The Scare Zone Has a New Home!

We've moved to www.scare-zone.com. Be sure to check us out over there. There's a TON of great haunt information coming in now, so be sure to keep up with all the latest news!

Rob Zombie Returns (in Maze Form) to HHN Hollywood

Not only is Rob Zombie judging the Halloween Horror Nights Scary Film Competition, but he's also helping create a new maze for this year's Halloween Horror Nights.

We're not exactly sure of the title yet, but the maze will be based on House of the 1000 Corpses and will include the characters of Captain Spaulding, Baby, Otis, Mother Firefly, and Killer Karl. We know that the maze will begin with the Murder Ride (though it won't be an actual ride, duh) and that it will also include the Firefly House and Dr. Satan's Lair.

And if that's not enough for you, it's going to be in 3-D. John Murdy, HHN Creative Director, promises this will NOT be a typical "black light" 3-D maze, though. He claims they will be taking "a different approach" although 3-D glasses will still be involved.

We can't wait to see what Universal does with 3-D. Quite honestly, the gimmick is becoming tiresome at some of the other haunts, where the approach has been to paint polka dots or stripes in orange and blue on black plywood walls and light it up with black light. We know this is not Universal's style, and we hope they'll infuse a little more "dimension" into the concept.

Also, some of you may remember Rob Zombie had a maze back in 2000 themed to House of 1000 Corpses.  Rob and HHN go way back.  

First Look at HHN Hollywood's Klownz

Halloween Horror Nights (Hollywood) released some scareactor concept art this week for their new scare zone, Klownz.  Check it out:

For a couple more images, visit the exclusive story on Dread Central.

If you've always dreamed of being a chainsaw-wielding clown manic, scareactor auditions are being held next week, Monday, July 26th at 5pm and Wednesday, July 28th at 10am at the Globe Theatre at Universal Studios Hollywood. They're looking for stilt walkers and scareactors, plus actors for the Bill and Ted Stunt show. 


And if you're in Florida, auditions for HHN Orlando are going on now.


Once people start getting hired to work in a particular maze, it's hard to keep the themes and names secret, so we hope this means that maze information will be released soon.  

KSF 2010: L.A. Times Preview

The LA Times has an article about Knott’s Scary Farm’s 2010 mazes and Scare Zones. It also ranks what they believe are the best, rest, and worst mazes coming back. Scare Zone will have to disagree with some of their rankings such as cronstalkers which isn't one of the worst and The Salughterhouse which isn't one of the best.

The thing with Knott's, like other haunts, is one's expereince in a maze and the scare factor can vary greatly depending on when they go. That is why we reccomend going to haunts earlier in the season when the talent is fresh or during weeknights. Opening weekends can be fun but then you must keep in mind that the scareactors are still learning what scares really work on their victims.

Knott’s Berry Farm unveils Halloween Haunt 2010 mazes

Knott’s Berry Farm will add three new mazes for Halloween Haunt 2010, according to theme park officials. The 38th annual Knott’s Scary Farm will take place on Wednesday through Sunday nights from Sept. 24 through Oct. 31 (except for Sept. 29). Knott’s Berry Farm. The granddaddy of Halloween events will feature 13 mazes scattered throughout the Buena Park theme park, with construction currently underway in backstage areas.

New mazes for 2010:

> Sleepy Hollow Mountain, featuring the headless horseman legend with ghosts, ghouls, witches and goblins, replaces the Pyromaniax theme (on the Timber Mountain log ride).

> Virus Z replicates a small town overrun by infected cannibals, zombies and blood-thirsty corpses, replacing the woefully bad Quarantine maze (in Fiesta Plaza).

> Fallout Shelter, where the insane residents haven’t seen the sun since the Atomic Age, replaces the tired and predictable Alien Annihilation 3-D laser-tag maze (near Reflection Lake).
Returning mazes from 2009:


The Best
> Terror of London
> Lockdown: The Asylum
> Slaughterhouse

The Rest
> Dia de los Muertos (in 3-D)
> The Labyrinth
> Black Widow’s Cavern
> Club Blood


The Worst
> Uncle Bobo’s Big Top of the Bizarre (in 3-D)
> The Doll Factory
> Cornstalkers

Halloween Haunt will once again feature three scare zones, including:
> The Necropolis, with Victorian Steampunk vampires haunting a city of the dead, replaces The Gauntlet scare zone in Camp Snoopy (New for 2010).
> Carnevil (in the Boardwalk area)
> Ghost Town (in the Wild West area)


Also returning for 2010: “The Hanging” pop-culture comedy revue plus several shows

HHN: King Kong Sized Line?

According to a tweet from HHN Hollywood the new King King 360 will be presented as it's own attraction and not part of the Terror Tram at this year's haunt. This seems strange as Kong is part of the Tram Tour. If this turns out to be true, then this will be an (bad) attempt for them to try to squeeze out another attraction for HHN. This would mean yet another line to stand in for what is a less than 2 minute experience (according to the YouTube video) so we hope this isn't true.

Nonetheless, for those of you you can't wait until HHN or even this Thursday's opening of the ride here is a video of the experience here.
*Spoiler Warning*

Zombie Manor: Sneak Peek August 13!

Zombie Manor, in Arlington, Texas (Dallas-Ft. Worth area), will be letting victims in for a sneak peek at their 2010 haunt on Friday, August 13, from 8 to 11 pm.

Zombie Manor bills itself as "DFW's top-rated zombie experience." Just how many "zombie experiences" ARE there in the Dallas area? Regardless, it's nice to see a haunt that has a consistent theme throughout and isn't just a bunch of rooms with different "scary" themes (we're looking at YOU, Blood Manor). Zombie Manor opened in 2009, and though it hasn't earned any "skulls" yet on HauntWorld.com, it lists some positive reviews on their own web site. Some photos available on their site show some pretty creepy sets.

Their site doesn't list ticket prices for the August event, but the haunt was $15 last Halloween season. How can anyone resist $15 for a haunt on a summer night, and on a Friday the 13th, no less? You Texans are lucky.

Blood Manor Adds to the Terror

Blood Manor will be adding new scenes to their haunt this year. According to their web site, we can look forward to these additions for 2010:

• The Wolves Den
• Zombie Attack
• It's Alive!
• Vortex Laser Tunnel
• Serial Killer's Thriller
• Electrocution
• Vampire's Lair
• 3D Circus of Horrors

I think most of those concepts are self-explanatory, except for maybe It's Alive! (described as a “chaotic chamber of sights and sounds”) and Serial Killer's Thriller (which might be some kind of scary portrait gallery). Is there anything this haunt DOESN'T have???

Blood Manor opens October 1st.

Knott's Halloween Haunt Maze Lineup for 2010

It's official! Knott's will once again feature 13 mazes at their Halloween Haunt. The full lineup is as follows:

1. Club Blood
2. The Doll Factory
3. Black Widow's Cavern
4. Labryinth
5. Slaughterhouse
6. Uncle Bobo's Big Top of the Bizarre
7. Dia De Los Muertos
8. Cornstalkers
9. Terror of London
10. Lockdown: The Asylum
11. Virus Z*
12. Fallout Shelter*
13. Sleepy Hollow Mountain*

* New for 2010

(Gone to the Ghost Town graveyard: Alien Annihilation, Pyromaniax, Quarantine.)

Knott's Reveals 2 More New Mazes for Halloween Haunt 2010

New for Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt 2010:

"Virus Z": Fiesta Plaza explodes with a brand new zombie nightmare. The virus is out and the end is near... Enter the barricaded town of Pleasanton, where the virus has turned the entire population into ravenous zombies! From the insane mind of Brooke Walters, designer of Doll Factory and Terror of London.

"Sleepy Hollow Mountain": Ghosts and ghouls, witches and goblins, long-legged beasts and things that go bump in the night...take a dark ride through haunted Sleepy Hollow. The witching hour is at hand and the legends of long ago haunt the living. Specters and witches are on your heels as you try to out run The Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow. Can you keep your wits? Or will you lose your head? Brought to you by Haunt Designer, David Ortiz (Dia De Los Muertos)! (Description from Theme Park Adventure.com)

So this means that Virus Z is replacing Quarantine and Sleepy Hollow Mountain will replace Pyromaniax (Timber Mountain Log Ride). We're VERY excited for Sleepy Hollow Mountain. It sounds like it could be a nice, traditional Halloween theme, which really is missing from many haunts these days. Most haunts are overrun by post-apocalyptic zombies, vampires, and aliens. We can't wait to see a few pumpkins and witches, and hopefully a fog-filled graveyard.

Knott's Halloween Haunt opens on September 24.

BREAKING NEWS: HHN HOLLYWOOD NEWS ANNOUNCED!

From the LA times:
After getting bigger and better ever year, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood this year will offer more mazes and more nights in a bid to out-scare and out-gore the competition.

For 2010, Halloween Horror Nights will feature five mazes and six scare zones over 17 nights running from Sept. 24 through Oct. 31, theme park officials confirmed.

The 2010 dates: Sept. 24 and 25 and Oct. 1, 2, 8, 9, 15, 16, 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30 and 31. That’s every Friday and Saturday over six consecutive weekends plus a few Thursdays and Sundays.

No word yet on themes for any of the 2010 haunted mazes, which in years past have been tied to classic horror movies such as “Saw,” “Halloween,” “My Bloody Valentine,” “Friday the 13th,” “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”

I would be shocked to see any of those movie properties reappear in 2010, although the park’s year-round House of Horrors attraction will almost certainly be one of the five haunted mazes.

For 2010, Universal also promises to unveil an all-new Terror Tram studio tour through the backlot that will include a stop at the new King Kong 360 3-D attraction. [!!!!!!]

No word yet on this year’s shows either, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see a return of the “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure” pop culture parody and last year’s “Rocky Horror Picture Show” live musical revue, which has been a perennial favorite at Universal’s sister park in Orlando, Fla.

Universal’s Halloween event has had a sporadic history at the Hollywood movie and television theme park, returning with renewed vigor in 2006 after an extended hiatus. Since then, the rebooted event has grown from seven nights in 2006 to 10 nights in 2007 to 13 nights in 2008 to 16 nights last year and to 17 nights this year. Expect the park to tack on a few extra nights this Halloween season if ticket sales prove brisk at the beginning of October.

Universal will have a long way to go to catch up to the sheer volume of Halloween Haunt at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, which featured 13 mazes, seven shows and three scare zones over 28 nights in 2009.

Universal has taken a decidedly different approach than Knott’s — relying on marquee movie monsters over generic vampire, alien and zombie themes, while significantly amping up the blood, guts and gore.

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando: 2010

Earlier this week, HHN Orlando updated their Web site with dates and a few details for 2010. The dates will be:

September 24, 25, 30; October 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30 & 31, 2010

There was also mention of the "20 year" theme, but it appears that has been removed from the site for the time being.

Tickets are on sale now!

Are You Ready to Rock?

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay has updated their Howl-O-Scream splash page with a teaser image for 2010 and the note: "Howl-O-Scream Is Gonna Rock!"

While we're not sure what this means for this year's theme, it at least seems better than last year's mascots: bored-looking vampire models.

Meanwhile, Williamsburg's Howl-O-Scream page claims a new "spooky" site will be up in June. We'll be checking back...

Reign of Terror creator Bruce Stanton featured on HauntCast

Bruce Stanton, creator of the excellent home-to-commercial haunt Reign of Terror, located in Thousand Oaks, California, is the featured guest on the April 2010 episode of HauntCast, the podcast for "haunters and Halloween fanatics."

Bruce talks about taking his haunt from his house, to a community center, and then to a busy mall, as well as the difficulty in opening a commercial haunt in the somewhat oversaturated haunt market of Southern California. (Although we would like to be the first to say that there can never be TOO many haunts in Southern California.)

We had the chance to visit Reign of Terror in 2009, and it was great! So much attention to detail, great scares, and great animatronics. The haunt was long—there were so many rooms, we lost count. And 2010 promises to be even better: Their Web site says they're planning to add 6 to 8 more rooms "with all new scares throughout."

2010's theme: Asylum for the Criminally Insane! And if any community needs an asylum, it's Thousand Oaks. Trust us, we've been there. Oh, how we've been there.

Here are a couple of pictures from last year's facade:

Ready For Freddy?

Tomorrow Freddy returns to the stalk victims in the remake of A Nightmare of Elm Street. So far reviews have been positive about this remake giving credit to Jack Healy who is now playing the man of our dreams.

If you can remember, Freddy's maze at Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando proved to be one of the funnest and scariest mazes during those years. Here's a nightmarish flashback of Freddy's terror at Universal's haunts.

A Nightmare on Elm Street: Freddy's Nightmare (Hollywood 2007 & 2008)




A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers (Orlando 2007)

HHN Hollywood Updates

There have been some updates from our friend John Murdy, Creative Director of HHN at Universal Hollywood. He says that the last deal has been closed and now all the maze themes are locked in. No official announcements as to what we can expect will be made until June. He was asked if they will increase the number of mazes and his reply is that they have to go for quality over quantity as space they can use is limited.

In the meanwhile, Universal's House of Horrors is undergoing some upgrades that will include sets with an added Horror icon, and a lot of audio/lighting enhancements for the scareactors. The upgrade is expected to be completed by Mid May.

This all is promising news and hopefully HHN Hollywood can add at least one additional maze to their 2010 slate. We expect that Saw and Halloween will return in some fashion but don't expect for My Bloody Valentine to have a sequel. Of course, they may take a lead from Orlando and start with a completely new slate of terrors which also would be welcomed.

More to come...

Hitchhiking Ghosts Come Home

Here's an inspired yard haunt for all you haunt stalkers in So Cal to look forward to this year. Located not far from the orginal Haunted Mansion at Disneyland (a Scare Zone favorite) in Trabuco Canyon, Ca; this haunt looks like a fun and "not so scary" tribute to the Disney classic. Oh, when you go "don't forget your death certificate"!

The Haunted Mansion Haunt
Ever wish you could ride the famous Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland with a scarrier tone? For a few nights in October we transform our house into the Haunted Mansion with all the characters and effects you absolutely love! While all the Nightmare Before Christmas characters invade the real Mansion, the happy haunts are delighted to come visit us in October. During the walk through there will be appearances from Madame Leota, The Singing Busts, Little Leota, and MUCH MUCH more. Full sized jumping Animatronic figures and live actors are present. Mansion fans just can't get enough of this event!!! The best part, it's free with KING SIZED candy bars available for the first 30 children. Last year we had over 1500 people show up on October 31st and it was a blast! Small children might get spooked out by the enhanced haunted mansion soundtrack which creates loud lightning sound effects and bright strobe lighting. Hurry Back....... and check out our collection of pictures and videos!

2010 OPERATING HOURS AND DATES:

WALK THROUGH: 6 P.M. - 11 P.M. October 29, 30, and 31st Extended Hours if Necessary
MILLWOOD RD.
TRABUCO CANYON, CA 92679

Website: http://www.myspace.com/hauntedmansionhaunt

A Look Inside Fallout Shelter at Knott's

Westcoaster has put up some GREAT photos from Knott's West Coast Bash. Knott's revealed more detailed art for its newest maze, Fallout Shelter:

You can see plenty of hiding places in the "Barracks," and we can already imagine monsters hiding within the bunk beds, arms reaching out.

Some aliens, some nuclear war, what more could you want? (Although Alien Annihilation kind of sucked, Alien Attack was a great maze, so the alien theme really can be scary.) 

We can't wait to hear what the next maze will be. Halloween Haunt begins in less than 6 months!

Click here for even MORE photos!

Monsterpalooza: April 9-11, 2010

If you're in the Los Angeles area and looking for a little bit of horror, haunts, or Halloween this weekend, check out Monsterpalooza at the Marriott Burbank Convention Center.

It's really centered around horror makeup and sculpture, and we don't expect anything particularly haunt-related, but it should be a good time. If you're into doing your own makeup on Halloween or creating your own props, you might find this interesting.

Events include demonstrations, live bands, vendors, a walk-through museum, and more.

http://www.rubberroom101.com/monsterpalooza2010/index.html

More Concept Art From Knott's

Knott's is really leading the pack when it comes to releasing teasers for their 2010 haunt. Last week, they released artwork for their new maze, Fallout Shelter (replacing Alien Annihilation).

6 Feet Under the Boardwalk

The Santa Cruz Broadwalk is a famous Northern California vacation spot and home to some classic horrors. You might also remember those Lost Boys who hung out there in the 80s'. Now the Boardwalk is in the process of updating one of their most famous attractions The Haunted Castle. The terror comes back to death this summer. The new ride system is described as being a classic dark ride without any shooting guns with 4-passenger cars, that may have some doombuggy style action.The Castle is going to be two stories tall, starting on the boardwalk level and then spiraling down into the terrors below on a floor underground to the beach level.

This upgrade also seems to offer more scares with state of the art animatronics and effects.
It's been reported that the rotating cars will begin your journey by traveling backwards down a creepy “tower spiral” section of track to the basement level. At the bottom, the cars will quickly spin around forward where you will encounter the first of many new surprises. Other scenes to expect include a trip through the Royal Kitchen / Banquet, Wine Cellar, Ghastly Caves, a Murky Swamp, a Torture Chamber / Dungeon area, a crypt full of coffins, a castle “furnace” scene and possibly some kind of scene of the underworld.

Sounds fun, so we'll see you in Santa Cruz this summer... 6ft under the boardwalk and beyond!

Here are a few videos with a look at the old ride and previews of the new one.