Well, it's finally here. The end of the Haunt Season. As a site, this was our third year covering Halloween and we've had an absolute blast. We attended more Haunts this year than any other year, and it still was just a drop in the proverbial bucket. Below are our rankings, this is by no means a complete list of everything that is out there. 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. Best Theme Park Haunt - 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. Small improvements like the Skeleton Key rooms and new effects in mazes made the event seem fresh. The moving of Infected from Camp Snoopy to it's own maze not only made the overall experience for Infected that much better but freed up Camp Snoopy for an all new Scare Zone. Best Independent Haunt - Motel 6 Feet Under This was a tough category as there were 3 amazing Independent Haunts that could have claimed this spot (we'll touch on those below). But this event works in every way, not because it's extreme, not because it's gory, but because it's just a FUN Haunted House. Best Home Haunt - 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. Best Maze - The Exorcist (Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood AND Orlando) Yep, this maze was our favorite at two separate events 2500 miles apart. And for VERY different reasons. The Hollywood Maze edges out the Orlando maze EVER so slightly but this maze had the perfect blend of storytelling and amazing effects. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood and Unviersal Orlando are both open November 4 and 5 Best Scare Zones - Fright Fest - Six Flags Magic Mountain This is now the third year SFMM has taken this award from us and for good reason. SFMM is HUGE but they manage to pull off filling almost every inch of their park with monsters and the best make-up team in the business. We will say that there were a few dead spots this year (namely on the back side of the park). We are pretty sure this was because the area around Riddlers was supposed to close prior to Fright Fest and then they decided to keep it open. The Suicide Squad scare zone was great and we hope we'll see the expansion of the DC Universe Scare Zone into Metropolis for next years event. We'd also like to see the expansion of The Ruins near Apocalypse. Best Talent - Queen Mary's Dark Harbor This category wasn't even close. The talent at Dark Harbor has so much freedom it's really hard for the other events to compare. Not tied to any corporate structure they are free to interact with the guests as they see fit, free to do things that other parks would freak out about while still maintaining safety for themselves and guests. Best New Maze - (tie) Shadowlands - Knott's Scary Farm and Aftermath 2 - 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 (Shadowlands) a completely original idea that we've never seen before and the other (Aftermath 2) a resurrection of a previous maze but on steroids. Best Returning Maze - Reign of Terror If you've never done Reign of Terror in Thousand Oaks you are really missing out. This event is on par and in some ways exceeds even the biggest and baddest theme park haunt maze. The talent here is amazing and the size of the haunt is staggering. It takes a good 20-25 minutes to get through the entire event. And something we've never seen before, in-maze line control that totally works. While this is the best "Returning" maze, they change it up enough each year to keep it fresh and exciting and you shouldn't miss Reign of Terror in 2017. Best "First Year" Event - Gorlesque With so many existing Haunts in Southern California you'd think there wasn't room for anything new. You'd be wrong. But you've gotta be different to make a splash, and Gorlesque found that happy place between interactive, scary, sexy and amazing. One of the most talked about events for 2016. We can't wait to see what they come up with for 2017. Best Haunted Ride: Crash Test Zombies - Busch Gardens Tampa Bay How do you make awesome bumper cars even better? How about adding Zombies and naming it after an obscure Canadian band from the early 90's with a hit song that still doesn't make any sense (not sure if that last part is actually true ... well, MmmmMmmmMmmmMmmm still doesn't make any sense). Best Family Event: Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party Haunted Events are getting better every year, but so are the family events. But there's something about this party at the Magic Kingdom that's just so special and fun each and every year. Best "New To Us" Haunt - Sinister Pointe: Fear The Mark There are SO many events to cover that we only get to see so many each year, which is why we hadn't been to Sinister Pointe before. And now I'm sad because we had such a scary good time at this event and their 4 realms. To be fair, some of us on the staff had experienced Sinister Pointe before, but we'd never reviewed it as a website. Related Updates:
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Last week we headed out to the opening night of the always amazing Queen Mary's Dark Harbor and of course it doesn't ever disappoint. This year we actually didn't delete all of our maze walk-throughs so we've got video of most of the mazes for you and of course some amazing pictures of the event and the Slider show. Written by Gregg Condon Pictures and Video by Scott Linder and Gregg Condon Welcome to Dark Harbor 2016 You don't say? A panoramic view of the event, click to enlarge (that's what she said) Because we have SO many videos and pictures to share from this always amazing event, we're doing things a bit differently this year. We've separated the mazes out into slideshows to make it easier to load the update and still see all of the amazing pictures. Our first maze of the event was the always amazing Soulmate which had some major changes for 2016 Story time: We are slowly but surely upgrading our audio/video equipment and Soulmate was the first time we used our new microphone As you can see below, we had some really amazing interaction with the actors in this maze. Problem is, with a microphone, you have to remember to actually turn it on. Which through the full 9 minute walk-through of the maze didn't happen. So while the visuals in the maze are amazing, there is no audio. We're thinking of eventually doing a "commentary" of the maze, and we may do that if you all would like to see it. In lieu of the video, enjoy these amazing pics of the maze. Next up was B340 which also had some awesome changes for 2016 and really fills out the 3 amazing mazes on the ship. Some amazing pictures of B340 Be sure to check out our full walk-through of this amazing maze (yes, with audio). The always amazing Lullaby The Neverland Swings are back this year and we were actually able to get a POV this time. This year the all new Intrepid is in the dome, while we were initially a bit confused by the maze, our 2nd go through later in the night actually made a bit more sense as the maze goes through the building of the Queen Mary by the Iron Master. One of the best things about Queen Mary's Dark Harbor is taking a break to check out the amazing slider show. Every year Circus is one of our very favorite "mazes" not just at Dark Harbor but at any event. And it's actually a maze. As you'll see in our video we totally got lost a few times. Our last maze of the event was the always amazing Deadrise which is in a new location this year, which means some changes to the maze. The talent in this maze has been together for SO many years, and it shows. They work so well together and simply love what they do. This is one of those mazes we do a few times every visit because it's just so different each time. Be sure to spend some time hanging out at the exit of the maze, these guys are always entertaining and love scaring people. Overall this is another amazing year for Dark Harbor, the talent at this event is simply second to none, they've got so much freedom to develop their characters and just all seem to love what they do. The sideshow has also changed locations this year and as you can see they've added a much bigger show area. To say that we recommend Dark Harbor would be an extreme understatement. An amazing night of fun and scares is in store should you choose to take in this event. We HIGHLY recommend getting the Front of the Line pass as the maze as they only let a few people in at a time. You can upgrade at the event, but we highly recommend getting it before you go as you'll save a few bucks. Thanks again to Queen Mary for having us out and for continuing to put on an amazing event each and every year. For more information on Dark Harbor 2016 be sure to check out the full event information here. Related Updates: Today we're kicking off our Halloween coverage in a HUGE way with Day One from last weekends Midsummer Scream. Below you'll find some great pictures and video from the show floor, hall of shadows and three of the amazing panels that were held on the first day of this amazing convention. Written by Gregg Condon Putting on an event is hard, it takes a LOT of hard work. As we learned from a lot of the panels over the weekend, when it comes to a Halloween event the work for the next years event usually starts just after (or sometimes during) the previous years event. Putting on any large scale event is no different. The amount of planning and preparation that goes on takes a year, from booking talent, convention space, vendors, and in the case of Midsummer Scream, scare zones and mazes. The fact that the team was able to do all of this in about 4 months is amazing. Even considering the years of expertise of those involved (and they are exceptional at what they do) pulling off what they pulled off in 4 months was amazing. Saturday: We arrived at the event about 30 minutes prior to doors open, usually a time when you find chaos and issues everywhere. Yet there was a calm and orderly general admission line, when we went inside to get our press badges there were only a few people in line. The staff knew just where to send us and we were ready to go with a good 15-20 minutes before the event opened. This gave us time to catch up with friends, get some amazing pictures and plan our attack for the day. First up was a walk of the show floor, which is the heart of any event of this kind. And this was our kind of event. So many amazing displays, merchandise and even mini experiences. We could have spent SO much money. We then headed into the Hall of Shadows and without even realizing it we walked right into a Scare Zone ... at a convention. And it was amazing. You could tell the talent was having so much fun with it, and the entire event was just so calm and relaxed, no drama that we could see. Be sure to check out our 360° video of Hall of Shadows. We will have additional videos with our day two update next week. Our first panel of the day was "Frightful Attraction Design for Theme Park Audiences" and our first chance to thank the Midsummer Scream crew for all of their hard work. This didn't have the feeling of a first year event and you could tell they were all (rightfully) proud of what they've created. Oh yeah, the panel. It was amazing. Great talk about some amazing dark rides like Indiana Jones Adventure, Monster Plantation at SFOG, the Ghostbusters show at USF and of course the greatest scary dark attraction of all time Alien Encounter (I assume as sadly I never got to experience it). Having the panel hosted by Rick West who's expertise and familiarity with both the rides and the panelists made it that much better. After a quick lunch at one of the plethora of nearby eateries it was time for our 2nd panel of Midsummer Scream ... Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. First of all, if you've never been to Dark Harbor, what are you waiting for? Secondly, if you've never attended a panel about Queen Mary's Dark Harbor at one of these conventions, what are you waiting for? The cast of characters they bring out is amazing. Both at their event and at Midsummer Scream their actors get to bring their own personality and fun into the experience. Throughout the presentation they talked about this years event (you can find all of that information here). Needless to say it's going to be amazing once again and we can't wait to experience this amazing event again. Click to see the full update on what's coming to Queen Mary's Dark Harbor in 2016 ... After some more time spent on the show floor it was time to head back into the ballroom and to check out the presentation for Halloween Horror Nights. Unlike the other panels of the weekend nothing was actually announced at the HHN panel, but that didn't take away from the greatness of it. John and Chris so love what they do and it shows. They spent the hour (that went by way too quick) talking about the history of the "Big 4" Slashers that will be appearing at this years event. And that's going to pretty much wrap it up for day 1. Be sure to check back on Monday for Day Two of Midsummer Scream. In the meantime, be sure to check out the release for Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Freddy vs Jason coming to Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood and for Krampus coming to HHN Hollywood and Orlando. Be sure to check back next week for the rest of our Midsummer Scream coverage and great panels from Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm. Related Updates:
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