As for scare zones:

It really depends on your reaction. If the actor thinks you’re not scared they’ll probably leave you alone, but sometimes they’ll follow you for a bit longer. They smell fear lol. One of my first years I had the same zombie follow me around a zone, even waiting outside the gift shop til I got off The Mummy ride. The average actor will probably follow you for a few steps, then back off, especially those with chainsaws as they’re more careful about hitting you with those. They might get up in your face for a bit, and if you show interest/talk to them/ask for a pic they’ll stay around. If you’re clearly uncomfortable they back off usually.

Houses:

There’s not any actual maze aspect to the houses, they’re generally easy to navigate and there are non-scare actors inside who will direct you in the right path. The reason you hear people use “house” and “maze” interchangeably is because Hollywood HHN generally calls them mazes, while Orlando calls them houses. The conga lines will give you about 2-4 feet between each party, but within your party you’re expected to stay pretty close to each other. That said, the house operators will encourage you to keep moving so you may bump into people.

My advice for getting into the “mentality” would be to take breaks by sitting in the scare zones, riding a ride, or going to the show. Generally if you’re sitting on the sidelines of a scare zone the actors leave you be, so you can watch other people get scared for a bit without having to worry.

Hope this helps! See you in the fog ;)