I was able to attend the preview last night.
I am probably not the best person for comments because I have never been to this event in the past and I'm actually not a huge horror fan at all but I love themed entertainment design.
I was able to do 6 houses, missing FNAF, Fallout, Grave of Flesh and Terrifier.
Some non-spoiler quick thoughts:
El Artista was stunning and by far my favorite of the night. It was a full on storyline and the sets were large and impressive. Had more variety in terms of the jumps. I was really amazed at how it told a cohesive story (for me at least) in basically 3 acts, like a mini movie. And this coming from something who knew nothing more than a painter basically. For me, just heads and shoulders ahead of the others.
Galkn, I am going to guess, will be the sleeper hit of the event. The set design was clever, the monsters were interesting and varied and the finale was the best ending of the evening. One thing that perhaps isn't the best is that because of the lighting your attention is brought to the ceiling which makes it a bit less immersive. A couple of big set pieces here really surprised me. Also had a nice progression in terms of storyline.
Hatchet and Chains was also very impressive with a unique point of view. Had a mix of effects. There was a specific effect towards the end I had to stop to see cause I was going to miss it due to the reset time and it was my favorite in the house, so I wonder how much reviews my be affected by that. If I had a major complaint it was that i found the story hard to track and it felt chaotic, but that might have just been me.
Dolls let's Play Dead. I have a feeling this one will be quite polarizing. For me, I actually found this the most intimidating just cause it was really twisted in how it portrayed someone torturing their toys and I found myself getting into the storytelling. There were a lot of surprises for me throughout this one and I liked the dark humor. If I had a complaint about this one is that I don't really remember the ending exactly, it just sort of stopped. Maybe I missed something.
Jason Universe just wasn't for me but I imagine it ranking high for most. It had a ridiculous amount of Jason actors and it was absolutely relentless. If you enjoy an aggressive house, this is the one (of the ones I did). For me, it's just a bit repetitive and I don't have affinity for the character. And the setting was a campground for the most part (although there is a rather strange and abstract twist for the finale) It's the only one I don't really have any desire to repeat but again I'm not the audience. Everyone else seems to love it which makes sense.
The Horrors of Wyatt Sicks is the one that was the biggest head scratcher for me but I don't know anything about it at all. The sets were quite impressive and all but I really wasn't the audience. That being said the production value was high enough that I would like to do it again, if anything just to try to make more sense of it. Lol.