The second day of Midsummer Scream was a blast!
We were blown away by the first day of Midsummer Scream’s frights and thrills. We came back to check out more on the second day and still could not get enough! So much fun!
Hall Of Shadows
We were so impressed by all the great scares in the Hall of Shadows but a few of them really stood out to us.
One for the Donnie Darko Fans
We liked Opechee Haunt Presents: The Donnie Darko Experience Fan Tribute quite a bit! This was pretty faithful to the film and had 2 really great scares in it that were simple, but very well done. We totally saw the rabbit at the end of the hallway and knew he was there but that long moment as we walked up to where he was with anticipation was perfectly satisfied at the exact right second where we thought “Is he going to do anyth?… AGH!”. The loud sound with the strobe light hit at just the right time. We were super impressed because this mini-haunt was put on by a band of teens!
The Haunted Lodge
Camp Calavera presented by Scareventures was really good! A lot of detail, great “campy” dialog and an assortment of good scares! We would really like to see their whole haunt sometime.
Trick ‘r Treat
Trick ‘r Treat Fan Tribute, presented by Murder House Productions was by far the best mini-haunt we saw. They had an incredible level of detail that we simply did not see in any other maze. One detail in particular were the sconces on the wall that flickered and were triggered to extinguish with a POP at just the right moment was SO impressive! They also used scent in their maze and it really added another immersive layer to the whole experience.
Seance: The Nightmare Begins
Seance: The Nightmare Begins, presented by The Dreich Society had a great setup at the beginning of their maze with a little twist where they picked out one unsuspecting victim from our group to start the fun. The guy out front promised us a special magic trick in the maze that we would be a part of that had never been done in any other haunt. We were very delighted to see that they used the exact same effect that once premiered in The Fright haunted attraction, way back in 1999. The Fright had a room you entered that was meant to be an elevator where it would “transport” you to another level. The Dreich Society setup had us enter into a room while it was rotated into a different position, giving us the illusion that they somehow changed the maze outside when we walked out. Pretty cool!
Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights
We were waiting all day for the Halloween Horror Nights panel with bated breath. It was certainly a fun time listening to how both parks in California and Florida do HHN so well. The story about how Creative Director, John Murdy’s greatest fears were cotton balls and pop-sickle sticks was thoroughly entertaining. We were excited to hear how Trick R Treat was going to be a big part of this year’s HHN (a maze AND a scare zone). But of course all we could think about was Stranger Things! They only gave us a little tease, like all the trouble they’ve gone to to create The Upside Down with their show-accurate version of those little spores all floating around you. We simply can’t wait to see this in real life!
