Quite an impressive year for me. I don’t consider any of these bad. And quite frankly, I think 9 of these houses would be at least middle of the road for me in a normal year. I won’t rank explicitly yet (I like the grouping approach someone else started employing for now):
Great / Blown Away:
El Artista - beautiful from start to finish, eerie, melancholy, and slightly scarier than I was expecting (though more consistent + intense scares would lock this in as #1). Houses like this are why I come to HHN.
Hatchet & Chains - maybe got lucky on timing, but this was more intense than I was hoping for, action packed, and just fun. Not to mention, sets are awesome for this tent location imo. Lose some narrative in here, but I didn’t need it.
Jason Universe - truly awesome use of the F&F space. Does get repetitive, but didn’t bother me. Lots of intensity, great duration, great actors, felt like lots of heart, and great to see a classic slasher back at HHN. Simple premise, and it works.
Terrifier - think I had this higher than most in anticipation, and it delivered for me. I was most looking forward to seeing how well they pulled off portraying Art and the funhouse scenes, and they nailed both (+ the facade). Would like a few more Arts in villain mode (vs. silly), but the house doesn’t need that to be great.
Galkn: Monsters of the North - some of this house felt similar to vibes in the past (Goblins/Dragons) but much darker. Creature design was largely scarier than I expected. Awesome set pieces. Great finale. All around, this delivered.
Good / Loved:
Grave of Flesh - I really wanted to put this one in the top category. I think it’s got an unsettling vibe, a great facade, cool creatures, and… just not a coherent enough story to be at the top end. Would love a breakdown from the creatives on what they were going for in the second half here, but the first half saves it for me.
Dolls - much scarier than I was expecting given the “horror comedy” comments from the design team. Feels like a loose dollhouse of the damned sequel to me, which is exactly what I wanted. This may be the creepiest house this year. Some fun scenes too, and interesting costumes. Could end the year in the tier higher, but this one does feel a bit less staffed than others.
Five Nights at Freddy’s - only a very casual fan of the franchise. Never played the games, thought the imagery of the movie was pretty cool (forget the story..) and they translated that PERFECTLY. Facade nailed it and set the tone well. Despite not being the true target audience, walking into a franchise this iconic was a cool experience.
Okay / Liked:
WWE - not a fan of wrestling at all, but no shade: this was a pleasant surprise. I don’t follow the story here in the way that it resonates with fans, but there are some truly unique scenes and costumes here, so it gets props for that.
Fallout - this one lands about where I expected. Despite the fact that the show didn’t feel like horror, the house probably could have… but it doesn’t. That said, I enjoy the property, and there are redeeming qualities here in terms of sets, so it isn’t a complete dud for me.