Grave of Flesh (HHN 34)

[Tobias]

the house screams like it was meant for the 90s hhn aesthetic, it would be pretty cool to see how they'll pull this off.

Yeah, the setting for this house isn't quite what I was expecting. Sounds like more of an underworld rather than graveyard? I''m sure we'll start in a graveyard at least!

Fully agreed, heck I'd say this whole year feels very old-school HHN with the concepts and general Horror direction.

While I was hoping for more of a Graveyard house than one entailing the afterlife, I'm certainly intrigued by this one! Nasty creatures going after us in the afterlife is a nice spin to the concept, and if they make it nice and claustrophobic here and there, hoo boy! The whole overall concept seems pretty bare bones simple, too...which has often led to some great scary moments, so bring it on!

Anticipation wise, I think this one might be somewhere in the middle. If it was a Graveyard house, I would've put it up higher since this event has a fantastic track record for me with those. (Graveyard Games is one of my all-time favs, and Graveyard: Deadly Unrest is one of my favorite zones.) Granted, I don't mind putting this in the middle since I'm noticing there's a growing list of houses up in the top, so I have to try and make it easier on myself. *laugh*

 

[Legacy]

Legitimately, the aesthetic vibe I’ve gotten from the (more accurate) rumor of this is house is pretty Catacombs-esque: dark, simple, windy, and focused on scares. If the cast accepts how important their own intensity is, it has the potential to be a terrifying experience.

(And the “city” confusion was based on how built out the opening graveyard/funeral scene is. So, at the very least, the facade should be pretty impressive.)

 

[HHN Maddux]

Legitimately, the aesthetic vibe I’ve gotten from the (more accurate) rumor of this is house is pretty Catacombs-esque: dark, simple, windy, and focused on scares. If the cast accepts how important their own intensity is, it has the potential to be a terrifying experience.

(And the “city” confusion was based on how built out the opening graveyard/funeral scene is. So, at the very least, the facade should be pretty impressive.)

Catacombs is one of the houses I really wish I got to experience, so this is very exciting!

Also, Catacombs and Gothic vibes in houses this year? Welcome back Catacombs of the Gothic (iykyk).

 

[GA-MBIT]

I love the simplicity of this concept. There was an issue last year of houses trying to tell too big of a narrative when that's never been the strength of the medium. Museum, UCM Bloodlines, Triplets all suffered from having to support a larger lore than they could actually portray effectively. This led to a lot of "set-up" rooms that were exclusively to explain what was coming ahead, with audio spiels or visual text that was too dense to parse in the 5 seconds you're in and out of a room. They also rarely had any scares at all, which ruined the pacing of the house. Chucky suffered from this in 32. Even good houses like SS2 had an issue with "set-up" rooms, mostly because the structure was overused broadly.

Most, if not all of the originals so far have easily portrayable lore. You are doll-sized being hunted by Sid's mutant toys. After your own funeral, malevolent creatures hunt you on your way to the afterlife. An artist paints his disturbed thoughts around his haunted house, and they have come after you. I like it! It's hopefully a reverse-trend from last year.

 

[grlhowl]

If this house is mostly underground and is expected to be intense, I would love to see the blackout tunnel make an appearance, especially as a part of the finale as we go deeper and deeper.