boogeyman13

Dr. Jimmy's dropping clues and we're doing pure speculation at this point, so wishful thinking is probably not the best place for it.

R.I.P.D. was a comic book, from which the movie is an adaptation. It's a completely legit thing, and has been in development for a while now. Not sure if it'll actually tie into HHN, though. I suspect that's some speculation on the part of Dr. Jimmy. Balloons most likely refers to something else. Is it too early to start a HHN23 Speculation thread?

That's the standard text that we see pop up every year. I don't think there was any significance there, other than that copy is new to the UK site. I wouldn't use it to confirm or deny anything yet.

Balloon... Hmmm... The obvious to me is something to do with clowns, but dave has a good point. We know the AWIL house was supposed to happen last year, and I don't think it would surprise anyone if it resurfaced this year. Particularly if there were some kernels of truth in Dr. Jimmy's videos yesterday. If Universal does go with a 100 years of horror theme (which is a marketing gold mine, so I hope they do), it makes perfect sense for the AWIL house to be used this year.

Still watching the first part, but I'll be damned if this isn't making me excited. I really hope at least some of this is true. I'm a huge fan of Universal horror, particularly the early stuff. Oh, and like the t-shirt, btw! EDIT: Just got to the first house in Pt. 2. I really want this event to happen now just as you're describing... EDIT 2: Just finished all four parts. Not gonna lie, if this turned out to be our event, I'd be pretty happy...

Were the first two Screamhouses back to back? Or Psychoscareapy?

I realized this was coming earlier this evening, and I can't tell you how excited I got!

The issue here, imo, is that HHNH and HHN are somewhat different brands, play in different markets, and have similar, but different audiences. So what plays well in one market may not play well in another. they found lightning in a bottle with TWD, but I don't know if it will translate over again to this year. It makes sense from a licensing standpoint to share IP's, but pick the wrong IP for tthe UO market, or execute it poorly for whatever reason (as a lot of people seem to have felt happened last year), and you risk weakening your overall brand. I'm half expecting to see TWD return this year, since it was such a huge draw. But with it being as tame as it was, combined with the huge lines, I'm doubtful that it will be as successful.

I've had my fair share of that happen as well. What they usually fail to realize is that scareactors look for the people hiding behind us tall people, as they can't see the scares coming.

Pulsing, in theory, is better than a conga line, because it allows the actors to reset scares in between groups. By sending in groups of 5-6 people at a time, you should be able to experience every scare in a house, and not have poorly timed walkthroughs. It also gives the actors a bit more time to interact with the guests, as they don't have to immediately reset and go back into hiding to immediately spring out again. They can also target scares better to get the whole group, rather than just whoever happens to be nearest. Pulsing groups can also make thing s a bit more interactive. I had a scare actor split me up from my group at a local haunt last year, and got to go through the back half of the house by myself. It was a blast. Pulsing also allows scare actors to sneak up behind you, which is something Universal can't really do with the current operational model. There's nothing like having a chainsaw rev up three feet behind you in a dark corridor. True pulsing isn't really something Uni can do given their attendance numbers, but it's a WAY better haunt experience than a conga line. If I had the choice, I'd choose pulsing every time (assuming going solo wasn't an option ).

This is absolutely true! I think the issue is that people see a haunt like Netherworld or The Darkness, and assume that that all haunts are like that. In actuality, however, 99% of the haunts out there rely on old techniques, have a much smaller budget, and don't have the innovation that Universal does. This is a critique that comes up every year, and I just don't see it, personally. Go check out an average haunt. Are they fun? Sure. But they don't operate on the same level as HHN. And as for the event losing its intensity over the years, while some of that may very well be true, I think it's also possible that we're just getting more used to the event. This has been brought up by others before, but there are only so many ways you can scare someone. And with 7-8 houses a year, you burn through the catalog pretty quickly. You also start to get a feel for where potential scares could come from. Not to say that new techniques aren't being developed, just that there are some pretty common strategies for scaring in a house; and just like a horror film, if you're exposed to it enough, it becomes a bit mundane and predictable.

Congrats Eileen! That sounds like that'll be awesome!

For those of us not in attendance, what did he say about fan sites? Any other interesting tidbits?

We actually had a fairly lengthy discussion about this last year after the announcement of a fairly heavy IP year. There were some good points that came up, and you may want to give it a read: To recap a point I made about IP's in that discussion last year, there's generally a difference between what you see during the day, and the IP houses. The rides use familiar franchises, but tell you different stories. None of them are just a straight rehash of their respective property. IP houses, however, are often times "best of" moments from their property. Of the five IP houses last year (P&T, HoH, Cooper, TWD, SH), three of them followed that formula. Really, only Cooper and P&T gave us original experiences with their houses, while the others just put in key moments and characters from the larger property. You could make an argument for HoH leaning more towards original, but they still put a lot of direct iconography from the films in there. Basically, IP houses aren't bad in and of themselves. But their execution can leave a lot to be desired, particularly when the license holder clamps down on any creative freedom. We saw the results of that last year in TWD, and previously in 2007 with the NLC SZ that was scrapped. Original houses aren't constrained by that, and can offer you an experience that you didn't already see at the AMC in Citywalk earlier that week. And as far as IP houses at Universal being a natural extension, I would agree with that only if they used the idea of the movie studio in their brand positioning. But they don't; or at least not overtly. They promote HHN as its own entity outside of the park theming, resulting in the event having a brand positioning different than one of "ride the movies." They promote the quality, scariness, and intensity of the event. So I don't see a reason to assume they have to, or even should, endorse similar brand offerings. In my opinion, HHN is a complementary brand. Much like how PepsiCo owns both Pepsi and Frito-Lay. They're two brand offerings that utilize similar infrastructures and can complement each other well, but can also exist and be profitable without the other.

Do we know how that arc was going to end? Very curious to know how Bloody Mary and Usher tied in together.

I'm generally not super excited about IP houses, but I feel if they're going to do IP's, then bring them into the mythos of the event and make it the focus. I mentioned this last year, but with it actually being 100 years of Universal horror now, I wouldn't mind a fully Universal-themed IP event. The vault has been opened, and a century's worth of monsters, creatures, slashers, and other bogeymen have invaded the park. Separate areas of the park have been taken over by different legions. For example, the Universal Monsters could be a scare region encompassing Hollywood (region, meaning they can roam wherever they want within that section of the park). And split up other character groups like that. Houses are tears between our world and the world of film, and would be centered around different well known franchises (House of Frankenstein, Chucky's Toy Shoppe, Bloody Bay featuring Jaws, Psycho: Mother's Return, etc.) The icon would be the personification of all that celluloid evil. As a Vaultkeeper of sorts, it can take on twisted versions of Universal's greatest horror icons, so that no matter what you fear, it will scare you. And that fear is what gives it it's power, and allows it to turn the nightmares of film into flesh and blood. By making it a shapeshifter, you can give it the role filled by the Iniquitus last year. Each group would have their own version for photo ops and theming. If we were to get an IP year, this is what would make me excited. The event now fits into the setting of the park, gives it a cohesive theme, makes it very easy to market to the gp, provides a story (i.e. something LT can dive into), and still gives A&D some freedom to play, since it's homegrown properties (instead of NLC's camp or TWD). EDIT: On a side note, this would also be a perfect event for Universal to prominently bring back Midnight Syndicate, as they have a new album coming this summer that's all about the classic silent horror films, as well as Universal and Hammer.

One of the big things that separates Universal from a lot of other haunts is their attention to the story and atmosphere. That's one of the big draws for me. I'll admit, I like having icons. But as long as the story is there, I'm good. I liked how they tied the legions directly into the park last year. The execution could be improved a bit, but the concept was there. The houses, though. As Lyn said, the celebrity houses (and for me, pretty much all the IP houses, really) just detracted from that. I'm a big sucker for theming, and we've seen that Universal can do it really well. Hopefully we'll see them return to that, and not ultimately turn into HHNH: East Coast Edition.

Everything floats at Halloween Horror Nights! haHA haHA haHA!

I'm very familiar with Zombie's work, and enjoy quite a bit of it. So please don't think this is coming from a place of just general indifference to the artist. It comes through quite clear that he's a fan of the genre. But that's the problem when it would come to a house. He's way too referential. For example, Dragula has clips from a ton of movies in it, features the monster from an old Bela Lugosi serial, and even Dragula itself is the name of the Munsters' Speedster (and sort of appears in the video. Not sure if it's actually that car, or if that car was made up to look like it). Living Dead Girl is just his retelling of Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. House of 1,000 Corpses (the song and movie) is his love letter to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Hills Have Eyes, and all of those types of films. And this runs rampant through all of his stuff. As music videos, and to listen to, it can be pretty great. But as a house, if all he's going to do is reference other things, why even have him in the process at all? All we'll get is another disjointed mess with cool imagery and no consistency. And personally, I think that's why his movies generally aren't that great. Hollywood has run the same stories and tropes into the ground. So when Zombie does something referential, it comes across as stagnant, old, and uninspired. Devil's Rejects was good, because he actually took some time to flesh out and develop his characters a bit. But he wouldn't be able to do any of that in a haunt. So I'd rather just say, no thanks.

I agree. Given ticket sales last year, I think ip's are here to stay. Given the Simpsons expansion, I think it's only a matter of time until we see clowns somewhere in that area. Krustyland would be a good fit for that theme. I don't even want Rob Zombie in Orlando. If nothing else, his films should show that he doesn't translate to a purely visual medium well. The only film of his that's decent is Devil's Rejects, and it's because of the characters, not the actions or visuals. He doesn't really bring anything to the table that we haven't already seen countless times before in much better things. If we're going to have a psychotic hillbilly house or industrial nightmare house, I'd rather A&D come up with their own thing. It'll end up being a much stronger haunt.

So, having now seen The Harlem Shake (haven't actually had a chance to until now), two thoughts pop into my head. 1) Wha??? 2) I can very easily see this AND Gangnam Style in this year's B&T show. Probably one right after the other. And I will weep, because the new tradition of the show now calling out random things for no other reason than to remind us that it was a thing will surely continue. I feel old... On to a different topic. Is anyone hoping for a franchise house this year? Think we'll be seeing the return of something from the last few years? Maybe Saws'n'Steam Pt 3, or the return of H.R. Bloodengutz? What about something from the Icon years (besides the icons)?

If they did a Manson house based on his music, it would have the same problems that the AC house had, in my opinion. If you're a fan of his songs, you'll get it. If not, then it'll be a jumbled mess of images. And a really effective, scary house needs to be more than that. If they had him create an original maze, maybe. I don't know, houses based on musicians and their work just doesn't have a large appeal to me in general. In events like this, music should be the atmosphere, not the focus. There's plenty of other stuff to draw from that's much more creatively freeing.

I would LOVE a house based on the October Country. Or Halloween Tree. Anything Bradbury would be fun.

I think you're thinking of this guy?

I hope it's either The Gate or Monster Squad! Or in terms of potentially scary movies, Night of the Creeps? That would technically satisfy the zombie requirement we seem to have.