HHNiP

And yet it's been done before. Castle Vampyr was a two-story house, wasn't it? Maybe it wasn't one-story-on-top-of-another, but it definitely had multiple levels, and stairs, if I remember correctly.

I want to know WHOSE lantern it is, personally. As Dr. Raymond stated earlier, 2008's event showed us Bloody Mary's music box (before we saw BM). Who carries this lantern? Or is it just a cool looking, but ultimately insignificant prop?

Yeah, I'm torn on the whole "seeing stuff in the lantern" train of thought. I can definitely see the "Storyteller's Glasses," but I'm not sure about the pocketwatch. Most of that other stuff seems like wishful thinking. I can definitely see the resemblance between the top of the lantern and "Davy Jones," as someone said. I'd almost say that it's a little Cthulhu-like, but that seems like a really obscure choice for such a mainstream event as HHN. Then again, Cthulhu is (according to Wikipedia) "often referred to in science fiction and fantasy circles as a tongue-in-cheek shorthand for extreme horror or evil." You could do worse, I guess.

Have any of you ever seen the film "Trick R' Treat?" It's a fun, creative little film that basically tries to explain WHY we do the things we do at Halloween: carving and lighting jack-o-lanterns, giving out candy to trick-or-treaters, wearing costumes, etc. It's one of those films that will definitely put you in the Halloween spirit after viewing. In 2008, HHN featured the "Skoolhouse" scarezone, which borrowed heavily from "Trick R' Treat." Why not utilize the movie to its fullest extent and use it as the basis for an entire house? I'm always a fan of tying the event back to its Halloween origins, and this might be a clever way of doing so. Some may argue that 2008's house, "The Hallow," was an attempt at telling a Halloween origin story, but "Trick R' Treat" might be a little more modern way of doing so.

I watched "The Collector" over the weekend, and it wasn't awful. For those of you who haven't seen it, the basic gist is that a large, expensive family home is broken into and completely booby-trapped. In some ways, it felt really similar to the Saw films. However, I thought "The Collector" actually would lend itself better to a haunted house than Saw would, simply because of the nature of the traps.

Thanks for doing the research and clearing that up, Michele. Nice to hear answers that aren't just assumptions and personal speculation.

Wow, damn fine post there, TC. I think you're dead-on with your thoughts on the "20th Anniversary" being a marketing ploy as opposed to a complete blow-out of an event. As much money as Universal makes on the event, they're still operating within a budget, and budgets change over the years (and throughout the year). Yes, there are a lot of die-hard HHN fans out there, and they (we) do bring in money. However, the vast majority of the people who attend the event are not follow-every-rumor-starting-six-months-in-advance types. The biggest return on the HHN investment comes from continually building the number of guests who attend, not necessarily sating every desire of the most dedicated fans. And, I agree that the hype does tend to get a little out of control. Everybody loves speculation, but with this much time remaining until the event, even the occasional nuggets of truth can change before Opening Night. There are a lot of fan-created rumors, wishful thinking, and who knows, maybe even the occasional leaked truth. However, just remember to take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt, regardless of who says it.

Well, you asked for thoughts, so here goes: A haunted house based on a videogame that's influenced by a 700 year old poem about morality, sin and punishment? Whew, that's a tall order, my friend. I think that a house like you're describing would require tons of staff, lots of elaborate (and expensive) props and set pieces, and almost justifies the need to be an attraction all its own. I'm thinking it would work in the way that you see independent, permanent haunted houses in smaller towns across America. Being from a small town in Georgia, I think people in the Bible Belt would be thrilled to experience something that is both terrifying-because-of-the-scare-tactics, as well as terrifying-because-of-the-spiritual-implications. For that reason, I can't see it being added to an event as hugely popular and mainstream as Halloween Horror Nights has become. The risk of offending large demographics due to your subject matter is a line that the HHN designers skirt every year. However, when you're using imagery as blatant as the Circles of Hell, that risk shoots up through the roof. Remember all the "negative publicity" (if there is such a thing) from the Bloody Mary billboards a few years back? That was mainly due to the Metro Orlando Mommies. Just imagine if they'd stirred up the hornets nest with religious organizations! I'm a fan of Dante's work, as well as Milton's Paradise Lost. They're wonderful pieces of literature, and both terrifying in their own ways. As I said, the imagery from works like these might work in the right setting, with the right resources devoted to them, I just can't see the subject matter being appropriate for such a mass audience. Any other opinions from the peanut gallery?

Hmmm. Interesting find. From the jacket description, it seems to encompass HHN Orlando, HHN Hollywood and HOS. I'd be curious as to whether it's a travel book, a history-of-the-event type book, or a photo book. Then again, for $50, it's a little difficult to take that leap of faith and try it out.

I spent a few years at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Ops, and I worked my fair share of parades. They actually do take a couple of hours from a staffing standpoint, as you have to start setting up well in advance of the actual parade step off time. The actual run time of a parade is greater than you might expect, too, simply because it lasts from the moment it steps off until the last performer crosses backstage. When you're watching a parade, it could take 15 minutes (or longer), but that's just how long it takes to cross your field of view. I'm not saying the parade isn't doable any more, or that they won't end up bringing it back, I'm just trying to give you a little more information.

I was never a huge fan of the parade, or the Midway of the Bizarre, for that matter. That's not to say that they were without merit, I just never thought they were all that original. I can't be too judgmental, though, as I didn't see each year's iteration. I'm left with only a year or so on which to base my opinion. Having said that, though, I'd love for both of them to return if only to cut queue line times. I'll admit, I was a little bummed when I heard that the re-roofing wouldn't be happening on the roof of the old Murder She Wrote building/Monster Cafe. I always thought that was a good location for a house, just because it kept things a little more centrally located.

I voted for Cindy, too. I'm not against the thought of referencing or otherwise showing the influence of the other Icons, but they should have their place. If there's an "Icons of the Past" scarezone, then keep them there. If there are houses based on Icons, keep them there. Let Cindy earn her place in the pantheon of Icons, and don't force her to play second fiddle to Jack, the Caretaker or any of the others.

Not that this is exactly what people are talking about, but I've been mulling over the thought of self-publishing a book of HHN photos. I only have photos from the past few years, and I certainly don't have access to the HHN "Archives," but I think it might be a nice way to commemorate each year of the event. I'd thought about trying to get a few other HHN photographers involved so it's not just my work (there are a lot of great photos and photogs out there). I can't speculate on cost or things like that, as this idea is embryonic at this stage, but would there be any interest in something like that?

I'd have to agree that "The Strangers" may have worked best as a single scene in a larger house. The frightening thing about that film was the invasion of personal space and the violation of the sanctity of one's home (even though, technically, it wasn't the real home of the characters in the movie). That fear works well for a single, intense house scene, but it's harder to stretch that tension out to the full-length of a house. Just my own opinion. As far as other film properties that could be turned into a decent house, what about "Quarantine" (or [REC] for you purists)? To me, that movie is basically a haunted-house-on-film. [spoiler WARNING!} The house could start off in a firehouse, then meander through a quarantined home. You could walk through show scenes depicting the people getting infected, "dying", then getting re-animated. There could be scareactors dressed as bite victims, injured firemen, CDC hazmat suit people, then finally full-blown zombie/rage-infected crazies. Finish it up with a pitch-black attic scene where you're stalked by whatever-that-creature-was, and you've got the making of a potentially great house. For those of you who have seen the movie, what are your thoughts?

I'd like to see a house based on the 1978 version of "Dawn of the Dead." In some ways, it might resemble the old Deadtropolis house from a few years back, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. There was one scene from Deadtropolis that stuck with me, and I hope I'm remembering it clearly: the interior of a wrecked subway car. As you walked through the middle, the lights flickered on and off and a dozen zombie arms came through the windows to try to grab you. Zombie films are all about huge numbers of mindless eating machines. A thoroughly well-staffed (if not slightly over-staffed) zombie house could be an instant classic.

I've posted these over on another, ahem, HHN forum already. More coming today, once I crank up the Photoshop. Anybody got any helpful manual-focusing tips? Just bought a new manual-focus-only lens, and it kicked my butt last night. 99% of my pictures were blurry!

Hey guys, I wasn't sure if it merited a new thread (so moderators, if you feel it should be moved, please feel free to do so), but the HNN forums deserve it to! This video is obviously leaked from Universal themselves, but it's still an interesting glimpse into this year's Frankenstein house. Enjoy! [ythq]eS14tK8YUgA[/ythq] The camera's pretty jumpy, but I think it's pretty cool that they'd do this kind of stuff. Thoughts?

Honestly, guys, I think we all need to just be patient and, above all, be positive. I can't tell you how many posts there were last night about how awful a Bloody Mary-themed event would be. The pessimism was rampant for months BEFORE she was ever even confirmed. Then, as we got closer to the event and more info leaked out, the tide of public opinion started to change. By the end of the event, most peoples' perceptions were positive, and Bloody Mary has come to be seen (by most) as another great Icon. Basically, all I'm saying is this: speculate all you want. That's what these boards are for. But don't wail and gnash your teeth because you don't think it's going to be a great event. Be positive. The folks in charge seem to know what they're doing, and the disappointments are few and far between. Thus ends my two cents.

I enjoyed the tour simply for being able to see inside a couple of houses with the lights on. It was really nice to explore at one's own pace and take in the detail that you'd otherwise miss. I don't really understand why LT and tours would be mutually exclusive. Why wouldn't they be able to put on both during the same event?

I'd love to see as much concept artwork as possible. I'm fascinated by the event design process and the steps it takes to get to the end product. As someone else said, nice high-res pictures and more in-depth info on the icons would be great, too.