Right - which goes back to the whole point. It’s not a “humor” problem. You’ll get that in some form. It’s a balance. Last year didn’t really offer that (among other things). This year, they seemingly are.
I know this is a few pages ago, but I've went dark for a bit just with work picking up like crazy, and really enjoyed reading through this conversation and the conversation about Wrestling and being an art form.
I think there is something that hasn't really been touched on yet, and that's just that things don't necessarily have to be horror to tie into the event. The idea of Halloween in-general, at least the more modern idea, has always been just dressing up in costumes, trick or treating, partying, going through haunted houses, carving pumpkins, and celebrating things like ghosts, monsters, creatures, etc.
There's this odd concept that Halloween Horror Nights needs to be explicitly as scary as possible and focus on major horror franchises only, and stay away from comedy and other forms of entertainment. I think during the start of the event, sure that may have been applicable. However, the event has really evolved beyond that. To me, HHN is now much more focused on creating immersive houses and scarezones that can be really any genre as long as it follows the house formula: Immersive sets, detailed costumes, and jumpscares. There are tons of franchises and genres that fit into that. That's why we're seeing things like Fallout this year, which is probably my #1 favorite IP they've had at the event thus far. Look at things like DnD or even (yes this sounds funny) Pee Wee's Big Adventure. DnD isn't explicitly horror, but we've had 2 houses that have kinda fit the DnD theme (Dueling Dragons and Goblins Feast) that have both been pretty great houses. My buddy and I have joked about for a while a Pee Wee's Big Adventure house, and while it is absolutely not horror, there's elements in it (the weird clown dream, large Marge, the unsettling nature of the film in general) that could make for a really goofy and interesting house.
So while I definitely see HHN trying to balance out comedy, gore, etc., I think there's even more of an argument to be made that the event's main focus is now on immersion, jump scares, and creating memorable and impressive experiences as compared to pure horror. HHN absolutely knows it is not as scary as more local style events, just based on the formula of the houses and the way the event is. There's no reason for them to focus on trying to be the scariest, when they can focus instead on being the most impressive.