I hope my post on Halloween Horror Nights 21 gave you a good look into what this event is all about. Now I want to give you a look behind the scenes of HHN’s, and what goes into making these haunted houses so great. Before I get into the houses, let me tell you a little about the Unmasking the Horror Tour, which gave me the opportunity to bring you all this great information. Prior to going in the houses, everyone got to watch a video giving a brief history of HHN’s. It was a good reminder of some of the past events, and what made them so awesome.
After the video, they separated us into two groups of 12. Then our guide gave us an explanation of this year’s event, and how Lady Luck was tied into the story behind each house. Yes, the houses aren’t just there simply to scare us. Each houses has a story, which is connected to the horror icon. When she finished with her explanation, it was finally time to see the houses.
Like last year, we got to go into three houses. I already gave you some information in my HHN’s 21 post, so I thought I would show you some more pictures, and give a brief explanation as to what is going on.
The first house we went into was "Nevermore- The Madness of Poe." The first pictures here are of the first room in the house. Basically the scaractor Poe is sitting at the desk working on his writings. He wasn’t really scary, but certainly was frustrated with how the writing was going.
The next room was one of the most interesting rooms of all the houses. Here Poe is knelled over a hole in the floor containing some body parts. What makes the room so interesting is that this small scene is replicated several times. There is one Poe on the floor, one on the side of the room, and even one on the ceiling. The scare comes from finding which Poe was the real one.
When some people think Poe they think ravens, so of course there had to be a room with ravens. Here there are some ravens in a tree behind what is suppose to be a window. However there is nothing really there, and instead they simulate an effect where it appears the window glass is shattering.
In this video below, the guide gave us a little detail about another part of this room.
Where are the blood and guts in this room you ask? Well, here you go. What you see in these pics is what you get. Some hanging heads, and a pendulum going through a body.
Next was a ballroom style room where they had people dressed all-nice dancing in front of some mirrors. Obviously they are fake, but the trick here is finding the real dancing scaractor.
The grand finale in the house was at the top of this stairway. The scaractor Poe was at the top right in front of this painting. If you were lucky enough to be in the room at the right time, the lights would flash, and you could see a woman named Victoria appear behind the painting.
Now to the next house, which is "The Forsaken". This house got right into the blood and guts. As you can see from the pics and the video, there were several dead bodies, and plenty on weapons in this house. They made for a great photo opportunity if you were on the tour.
In the next pic, I’m standing where a scaractor crewmember would be standing. Behind me is a hole in the wall that has a projection of more of these crewmembers coming through it. Basically they were trying to take a page from the church scene from the original "Fog" movie.
I know you don’t really what to see anymore of me, but here is a pic of the me on the slanted floor I mentioned in my other post.
Now for a video and some pics from the amazing final room of the house. As you come in the room, you are walking under three men who have been hung. One of these men has a wire attached that simulates his body shaking while being hung. When you come out from under there, you are met with some wind, and smoke, as you see a stairway with a few crewmembers on it. Again, the trick here is finding which crewmember in the room was real. The open space in the room really helped you soak up everything that was going on in the room.
The last house we went into was "Winter’s Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery." This video shows the really cool entrance to this house.
Sometimes in some of the houses they use props from movies, which they did in this house. The stagecoach you see was the one used in Van Helsing.
Here is a pic of a nice creepy statue. Why am I showing it to you? Well on the opposite side is the same space in the wall for the same statue except this statue is actually a scaractor.
Here is a pic of two bodies in a coffin. Not a big deal right? Well if you walked through here and had any thoughts of jumping inside, you might be interested to know that someone already laid to rest in this coffin.
Does that stagecoach in the next pic look a little small? Well, that is because it is a small model of the cemetery. It is actually behind this brick wall that you see. There is suppose to be a scaractor behind the wall popping out every once in awhile when you are peaking through the hole.
You might be thinking this next pic is just a pile of bones. Yes, and no. Yes there is a pile of bones, but if you closely you can see a small place to sit. They had a scaractor sitting here that looked like they were part of the pile. Of course they would jump up at those who weren’t paying attention.
Now here is something you probably missed if you went in this house. I looked for it, but it was too hard to see when the room was dark. It is the tombstone for Mary Shaw from "Dead Silence". I thought that was cool except most people probably didn’t know it was there.
Right after that is another stagecoach with these creatures standing in front of it. I think you get the point, which one is the real one? And in case you are wondering, it isn’t always that easy to tell who the scaractor is.
Well I hope you enjoyed this look behind the scenes of HHN’s. They put great effort, and detail into putting on the event, which you can really appreciate on a tour like this. For anyone that really likes haunted houses, this is a great tour to go on, and see how they pulled off everything. You can visit the Halloween Horror Nights 2011 Pictures and Videos page for more pictures and videos from the event, and tour. Also check out my post on Halloween Horror Night's 21.
Comments
Post a Comment