Mine is a bit screwy because I only started going back to Hollywood in 2023, so some of the repeats are less bothersome for me than others. I am also largely repeating the comments I made for the shared IP houses in the Orlando thread:
1. Terrifier – The first time I went to Halloween Horror Nights was in 2008 in Hollywood, when they had Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface, and the right IPs still have the ability to excite me like nothing else. Slasher movies are comfort food, and Terrifier really is the first major slasher franchise made by people of my generation, based on their love of the same movies I grew up watching. This is really a tight race between Terrifier and Jason Universe, but what gives this the slight edge is that Damien Leone and the filmmakers are involved here, so I think it will feel like the true Terrifier experience. Should be gnarly, funny, weird - exactly the mix of gore, extremity, and humor I like.
2. Jason Universe – Hand in hand with Terrifier - I always am thrilled when we get one of the OG slashers, and I can't believe we get two big slasher icons in one year. Jason Universe could easily go to #1 if it is handled properly, because the mythos of these movies - silly and generic as they are - is really deeply ingrained for me. Plus, Camp Blood was one of the first houses I ever did at HHN way back in 2008! I do have some concerns about the Jason Un1v3rse IP issue turning this a bit generic, but I think there is so much potential, and I am so excited we get Jason back.
3. Scarecrow – I fully understand why this might be at the very bottom of some people’s lists. I did not get to do Scarecrow in 2022, and so I am really excited to see Hollywood’s version of this house, notwithstanding the fact that a version will be in Vegas, that is a repeat, and that Slash seems like the wrong choice to score an eerie, Dust Bowl house. I think all of those are legitimate criticisms, but I am frankly feeling lucky to get the chance to do Hollywood’s Scarecrow firsthand. Plus, after TCM was easily my favorite house last year—in either Hollywood or Orlando—I have some residual fondness for the T-Pad location. J
4. Monstruous 3 – I could imagine this one slipping down the list, because the set of monsters they have this year are a little bit less exciting for me—there is no one who quite reaches the El Silbón or El Cucuy level in this trio—but right now, I am pretty excited for it. I found the first two Monstruous houses to be really strong (my second favorite each year in Hollywood, after Chucky and TCM), and so I have every reason to believe that this one will be really fun too. I fully understand if people are getting burned out on Monstruous, but I think that Hollywood’s version of the Cemetery of the Lost and everything is cozy, fun, and comfortingly familiar.
5. Poltergeist – As with Scarecrow, I could easily see this being lower if I had done the Hollywood version of Poltergeist. Since I did not get the chance, I think this will be a lot of fun to experience. Poltergeist is not one of my favorite classic horror films but it is a classic, and I look forward to experiencing the Hollywood version (though the dreaded black wall issue is certainly a potential negative).
6. WWE: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks - I am not a big wrestling fan, and so WWE would be my easy last place in most circumstances. If, for example, there was an actual wrestling ring and a lot of wrestling lore, it wouldn't be for me. But it seems like what they are doing instead is drawing on the mythology that Bray Wyatt created, and the designs of the Wyatt Sicks gives me very strong Rob Zombie / Firefly Family vibes, which is much more appealing. If this has the Louisiana cult aspect, the grimy Rob Zombie aesthetic, and the creepiness of the Fiend's Exorcist-like Let Me In demands, it could actually go much higher on my list.
7. Five Nights at Freddy's - The movie is really not very good, sanitizing the animatronics and injecting far too much plot into a very simple premise. While Matthew Lillard is one of my favorite actors, and he is awesome - so a Matthew Lillard stand-in and Springtrap villain are cool in my book - I worry this house is going to get muddled down by the movie's plot, especially since featuring a fake version of Josh Hutcherson and the ghost kids would be a way to save on budget but still follow the movie. With all that said, I am still excited, because I played the first game earlier this summer in anticipation of the house, and it was pretty good; if FNAF is closer to the original game - claustrophobic, uncanny valley, jump scares from the animatronics themselves - it could be really cool.
8. Fallout - I watched the TV show and enjoyed it, but I don't have a deep connection to the franchise. This is much more appealing to me than some of the IPs from recent years like A Quiet Place or Stranger Things, but it winds up on the bottom just because I think this is a very stacked year, and because I think the upper potential of this house is lower for me personally. I am excited for the monsters, but I tend to find post-apocalyptic houses a bit drab, and I have a feeling this one will have a lot of generic human scareactors - raiders, good guy characters, etc.
9. Terror Tram – The paradox of the Terror Tram is that I love that it exists as something different, but it is almost always one of the weaker offerings. I would definitely have preferred with the rumored Killer Klowns Tram or a kooky original like Exterminatorz to another Blumhouse run, so it’s hard to be all that excited. I do look forward to the fact that they are mixing it up, including with adding Indisious and Exorcist: Believer, so I am open to being surprised. I think Terror Tram will be fine, but the constant Blumhouse is not as exciting as other things would be.