I don’t hate it

Maybe this is a hot take, but I don’t hate Fortnitemares.

With weekend one of Halloween Horror Nights come and gone in Hollywood, I think we can all safely reassure Chicken Little that the sky did not fall (unless, of course, you count Sunday’s rainstorm).

Fortnitemares isn’t the worst thing to ever come to Halloween Horror Nights. And maybe, to the shock and awe of some, I can even go a step further:

I actually kind of dig it.

Fortnitemares is different than anything we’ve ever seen in a scarezone at Halloween Horror Nights. It’s overly cartoony. It’s bright and fluorescent. As a photographer, I can tell you that most of my shots from the weekend are flooded with pinks, blues, teals, and purples instead of the usual warm orange glow of a well timed (and desperately needed - yay lighting) fire tower blast. On that same note, many of the costumes pop more than their predecessors.

Photo by: Alex Dominguez

I’ve even enjoyed the dancing on the stages directly under the fire towers. In a weird, dumb way that I can’t quite understand or explain, it’s triggered a bit of a nostalgic callback to the old go-go dancers from years back. Yes, I know, apples and oranges. But let’s be fair; we all knew we weren’t getting through Fortnitemares without getting emoted on at least once.

Now, that’s not to say the zone is perfect.

While I enjoy some of the – shall we say – bigger headed characters in the zone, some of the more subtle ones fall flat for me; even Fortnite’s iconic Skeleton Trooper feels left wanting. And while the dancing fits the zone on the fire tower stages, it sucks the momentum out of the Scaremony.

Photo by: Alex Dominguez

And of course, yes, the zone is a magnet for kids and obnoxious behavior (I’d argue that was happening regardless of the zone theme, but I digress).

But ultimately, here’s the thing that I think makes this entire article a little misleading. I don’t hate Fortnitemares, because I was never going to hate Fortnitemares.

As I’ve gotten older “Spooky Season” has become less and less about the actual scares, and more about the community. I get excited for certain mazes, zones, and haunts, sure. But ultimately what brings me back each year is the anticipation – not of any one IP – but of seeing all my friends, be they in a maze, in a zone, backstage, behind a camera, with a sketchpad, or just another fan.

What we need to see Fortnitemares as is an opportunity to bring more people – younger fans or video game enthusiasts included – to the event and potentially gain new annual haunt goers.

I’ll leave you with this.

On Sunday I was waiting to watch Scaremony when I noticed a teen – probably about 13 or 14 – standing next to me. He turned to his mom and said, “I’m so excited for this.” My buddy was standing just ahead of me, and in front of this kid and his family.

“Hey Dany, be a nice guy and let the kid ahead of you,” I called out. Dany scooted over.

“Are you sure?” the mom asked.

“Absolutely. We have passes. We’ll see it again,” I replied.

The boy’s face lit up as he slotted into his new front row position. His mom pulled out her phone to record his reaction. The smile on her face told me everything I needed to know: she was living vicariously through her son’s excitement, as any parent should.

I like to think that maybe, just maybe, I helped cultivate a new Horror Nights fan that night.

And ultimately, isn’t that what it’s about?

Photo by: Alex Dominguez