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!