1.) Holidayz in Hell: When this was first rumored, I really didn't expect this to end up as my number one anticipated maze of the year, but from what has been said on the scenes and all the visual pieces we have been given, it all seems incredibly creative and fresh. I loved the scarezone last year and it seems this maze will keep its somewhat dark humorous tone, which is exciting. The scene lineup also seems so tight that there likely wont even be any room for black walls, which is also very exciting. The main thing that concerns me about this maze is Figure, as I've never really been a fan of his music, and if they aren't careful it could easily ruin the atmosphere the scenes of this maze could have.
2.) The Curse of Pandora's Box: My excitement for this maze may still be freshness bias, but from the small amount of info we have so far, this seems very promising. The concept sounds like it lends the designers a lot of creativity to do what they want with it, and if done correctly the greek influence could make for some really beautiful scenic work. I may be jumping the gun a bit by placing this so high up so early, but just from the get go it sounds like something we really haven't seen at the even before. The main thing that could be a detriment to this maze is if they decide to reuse a lot of props or decide to go a bit generic on the design for Hades' domain, like they've occasionally done with depictions of hell in the past. Here's to hoping this maze comes out beautifully.
3.) Creepshow: I really never expected this maze to be nearly as high on my list as it is, especially with the rumors of it just being the Shudder version, but once we heard a bit more at MSS I was sold on this maze. It has a nice balance of the classic and the new, with the new story Grey Matter somewhat resembling the Jordy Verrill story, which sorta makes up for it. The use of comic transitions is nice as it shows that the design team at least sorta listens to us, as that sort of thing has been requested at least as far back as Trick r Treat, but I do think it fits a bit better here. The only other worry I have is a lot of black wall segments with The Creep popping out at us without much reason, but I doubt it'll be too frequent if it happens at all.
4.) Killer Klowns from Outer Space: I know a lot of people have been really worried about how this maze will turn out due to its location, but I think its possible that it'll still turn out pretty great. There are a few things worth getting worried about, such as the potential for there being a lot of black walls, or the fact that they're removing a handful of iconic scenes from the original movie, but I think we won't really be able to know how well founded those worries are till we walk through it in roughly 22 days. My main personal worry is that the scenic design won't be up to par with the original film, but I love the original so much that I doubt I'll be able to dislike the maze, even if its a bit lackluster.
5.) Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man: This maze probably should be a lot higher on my list, but for whatever reason I can't really bring myself to be that excited for it. Maybe it's the lack of the other monsters, or that I think the movie it's based on is a little lackluster, but most likely its just because we really don't have a lot of information on this maze, though I'm hoping the reason behind it is because Murdy and his team have cooked up some really cool stuff they don't want to spoil for us. The return of Slash is particularly exciting though, I don't really remember if hes making new tracks for this or if they're just using the same ones from last year, but either way I can at least rest assured that the maze witll at least sound really great. With a good amount of luck I think this maze could easily become a sleeper hit for me, and maybe even jump up to my number 2 or 3 spot, but we'll have to wait to see how its executed for that.
6.) House of 1000 Corpses: I never got to experience the original mazes in 2010 and 2011 (or 2000 if you count that) and frankly I think the movie stopped being enjoyable once Captain Spaulding stopped being in it, but I think this maze could end up being really visually interesting if they try to go all out with it. Given the tone of the movie, if executed correctly, this maze could also be a nice gritty return to form for the mazes of yesteryear that we haven't really seen in a while, which is pretty exciting. I do think if they aren't careful this maze could focus a bit too much on less interesting segments of the film however, or that it'll just end up a copy of the 2010 and 2011 mazes without the 3D.
7.) Ghostbusters: I'm aware that I'm very much in the minority of people for putting this maze so low on my list, but I think this maze is a bit dangerous primarily due to the fact that it relies almost entirely on its execution. The creature effects and the actors will really make or break this maze, at least for me, since its pretty much up to them to balance the scares and the humor that the property requires, and its a pretty easy formula to mess up. Hopefully it all goes well and doesn't flop, since if everything works out this maze could end up one of the best in the events history.
8.) Us: Unlike a seemingly large amount of people, I really enjoyed Us when I saw it in theaters earlier this year, and thought it had some pretty strong maze potential. I still do think that, though I'm a bit more weary now, as this maze likely wasn't intended to be here from the beginning. The mentions of certain iconic scenes such as the burning car not being included, and how large the venue is for the somewhat limited amount of locations in the movie make me a bit nervous, which the rumors of this maze having the most black walls this year doesn't really help. Despite that, I still hold some hope for it as we know Jordan Peele had at least some creative control, though we don't really know how much, and the soundtrack from the film is gonna be used in the maze, which was one of my favorite parts of the movie. Overall this maze won't be my highest priority on preview night, but I'll still make an effort to get to it.
9.) Stranger Things: I don't really have anything against Stranger Things, or this maze really, but compared to the rest of the lineup and with how little information we really have on it, this just seems a little weak to me. I was a little bored by season 2 and didn't really think it had a lot of maze potential on its own, but hearing the small inclusion of season 3 made me a little more optimistic. Hopefully the amount of puppets in this maze will change my mind, or the Starcourt ending will impress me, but as it sits right now this maze isn't a super high priority for me (even if I'm still gonna have to go to it first every night just to beat the line).
???.) Walking Dead Attraction: Didn't really give this a ranking number since it's sorta hard for me to even include this with all the other mazes since it's sorta just become part of the regular park in my mind. Along with that I don't think much of it in relation to HHN, so its kinda hard to be disappointed by it or anything. If they do something cool with it maybe it'll end up somewhere on the later ranking, if not I'll probably just consider it one of the rides.