Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[MikePat]

Quick thought here, but if this is for Halloween Nightmare Fuel 2: Electric Boogaloo, then the lighting up above looks similar in the square design.

 

[Wesker69]

Also I forgot to mention that we owe A LOT to 2005's legacy story & website narration to the late Rick Spencer who passed earlier this year (which I still have trouble acknowledging because he did so much for HHN).

Eelmouth, the main MC, did a fair amount of ad-libbing and was played by actors who would also be fan favorites as Jack the Clown and Otis T. Wren, so they knew how to work the mic.

Best Eelmouth line to a guest: "You're dirtier than Paris Hilton's panties"

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Housekeeping note, please keep all construction updates in the construction thread. Thanks!

HHN 31 Construction Thread

Looks like some glacier structures in that one photo ... or some large stuff in wrapping ? Those are the old Lair of the Banshees walls. They always sit there.

forums.insideuniversal.net

 

[JS610]

It's pretty obvious from reading these boards that fans have different expectations for IP houses vs Original houses. Plenty of people complaining that Blumhouse and Universal Monsters are "repeats" despite using original concepts, while many are clamoring for Hive and Seeds 2.
HHN Orlando is trying to balance being a celebration of horror movies and shows, while also being a yearly event with its own internal mythology. I'm not surprised that even geniuses like the creative team for HHN can't always balance that correctly to please all the fans.
I will always be excited for HHN, the set design, costuming, shows, and general atmosphere is second to none. I know that some years will be weaker, but I don't think any year will be lame.

 

[Sir Austin]

Despite how some feel about the lineup, I personally am stoked. Halloween? Glad to see it back. Universal Monsters? Excited to experience a brand new story. Blumhouse? Looking forward to seeing how specifically the Black Phone segment translates. The Weeknd? Interested to see what kind of creative scares and scenes are in store.

Last year taught me to give everything a second chance. I wasn't looking all that forward to Texas Chainsaw and it turned out to be better than I ever would have expected.

 

[Returning-The-Reaction]

FWIW, my two cents:

I certainly believe that some justifiably decide whether or not they wish to attend HHN due to the IPs presented each year. As has been stated, it comes down to personal preference. There are examples of people who skipped a year and regretted it - while there are also examples of people who attended, but came away disappointed based on their expectations of the IPs. Each person/family has to make their decision on whether to attend based on a multitude of personal reasons. To each their own.

Personally, I have fallen into both categories over the last 22 years. Some regret mixed with some disappointment and also a bunch of happiness weaved throughout.

Though, I will say that my all time top-10 HHN houses are an even 5/5 split between IPs and Originals - and taking it even further, it's also an even 10/10 split with my top-20. Obviously, using the original houses to base your decision on is a lot more difficult due to the unknown, but I think Universal has a long track record of generally producing some great original experiences year-to-year.

 

[Killer Klown]

Just speaking for a recent personal experience here. I have a group of family members who are definitely casual fans and they base whether they want to go a night or two on the house lineup and the movies/shows that are there. When I showed them the most recent spec map from HNN when it came out they all said something along the lines of “if that ends up being true I’ll probably skip this year and hope next years is better.”

 

[Wesker69]

So i'll weigh in on the current missing years trend:

The 30th anniversary was something I looked forward to just to see the lore continued & said I'd make a trip back to FL for, BUT the apocalypse happened. Financially unstable. Jack took over. And the legacy of the Terra Queen shat upon. So I wasn't too upset about not experiencing the year I waited for. Hell, I didn't even go to Hollywood's event last year either, but it only had 2 NEW mazes, so not a big loss.

2020/2021 is the first year since 2005 (my first year... Buffy fan, so The Gentlemen as Body Collectors is what got me to go) that I have ever missed the event. First 9 years Orlando, the rest Hollywood.

I will say this, I am sooo bummed about missing Orlando's Bride, Puppet Theatre, & Wicked Growth last year (thank the YouTube gods for videos). Also the properly cast Eddie!!

 

[boredzerro]

It is going to be my first time going in September and I'm beyond excited no matter what houses. I am a huge horror fan and have always wanted to go but was to chicken to go alone. I could not pass up the deals they had early in the year so decided to finally go even though I would be solo. I fully expect to get the crap scared out of me and have tickets for 2 days. One to explore and take it easy since I know my anxiety will be high and a second day to really hit everything once my anxiety settles.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

It is going to be my first time going in September and I'm beyond excited no matter what houses. I am a huge horror fan and have always wanted to go but was to chicken to go alone. I could not pass up the deals they had early in the year so decided to finally go even though I would be solo. I fully expect to get the crap scared out of me and have tickets for 2 days. One to explore and take it easy since I know my anxiety will be high and a second day to really hit everything once my anxiety settles.

Regardless of what people say on here - you will have a blast. Especially for your first time without other years to compare it to. My first year was 2016 and that is now my least favorite of the years I've attended - but I was still hooked from it.

Was last year really that awful? I was so upset to miss the 30th but it seems everyone here really disliked it..

 

[Killa2324]

I wanted to go this event when I was living in Virginia back in the 90’s.. Fast forward to last year being my actual first time at the event and I loved 30 and just the chance to see the things from the past is what sold me on it But when I got to the event and was able to take in the atmosphere and experience made my flight and everything I spent worth it

 

[HHN Maddux]

The Weeknd's After Hours Til Dawn tour starts tomorrow.

It's also been two weeks since Blumhouse was announced...

 

[Clive]

The Weeknd's After Hours Til Dawn tour starts tomorrow.

It's also been two weeks since Blumhouse was announced...

Highly doubt they're announcing their headliner on a Friday.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Highly doubt they're announcing their headliner on a Friday.

I am curious, why don't they ever announce headliners, or really anything on Fridays? You'd think it'd be a great day to do it, start of the weeknd.

 

[boredzerro]

I am curious, why don't they ever announce headliners, or really anything on Fridays? You'd think it'd be a great day to do it, start of the weeknd.

Friday tends to be a day you dump news you want ignored.

 

[Ahmanet]

Aren't all of the Orlando houses announced so far also being shared with Hollywood? That to me signals corporate cost cutting ...

The original houses / zones could of course be the stars of the event - they should announce them (hopefully with the rumored Classic Halloween theme tying them all together).

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Aren't all of the Orlando houses announced so far also being shared with Hollywood? That to me signals corporate cost cutting ...

The original houses / zones could of course be the stars of the event - they should announce them (hopefully with the rumored Classic Halloween theme tying them all together).

I thought it was a movie theater theme. Yeah don’t get why they don’t announce the originals before the IPs since there wouldn’t be any potential legal troubles with those.

 

[Neo]

I am curious, why don't they ever announce headliners, or really anything on Fridays? You'd think it'd be a great day to do it, start of the weeknd.

Because they want to be picked up by all the news sources, world wide, and have articles show up in stuff. Not such a big deal these days with the death of newspapers, but you've surely seen newspapers and that Saturday editions, if they even print them at all, are super thin and generic old stories that aren't breaking news. That's by design. Sunday newspapers are huge, but it's mostly fully written sections and ads (delivered to stores on Thur or Fri) to be added to the little bit of important news they see the need to pick up and rush to print. Releasing something on a Friday doesn't get it picked up by the AP and turned into an article in time to make some deadlines. Also, if you do the announcement at 1pm on a Friday, it's already end of the business day in the UK and that's a big market for HHN. In geographies like China, 1pm ET is literally 1am Sat morning.

Likewise, Mondays are no good for geographies that are the other direction for the world clock. Tues, Wed and Thur are the best dates it's a business day everywhere in the world.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

It was the hardest the event has ever leaned into fan service (yes, I also attended 25). The whole "everything is connected" gimmick -- which felt like a stretch even then, evil schoolgirls and bikers and the guys you ripped off from Buffy all live in the same universe? -- gave online fans a sense of power, like knowing the houses before all your friends do or learning from the Behind the Screams tour that the masoleum names are all the actors from The Brady Bunch.. And they kept it up through the event, culminating in a dozen or two super-fans actually getting to take a part in the final show. Even though relatively few got to do that, the fact that they did was mind-blowing to the online community.

Also, her show was solid. The set was large, the effects were surprisingly gruesome. Eelmouth, the main MC, did a fair amount of ad-libbing and was played by actors who would also be fan favorites as Jack the Clown and Otis T. Wren, so they knew how to work the mic. Backed up with an overall solid house line-up (two GOAT in there for me), and the last event in IoA. In other words, a solid event only improved though the lens of nostalgia.

What I would have done for 30: Terra Throne in NY, Demon Cantina 2 in SS24 (to avoid having too many mashup houses, also something different from Body Collectors since they already appeared at 25).

 

[Wesker69]

Highly doubt they're announcing their headliner on a Friday.

On this day last year (July 7th), it was a Wednesday when HHN teased an audio clip

The next day was Thursday & they announced Hill House for the event which was a headliner

Sure it wasn't a Friday, but it's close enough