zombieman

If this year's website is supposed to be an indicator of what will happen at HHN, then should we expect that entering a house may result in our ejection from the park for an hour? That would address the crowd problem, but still....

This year's set of games, along with the bannishment, lacks any element of fun. Yeah, it's luck - I get it - stop hitting me over the head with it. I so long for the days when we spent hours trying to simply see if the hand on the Grandfather clock had moved, or if we could puzzle together the pages from Mary's journal. At least we're getting some hints as to the houses on the 50/50 pages, but that's not enough to satisfy me.

I am utterly unable to beat the Rune game. Any suggestions?

Hey, can someone please give a summary of the games that are currently on the website? I think there are 6 now? Please provide details as was done in the first post.

Funny...Silent Hill came to my mind when I read about the casting of many nurses. Don't write it off, though. I believe it could definitely happen. The Saw house was brought to HHN thanks to Jeff Schiefelbein, who created the Saw house in Brea, CA a couple of years ago. He had the licensing agreement with Lion's Gate to build haunts using the brand, and got Universal on board. Why do I mention Jeff? Because the next year his Brea house was in fact based on Silent Hill - and it was absolutely amazing. So, I can infer that Jeff also had a licensing agreement with the people who own Silent Hill. So it's important to know that a Silent Hill house can be a great house, even for people like me who didn't play the game or see the movie. The house was so good that I rented the movie the next day. He managed to recreate just about every key scene, including a 12-foot Great Knife that stabs and slashes wildly into a tiny room in which you are trapped.

The 2000 house was intended to be called House of 1000 Corpses. It was in the Uni press releases leading up to the event; however, when they decided to not release the movie, they had to change the name of the house at the last minute. It ended up being called Rob Zombie's American Nightmare. I posted my old park maps from the 1st and 2nd rebirth of HHN Hollywood on this site. http://www.horrornightnightmares.com/forums/index.php/forum/74-hhn-hollywood-i-iv-1997-2000/ Also, I believe the HOTC house did not lead to the movie. It was the other way around. HOTC production wrapped early in 2000, and Universal subsequently asked him to be involved in the house design. There's little chance a movie could have been written, scheduled, and shot in 2000, following house design. At least this is the way I heard it from Rob's manager at the Halloween II special screening. It was at that screening that I found out that Rob was in negotiations with Uni to do another house in Hollywood.

I've been going since 2004, and I've never experienced line jumpers at HHN (or Universal). At Six Flags, on the other hand, it's everywhere.

My pet peeve is when people don't know the difference between "there" and "their" Honestly, those were all very good peeves in the list. I don't usually choose "all of the above" but it was really applicable here. But for HHN Orlando, my major pet peeves all concern the Express Pass: 1) They sell far too many of them, often resulting in an obscenely long line and a rediculously long line 2) They limit the use to one entry per house. 3) Toward the end of the night - when the EP lines would normally begin to get short - they turn around and sell a "Mini EP" that fills them right back up. 4) The Frequent Fear + EP they started selling makes things even worse. I've been to HHN Hollywood on even the most crowded nights, and their equivalent of the EP line is always empty. They strictly limit their Front of the Line Pass sales, and it makes for a much better experience. Plus, you can use the pass as much as you want for the night. You'd think that fewer houses and rides, coupled with unlimited entries would make the EP lines huge, but they simply don't in Hollywood. BTW, peak nights in USH still have standy waits of 75+ minutes. I'm not suggesting there is a good solution here. The problem is that you have two different clientele between the coasts. Orlando is 90% tourists - who will pay for the upgrade regardless of price, and Hollywood is 90% locals who are usually happy without the upgrade. Orlando could charge $120 for an unlimited EP, and they'd still sell a ton.

I happened to meet DTH while leaving the park one night last year. I overheard two people talking about "what a disaster DCA was". Being from So Cal, that could only mean one topic. I struck up a conversation and The Vault and HNN quickly came up. What a small world! Fri and Sat are open till 2AM. Since you were most lilely arriving on a Fri, my suggestion was by all means to hit HHN, since it's open late that night anyway.

You're 18 and you want to relax? Remember that when you're 40 with kids, have no time to relax, and wonder why you didn't do more when you were 18... If you're spending a lot of dough on a two day trip, pack as much as you can into it. Try your best to hit HHN Friday night - it will be open till 2. BTW, I'm planning for my trip to be the weekend of the 7th this year. Beat Hell Week and the crowds that will follow. We should see when DTH will be going and try to meet up.

Freak, As you know, I take the yearly trip you hope to start this year. If you are hoping to save a car rental by staying at USO, think again. The on-site hotels cost so much $$, all the money you save on a car wil be spent on the room (and then you'll be captive). If you want to stay nearby, you have 2 options: 1) There are a TON of super-cheap hotels on International Blvd. This is close, but not a fun walk (at least 20 min). 2) There are a bunch of slightly higher priced hotels right across the street, on Caravan Court. These are about 10-15 min walk. By Google Maps, they look really close, except you need to walk around Universal's massive parking structures. Even if you stay far away and drive in, the walk from the parking structure is formidable. I recommend the 2nd option. I've stayed at the La Quinta (about $50 a night), and the Hyatt Place (about $120 a night). There's also a Doubletree and I think a Ho-Jo also. Book at least 6 weeks in advance, as rooms start to sell out and prices start to rise. If possible, make sure your reservation can be cancelled. Many nearby hotels offer shuttles to Universal, BUT the departure and pickup times can vary like crazy, and the final pickup may be surprisingly early and inconvenient. Remember that some of these shuttles service half a dozen hotels, so your trip to and fro may be very indirect. Things to consider about not getting a car: 1) You'll need to take a cab or shuttle to/from the airport. That's going to cost at least $30 each way. It's quite far. 2) Walking to the event from a nearby hotel is no big deal. Walking back at 1AM when you're dog tired and it's humid as hell is another thing entirely... 3) Shuttle/cab/walking will take longer than you think. You might not make it to HHN the first night before it opens. However, if you do get a car, you're looking at $15 for parking each night and plan on a 20 minute drive back to your hotel (even if it's across the street). The way I always plan my trip is to take the 1st plane out of LAX on Southwest. Book very early and you'll get amazing fares. (Remember, October is a very slow season in Orlando, so booking around early Aug yields great fares). This flight will stop in LAS, and arrive in MCO around 4:30. That's just enough time to pick up your car, drive to Orlando, check into the hotel, get to the USO kiosks to print your tickets, and still get in when the gates open early. If you fly out on a Fri, or back on a Sun, your fare will be very high. Better to fly out on a less popular day (out on Thurs and back on Sat morning or Mon morning). If you're there for 2 nights, I think your best plan of action is as follows: Day 1: * Fly to MCO * Get your car, check in to hotel, then drive directly to HHN * Hotel in Orlando Day 2: * Attend a morning Unmasking the Horror tour at USO! (and stay a few hours FREE in USO - they never escort you out...) * Around 3:30pm, drive to Tampa (1 hour drive) * Go to HOS * Drive back to Orlando * Catch a couple hours sleep in your Orlando hotel Day 3: * Fly back home Unlike HHN, HOS is perfectly FINE to attend on a Fri or Sat. If you do the Fright Feast, you'll get a wristband that will get you into every house at least two times before the event even opens. Then enjoy the event at your convenience and take it all in. Couple this with a NON_PEAK night at HHN (with a lower priced Express pass) and you've got a fairly economical trip that will net you about 16 houses, plus a lights-on tour of a couple of houses. Realistically, you're still looking at: $30 LAX shuttle or airport parking $300 Round Trip LAX-MCO $120 2 nights Hotel $80 2-day car rental $45 gas $150 HHN (Ticket, Express pass, Event Shirt) $50 UTH tour at USO $100 HOS (Ticket, Feast, Event Shirt) $25 HOS Upcharge house ticket (i.e. "Alone") ----- $900 <-- That's a lot of cash for 2 days (and doesn't even include food!), but you get the most intense Halloween experience possible. As you will eventually find out - vacationing ain't cheap. Transportation costs are what most people fret over, but they account for a quite small piece of the overall bill. The trip I outlined is an a'la carte package; everything is purchased separately. Often, Expedia or Kayak can shave a hundred here and there if you book air, hotel and car in one shot. You'll almost definitely get the car essentially free. Play around with it and see what you can find. If you're renting a car, then proximity of the hotel is less of an issue. Keep in mind that those package deals are almost never refundable and changing them is a royal pain. Also, you NEED to get the first flight out of California to arrive in Orlando with time to get to HHN. You are looking at at least 10 hours travel time for air, rental car, driving and time change. Count backwards - to arrive at HHN by 6 PM, you need to leave LAX by 8 AM. Unless you get a direct flight, your options are slim. EDIT: About those "Gory Getaway" packages... They seem reasonable until you read that the price is PER PERSON, based on double occupancy. That means if you are travelling alone, you get to pay double. Understandibly, they want you captive at the resort for at least 2 days.

Daniel, If you like books about Carter, I suggest "Carter the Great" by Mike Caveny. It's a huge tome with plenty of great pictures. Mike is a magic historian, and is a fount of knowledge of Carter. I saw him give a great lecture at the Hollywood Magic Castle and had to buy the book. It is very $$$ though.

Not that I buy into it, but just to feed the beast of the gambling theory... The game "Jacks or Better" suggests TWO JACKS which in turn suggests the return of Jack and his even more evil entity - EDDIE! I just had to go there.....sorry. On amore serious thought - I certainly expect HHN to have their own verion of an "Alone" (i.e. upcharge) house this year. I could see how a gambling theme could easily fit into a house that would be by definition void of a conga line. As a very simple for-instance - there is a house in Pontiac, MI called Realm of Darkness. In the house, there are about 4 areas where you can choose your own path. Not exactly like HOS did in the Darkheart houses, but rather each time you choose the "correct" path here, you are given a gem. At the end of the house you trade in your gem(s) for a final set of choices. If you are correct, you get to meet "the Master" or whatever he is called and you also get back your admission fee. The overall chance of winning is around 50:1. I could easily see HHN taking that sort of idea to the next level. If done properly, it could encourage repeat entries (although chances are overwhelming that an upcharge house would sell out days before any given night). Dr. Jimmy, how can someone be banned for posting public permit info?

Although the Death Dealer and games of chance (and Chance herself) all sound great as part of an HHN theme, do you really think they would have presented clues that were so obvious? It took a whole 3 posts to arrive at the gambling theme, in all its speculated glory. No way is this going to be the theme. (Now watch as Emeric Belasco sends us a new message with the words "wager", "bet", "chance", "wheel", "spin", "flip", "cards" or "bones" in it...)

Man, I'd love to see them repeat Deadtropolis just so we'd get to see that queue video again. For that matter: Ghost Town and Hellgate Prison. 2004 was the year of the queue video.

HHN Hollywood did that in their Saw house. They showed what appeared to be a conga line of guests, and had one of Pigs jump out and drag one away. I remember seeing the "scare cam" that orlando had in the LT house last year, and thought it was so strange that of all the scares, they chose that location - about the least scary part of the whole house. It was a bit anti-climactic to see group after group notice glowing bedsheets and basically mouth "meh". now, if they had placed the camera in the room with the "chair"...

I've been going to my local California haunts since the early 80's. When Universal Hollywood put on their first HHN in 1992, I visited it with friends, and went to all the Hollywood events since. It wasn't until 2003 that I found out that Orlando actually out on their own HHN. Being completely ignorant of such things, I thought "what copycats"...little did I know.. I must have watched that Director commercial with the Jester 1000 times, and was dying to go. Unfortunately, my wife had twins earlier in the year, so there was no way it was going to happen. But in 2004 I flew out and have gone to both coasts ever since.

I never understood people's fascination with tattoos, but that having been said, this is a really good piece of work.

One of Balasco's tweets earlier this month was: The thoughts written on the walls of madhouses by their inmates might be worth publicizing. Does anyone remember anything written on the walls in Psychoscerapy?

Don't overlook the idea of having a cover band. At HHN Hollywood we had a Kiss cover band (I forget the year), and the response was positive overall. The real deal bands are going to just cost too much.

I live in California and have all the shirts and maps for the HHN Hollywood event (1992, 1997, 1998, 1000, 2000, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). Most interesting thing I have from Hollywood - a Biohazard sticker they gave out a the entrance to the Area 51 maze. Although I only started going to HHN Orlando in 2004, I have an extensive HHN collection. Shirts that I have - All except 1991 and 1995. Maps that I have - All except 1991. Coins that I have - all colors of coins from every year of the parade. Medallions that I have - 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008. Media Kits that I have - 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004. Pins that I have - Every pin except the 2010 AP pin. Buttons that I have - Every one but 2009. Glassware that I have - Most of whatever has been made for the event (shots, shooters, mugs, ashtrays, etc) Media gifts that I have: 1997 - Eyeball on a pedestal 2000 - Jack in the Box 2001 - Chainsaw 2002 - Pocketwatch 2004 - Straightjacket (personalized with the name of an Orlando Sentinel reporter) 2005 - Eyeglasses 2006 - Snowglobe 2008 - Jewelry Box Item I would most like to own - a Mask from Leave it to Cleaver

Hallowed past for me. Best not in terms of scares but in terms of things to see. It was criminal that the UTH tour did not go through this house. Wow, I'm stunned that Catacombs is rating so high on everyone's list. I just didn't get it. From a historical perspective, it was very well done, but in execution, it was just too repetitive. Same thing for Hades... I have yet to pick a winner though. Every year the house I liked the least seems to win. 2010 was a truly kick-ass year, with no outright terrible houses, and only a couple I did not love. For me, it was: 1) Hallowed Past 2) Zombiegeddon 3) Legendary Truth 4) Havoc 5) Psychoscarepy 6) Orfanage 7) Hades 8) Catacombs Why all the hating on LT? It was a technology-driven house, not an in-your-face house. The last room could have used a lot of improvement, though. And LT also packed the BEST SCARE at HHN - can anyone deny that the chair scare was the best (and most effective) scare in years?

Havoc - 10/7 & 10/10 The entire CAST B was incredible. You raised the intensity level higher than I have ever seen at HHN.

SO YOU WANT AN OFFICIAL HHN HOODIE?? You can buy one right now! If anyone in Florida is looking for an official HHN Hoodie, be aware that they DO exist. In California... HHN Hollywood is selling a generic HHN Hoodie at all their shops. This is the first time that I know of that an HHN Hoodie has been sold. The managers I have spoken to swear up and down that they are being sold in Florida, and I kept telling them that they were not. I pleaded with them to add them to their online store, but they said that won't happen. Here are the photos (sorry for the quality....iphone 3gs in a poorly lit room. 'Nuff said.): Hoodie Front Hoodie Tag Hoodie Back Hoodie Pockets The Hoodie only has printing on the front (back is blank). It says: "Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2010". There is NO indication of coast (Orlando/Hollywood). It was clearly intended to be generic. The Hoodie zippers in the front, and has two pockets. The hood has a drawstring. They are available up to XXL. All sizes are the same price: $38.95 I spoke at length to the manager of the store, and they WILL ship to Florida. You need to call the store and order with a credit card. Shipping is (I believe) $8.00, but if you buy more than $100 in merchandise, shipping is free. So you know, they are selling a couple of other 2010 generic shirts that are really nice. One is a bit retro, and is actually for our Rob Zombie House of 1000 Corpses that we are lucky enough to host (you have to squint to see the reference at the very bottom). The other is more gothic and has gold metallic accents. It feels more like a microfiber - a little softer than other Tees. It reminds me of an Orlando shirt I saw back in 2008 - I think it had silver metallic instead of gold. The picture doesn't do it justice - what you see that looks "orangy" actually sparkles gold. Each is $21.95 for all sizes (they have up to XXL). Each shirt has printing on the front only. Here are the photos: Retro Zombie Shirt Gothic Fashion Shirt They are also selling an HHN pin for Hollywood that in my opinion is generic, since both coasts had these houses: NOES, F13, and SAW. No mention of Hollywood. The pin is $12.95. I only mention it in case there are pin collectors out there. HHN Hollywood Pin They are selling a Hollywood-version of a shot and shooter, as well as the bloody mug both coasts have, but I assume no one gives a crap about the drinking ware. And by the way, Hollywood has many of the same statues that Orlando is selling. If you want to contact Universal Hollywood to order, call the Universal Studios Citywalk Store at (818) 622-8000. My receipt also mentions (818) 622-7447 "for questions about USH Merchandise". If you have any problems trying to get them to understand what you want to order, let me know, and I may be able to help. Finally, each item has a description on its tag, that may help you identify what you want. Hoodie: BLACK HHN10 HWDHD Retro shirt: BLACK HHN10 HWDZMBI Gothic shirt: BLACK HHN10 FASHION Pin: HHN HW 2010 Pin LE Hope this helps. Brian EDIT: If you have an AAA card, let them know and you may get 10% off. They always ask at the register, but probably won't ask for phone orders.

One thing that seems to be consistent about the Orlando event merchandise - they just keep ignoring the request for hoodies. Well, I was at the Hollywood HHN last night and in the shops I saw row after row of HHN 2010 hoodies, I'll have to take a picture the next time I go, but these simply stated "Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2010" - very generic, could have been sold on either coast. Obviously, no mention of "XX". They were selling these for $39.99. I'll be going back on 10/1 or 10/2, and will take pics, but if anyone is interested in getting one, PM me. I will be in Orlando for HHN on Oct 7 and Oct 10. Brian EDIT: Wanted to add one thing - I'm sure that you could contact a Hollywood Universal store by phone and have them ship one to you. I bought all of the 2006 Orlando merchandise over the phone ("One of everything, please"). Again, I'll post the pics.