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Favorite Memories inside Haunted Houses

Nov 3, 2019
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Every year me and my partner always have our favorites but it is always funny what sticks in our heads long after the event has ended. Like Carnival Graveyard's "Don't you mess with my Mama!!!" we found that quote hilarious and for whatever reason we say it to each other every now and then and is easily now the most memorable part of 28.

And also while I had plenty to critique about Depths of Fear last year it is the house I am recalling and thinking about the most of last year, so now I kinda love that house???? Haha idk...

Anyways! Does anyone else have quotes that stick out to you or houses that you just really remember from a year?
 
From the last few years that I've been going (I've only gone from 27 on), Scarecrow is the one that stands out to the me the most. We managed to hit every scare perfectly, and I think it's probably the best use of SIF that I know of. Strong favorite house for me.

Honorable mentions for me:

Dead Waters riverboat was jaw dropping; Poltergeist entering the spirit realm; all of Slaughter Sinema; dracula's brides from UCM last year; the facade at Graveyard Games.
 
I’ll prob get a lot of hate for this one but horrors of Blumhouse 2 the little party scene in the happy death day section me and my friends had a solo in there and had a absolute blast dancing in there with the fellow house attendant and we often talk about how dang fun that little moment was!
 
I think just as strong as visual and auditory memories, smell based memories can be oddly powerful for me:

Obviously HHN fog is like no other, but I think the smell of the baby scene in Dollhouse of the Damned just have stuck with me to this day, the mix of dung and baby powder (and how despite trying to contain it, it literally permeated the whole house) has stuck with me to this day. The burnt flesh smell they use semi-regularly also paints vivid memories of houses like The Walking Dead and Roanoke.

In terms of characters and character design, I think the "Collector'" character from Dollhouse (with the baby doll head shoved in its mouth) has stuck with me to this day, along with their "Must...make...you...pretty" line. The safari hunter teddy bears from that house actually also inspired a Halloween costume for me for that year! The character design for Peppermint (I think that was her name) in RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears also has stuck with me., with her sawblade weapon and, uh, outfit...

Facades that were just so epic they immediately were seared into the back of my mind definitely include the Witch and castle from Scary Tales in 28, Sal's Salvage gates from Carnival Graveyard, and Shadybrook from the house in 25.

Specific triggers have also been burned into my memory, such as the Discarded clown trigger from Giggle and Gore, the grunting welder from Carnival Graveyard, mainly because they would be hitting them CONSTANTLY. You could hear it from a mile away most nights, haha.

In terms of oddly specific memories though, I vividly remember the opening bar scene from American Werewolf (I could recite word for word to this day), partying with Ash in Jacksonville at the end of Ash vs. the Evil Dead, and strangely (un-house related) the giant cyc they had set up for testing Gringotts in the soundstage with Evil Dead back in 23.

I have to say Roanoke Cannibal Colony as a whole has stuck with me like crazy over the years too, perhaps because of how well it replicated the feel of an old colonial village (and having grown up near a lot of similar historical sites, it really hit home), and I know that was a very forgettable house for a lot of people.
 
I think just as strong as visual and auditory memories, smell based memories can be oddly powerful for me:

Obviously HHN fog is like no other, but I think the smell of the baby scene in Dollhouse of the Damned just have stuck with me to this day, the mix of dung and baby powder (and how despite trying to contain it, it literally permeated the whole house) has stuck with me to this day. The burnt flesh smell they use semi-regularly also paints vivid memories of houses like The Walking Dead and Roanoke.

In terms of characters and character design, I think the "Collector'" character from Dollhouse (with the baby doll head shoved in its mouth) has stuck with me to this day, along with their "Must...make...you...pretty" line. The safari hunter teddy bears from that house actually also inspired a Halloween costume for me for that year! The character design for Peppermint (I think that was her name) in RUN: Blood, Sweat, and Fears also has stuck with me., with her sawblade weapon and, uh, outfit...

Facades that were just so epic they immediately were seared into the back of my mind definitely include the Witch and castle from Scary Tales in 28, Sal's Salvage gates from Carnival Graveyard, and Shadybrook from the house in 25.

Specific triggers have also been burned into my memory, such as the Discarded clown trigger from Giggle and Gore, the grunting welder from Carnival Graveyard, mainly because they would be hitting them CONSTANTLY. You could hear it from a mile away most nights, haha.

In terms of oddly specific memories though, I vividly remember the opening bar scene from American Werewolf (I could recite word for word to this day), partying with Ash in Jacksonville at the end of Ash vs. the Evil Dead, and strangely (un-house related) the giant cyc they had set up for testing Gringotts in the soundstage with Evil Dead back in 23.

I have to say Roanoke Cannibal Colony as a whole has stuck with me like crazy over the years too, perhaps because of how well it replicated the feel of an old colonial village (and having grown up near a lot of similar historical sites, it really hit home), and I know that was a very forgettable house for a lot of people.

Yes Dollhouse is another one that has really stuck with me over the years! Memorable lines, smells, visuals it definitely had IT! It is just funny the "random" or "forgettable/not top-tier houses" that stick with me over time and even more so than HOTY and other "top houses" It just might be the quirkyness or daring to try something new while it might not always deliver as a whole the effort sticks with me and oddly remember them more than fan-favorites.
 
Yes Dollhouse is another one that has really stuck with me over the years! Memorable lines, smells, visuals it definitely had IT! It is just funny the "random" or "forgettable/not top-tier houses" that stick with me over time and even more so than HOTY and other "top houses" It just might be the quirkyness or daring to try something new while it might not always deliver as a whole the effort sticks with me and oddly remember them more than fan-favorites.
100% Roanoke is that for me, pretty much the whole house remains so vivid for me, and yet it just sort of slipped to the bottom of the pile for most people
 
I’ll prob get a lot of hate for this one but horrors of Blumhouse 2 the little party scene in the happy death day section me and my friends had a solo in there and had a absolute blast dancing in there with the fellow house attendant and we often talk about how dang fun that little moment was!

One of my all-time best house run throughs was in Blumhouse Vol 2 during 28. I was with two of my friends on closing night and we had just finished up a lackluster run of Slaughter Sinema at the start of stay and scream. We basically had blumhouse to ourselves and the scareactors were relentless. I couldn't tell you where in the house but there was one hallway in each movie's section where actors were set up to team up on opposite sides of the room. This was EXTREMELY effective and just throughout the house the cast was on point. Adding that to the fact that i thought the set design was a pretty great representation of those two films (I genuinely felt i was walking through the apartment from the end of The First Purge at the end of the house), Blumhouse was one of my favorites of the year. I really wanted to have love for Slaughter Sinema based on all the love it got and while I did enjoy it, I never had a good run.

Another moment that sticks out to me was during closing night of 2015. That year overall was amazing, but in Asylum in Wonderland there was the room with the floating heads I believe, and I just remember one getting really close to my ear and say "What are you afraid of?" and I honestly don't even know if I imagined it but it thoroughly chilled me to my core.

Last year, the Us house was incredible for my run during opening weekend. I may have gotten really lucky with my run through of that one, but the actresses who played red in the Living Room and in the Bunny Room both stared into my soul for large periods of time. I'll never forget my initial nervous chuckle in the living room because that gaze was so intense. That cast was incredible that night. And going through that Hands Across America Room for the first time with the Audio Triggers that created the cadence of the song was just the cherry on top of a great house. Unfortunately, I don't think this house aged well.

I also randomly have audio from House of 1000 Corpses pop into my head, like the video screen transition room music or "I'm the one who brings the christmas candy" :lol:
 
I remember Roanoke embarrassingly as I accidentally walked into an exit at the beginning as there was a huge gap between me and the party ahead haha
I had a similar experience happen to me at HHN 28. I was going into Seeds of Extinction early after Stay and Scream and instead of walking through the entrance I somehow entered the wrong door which led into the parade float storage area. The guy working in there was like "uhh, I don't think you're supposed to be in here..." My group and I literally could not stop laughing because we were like, "this doesn't seem like Seeds of Extinction":lol:. I genuinely don't know how we got in there but I think it was a combination of our first time going through that house/that location and nobody else behind us or in front of us.
 
Posted this 12 years ago...

Dead Silence was amazing, and one of the times [that I] went through I felt this terrible feeling of dread just come over me. It was the only time I've been in a haunted house where I just wanted to fall down into a corner and curl into a ball. I had been in it half a dozen times before but for some reason that time made me really uncomfortable to the point I didn't really enjoy it. 'Tis weird.

It's funny though, because years later I now regard this as one of my most memorable runs though a house. It was 5-minutes until close for the entire season, and my girlfriend and I were the only two people we saw in line for the house. She hauled ass ahead of me and got out as quickly as she could, while I slowly walked through and got every, single, scare. Every 6' tall Mary Shaw looking me dead in the eyes and floating off into the darkness.

At the time it was terrifying (as evident from my original post), but in hindsight, with a 13-year HHN callous built up, it's something I wish I could go back and relive.
 
2008- DEAD EXPOSURE (my first ever horror nights house. I remember walking out, thinking that if every house was like I wasn't sure if I could take it), BODY COLLECTORS: COLLECTIONS FROM THE PAST (The Victorian street facade, Sweeney's barber chair, the operating room).

2009- LEAVE IT TO CLEAVER (Meaty's final attack after you left the house), SILVER SCREAMS (That incredible facade and first room).

2010- CATACOMBS (The plague doctors), HAVOC (I remember the house just being non-stop, fast-paced, intense scares), ZOMBIGEDDON (The parade float accident jumps immediately to mind. I also loved the queue vid).

2011- THE FORSAKEN (I distinctly remember the screen of fog you had to walk through to get in the house. I remember the rain inside, and the various sets...particularly the courtyard) , THE IN-BETWEEN (I remember there being a bench directly outside the exit that I would always have to use. I'd have sit there for a few minutes afterwards just to catch my bearings), WINTER'S NIGHT (I still remember the chill in that house, the rich atmosphere. So perfect.), SAWS N' STEAM (I actually got the whole house to myself one night, that was quite a cool experience), NIGHTINGALES (I remember the guy being torn in half gag, and how the Nightingales got more grotesque and ferocious the deeper you wen into the house).

2012- DEAD END (I remember walking up the front steps and into the facade, and how the maze felt like a complete, real house), GOTHIC (I remember the bells with hunchbacks, the flying gargoyles, and the scene where you are looking down into the pews).

2013- AWIL (Those werewolf puppets still stick in my memory).

2014- HALLOWEEN (I remember the "Ghost sheet" gag), AVP (I remember how they made you crawl to get out of the house), TWD: NO SAFE HAVEN (I remember walking right into a wall and struggling to get back into the line. A friend had to pull me back in).

2015- JACK PRESENTS (The room full of Jack's), FVJ (The Elm Street House facade in the middle of the maze), BODY COLLECTORS: RECOLLECTIONS (That opening room with a corpse burning in the fireplace, the return of the operating room), THE PURGE (A scareactor scaring me so i jumped back and banged my shoulder real good into a corner of a wall, the Purge barker outside, the final room), INSIDIOUS (The hallway where it felt like people were gently touching your arms, The copious amounts of fog, that damned Darth Maul demon).

2017- AHS: VOLUME 2 (The facade of the insane asylum, every single Roanoak scene), SCARECROW: THE REAPING (The facade with the cornfield and creepy scarecrow outside, the barn silo with the rain, the gigantic scarecrow that like grew out of a door), DEAD WATERS (That amazing riverboat facade), HIVE (Those Nosferatu-esque vamps near the end, the flying vamps, the overal aesthetic of the house), THE SHINING (The elevators of blood scene, the lobby of The Overlook).

2019- KKFOS (Klown-zilla...'Nuff said), ST: SEASONS 2 AND 3 (THE MIND-FLAYER PUPPET), UNIVERSAL MONSTERS (The amazing first room/facade, The final room, The Hunnchback bell-ringer scare, Mummy's Crypt, Phantom's Lair), GRAVEYARD GAMES (Pretty much the whole damned house. The pitch dark hallway, the hallway with flickering candles, The floating creepily lit ghost at the end), HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (the entire facade, the room with screens, how you exit out through the exit to the murder ride)
 
I remember quite vividly running into one of the Nightingales at the end of Nightingales Blood Pit. That was a very unlucky night for me. I had beer spilt on me already before going into Nightingales Blood Pit, and I also almost threw up after eating the marshmallow fries before entering Blood Pit.
 
Going through The Exorcist alone was fantastic. I remember how much more I appreciated the design of the house, from the visuals, the smells, and especially the audio work. I had gone through a few times prior but this run had a completely different, way more intense energy to it. The highlight was when the possessed Karras near the end jumped from Reagan and put both of his arms on the wall, pinning me in between. It essentially became an intense staring match. :lol: I didn't think scareactors could get away with something like that. I've never had a run like it since.
 
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