 Well, it's finally here. The end of the Haunt Season. Sad Face ... As a site, this was our fifth year covering Halloween and we've had an absolute blast. Below are our site awards for 2018!! Some of these events still have some nights coming up this weekend so be sure to check them out if you haven't already. If you missed ANY of our Halloween Updates be sure to check them out. Also this year, we opened up the voting to you, our loyal Park Journey readers. So you'll not only see our staff picks, but yours as well. Best Theme Park Haunt Staff Pick - Knott's Scary Farm With the addition of new mazes and the freshening up of some previous years mazes it was another banner year for the amazing Knott's Scary Farm. Reader Pick - Knott's Scary Farm It was a clean sweep for the original Halloween Event, although Halloween Horror Nights Orlando and Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest did gather a tying second place vote. Check out our Knott's Scary Farm 2018 Review
Best Non Theme Park Haunt Staff Pick - Queen Mary's Dark Harbor This was a tough category as there were so many amazing Non Theme Park Events that could have claimed this spot. Very close second would be ... see below. Reader Pick - Tie: WB Horror Made Here and Queen Mary's Dark Harbor In just it's second year, WB's Horror Made Here managed to tie one of the best and biggest events around, and for good reason. If it weren't for the readers calling this a tie, we may well have in our Staff Pick above. Congrats to WB and Dark Harbor. We hope you continue to duke it out for years to come. =) Check out our Queen Mary's Dark Harbor 2018 Review Check out our WB Horror Made Here 2018 Review
Best Independent Halloween Event Staff Pick - Ghost Train Reader Pick - Ghost Train Another clean sweep in our Independent Haunt Category!! Congrats to the Ghost Train which manages to not only be fun for all ages, but thrilling for even the most extreme Haunt fan. Coming in second place in our Readers pick was The 17th Door, which continues to grow each year. Best Year-to-Year upgrade of a maze location Sewer of Lost Souls - Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain We thought about opening this category up for the Reader Vote, but weren't quite sure how to word it. Basically, the maze that has been in this location the past few years, let's face it, kind of sucked. But not this year!! Totally revamped, no more black walls or vines everywhere, a truly unique and innovative maze was to be found. Best Family Friendly Halloween Event Staff Pick - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom Reader Pick - Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom It's really hard to top Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, and for good reason. Unlike most family events, Magic Kingdom gets to use their park at night for their Family Halloween event vs having nights reserved for scary stuff. Check out our Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 2018 Review  Best Home Haunt Staff Pick - Beware The Dark Realm This was our second year visiting this haunt near Magic Mountain, and it won't be our last. Truly ambitious and thrilling, the team at this Haunt puts on a great event, for a great cause. Reader Pick - Backwoods So let's say you go to some imaginary "Haunt Graveyard" and get animatronics and sets that basically tells the history of Southern California Scary Events and put them all in your house. And then it all works in an amazing way. That's what Backwoods is and it's amazing. It's no wonder our Reader's picked this as their winner.
Best Maze Staff Pick - Universal Monsters at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Truly the toughest category we had to figure out, this could have gone to any number of 5 or 6 mazes at 4 or 6 different events. But for thrills, fun, effects and talent, none was better than Universal Monsters Reader Pick - Stranger Things at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights This was easily the most popular maze at two different parks 2500 miles away. Stranger Things is truly epic in every way and it's not hard to see why fans loved this maze. Best New Maze Tie: The Depths at Knott's Scary Farm and Sewer of Lost Souls at Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest We typically exclude Halloween Horror Nights from this category as they don't tend to repeat mazes, but that's not to take away anything from these two amazing mazes. One (The Depths) a fantastic idea with a mix of great talent, technology and fun and the other (Sewer of Lost Souls) a true upgrade for Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest. Best Talent Staff Pick - Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain The staff at Fright Fest has been together for years, has the freedom to hone their craft and create their own characters. And it shows. Despite some truly busy nights at the park this year, the staff was on top of their game all season. Reader Pick - Knott's Scary Farm Ghost Town, Carnevil, The Hollows ... names synonymous with amazing scares. Throw in the all new Forsaken Lake and 9 mazes and it's not hard to see why the talent of this event always gets high marks.
Best Scare Zone Vamp 85 at Halloween Horror Nights Orlando We all agreed, this was the scare zone to beat this year, and it's not very hard to see why. Great talent, great atmosphere and a killer soundtrack. Special Runner Up to Holidayz in Hell at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, which we hope comes back as a fully realized maze in 2019. Especially the Thanksgiving part. Check out our Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando 2018 Review  Best Year to Year upgrade of an existing maze Staff Pick - Paranormal Inc at Knott's Scary Farm Reader Pick - Paranormal Inc at Knott's Scary Farm This one wasn't even close, almost a clean sweep for Paranormal Inc. The new ending breathed new life into the maze and it's better than ever. Even with huge upgrades to some other mazes, none came close to having the impact of Paranormal Inc. Related Videos:
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 In just it's 3rd year, Midsummer Scream has taken it's place as one of the most organized, fun, stress free and amazing conventions of the year. Last weekend we were on-hand all weekend to check out all of the amazing panels, the Hall of Shadows and just a fun time with all our haunted friends. Let's head into the fog ... Written by Gregg Condon Welcome to Midsummer Scream 2018!!!  First up was the Knott's Scary Farm panel where they talked a lot about their process and announced an all new scare zone Forsaken Lake  The Hall of Shadows was bigger and better than ever    We can't wait to check out these full events in October!!      No Midsummer Scream would be complete without a visit to the Black Cat Lounge    Six Flags Panel where the monsters came out to play       Girls, Girls, Girls!!!  Caption Contest!!!  Queen Mary Dark Harbor Panel is always one of the highlights of the weekend   Nice photo-bomb Big Mike!!  An all new panel this year from Warner Brothers and their Horror Made Here event  The excitement for this event is palpable, the room was very full for a first year panel    We also had a chance to talk with Jon Braver from Delusion  The last panel of Midsummer Scream was a unification of Halloween Horror Nights on both coasts. No big announcements, but the 90 minute chat was amazing!!       Had a great time talking with John, Chris and Michael where we talked about non-IP mazes, non-existent fights and kick ass shoes. A behind the scenes look at how the magic happens.  Thanks Midsummer Scream for another amazing year, already counting down the days until next year.  Related Videos:
Related Updates:  Last year when we did our Midsummer Scream updates we called it the "unofficial" kick-off to the Halloween Season. Judging by the growth of this event in just it's second year it's safe to go ahead and remove the unofficial moniker. The event was run like a well-oiled machine given the longer prep time vs last years event. Written by Gregg Condon Before we start diving into Halloween 2017, let's take a look back at the epic 2016 Halloween Season Welcome to Midsummer Scream!! Despite a couple of long lines to kick off the event (everywhere has security, get used to it, plan ahead) we have heard overwhelmingly positive things about this years event.  Our first stop was the amazing Hall of Shadows which was even bigger this year. Hey, we know those guys!!!  With all of the mini-haunts, monsters walking around and the Decayed Brigade shows this was definitely one of the more popular spots this weekend.  Somebody's about to get scurred ...  Despite being called "mini haunts" some of these were amazing and some of these independent haunts are going to have amazing years.  Some of the themeing is on-par with the big time haunts. Shows some of the amazing time people put into these events.  One of our favorite haunts last year is back ... they offered both PG-13 and rated R shows. I'll let you guess which one we saw. =)  You never know who you're gonna find just walking around Midsummer Scream. Hanging out with the legendary Bob Gurr.
Some awesome booths for things we all might want to check out, including Scream Box.  Here's Greggie!! (Seriously, where else can you pull an axe on your son and have him laugh about it)  Knott's Scary Farm PanelOur first panel of the weekend was for Knott's Scary Farm. Despite being a bit on the short side we did get some tidbits about this years event. Their full event will be unveiled on August 31. (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Fright Fest (Six Flags Magic Mountain)Next up was Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain and there were some amazing things announced (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Queen Mary's Dark HarborLastly on Saturday was Queen Mary's Dark Harbor, and they announced a whole bunch of new bars, a new maze, hidden bars, re-designed mazes, ice bars, Costume Balls and more bars. (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Halloween Horror Nights (Universal Hollywood)On Sunday we headed to the Halloween Horror Nights panel which was easily the largest panel of the weekend. HHN fans are crazy dedicated.  Below highlights of the Ash vs Evil Dead maze along with some artwork shown during the presentation. (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Below highlights of The Shinihng maze along with some artwork shown during the presentation. (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) This year, ORIGINAL SCARE ZONES!! And they look awesome!!! We really loved the Gauntlet of Fear last year although The Purge isn't scary. It seems to be coming back in some form this year on the Backlot. (click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Winchester Mystery HouseLastly on Sunday we attended the Winchester Mystery House panel, one of our favorite places. And this year they have expanded their Candlelight Tours!  The entire panel is a podcast on The Season Pass so be sure you check it out.  20 nights this year!!!  They also talked a bit about Winchester which is in theaters next February. We simply can't wait for this movie.  And because Winchester Mystery House is amazing, they gave everybody in the audience 2 tickets to the all new "Explore More" tour and an amazing print. There will be more of these so be sure you head up to the house and get yours!  And with that, the curtain has come down on another amazing Midsummer Scream.  We are SO ready for Halloween Season and we only have a little over a month until it all begins. Related Updates: |
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