HHN 34: Most Anticipated Scare Zone/Street Experience

[Brian G.]

Most Anticipated Zone/Experience? Discuss!

 

[Kichkinet85]

Cat Lady of Crooked Lane is my number one zone, can't not be after seeing the zones props! Pumpkins in trees!

Street experience I don't count as zones so Mel's Die-In Zombie's will be 1 for that and not 6

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Yeah, I knew Crooked Lane would be far and away #1 in here lol

1. Crooked Lane
2. Toxic Twenties
3. Mel's Die-In Zombies
4. Masquerade
5. Club Horror

 

[Killer Klown]

The zones and atmosphere sound much better this year. Last year even before the event I was concerned for the zones but this year I’m liking what I’m hearing and seeing all around.

6. Mel’s Die-In zombies - Love Mel’s and the premise sounds fun but I don’t really like zombies.

5. Club Horror - Sounds like it could be fun but could also end up being a whole lot of nothing.

4. Toxic Twenties: Mutant Mutilations - Love the 1920a setting and mutant mobsters is a fun concept. Bonus points for the Bugs Eaten Alive callback too

3. Origins of Horror - Seems like we’re finally getting an honest to god entrance zone again which is very exciting after last years absolute joke of an entrance. The monsters teased for this zone, specifically the crows, coupled with the gothic aesthetic are what have me the most excited

2. Masquerade: Dance with Death - I love vampires and this is a very creative premise. I’m surprised they didn’t slap the Vamp branding on this one but the fact that they didn’t has contributed to my excitement here since it’ll be a different type of vampire

1. The Cat Lady on Crooked Lane - This zone spoke to me right away and with the classic Halloween vibe AND the pumpkins back in the trees it’s easily my number one. Honestly this zone feels like it could have house potential in the future.

 

[EAS]

Here is mine:

1. The Cat Lady on Crooked Lane - Like everyone else, this has the classic Halloween appeal that is impossible to get past. It gives Ray Bradbury, it gives Trick 'r Treat, it gives the opening of Halloween 4, and so on. I also think the idea of mutated werecats is awesome, and even when it sounded more like a Scooby Doo on Zombie Island vibe, I was here for it.

2. Masquerade: Dance with Death - Vampires are such an amazing and classic monster; it is personally hard for me to get tired of them. The set pieces we have seen so far look great, and I think the mix of the whimsical masquerade with the vicious bloodsucker could be really good.

3. Origins of Horror - The gothic vibe of the whole event is really great, and I think this one looks very promising. Plus, you gotta love the Crowz from Hollywood. My only reservation is that entrance zones can be rough. [For example, I was excited for Duality of Fear based on the idea of picking your form of torment, and...uh, that didn't work out.]

4. Toxic Twenties - Zombies are a bit drab for me (whereas I could do vampires all day, zombies get boring for me personally), and so I think this one could suffer. On the other hand, if this one leans more into the comedy of gangsters and flappers turning into monsters, and has more creative mutant creature effects (a la even Bugs: Eaten Alive or the Exterminatorz), I could really dig it.

5. Mel's Die-In Zombies - The zombie thing again is not really my bag, but I could see the mix of the kitschy '50s aesthetic and the zombies being a lot of fun.

6. Club Horror - My assumption is that this will be a fun area to grab a drink and listen to some music, but not a place that has much more going on. I could be surprised, though!

 

[Myah1220]

1. Cat Lady of Crooked Lane - I love cats lol. This sounds hilarious. I love the originality of this and think it has a lot of potential to be really fun!

2. Mel's Die-In Zombies - This is actually something I've wanted for a long time given the "Mel's Die In" signage we've had forever. Seems like it's been inevitable for us to eventually get something with it. Also love the kitsch of a 1950's carhop. Has the potential to be really neat/impressive/different with the inclusion of performers on roller skates. I'm excited to see where this goes.

3. Toxic Twenties - If this has like a film noir-y gangster vibe to it chances are I'll love it. I'm picturing zoot suit zombies and femme fatales and it sounds really fun!

4. Masquerade - Anytime they've done vampires, it's always been a hit so I'm sure this will be great.

5. Origins of Horror - I have no complaints. I love a good gothic aesthetic. I'm sure I'll definitely enjoy it, it's just not my most anticipated, but that could change...especially because I've really missed a solid entrance zone and am pleased that this could be a return to form with a great entrance zone that gets us hyped for the rest of the event.

6. Club Horror - I'm sure it'll be fine, again, just not my most anticipated.

 

[Neo]

1. Cat Lady - by default, the Central Park Zone is always my most hyped. It usually delivers, but occasionally bombs (Vikings Undead). The Pumpkins back in the trees just makes it that much better in my book.
   
   
2. Origins of Horror - if I did this hype list like my house one comparing the position to what I thought before it was announced, this would have been last because the entrance zones have been such a joke lately, but the fact how much it's been expanded and the chainsaw carved sculptures for the houses (and hopeful inclusion of chainsaws here) has my hopes way up this year.
   
   
3. Mel's Die In Zombies - just dying to see what this is and livens up a dead zone of the park. If it's a M3gan-esque show I'll be very disappointed as I always seemed to catch the show at the very end or when they were leaving or doing photo ops. If it's a show, I hope it has a set schedule so I can see the entire thing as I only go to Florida for a week and am not going to camp there for an hour hoping they magically show up.
   
   
4. Club Dead - really intrigued by this. If they play great music and have a few hot chicks and shirtless beefcakes dancing up on elevated platforms with fire it should be a blast.
   
   
5. Toxic Twenties - On paper this sounds great, but the NY zones are always lacking and feel too sparce/spread out. They're also usually really light on the fog. The premise sounds really interesting, but any time I have a zone here up my hype list, it inevitably disappoints me. If they have the crumbling building projections back, and they are improved in anyway, will shoot straight to #1 after the event because Acid Assault is one of my favorite zones of all time.
   
   
6. Masquerade - doesn't do it for me, also not a fan of the Vamp zones so I know I'm way in the minority here. The zone itself usually ends up pretty low on my post-event review rankings so it's starting here and has nowhere to go but up. Interesting characters on stage with a few generic minions roaming the streets is boring.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I've learned my lesson from the past years to not build personal hype for a house/zone based on the concept alone as it can be poorly executed (Museum, Shipyard, Spirits of the Coven, etc.). So instead, I decided to rank them into general categories based on how interesting the concept is to me.

(Excited, Looking Forward) - Cat Lady, Toxic Twenties, Masquerade
(Cautiously Optimistic) - Origins of Horror, Mel's Die In
(Not Personally Interested, Waiting to be Surprised) - Club Dead

 

[HHN Maddux]

A killer (pun not intended) year for scare zones! Very excited for all of these.

1. Masquerade: Dance with Death - A gothic masquerade ball with vampires. Do I need to say anything else?
   
   
2. Mutations: Toxic Twenties - Not only a Bugs zone (although not the one I expected!), but mutated mafia members running around sounds like the most delightfully chaotic and just fun idea, and I cannot wait to see it in action. Both this and Masquerade have the potential to be GOAT scare zones IMO.
   
   
3. The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane - Central Park's scare zones have just been getting better and better, and this seems like it might just be the best one yet. A genuinely creepy concept along with the storybook aesthetic and classic Halloween vibes has me very excited for this.
   
   
4. The Origins of Horror - Illumination Avenue finally being used again has me very happy! Plus another gothic zone that immediately sets the tone for the event, and crows!!!
   
   
5. Club Horror - I think this zone/experience could be a very nice place to just vibe and people-watch! Also looking forward to see what music they play in here.
   
   
6. Mel's Die-In Zombies - Finally a hoard at Mel's! Not a fan of them being zombies though, hopefully there's more to it when full details are dropped (hoping that old Meats Meetz rumor turns out true).

 

[Tobias]

I don't really do anticipated rankings of scare zones, but I can go down the line on what I hope to see from each zone.

The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane - As we can already see, the scenic for this zone is truly wonderful so far, it's vintage fall/Halloween in the best of ways! Now what I hope for this zone is good costumes/masks etc. for the werecats. If they can nail those, we have an absolute winner of a zone here!

The Origins of Horror - When it comes to entry zones, I'm not too picky on them. Generally they serve a purpose of welcoming guests to the event, usually with a taste of the theme/things to come. Scenic-wise, we're already off and running with what they've put up so far and the zone expanding back down Plaza of the Stars. This is already an improvement over the two-colored fabrics they draped at the base of the trusses last year, I know that's not saying anything...but that's what we had. Anyways, with the increase of space and scenic, I just hope for some sweet gargoyle and crow costumes!

Toxic Twenties: Mutant Mutations - This one's gonna' be interesting for me, since being from the West Coast I've experienced the Goring 20's scare zone at Knott's Scary Farm, and that zone is an absolute blast! It may be one of the smaller zones with not many props (car, newsstand, flower stand...all which HHN's zone has as well!), but the cast truly shine as they're incredibly engaging with everyone to pull them right into the theme...having a live band also helps, too!

So my big hope for this zone is also a big fear. I hope the casts are super engaging and chatty as that works incredibly well for this theme, but my big fear is because we're dealing with mutants...they may not be chatty and engaging as they're monstrous. If that's the case, that'll be a huge missed opportunity for this zone. But if they're engaging and chatty, this zone is gonna' be fun!

Masquerade: Dance with Death - Honestly, give me some opulent costumes and masks and that's all I hope for this zone.

Club Horror - I'm happy they're doin' something different and throwing back to the party zones of years past, really just hoping for a nice vibe!

Mel's Die-In Zombies - While zombies aren't my thing, I hope this horde is fun!

And that's that, all in all I'm overall excited for the streets as this lineup feels like a great rebound to last year's zones.