I understand your point, and owe you an explanation. There are (positive) caveats, of course, which make this a fairly minor complaint:
-Stranger Things is definitely a family oriented property, albeit one that I'm really into. Of course, I'll take it over an "adult" property like AHS any day.
-Poltergeist is generally considered a "family friendly" horror film, though can definitely be made into a bad@$$ house.
-TrT is a black comedy film. No bones about it. It's one I really like, of course.
-HDD is DEFINITELY a horror comedy.
-Killer Klowns is rumored for a zone. Again, I LOVE that movie, but it's a cheesy B-movie comedy. A hilarious one.
-Vamp '55 was a comedy zone, so I suspect '85 will be too.
So it's really a minor complaint, it just irks me for some reason. I just like the idea of HHN continuing to be truly scary.
That being said, the reasons to be excited about this year greatly outweigh the reasons to be concerned, as I state in an earlier post (five originals, two announced IPs I really like, great idea for a zone in NY that ISN'T Purge/apocalyptic, much better marketing/overlying theme of sorts, probably getting back a house and probably zone from 18).
you seem to be thinking of the movies/shows themselves and how they play out in your tv, and not how they would be adapted.
I am thinking of how the property would be adapted and how the HHN actors would play the parts.
Stranger things can be light on tv because the kids are funny and say silly things and because they play jokes on each other or stuff like that. But that is not going to translate into a house. The house will take the most iconic parts of the show (the sets and the creatures) and arrange them in the rooms.
so the comedy between the kids is not something that would ever be a problem at HHN (Same goes for Trick r treat, and the zone does Not count because the zone had a lot of interaction that the house will never be able to have)
American werewolf in London is a comedy horror movie with a lot of slower scenes with a lot of dialogue and a lot of wit and banter between the two friends. the zombie friend creates a lot of the humor with his dialogue. The romance between the nurse and David makes the movie feel light.
Neither the dead friend's wit and humor, nor the romance with the nurse were ever part of the house. the house just had the scary parts of the movie. you never saw the comedic or romantic parts of the movie in the house.
American werewolf is one of the few houses that has made me scream out loud. those puppets were truly out of this world. (Stranger things will probably be the same way. none of the humor or character interactions will show up in the house, but the scary parts of the show will, there is A lot they can use from the show that is freaky and creepy looking)
Im just saying, i dont think there's anything you should worry about in the comedy aspect. (or lighthearted aspect) as far as the houses go. I think the houses will be as scary as ever.
As for the zones, yes the zones will be extreme cheese. but then again, who really gets scared in the zones? (I mean, REALLY scared?) I personally rather have crazy, over the top cheesy zones, than bland and boring zones. Vamp 85 and Killer klowns (And chucky) might not be the scariest zones ever made. but i will be happy if they become the Craziest zones HHN has ever made. i am super ready to embrace the silly chaos of those zones.
Killer klowns is one of my all time favorite movies and if they do the zone it might become my favorite zone of all time.