Dr. Jimmy

Here are recent pics of the stage sets posted on Twitter by someone who calls themselves "Tilda Swinton".

The aerial ballet thing has me pretty excited. It seems to me they did something similar years ago, I think in the Inferno show in 1998?

Nit picking, sorry. But Shadybrook was not located in Carey, Ohio. Based on 2007 website it was located in upstate New York, near the town of Seneca Falls.

Nit picking, sorry. But the masks did appear in the Nightmare scene in 2013 by the last couple weeks of the Event.

On Tuesday I was in the park and was introduced to a nice young lady who is a designer for the Event. She did not reveal any details but happened to mention that she had just been assigned to create logos for the zones. Apparently they hadn't planned on any and then at the last minute decided they needed them after all. So too late for website reveal but likely to be featured in the brochure.

How could you even know what was in that zone back in 2009? As I recall you spent most of the time crouched down on the ground with your hands in front of your eyes? (ducks for cover!)

If you haven't seen this yet, Nancy Murphy took this pic! The Lantern is in this zone - over by the Gardens of Allah!!! This leads me to some speculation, as most of you should know by now, about four months ago I asked any sources I may have had to no longer give me any "inside information". But long before I did that, back in early 2013 I had heard that the original plans for "street experiences" that year were to have been something sorta "arboreal" actually fitting into a real theme - "What Evil Has Taken Root?" But then, something happened "higher up" most likely involving the IP contract with AMC and we got only TWD in the streets that year. So now, I gotta wonder, is Evil's Roots what What Evil Has Taken Root? was originally supposed to be? Will we be getting a taste of what we should have experienced on a much larger scale two years ago?

On that whole "cohesion" thing, blizzards don't always happen in the Winter. There was a nasty one that affected much of the American Midwest in October, 1991. It's called "The Halloween Blizzard". The Great Blizzard of 1888 was in the Spring. In March. But we could always just say that the inmates just stole the TARDIS out of AWiL and used it to travel between 19th Century Shadybrook and 20th Century Manhattan. So if the TARDIS is missing in the Piccadilly scene, then we will know that is exactly what happened.

I remember back in 1993 when people were saying that HHN wasn't going to happen that year because the JAWS ride was going to re-open and there would be no place for them to put the Dungeon of Terror. Back then it was just assumed they would ALWAYS repeat that same house and they couldn't have HHN without it!!!!

Apples? Bobbing for apples or hidden razorblades in apples are Halloween associated. So any scare zone themed to the Holiday itself and there are two rumored. But also Snow White took a long nap after eating an apple, so a rumored Scary Tales zone could be what this is for as well.

Wow. I laughed my ass off when I read that some thought Legacy and Wesker might be the same person. I can't imagine which of those two would be more upset at being confused for the other! And now for something completely different, those of us who are friends with the actor most associated with Jack the Clown for the past 15 years, the man who has indeed continued to play the Clown in the videos we have seen so far this year - know that a few weeks ago he, along with some other creative types from Universal took a trip to Budapest, Hungary. I assumed this was simply a nice holiday, and that may be all it was... but yesterday I heard a strange rumor, completely unconfirmed, just a rumor that they went there for something HHN 25 related. If that is true, then what could they have done in Hungary of all places? Would it be cost effective to shoot the commercial over there? That's the only thing I can think of, that or some other video of some sort?

One of the rumored scare zones is a drive-in theatre, if this is correct, that would require cars. Unless Jack and Eddie will be drag racing down Hollywood Blvd. like Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Which would be awesome, but impractical.

You can still play games on the Singapore site. There's a contest involved with prizes including tickets to their Event. IDK if the contest is open to Americans, nor whether they would include the airfare though! But the games are fun, and sometimes scary.

A lot of people have asked about the pumpkins. I don't know exactly, but I believe many of the pumpkins from the past were auctioned off a few years ago (although these may have only been the ones featuring the five Icons that were used for HHN XX in 2010). Also I would not be surprised if a lot of the ones used since 2008 have been broken over the years by drunken guests and other accidents. So my guess is that there may be a few pumpkins that have been used before... but also a lot of new ones to fill in the void, so to speak. Just a guess. Oh and Jeff, it is HIGHLY inappropriate to use such a phrase as McHorror Nights!!! Everybody knows the corporate sponsor is Burger King!!!

You see, this is another big reason I'm dropping the whole "cryptic" thing. People think to be "cool" they gotta know inside stuff and this tempts them to make up things and they get attacked for it. hhnmatt, I owe you an apology for my part in creating this whole "environment", and I too hold nothing against you at all. Please continue to post here and please continue to love and enjoy HHN for years to come. Don't let the negative feedback you may be getting now get you down.

OK this is just me having fun with the possible names of rumored originals. If any of these are remotely correct I will be shocked. EAT ME: Wonderland 3D All the Old Stuff: BACK AGAIN!!! RUN Fast! RUN Furious! Cold Collections in Crazytown

I know I have seen these similes somewhere before!

The Cerberus for Hades and Banshee for LT were both some sort of "animatronic" effects. They have never revealed exactly what they looked like, but have talked openly about them. I assume the Cerberus was meant to be near the Gates of Hades in that house's façade area, as the three headed dog was supposed to guard the gate of the underworld in Greek Myth. The Banshee in LT was in supposed to go in a corridor in the house where the floor ramped down to a lower level. If you went through the house you might remember that there was a light and noise effect in that hallway... but nothing else. The Banshee was supposed to swoop down on guests as they walked down that hallway from above.

The full size costumes were only seen "behind fences" in one scene, they couldn't get then through the doorways into many other scenes in which they had meant to be included. They looked like this.

The word "historic" has been dropped a lot, and questions about this sort of thing have been asked. As I am the resident historian, I guess (because I'm old enough to be your Dad) I will attempt to go over such incidents. I have no info on anything like this for the first 9 years of HHN, I went to all of those events, but it was back before Internet leaks and such things. It is probable that changes to plans were made a bit in those years. 2000 - The Lord of Darkness was meant to be in the house Dark Torment. The horns of the costume were too big for him to fit in, so the throne in the last scene in Hell was empty. 2001 - Due to 9/11 the planned Icon of the Event, Eddie was dropped and replaced by Jack. The character was dropped from the house that would have featured him, Run. A house had a name change - Terrorland became Scary Tales. The Bloodbath rave inside Kongfrontation under the tram was renamed Ooze Zone and lighting changed from red to green. 2002 - The original Icon, Sindy (how they spelled it then) was dropped and a new Icon, The Caretaker created. Sidney's house became Scary Tales II. A house called House of 1000 Maniacs was reworked into Caretaker's house, The Screamhouse. 2003 - This is the closest to what happened this year. Severe Fear, an extreme house was planned for the Event and scrapped at the very last minute. The local TV news coverage on the Event actually reported on the house just days before the opening date. Somehow they got the house description off the guide maps - but the highlighted Carnage Warehouse was still visible there. 2005 - A complete scenario for the Event was approved with a theme and Icon called Darkness (not the one from Legend) and they had started in on houses when the approval was pulled in April. In two quick weeks another whole concept was developed, Terra Cruentas and the new Icon, the Terra Queen. marketing forced another Icon over her however, The Storyteller who was rushed into a house, Where Evil Hides that originally had nothing to do with her. Also one entire house with a Voodoo theme was scrapped completely and the location of Blood Ruins was moved from the Dueling dragons queue area to a sound stage. 2007 - At the very last minute the house Silent Night, Psychotic Night was renamed Psychoscareapy: Home for the Holidays. This was too late to change the name of the house on the T Shirts! Also a Freddy and Jason scare zone featuring both characters together was scrapped due to New Line not wanting the characters to appear together. 2008 - Originally the Evil Queen was the Icon. They switched her over to Bloody Mary. This was the first year they tried to do American Werewolf in London, but the plans fell through. This happened very early, at least before May, so it was easy to redesign the house into Creatures! The Creature costumes also had size issues and many of them were not fully seen in the scenes they were planned. 2009 - They were unable to get the full rights to Army of Darkness, so a planned scare zone was scrapped in favor of War of the Dead. The AoD scenes in Silver Screams were kept anyway, they just called the film by a made up name in the movie poster seen in the house! And even though this sort of thing had happened before, once again a costume element, this time Dracula's wings were too big to get into the scene that was planned for them. 2010 - Cindy was meant to be the Icon of the Event. Once again she got bumped and they came up with FEAR instead. This made it a bit of a rush job. Also some really amazing special effects got dropped in both Hades: Gates of Ruin and Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate. They just couldn't get Cerberus and the Banshee to work correctly. 2012 - Some of the most notorious last minute changes that year, first American Werewolf in London was scrapped and Silent Hill put in its place. A planned Chupacabra house was being built when the orders came down to demolish the building it was in! Universal's House of Horrors was designed and built in the Parade building at the very last minute - they had not completely finished when the Event began! 2013 - Apparently there was supposed to be a theme for the Event that year that matched the whole Evil Has Taken Root thing. Some sort of haunted forest to top the previous year's cemetery. But all was scrapped for The Walking Dead Streets. Also American Horror Story was dropped and Evil Dead took its place. 2014 - An original house with a sort of "demon under the bed" concept was dropped in favor of From Dusk Till Dawn. A scare zone believed to feature some sort of "ninja geishas" in Sting Alley was also dropped. They had also tried again for AHS but it was still impossible with Fox's demands. And I am sure I've left a bunch of things out. So things change ALL THE TIME in the planning for HHN. Which is why they just don't go and reveal everything right away, And also another good reason why I have dropped my whole "cryptic clue" bit. If the current rumors are accurate, and they seem to be, this would be a more extreme case this year as it is very late in the game. But we have seen Creative and A&D display grace under pressure before... so let's all hope for the best!

I don't get any inside info anymore. That being said it was Wednesday at about 4 or 5 in the afternoon.

Just to note, I was naughty and tried jack_4. But only a blank blue screen shows up...

Well, if that's all they do with it, then it wouldn't be worth it for me to attempt to get over to Hollywood this year. At the very least they could throw a King Charles Spaniel with a halo in there!

I agree our lineup is much more exciting than Hollywood's. Based on what Murdy said last night, their Halloween maze will be nearly identical to ours from last year. But the one rumored yet to be revealed maze that both excites and puzzles me is of course This Is The End. I do not know if the Hollywood leak is legit, although with four mazes and a show all matching up perfectly it certainly seems to be the case. But I watched this film last night and was flabbergasted. How are they going to pull this off? There are so many problems that I cannot comprehend it at all. From legal problems of actors' rights to control their likenesses to controversy over a maze that basically, is about the Christian Rapture, I cannot imagine them even wanting to take it on! Not to mention the problems of capturing the film in any legitimate and accurate way without including some very questionable sexual situations (Rape? can they reference that at all in today's climate?) and copious drug use! But if they are able to pull this off and do it well and correctly, then absolutely I would go to Hollywood this year just for that maze alone - if I had the opportunity to do so, if for no other reason than for the final scene. If they do it the way the film ended, that would be epic beyond belief! I mean, Backstreet Boys in Theme Park Heaven!!!! I hope no one is too inconvenienced by my going a bit off topic in a thread that's about Orlando and not Hollywood, but we are comparing the line-up so I think this still fits in here.