“This fall, the bad boys of magic, Penn & Teller, are partnering with Universal Orlando Resort to bring their eccentric and edgy illusionist entertainment to life in an all-new 3D haunted house — “Penn & Teller New(kd) Las Vegas” — at Halloween Horror Nights 22. Guests will step into a dark, dilapidated and radioactive version of “Sin City,” as if one of their magic tricks has gone terribly awry and the city has been covered in nuclear ooze. Concepted by the duo themselves, the maze will feature the best of Vegas — all glowing with a toxic green hue.

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights has a more than 20-year history of creating an incredibly entertaining, horrifying Halloween experience that is consistently rated the nation’s best.”

My reaction?

Meh.

I am a big Penn and Teller fan, but I thought this announcement was a letdown. After months of speculating that they’d actually be performing at HHN, we get just a house that they helped design.

I am less happy about Penn and Teller having a house than I would be if they were actually performing at Halloween Horror Nights. They are famous performers, not famous haunted house designers. So it’s a Vegas themed house. Who cares? Isn’t the whole point of Penn and Teller to actually SEE Penn and Teller perform? Didn’t we have a vague Vegas theme last year in Orlando? (Yes, we did.)

Unless P&T actually will be there for the full run of HHN? Am I missing something?

I guess the answer is that I need to fly to Vegas one of these days if I want to see them perform. The problem is that Vegas never appealed to me since they took out the Star Trek Experience.

I am very excited about going to HHN this year, but I am not very excited about the lack of themes, lack of icons, and the cloning of houses in both Hollywood and Orlando that seems to be happening. It will still be a badass event, but they can and have done much better in years past.

I guess the icon this year is Budget Cuts. Again.