1)
Wicked Growth—The Hallow remains top 10 GOAT for me. Love the pumpkin ghoul statues they’ve used the past few years. Anything that uses Halloween and pumpkin iconography and creepy atmospherics goes to the top of my list.
2)
Bride Lives!—Because it was that damn good last year.
3)
Welcome to (S)Carey—Part of me fears this will be an unmitigated mess. Will the tonal shift from a broad parody like
Leave It to Cleaver clash to the dark, realistic horror vibe of
Hive or the cheesiness of
The Spawning even work?
But then I remember H.R. Bloodengutz should be this house so I don’t care.
If they play the whole thing as a comedy house, it may work better
4)
Beetlejuice—Fortunate to have had two runs last year, really enjoyed it, tho it felt sparsely populated. Still fairly fresh to me so I’m excited to return, hoping more actors elevate it to all-timer status.
5)
Puppet Theater—The wild card. Dead Exposure was a sleeper hit, Dollhouse started strong but proved kind of one-note. With creepy puppets and a strong cast I could see this being top 3. But I could also see it being the weakest original. My guess is it will be beautiful either way.
6)
Icons Unleashed—I like a house that tells a story. I expect this to be unconnected vignettes. While I appreciate finally seeing Lady Luck inside a house, and always glad for a return from Dr. Caine, Jack works better on-stage, or at least in a meet & greet, where he can improv. The rest of the icons do nothing for me. Sounds like A&D put a lot of effort into this one, so maybe it will surprise me, but keeping my expectations in check.
7)
Legendary Truth—Another wild card. Never got into anything L.T. so initially wasn’t feeling this, but the detective noir vibe has my interest. If they lean into a 1930s feel and manage to tell a story like Brides does, could shoot up to my top three.
8)
Tooth Fairy—Façade was amazing, rest of house was just alright for me, and I did it enough last year I fear it may already be a bit stale (The AWiL Effect). Still expect a good house, and a must-do if you missed 2020, but I fear I’ll be over it by October. A killer cast could change that tho.
9)
Haunting of Hill House. Made it an episode and a half in, show is not for me. If HHN can capture the gothic beauty of the old house, will at least be pretty. Expect repetitive monsters, which has replaced “house is too short” as my default HHN pet peeve.
10)
TCM –Not a fan of the movies. Not a fan of the first two TCM houses. Not a fan of gore for gore’s sake. The one selling point—tons of chainsaws!—is neutered by being in a soundstage (can’t actually run them, can only pipe in chainsaw noises). I’m sure this will be someone’s favorite, but I just don’t see it working for me.