Trick r Treat was just not a great maze. I'm sorry dude. Sure there was some nice scares here and there, but design-wise, it's one of the laziest I've seen in any of the more sought-after properties. I should not have found Purge to be scarier than TrT, but here we are. The only thing that's keeping me from saying that Purge was better than TrT are the cool-looking school bus room and Kreig's house.
Watch the black walls video. TrT is one of the least offenders. The precious UM is one of the worst. Scare design is beyond lazy, out of place, and unscary the entire way through -- there is hardly any proximity to the guests. There is nothing all that beautiful in the maze that HHN hasn't already done at least 10 times in the past. There's no sense of story, just monsters mashing and mixing from one room to the next. A film vault room that gives mixed signals whether we're walking through the movies or in that world. Graffiti on the outside walls that make no sense in either canon. It's a museum walk through much like Saw was last year. House of Horrors was better, scarier, and more faithful.
Anything that can be said about TrT can be said about UM also. Everyone I was with had TrT top of the list and didn't care for UM -- it may have just been our very specific walk throughs why we loved TrT that much. I've watched the videos for both many times after and I still have the same opinion though.
Either way, I could give scene by scene specific examples why I think UM is meh and TrT is great. All I'm hearing are generalizations about both. If you love it regardless and/or bias for either, that's fine. Either way, it'll come down to subjectivity, but objectively, they're the same except for scare placements and number of scares. Where I say elements don't combine, another could say they love that specific aesthetic. I could say the Girl section in HOB is dark, grim, and foreboding while another could say it's dark, boring, and there's not a lot to look at -- but did they listen to the soundtrack?
Were they alone, the front of the group, or did they not get the scares? Did they just walk through confused and let that be a deciding factor? Or maybe one maze they went in with a critical brain and the other they went in on a time-to-have-fun brain. Hormonal imbalances. Chemical reactions. Mood factors -- hungry, tired, energized? Physical parameters -- eyes adjusted to the dark, mostly looking forward, down or up? Did you just run to the maze or wait an hour for it? Was your adrenaline already pumping or were you relaxed? Everything is a factor. I can list mine in a review, I can say I'm biased in a review, I can be detailed in a review, I can note past-mazes of HHN and other haunts in a review.
But until there's something specific, those types of generalizations mean nothing. And even with specificity, end of the day, what people experienced is what they experienced. And 999 out of 1000 times, they don't get a repeat or even care to or look back at a video. It is what it is. I went through Purge and say it's just as bad TiTE. You say it's almost as scary as TrT. But if you're going to go pound for pound, actual square footage of plywood and complain about black walls every other post, then UM and Purge are at the top of the freakin' list and by that logic, are garbage or average at best. Stay consistent with your hate, admit bias, or just say it really doesn't matter as long as the black wall freakin' works in the moment. Here's a quote straight from Yelp from someone who claims they go every year: "We got scared and startled soooo many times and had one of the most amazing experiences. I thought the mazes felt longer and I loved how they added A LOT of dark areas where I seriously got lost and disoriented a couple times!" Sometimes y'all are getting too cynical, entitled, and complain about every little thing. Why go anymore? Why even be a fan if you can't appreciate? There's a difference between fandom and whining about something you do out of masochistic habit because you loved it once 8 years ago.
TrT is a fantastic maze, from my point of view.