, but none of theme even startled me. I really enjoyed the set design here though, and hearing "Nice one, phallic noggin" repeatedly was amusing. The First Purge section was pretty forgettable outside of one actor who gave me a gigantic scare when he came out of nowhere. 7/10
8. Stranger Things: When I read Legacy's scene breakdown, I lost basically all interest in this house. However, the strong reviews had me optimistic it could be something really special. After going through the house.... eh. It has excellent sets, but the scares weren't doing anything for me. When Mike is the scareactor that made me jump the most, something is wrong. The ending is incredibly abrupt as well. Season 2 is going to translate much better next year, but like the last two houses, it's still pretty decent. 7/10
7. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces: Most of my opinion on this house is the same as Stranger Things, but I absolutely loved the sets here. It gets an extra half-point for the originality. 7.5/10
6. Seeds of Extinction: This was my most anticipated house going into the event, and it didn't really let me down. The house suffers from a lack of variety in costume design and easily visible scareactors, but there were a couple decent scares in here and some cool sets. I especially liked how the tilted walkway was used in here. 8.5/10
5. Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After: Even though I went through the house on a night where a good chunk of the cast was absent (nobody was in the Little Mermaid room), I ended up enjoying the house a lot. Gretel got me good, and there were a couple other good scares throughout the house. Awesome set design and facade as well. 8.5/10
4. Poltergeist: Although I don't quite think this is a GOAT-contender, it's still a very strong house. It's a long house with a lot of creativity put into it, though most of the scares I got didn't do much for me. This house is why I wish I could go again this year because a properly timed run through here could be very intense. 8.5/10
3. Trick 'r Treat: Great house! I don't know if I'd say it's better than Krampus, but I got hit with a lot of scares in here. It had good set design compared to recent parade building mazes and was a faithful adaptation of the movie despite being out of order. 9/10
2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero: This is the scariest house of the year. The cast is aggressive and never lets down. The only reason it's not house of the year is because the set design is kind of weak. 9/10
1. Slaughter Sinema: I had a blast with this house. There were several good scares (Swamp Yeti!), but most importantly, so much creativity was flowing through the house. I knew I was in for a treat with the trailer reel on the facade, and this house did not disappoint. 9/10
Scarezones were scarezones, I guess. One of the red monkeys in Chucky got me really good on my way out of the park as he was hiding behind a prop. Didn't see Academy of Villains.
Overall, this is a decent year. There isn't a bad house in the lineup, but at the same time, I wouldn't put any of these houses in my personal top 10 except maybe Slaughter Sinema (I've been going since 2014).
10. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Meyers: I was cautiously optimistic on this one because the last two houses were strong. This wasn't a bad house by any means, but outside of like one or two brief startles, the actors did nothing for me. Bland sets and weak scares combine for the event's worst house, which is still kind of decent! 7/10
9. The Horrors of Blumhouse: I had no expectations going into the house but ended up pleasantly surprised. I hit basically every scare in the Happy Death Day section, but none of theme even startled me. I really enjoyed the set design here though, and hearing "Nice one, phallic noggin" repeatedly was amusing. The First Purge section was pretty forgettable outside of one actor who gave me a gigantic scare when he came out of nowhere. 7/10
8. Stranger Things: When I read Legacy's scene breakdown, I lost basically all interest in this house. However, the strong reviews had me optimistic it could be something really special. After going through the house.... eh. It has excellent sets, but the scares weren't doing anything for me. When Mike is the scareactor that made me jump the most, something is wrong. The ending is incredibly abrupt as well. Season 2 is going to translate much better next year, but like the last two houses, it's still pretty decent. 7/10
7. Carnival Graveyard: Rust in Pieces: Most of my opinion on this house is the same as Stranger Things, but I absolutely loved the sets here. It gets an extra half-point for the originality. 7.5/10
6. Seeds of Extinction: This was my most anticipated house going into the event, and it didn't really let me down. The house suffers from a lack of variety in costume design and easily visible scareactors, but there were a couple decent scares in here and some cool sets. I especially liked how the tilted walkway was used in here. 8.5/10
5. Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After: Even though I went through the house on a night where a good chunk of the cast was absent (nobody was in the Little Mermaid room), I ended up enjoying the house a lot. Gretel got me good, and there were a couple other good scares throughout the house. Awesome set design and facade as well. 8.5/10
4. Poltergeist: Although I don't quite think this is a GOAT-contender, it's still a very strong house. It's a long house with a lot of creativity put into it, though most of the scares I got didn't do much for me. This house is why I wish I could go again this year because a properly timed run through here could be very intense. 8.5/10
3. Trick 'r Treat: Great house! I don't know if I'd say it's better than Krampus, but I got hit with a lot of scares in here. It had good set design compared to recent parade building mazes and was a faithful adaptation of the movie despite being out of order. 9/10
2. Dead Exposure: Patient Zero: This is the scariest house of the year. The cast is aggressive and never lets down. The only reason it's not house of the year is because the set design is kind of weak. 9/10
1. Slaughter Sinema: I had a blast with this house. There were several good scares (Swamp Yeti!), but most importantly, so much creativity was flowing through the house. I knew I was in for a treat with the trailer reel on the facade, and this house did not disappoint. 9/10
Scarezones were scarezones, I guess. One of the red monkeys in Chucky got me really good on my way out of the park as he was hiding behind a prop. Didn't see Academy of Villains.
Overall, this is a decent year. There isn't a bad house in the lineup, but at the same time, I wouldn't put any of these houses in my personal top 10 except maybe Slaughter Sinema (I've been going since 2014).