11 replies to this topic

[zombieman]

It's really not fair to call 1996 Year I of HHN Hollywood. According to the archives, it's technically not correct to call 1992 the first year, either. There was a one-night event way back in 1986 (even before Fright Nights in Orlando).

But for sake of argument, let's focus on 1992 for a minute.

While I didn't discover the Orlando event until 2004, I've been haunting California since 1986 (Knott's) and have also been to every HHN Hollywood event. I still have my 1992 ticket stub and event map (including the showtime insert) from the darned thing. I'll try to upload an image if I can dig it out of my boxes.

The 1992 event, like Fright Nights and the first couple of HHNs in Orlando, was extremely show-centric. I mean, there were over a dozen shows going on at any moment. These ranged from freakshows, to comedy gore shows, to headliners. Halloween events back then always seemed to have magician headliners that amped up the scare quotient. Orlando had the Pendragons. Knott's had Rudy Coby. Hollywood had Penn & Teller. Of these three, P&T had blood galore. The first few rows were guaranteed to get splattered. Rudy Coby had a lot of implied violence and a lot of gross humor, and the Pendragons were family friendly.

The freakshow acts between the Coasts sounded like they were nearly identical - glass eaters/walkers, sword swallowers, fire-breathers, human blockheads, beds of nails, etc. Hollywood had an act called the "Death Globe" that was a huge spherical cage in which 5 motorcycle riders spun around simultaneously. It was really a sight to behold. We watched it twice, hoping for an accident (yeah, we were sick). There was also a show called Cooking with Ghoulia Child. For those of you who don't get the reference, Julia Childs was a famous chef before Gordon Ramsey was a dirty thought in his father's head. Her schtick was that it always seemed like she was drunk on camera. There was a famous SNL skit where Dan Aykroyd played her and sliced his thumb off in a drunken stupor, blood spurting everywhere. The HHN show did it a little differently. Back then, cooking shows were taped before an audience, and they had a mirror above the counter, angled toward the audience, so they could see what the cook was doing. This show had the same type of mirror, and Ghoulia would cook up a gore-fest with blood, body parts, blood, organs, and more blood. The counter was solid red by the end of the show - at least that's how I remember it.

There was exactly one house back then, right near the entrance of the event. It was an homage to Universal horror movies. I recall vividly the Psycho room, with shower, but little else.

The headline attraction was the Tram Tour. Yup, 14 years before Murdy did it, a haunted tram tour was done. Unlike the modern version, you didn't get out; it was a ride the whole way. Unlike the modern version, you didn't have to endure a stupid Chucky video, or Director video, or Jack video, or Jigsaw video. Oh yeah, there was also no Mummy tunnel that we've been lucky enough to expeience (unchanged) for the past 5 years. Sorry, off my soapbox. In this version of the tram ride, they presented little horror experiences for you. In the New York area, they made it look post-apocalypse and had the tram "stall", only to be attacked by zombies. These zombies pounded on the sides of the tram and tried to crawl inside. In the Western streets area, they had a dismemberment by motorcycle, where they put a victim in the street (right in front of the fountain) and chained his arms and legs to four cycles. On "Go!", red flood lights turned on and there was much splattering (with jets of water). They staged something small at the Collapsing Bridge, which I think was where an employee was killed (for real) at the 1986 event.

I was much younger then, and the event is more legendary in my mind than it probably was in real life. I'd say about 10% of what I remember didn't actually happen...
In any event, it was a whole lot of fun, and I never left a show or attraction saying "that's it?".

[Freak]

Awesome! Thanks for the in-depth stuff Zombieman! It would be awesome if you posted a guidemap from 1992.

On a side-note, I just ordered a DVD off of GhostRide Productions that show a flow-through of all of the mazes from 1999-2000 including the Buffy maze. Thanks for sharing!

[Mae]

zombieman, on 24 April 2011 - 03:08 AM, said:

It's really not fair to call 1996 Year I of HHN Hollywood. According to the archives, it's technically not correct to call 1992 the first year, either. There was a one-night event way back in 1986 (even before Fright Nights in Orlando).

But for sake of argument, let's focus on 1992 for a minute.

While I didn't discover the Orlando event until 2004, I've been haunting California since 1986 (Knott's) and have also been to every HHN Hollywood event. I still have my 1992 ticket stub and event map (including the showtime insert) from the darned thing. I'll try to upload an image if I can dig it out of my boxes.

(edit for space!)

I was much younger then, and the event is more legendary in my mind than it probably was in real life. I'd say about 10% of what I remember didn't actually happen...
In any event, it was a whole lot of fun, and I never left a show or attraction saying "that's it?".

That sounds just fantastic!!! Please upload the flyer and ticket soon; I know I'm not the only person who'd love to see those!

Mae

Edited by Mae, 24 April 2011 - 09:15 PM.

[Mae]

Freakazoid, on 24 April 2011 - 04:36 PM, said:

Awesome! Thanks for the in-depth stuff Zombieman! It would be awesome if you posted a guidemap from 1992.

On a side-note, I just ordered a DVD off of GhostRide Productions that show a flow-through of all of the mazes from 1999-2000 including the Buffy maze. Thanks for sharing!

Ooooo....that sounds good too!

Mae

[Freak]

Mae, on 24 April 2011 - 09:16 PM, said:

Ooooo....that sounds good too!

Mae

FYI, here's the link: http://www.ghostride.../view-MAZE.html

[Creeper06]

Very cool, brother!!! That Terror Tram sounds pretty badass! Kind of like the Haunted Hayride in Griffith Park from last year (which I thought was a lot of fun).

And no worries about getting on your soapbox when it comes that mummy tunnel. Ugh. If I have to sit through that thing one more time.... On my last TT ride last year, we skipped the tunnel and I felt like I won the lottery! I even told the crew member "Thank you so much for sparing us the tunnel!! Can we skip it every time?!?!"

[zombieman]

Freakazoid, on 24 April 2011 - 09:37 PM, said:

FYI, here's the link: http://www.ghostride.../view-MAZE.html

Freak, please PM me if you get that DVD. I'll order one too. The reason I say "IF" is that I've ordered DVDs from haunt events only to not get anything. The latest was a few years ago for Britannia Manor. I'd still love to get my hands on that one.

[zombieman]

Pre-2006 Park Map scans on the way!

[Freak]

zombieman, on 12 May 2011 - 01:09 AM, said:

Pre-2006 Park Map scans on the way!

[Hauntfan]

Does anybody have the 1992 map?

[HHNZone]

I wish i had it:( it has a pumpkin on the front getting chainsawed kinda like Orlando's 92 picture.

[zombieman]

Hauntfan, on 27 December 2011 - 12:34 AM, said:

Does anybody have the 1992 map?

Sure! Go to this link