You are probably referring to the new Haunting Hour kickoff, which takes place outside of Das Festhaus . There are videos here.
Howl-O-Scream 2018
- Thread starter Zachary
- Start date
I looked all over the park map on Sunday and did not find 1 mention of the Haunting Hour. They should put it in the show section or on the side somewhere. There isn't even a sign on the Festhaus anywhere either.
I wouldn't have known about haunting hour if it hadn't of been for this site.
Just another copy of what the park up the road is doing. Come on BGW. Be original. What's next? Hording masses running over park guests?
I mean the haunting hour fits the theme well. Jack doing a similar show to what he did in Ireland letting out his horde of spooks.
The Ireland show was a dance party with scarecrows. No hordes. No letting loose the gods of war. And it was hourly. This is a straight copy of the Overlord's gig. Except KD ACTUALLY has terror.
Ah, that sounds pretty funny! For some reason Cartoonguy's response has disappeared on me but I did get to read it and it definitely makes sense what they were going for... I just think it's literally too dark to be well-executed. I get that darkness is kind of a major factor in creating tension, but there is a point of diminishing returns with that, and I was really very surprised how little I could make out over there. It would be easy to breeze through that area at night and not even realize it's a Terrortory, especially if you don't happen to encounter any of the actors. Would've been cool if they had somehow made it more vibrantly glow-in-the-dark (I'm kind of imagining the aesthetics of the movie Coco, though I know obviously that isn't scary and also isn't the right holiday, haha).
While the presentation of the Haunting Hour is pretty horrendous, it's not a total copy of the Overlord's gig as many other Haunts across the country do an opening show.
I said similar, not the same. It's pretty similar how he released his scarecrows, but now he releases the scarers. With him up on an elevated balcony like that. Similar.
I haven't been to HOS in a few years, but the last time that I actually was actually in the park when the actors were out and about, I actually did get scared. As I am not the biggest fan of Halloween, I tried to leave the park quickly, but once I got to Banbury Cross, a prostitute jumped out from behind a post and scared me half to death. Hearing of how things have changed with all these mazes and "scare zones" honestly disappoints me, even if I'm not a scare lover.
I guess I'll throw in my $.02. I'll just give my brief impressions as I probably don't have much to add that others haven't already covered.
Demented Dimensions - It was hit-or-miss for me. There were some great rooms, and the actors seemed really into it, but I think there were more misses than hits. I've heard a couple of people metion the Rapunzel room, and I don't even recall seeing it. Overall, meh.
Vault XX - I did enjoy this one, despite some of the issues mentioned. I think the nostalgia helped smooth over some of the shortcomings. Future trips through might cause the nostalgia to fade a bit. First trip through will probably be the best.
Dystopia - I thought they did a good job of creating an imersive envoronment here. I need to do it at least one more time, as my trip through was marred by the lady in front of me and her 3 kids under 10. She was alternately reassuring the kids and admonishing the actors for scaring them. Nothing new there unfortunately. Definitely my favorite of the new houses.
Circo Sinestro - The ringmaster interacting with the waiting crowd is, for my money, one of the best parts of this house. The actors did a very good job during my visit, getting lots of guests in my group. The change at the end was meh. I could take it or leave it. I do love a good bungee scare, and as far as I;m aware, this is the only one in the part currently.
Cornered - Not much to add here. Going through this house actually made me mad. Just so, so bad, and nearly devoid of actors/scares on my trip through. Just garbage. Honestly have visited better neighborhood haunted houses.
Frostbite - Also terribly dissapointing. Last season, I didn't much care for this house at opening, but it did grow on me a bit on subsequent visits. I don't have much hope of it improving this year, but I guess time will tell. Just a boring experience all around.
Lumberhack - A perineal favorite, performing well this year. As others have noted, I missed the sparks and the large swinging log, but still throughly enjoyable with a great staff.
Fools Court - Didn't make it here until pretty late in the evening. Great costumes, but just a handfull of actors, and they were just walking around looking creepy. I should note here that the view of a burning France from the top of Alpie was one of my favorite views of HOS, and I'm sorry that it's gone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ACTUAL fire efect up over, I think, the Crêpes place? Pretty cool.
Garden of the Souls - Definitely my favorite new Scare Zone. Just a besutiful aesthetic, and the actors in the area looked fantastic. I want to go just sit here for a while.
Axe Alley - There's nothing objectively QWRONG with this area, it's just that for me, it's a poor replacement for Wendigo Woods. I thought that area was a major success, and this is just not as good. Actors here on my visit were pretty low energy, just sort of milling around. I feel like New France lends itself to being a really great Scare Zone, and to me, the current incarnation is just a miss.
Ripper Row - Same as it ever was. Nice introduction to the event for new guests.
Sideshow Square - I had a great interaction with one of the actors here. Things like that just automatically win me over. I really like the concept, I think they just need to expand it a little and throw in some more people.
Vampire Point - I didn't see anyone here. They probably need to retire this zone and come up with something else.
Overall - An enjoyable visit, helped in large part that it was on a Sunday night in September, under the threat of rain. All houses and rides were anywhere from walk-on to a 5 minute wait. I'm one of those people who just needs some colored lights and a little fog blown into the path to be happy, but even to me, the lack of decorations this year were jarring. I feel like the park has had time to make up from the storm delay (and find corn for Cornered), so I guess this is good as it's going to get.
Demented Dimensions - It was hit-or-miss for me. There were some great rooms, and the actors seemed really into it, but I think there were more misses than hits. I've heard a couple of people metion the Rapunzel room, and I don't even recall seeing it. Overall, meh.
Vault XX - I did enjoy this one, despite some of the issues mentioned. I think the nostalgia helped smooth over some of the shortcomings. Future trips through might cause the nostalgia to fade a bit. First trip through will probably be the best.
Dystopia - I thought they did a good job of creating an imersive envoronment here. I need to do it at least one more time, as my trip through was marred by the lady in front of me and her 3 kids under 10. She was alternately reassuring the kids and admonishing the actors for scaring them. Nothing new there unfortunately. Definitely my favorite of the new houses.
Circo Sinestro - The ringmaster interacting with the waiting crowd is, for my money, one of the best parts of this house. The actors did a very good job during my visit, getting lots of guests in my group. The change at the end was meh. I could take it or leave it. I do love a good bungee scare, and as far as I;m aware, this is the only one in the part currently.
Cornered - Not much to add here. Going through this house actually made me mad. Just so, so bad, and nearly devoid of actors/scares on my trip through. Just garbage. Honestly have visited better neighborhood haunted houses.
Frostbite - Also terribly dissapointing. Last season, I didn't much care for this house at opening, but it did grow on me a bit on subsequent visits. I don't have much hope of it improving this year, but I guess time will tell. Just a boring experience all around.
Lumberhack - A perineal favorite, performing well this year. As others have noted, I missed the sparks and the large swinging log, but still throughly enjoyable with a great staff.
Fools Court - Didn't make it here until pretty late in the evening. Great costumes, but just a handfull of actors, and they were just walking around looking creepy. I should note here that the view of a burning France from the top of Alpie was one of my favorite views of HOS, and I'm sorry that it's gone, but I was pleasantly surprised by the ACTUAL fire efect up over, I think, the Crêpes place? Pretty cool.
Garden of the Souls - Definitely my favorite new Scare Zone. Just a besutiful aesthetic, and the actors in the area looked fantastic. I want to go just sit here for a while.
Axe Alley - There's nothing objectively QWRONG with this area, it's just that for me, it's a poor replacement for Wendigo Woods. I thought that area was a major success, and this is just not as good. Actors here on my visit were pretty low energy, just sort of milling around. I feel like New France lends itself to being a really great Scare Zone, and to me, the current incarnation is just a miss.
Ripper Row - Same as it ever was. Nice introduction to the event for new guests.
Sideshow Square - I had a great interaction with one of the actors here. Things like that just automatically win me over. I really like the concept, I think they just need to expand it a little and throw in some more people.
Vampire Point - I didn't see anyone here. They probably need to retire this zone and come up with something else.
Overall - An enjoyable visit, helped in large part that it was on a Sunday night in September, under the threat of rain. All houses and rides were anywhere from walk-on to a 5 minute wait. I'm one of those people who just needs some colored lights and a little fog blown into the path to be happy, but even to me, the lack of decorations this year were jarring. I feel like the park has had time to make up from the storm delay (and find corn for Cornered), so I guess this is good as it's going to get.
I wish they would build a dedicated warehouse in the Caribou train loop to serve as a permanent maze like was planned earlier in the year. They need more indoor space that can stay up year round where they can put the effort in to make an great house.
