Happy last week of Halloween Horror Nights 33! Kassey is back to wrap up the season with her rankings of the scare zones and haunted houses. For the 5 scare zones and 10 haunted houses, she goes into depth about what worked this season and what didn’t, including some surprising changes to her list. She chats about other events that were included, finally ending the 33rd season.

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Transcription of episode (provided by Ava Barbieri)
KASSEY KULIKOWSKI: Hello everyone, and welcome back to my podcast. Yes, I know it’s been a little while. Last time I got on here was opening night. It’s been several weeks of Halloween Horror Nights, and with two hurricanes canceling the event for like, two different nights, not really a whole bunch to like update, except we did get some non Halloween Horror Nights days. We got the opening date for Epic Universe, and we got tickets and annual passes, so that’s about it, but it’s not gonna be a short episode. I am gonna do my traditional end of the year rankings for the scare zones and kind of give you my overall thoughts of the event this year, considering it is ending next week, actually next weekend, which I cannot believe it, it’s been gone so quick. And no, I did not get a chance to go this year. I will rectify that one year. But with that being said, I am excited for Epic. The reason that I mentioned Epic in Halloween Horror Nights is because of the Universal Classic Monsters, Dark Universe Land, and we’ll talk about them in a little bit, because I do have some thoughts about maybe I’ll save it for speculation season, or maybe I’ll add it in. But I do have some thoughts about the Universal Classic Monsters, and kind of maybe the direction that Halloween Horror Nights is going to be going with the Universal Classic Monsters. But with all that being said, let’s get into my overall thoughts of this year with 33. It felt like another year at Halloween Horror Nights, like nothing special. Considering, with all the hype of last year, I’m definitely gonna say that Odd Fellow was a much better icon. Nothing against SINIST3R and SURR3AL, the actors that played them, the actresses that played them, were amazing. Just the fact that last year, Odd Fellow tied into the event, and this year, SINIST3R and SURR3AL, had like one scare zone each. And so, with that being said, scare zone wise, my scare zones never changed, actually, yeah. So my number five is Blumhouse. I didn’t like the scare zone going into the event. I really didn’t like the scare zone coming out of the event. It was very crowded. They ended up putting Megan and the Black Phone Guy, The Grabber, in the same spot. So it was just chaos. They used the Purge sirens, which I just, I hate that movie. I’m sorry if anybody likes it. I just I don’t like it. So they played that over and over again. And if I was going to this event, I would have totally avoided this scare zone. That’s just my thoughts. Now my number four is the one up front. I can’t remember… Duality of Fear. I think that Universal needs to figure out this scare zone, because it was just two scare actors up on the platform, which is awesome with a whole bunch of chain saws, and that was it. Now, was it cool that SINIST3R and SURR3AL were acting to you like they were throwing back comments at you at the end of the night and all of that stuff? Yeah, that was pretty cool. But other than that, there was really no scares except for the if you don’t like chainsaws. So yeah, and also, I think Universal really needs to take the word scare zone out of this area. It is an entryway. It is not a scare zone. It’s shrunk down where, I think one year it’s not even gonna exist, where they always have scare actors in the beginning of the fall. Yes, that’s just a Halloween Horror Nights thing, it’s not gonna change. Is it going to- I don’t know. I just, I can’t wrap my head around the scare zone. I don’t even know if I could call it a scare zone. But with that being said, my number three is Swamp of the Undead. Now, the effects in the scare zone were amazing. How other some of the props were not being used, and then it was just zombies. So it was really, really cool at night to go through the zombies were aggressive. It was awesome. They were scaring people. But I’m not a zombie person, so I do love this area. I love Central Park. I just haven’t loved what’s been going on since 28. Shout out to Twisted Traditions. So, yeah so then my number my number two. Oh, it’s the one in Hollywood, I can’t remember the name. Scream Queens…we’re just gonna call it that. Now this one, everybody freaked out because they didn’t see anything happening until like, the night of the event. Some of the props did have to be moved because of the parade. So, yeah, I think it’s called Demon Queens. Sorry, but it actually turned out to be really awesome. The lighting in the scare zone was amazing. The scare acting was amazing, especially on preview night, which I will talk about after I do the rankings. Like, oh my gosh, the scare actors were phenomenal. Like, it was so cool. This would have been a really cool scare zone to walk through and just, you know, get scared. So it was really awesome. I loved what I saw on YouTube. It’s gonna be even more amazing when I finally get to walk through this. But what they did was definitely a step up from last year. The lighting was a lot better. You could actually see the scare actors. So yeah, and then my number one is, and still is, Torture Faire. I loved this scare zone. The screams were not as intense as they usually are. The blood was, they brought it back. It was awesome. Oh my God. Somebody, oh my god, somebody actually had a turkey leg, while he was getting shot with arrows. But that, like, that was really, really, oh my god, the mannequin, or like audio electronic for that was freaking awesome they did have the king and queen, they did do a couple of acts they brought back some of the booths from like previous years. Last year it was like a hooka booth for Vamp [’69] but oh my god. Now, was it a cool scare zone as last year? No, I loved the Vamp for the fact that I gave all my reasons. You can go back and listen to that episode, but I love this scare zone. Actually, there was a rumor that this scare zone was supposed to be something else. That’s why the tribute store and the scare zone don’t really flow, but universal did a great job with what they did. The scare actors were freaking awesome. Oh my god. There was a knight in shining armour, there was a jester. Oh my god. There were actors coming up and like, Oh my God, it was so cool. Like, I loved this scare zone. Would it be one that I would wish that I could go through? No, because it was a little gory at times, but yeah. So, I mean, all in all, were the scare zones as great as last year. They were a lot better, in my opinion. Are they as strong as, say, something like 30 no or 28 I mean, 28 had some really good scare zones too. I mean, we’re getting there. At least we’re bringing the scare back in scare zones a little bit. So, I mean, that’s awesome. So with that being said, let’s jump into houses. Some of my house rankings have changed. Not my number 10. My number 10 is Triplets of Terror. I hated this house. I went through this house about three times opening night on YouTube, while I was dog sitting, and I just hated going through I would fast forward. It was just, it was a true crime podcast, which is kind of cool. We did find out the names with triplets. Their names were Harmony, Melody and Junior. And we found out through just sources that this happened every nine years. And apparently was a podcast, but it got taken down for like reasons, but it just I didn’t like it. The scare actors just kind of jumped out and then went back into their corners. There was controversy with a dog, yeah, um, so I just I didn’t like this house at all, and enough said. My number nine is still Major Sweets. I did not like this house, which is kind of weird, because I like the scare zone. I really like the scare zone, but I didn’t like this house. And I don’t know why and yeah, and then my number eight, my number eight was A Quiet Place, and I think it’s gonna stay at eight, because as much as Major Sweets was not that bad, by the way, Major Sweets the flow they did for the cue line was amazing. I think they should go with that concept. Instead of breaking up the house and it the Fast and Furious, it actually worked. Huh? You think that with Major Sweets being it wasn’t a bad house, but A Quiet Place. Oh, my God, you’re supposed to be quiet. And they just kept on using noises, and kept on using noises and kept on like, Oh, I just, I didn’t know what they were doing. Now, the creatures were kind of cool. I didn’t really get to see them that well on YouTube, but I read they were awesome. But a lot of people were saying that there was too much reliance on puppets. I think it was too much on sound. It’s supposed to be a quiet place. Now, was it cool that they had actors doing ASL, yes, that part was amazing. The more you went into the house, the louder it got, and, like, the more noises you heard. And it’s like, do you guys not know the name of the movie? Like, it’s called A Quiet Place for a reason. So it’s gonna stay on my number eight. What I’m probably gonna do is switch Major Sweets and A Quiet Place. A Quiet Place is gonna be nine. Sweets is gonna be eight, and that’s what I’m gonna do with my number seven and my number six. My number seven was originally Ghostbusters [Frozen Empire], and my number six was Museum [Deadly Exhibit]. And I’m flipping those because one turned out better than the other. So we’re gonna go into why I chose Museum as number eight. No, I mean number seven, and why Ghostbusters number six. The Museum started out to be really cool, I thought it was gonna be amazing, and it just wasn’t. There wasn’t anything like, some of the artifacts were cool but as far as being scary, it was not. People gonna say, Oh, you watched it on YouTube. No, we’re good. Or debate that statement later on, it was, I just didn’t see any good jump scares. And I’m not the only one, because there were people that went through the house and said, jump scares, and like some of the stuff, you couldn’t read, and it was just, it was a cool concept, not executed very well. Now did, I did love the outside. I loved the outside facade, you guys know me. I love anything that gives narration. And so they took a throwback all the way back to Dead Exposure in 28. The second sequel and they ended up having, like, the description outside of what the running stone was and everything, it was so cool. And then you go into the house and nothing like nothing scary happens. So why is Ghostbusters my number six? It got better. Oh my god. I was not expecting this house to be so good and so cool. Now, I’m not a fan of the movies at all, but I did go in appreciating the fact that they had an entire frozen scene from the movie, which was pretty cool. They had the car, the Ecto-1 actually in the house. It was so cool. Yes, Universal, you can put a car in there. Why didn’t you do that with Beetlejuice? Anyway, rant for another time, the house was just so cool. Now, I’m not a, like, I said, I’m not a Ghostbusters fan, so I’m gonna be able to point out any of like, the Easter eggs. That was really cool. Slimer, I think he was a little bit better in 29. Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was so cool, though. It was a really cool house, and I think I appreciated it more for the fact that we finally got to go through the fire station, which is what we wanted in 29 it was a really cool house. It’s just gonna stay at number seven because I said I’m not really much of a Ghostbusters fan. So with that being said, my number six and my number two are gonna switch. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am taking Slaughter Sinema Two all the way down to number six or find out what my number two was and why. I said before, I absolutely loved this, the first Slaughter Sinema Two, I still do, This house did not live up to the hype. There were some rooms that just didn’t work. There were some rooms that were really small, the fact that they had all the easter eggs at the end of the event. Why? Now the 3D in, Heavy Metal Hell 3D was amazing, but that was it. Yes. Did I enjoy the zombie, the one of the movies where it was like, Mummy, like strippers, yes, but that was about it. I wasn’t really laughing like I wasn’t the original, like, it just was okay. Was it cool that it was back in its orginal location? Yes. Was it cool that it had the trailers? Yeah, but I think the concept was, we gotta get this out. People want this. Fans want this. Let’s just do all these movies. I don’t see any of these movies being a house. I’m sorry, maybe one or two. The fact that we had Yeti from the first one, and I don’t know, I just didn’t like it. And as I kept on watching it, I didn’t like it. It just some of the concepts worked. Some of them didn’t. So I’m sorry, Slaughter Sinema fans, but this one’s going down because I still love the original. I still hold the original on high regard. All right. With that being said, my number five is still Monstruos, the Monsters of Latin America. Now, was this house perfect? No, was this house cool, yeah, I mean, a little bit. I loved the intro. There was a lot of creepy babies, like in this year. I don’t know. I thought it was really cool. And I swear right now in forgetting a house, but it will come to me in like five minutes. So because I think I have Monstruos at like four, but it went down. So, I mean, it was a good house. It was really cool. Well, it was in a good location, but everybody’s probably gonna compare it to Blood Boone from last year. I don’t know. I haven’t seen the one for Hollywood. I haven’t really watched any Hollywood walkthroughs, to be completely honest. So I haven’t, actually, I have, and I think all monsters was a little bit better. That’s right, I did watch it because I watched one of the houses, and I ended up it was okay. So with that being said, my number four is… I’m completely blanking right now. Okay, I’ll come back to my number four, go to my number three, which is probably gonna be my number four, because this was a new tent. The storyline was amazing, but some of it was weird, and that is, I’m sad to say this, it’s gonna be a Universal Classic Monsters. I love the Universal Classic Monsters. But this did not work. This. I love the storytelling. I love that it was an all female, female cast. I loved that it was you had Saskia telling you what was going on. Sadly, she dies at the end. Spoiler alert. But I love that it was all female ran. It was so cool. It just some of the stuff didn’t fit. Like, why do we have the mummy? Why do we have the Shewolf? Why is the Bride of Frankenstein mourning for Frankenstein again? Like, what had happened? Doing this is honestly also supposed to be a sequel to a house. So, yeah. The two new Sprung tents were amazing, oh, my God, they were so cool. You could go in one house and go into another. We’ll get to that other house in a minute. But with that being said, Yeah, I love the Universal Classic Monsters. I will get to them later, maybe probably in speculation. I’ll tell you what is going on. Yeah. So that is my number four. Why can I not think of…? It went down from three until four. Why can I not think of the third house? All right, we’re just good at my number two. My number two was originally my number five, and our number was five or six, but it’s Goblin’s Feast. Oh my gosh, do I love this house? Oh, we’ll get to why I love this house so freaking much. The outside is amazing. It’s an inn, like you’re going in through an inn. It looks like like something out of Lord of the Rings. Then you walk in, and there’s a sneaky sign, if anybody has read it, you know it. But you walk in and there’s Irish music playing, and there’s people quoting lines at you, and oh my gosh, it’s just so awesome. I loved the entire house from start to finish, oh my gosh. I wish I would have gone through this house like, oh, it was so cool. And it actually, like, jumped up. I was so happy to walk through this house anytime on YouTube. And I freaking love it. And I hope they bring it back one day, like, have a sequel, which they might. I mean, it was just an idea out of nowhere, and it worked, and it was so cool. My number one was Insidious, and it stayed number one for the entire freaking event. And you’re like, Wait, you’re ending on an IP. Yes, I’m ending on an IP that if I didn’t go through it on YouTube, I don’t know if I would have gotten to go through it. This house was terrifying. It’s so good so creepy. They had like the intro of the red door. I mean, oh my gosh, like they had an actual house, like in the sound stage they played “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” [by Tiny Tim] like oh my god like it was amazing. And the fact that Universal has done so well with the Insidious Franchise from 25, 27 and now, oh my gosh, so amazing. I am so excited to go through this house. Now. Is the facade for 25 still my favorite? Yes. Is it really cool that they invent, reinvented the Further? Yes. Is it cool that they just went with all the characters. Yes, this house was freaking awesome, and you could tell the scare actors were having a really great time. Oh my gosh, it was so cool. I am happy I just went through it on YouTube, because I don’t know if I could have survived it. I think I would have, but it would have, like, been really terrifying and really scary. It would have been really cool. So if you guys go back and listen to my hype list. You’re finally probably find out what my number three is. I don’t know why I’m blanking on a house right now. Maybe the coffee hasn’t kicked in yet. Whatever my number four house was, I’m really blanking. I’m so sorry. But with that being said, overall, like the night before the event, oh my gosh, so worth it. I would have done it. You got more scares. You got to go through the house as many times as you wanted. You could have done all 10 houses in one night. It was so cool. Like, I think Universal, now, they didn’t sell as many tickets as I thought they did, but I think Universal has a hit on their hands, and maybe if they lower the price, that would work. But oh my gosh, this house was, I mean, not house. This event was awesome. You could go to any of the areas and get food. Now, was the food is as amazing as last year, no, but, I mean, oh my gosh. It was so good. It was so cool that you got all the scares, you got all the houses, you got all the food, and it worked like it was so cool. So that’s why I got to see the majority of the House walkers. It also was a night for media night, and I think it freaking worked. So that’s a wrap up on Halloween, Horror Night 33, woo hoo. And also, next week is my two year anniversary. I can’t believe it. I’ve been doing this for two years. I’m just so freaking happy to be doing this, and we’ll continue to continue to do this. My goal, if Universal was listening, is to hopefully get invited to the event one year, but we’ll see. But yeah, I mean, I love doing this podcast. I love talking about this event. We’re gonna maybe take a little break December. I don’t know, Halloween Horror Nights has always have something up their sleeve with releasing a house or releasing a scare zone or something. We had five, five houses in a week, people. I mean, that doesn’t happen like, I don’t think that’s ever happened. It was a crazy time. We also had a couple of delays. We had a hurricane, two hurricanes. It just was a crazy, crazy year, and I can’t believe it’s ending next week. Am I gonna be sad? Yeah, I go for a little Halloween Horror Nights withdrawl. Hey, the holidays are coming at Universal, and then we have Epic next year. So I mean, it’s gonna be really cool to see, like, what they do with Epic, and how Halloween Horror Nights is gonna work. I’ll go into all that in my speculation episode, which is probably gonna happen more in January or February. Now, I must say this was a long speculation year, because a lot of stuff did not get announced until like July or August. And so sorry that the speculations just went on and on and on. I really hope that universal does a little bit better job with releasing stuff we didn’t get dates until like March, maybe April. And so that’s why the speculations went on as more as they did. So I think that is it. Sorry again for leaving out of house, my mind is just blanking on house but what other it was, I mean, I’m sure I liked it, or I didn’t. So yeah, that’s it, I’m just gonna end it here. Have a great and spooky day everyone.