Halloween Horror Nights 32 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Brian G.]

Last of Us was Descendants of Destruction miscommunication.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Not exactly speculation, but I really hope that Universal does something to address crowd levels and just overall scare actor safety. I heard about way too many incidents of scare actors being harassed, abused and attacked. If anyone has seen it, I think that the video that has been circling around twitter says something about the state of HHN at the moment. I wouldn't mind 11 houses and three shows to try and mediate the crowds a bit, but I think something more needs to be done.

That video was from Hollywood. They installed cameras this year in the Orlando houses and I hope security was taking care of unruly guests appropriately. Not saying they're perfect but this has been one of the less controversial years when it comes to scare actor safety.

 

[londonwerecat]

That video was from Hollywood. They installed cameras this year in the Orlando houses and I hope security was taking care of unruly guests appropriately. Not saying they're perfect but this has been one of the less controversial years when it comes to scare actor safety.

Personally, I heard about a lot of incidents. Yet again as I mentioned before, there's not much you can do about it really. I guess its just a personal wish of mine that things would get better.

 

[Clive]

That video was from Hollywood. They installed cameras this year in the Orlando houses and I hope security was taking care of unruly guests appropriately. Not saying they're perfect but this has been one of the less controversial years when it comes to scare actor safety.

I'd say anecdotally the number of incidents ticked up at Hollywood, but things felt significantly improved at Orlando while I was there. Hollywood is still dealing with the impacts of expanded alcohol offerings (liquor was only introduced in... I want to say 2019?), and this was probably the first year where mixed drinks were aggressively advertised. Not saying alcohol is to blame for everything - some violent jerks will just be violent jerks - but it isn't helping.

 

[salismetho]

I'd say anecdotally the number of incidents ticked up at Hollywood, but things felt significantly improved at Orlando while I was there. Hollywood is still dealing with the impacts of expanded alcohol offerings (liquor was only introduced in... I want to say 2019?), and this was probably the first year where mixed drinks were aggressively advertised. Not saying alcohol is to blame for everything - some violent jerks will just be violent jerks - but it isn't helping.

Overall the crowds in Hollywood felt way less friendly/more hostile to me than those in Orlando. Noticed a lot more line cutting, people trying to go to back of stage, being rude, that sort of thing. Strangest one was a couple just going back in forth in a hallway with their phone flash on filming. I told them to turn off the flash lol

 

[Darko]

My speculation is simple:

1. There will be no Icon.
2. There will be a Universal Monsters house.
3. There will probably be a Dawn FM house.
4. They will continue to have ridiculous crowds.

That'll do for now.

 

[Midnight Detective]

Overall the crowds in Hollywood felt way less friendly/more hostile to me than those in Orlando. Noticed a lot more line cutting, people trying to go to back of stage, being rude, that sort of thing. Strangest one was a couple just going back in forth in a hallway with their phone flash on filming. I told them to turn off the flash lol

That's just California lol

 

[Freak]

Overall the crowds in Hollywood felt way less friendly/more hostile to me than those in Orlando. Noticed a lot more line cutting, people trying to go to back of stage, being rude, that sort of thing. Strangest one was a couple just going back in forth in a hallway with their phone flash on filming. I told them to turn off the flash lol

This one couple ruined a run through of hotel for me on my second night by purposely walking slow as frick trying to fill a walkthrough if the house with no one in front of them. They even went as far as to stop in front of the boi hole to wait for the scareactor to come out!!!! I missed almost every sun gel scare!!!!! NOT ONE BLACKOUT SAID ANYTHING. Dude if this was in Florida they would be screamed at from every angle to turn the camera off and keep moving.

 

[Crypt Keeper]

My speculation is simple:

1. There will be no Icon.
2. There will be a Universal Monsters house.
3. There will probably be a Dawn FM house.
4. They will continue to have ridiculous crowds.

That'll do for now.

Simple, but really good lol

 

[Casper Gutman]

Random thoughts:

1) Predicting originals is a fools game, but I wouldn't be surprised by a Major Sweets related house - a twisted take on Willy Wonka (which is already pretty twisted) seems to offer a lot of potential they haven't explored. Would slot neatly as the humor house.
2) We won't get an icon on the level of the classics but we'll get some mini-icons like Boo and the Pumpkin Lord - they move merch
3) A music house is likely, but it won't be The Weeknd again - diminishing returns, and I don't think either HHN or The Weeknd want to be inextricably linked. Were bridges burned with Eilish? Whoever it is, they have to have Superbowl-level crossover appeal.
4) Regarding IPs, Five Nights seems a natural. If Blumhouse's Exorcist comes out, that might get a house, but no Exorcist otherwise. Chucky fills the slasher spot, so Friday and Freddy and the like are out. He also probably fills the puppet spot, so something like Gremlins is probably also out. Despite the difficulties this year, Evil Dead Rise and Salem's Lot both seem likely candidates. At some point, one suspects that the nostalgia-driven creatives will get to Lost Boys, but I feel like it won't be in 2023 (Salem's Lot feels more likely).
5) Monsters, of course, with a focus on either Creature or Phantom. I feel like Phantom has an edge because creating a believable Jungle environment would be immensely difficult and the obvious alternative, a jungle temple, feels too similar to this year's Mummy.
6) Slaughter Sinema 2? Please? Eh, probably not.

Complete guess line-up: Chucky, Blumhouse's Five Nights (if it comes out in Fall 2023) OR Blumhouse's Exorcist (if Five Nights doesn't), Salem's Lot, Phantom of the Opera, Eilish, Major Sweets, 4 more originals

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Random thoughts:

1) Predicting originals is a fools game, but I wouldn't be surprised by a Major Sweets related house - a twisted take on Willy Wonka (which is already pretty twisted) seems to offer a lot of potential they haven't explored. Would slot neatly as the humor house.
2) We won't get an icon on the level of the classics but we'll get some mini-icons like Boo and the Pumpkin Lord - they move merch
3) A music house is likely, but it won't be The Weeknd again - diminishing returns, and I don't think either HHN or The Weeknd want to be inextricably linked. Were bridges burned with Eilish? Whoever it is, they have to have Superbowl-level crossover appeal.
4) Regarding IPs, Five Nights seems a natural. If Blumhouse's Exorcist comes out, that might get a house, but no Exorcist otherwise. Chucky fills the slasher spot, so Friday and Freddy and the like are out. He also probably fills the puppet spot, so something like Gremlins is probably also out. Despite the difficulties this year, Evil Dead Rise and Salem's Lot both seem likely candidates. At some point, one suspects that the nostalgia-driven creatives will get to Lost Boys, but I feel like it won't be in 2023 (Salem's Lot feels more likely).
5) Monsters, of course, with a focus on either Creature or Phantom. I feel like Phantom has an edge because creating a believable Jungle environment would be immensely difficult and the obvious alternative, a jungle temple, feels too similar to this year's Mummy.
6) Slaughter Sinema 2? Please? Eh, probably not.

Complete guess line-up: Chucky, Blumhouse's Five Nights (if it comes out in Fall 2023) OR Blumhouse's Exorcist (if Five Nights doesn't), Salem's Lot, Phantom of the Opera, Eilish, Major Sweets, 4 more originals

Eilish completely changed her image in 2021, moving away from the horror aesthetic. Therefore, Eilish didn't want to be associated with HHN and pulled out of the event.

Slaughter Sinema 2 would be amazing! I've seen so many people suggest a sequel where H.R. BloodenGutz hosts, but I doubt it'll happen.

 

[londonwerecat]

Yeah I don't really see us ever getting Eilish. The only way that it was meant to work was in that moment in time. I would have loved the house after seeing all the unused props awhile back, but unfortunately there's really no way to backtrack to it. To be honest, I wonder what happened to the rest of the props that weren't sold off.

 

[Allison]

Yeah I don't really see us ever getting Eilish. The only way that it was meant to work was in that moment in time. I would have loved the house after seeing all the unused props awhile back, but unfortunately there's really no way to backtrack to it. To be honest, I wonder what happened to the rest of the props that weren't sold off.

IIRC, they were destroyed, but someone with better knowledge of the situation will know for sure.

 

[londonwerecat]

IIRC, they were destroyed, but someone with better knowledge of the situation will know for sure.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were destroyed probably just because of ip integrity stuff. I'm sure Eilish wouldn't want any of the imagery being used in any house in the future, even as a background prop.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Well, it's that time of year again, huh? Feels like we were only here 2.5 months ago.

As others have said, I really could see them moving to 11 houses this year. F&F proved itself as a viable location. And if Fear Factor isn't taken down, the MIB tent could be back on the table. 12 HOUSES?? WHO SAYS NO? (probably Universal)

As far as houses, I definitely think we're seeing Dawn FM. AHN was too much of a success for them to not go back to that well, and HOPEFULLY an announcement would have better reception this time.

I'd bet money there will be another UCM house, but PLEASE give me Creature. I'm over Frankenstein/Dracula until EU opens.

My IP wishlist would contain:

Scream (it's never gonna happen and I just need to accept it)
Gremlins
The Lost Boys
Candyman
The Thing (starting to think this will never happen either)
Friday the 13th
Scooby Doo (don't kill me)
Stranger Things 4 (I could actually see it happening)
Fear Street

For originals, I'd love to see:

Slaughter Sinema 2
Another cryptid/folklore house (Mothman???)
Vanity Ball house
Another phobia house similar to bugs (snakes?)

And as far as zones... please, please give me Vamp 75 or 95.

Shameless plug, but a few months ago there was a reddit post asking you to create your own event. Here's mine:

 

[MikePat]

I have seen this IP mentioned in this speculation thread, so I am just going to throw out this thought:

If Evil Dead Rise ever appears, Universal should call it Evil Dead Rise: Unblocked Horror.

 

[DonnieBoy]

Okay, now to throw my two cents into the speculation ring for Orlando! Here's what I think we'll see in terms of IPs, like I posgted in the Hollywood thread:

-Wishful thinking but I really want to see a Lost Boys house. I just want to hear "I Still Believe" and "Cry Little Sister" while waiting in line for the house.

I would love to see the lost boys... or the monster squad, honestly just bring back the 80's, its not like they did it 2 years in a row. No sarcasm i want the 80s back

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Well, it's that time of year again, huh? Feels like we were only here 2.5 months ago.

As others have said, I really could see them moving to 11 houses this year. F&F proved itself as a viable location. And if Fear Factor isn't taken down, the MIB tent could be back on the table. 12 HOUSES?? WHO SAYS NO? (probably Universal)

As far as houses, I definitely think we're seeing Dawn FM. AHN was too much of a success for them to not go back to that well, and HOPEFULLY an announcement would have better reception this time.

I'd bet money there will be another UCM house, but PLEASE give me Creature. I'm over Frankenstein/Dracula until EU opens.

My IP wishlist would contain:

Scream (it's never gonna happen and I just need to accept it)
Gremlins
The Lost Boys
Candyman
The Thing (starting to think this will never happen either)
Friday the 13th
Scooby Doo (don't kill me)
Stranger Things 4 (I could actually see it happening)
Fear Street

For originals, I'd love to see:

Slaughter Sinema 2
Another cryptid/folklore house (Mothman???)
Vanity Ball house
Another phobia house similar to bugs (snakes?)

And as far as zones... please, please give me Vamp 75 or 95.

Shameless plug, but a few months ago there was a reddit post asking you to create your own event. Here's mine:

Okay, so I'm not the only one who wants a Scooby-Doo house

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

Here we go...

Houses- (I wanna say there is a good chance there will be 11)

IPS
Five Nights at Freddy's: I think it's finally time, if it's gonna happen it would be now. The film should be out next year and I wanna say they will not just represent the film but the games as well. The release date of the film probably won't be before the start of the event so I expect only a sneak peek (Similar to 2017s Saw). Bonus points if they pull the books as well (which is unlikely, there is already too much ground to cover)
PROBABILITY: 6.5/10

Dawn FM: There is a good chance Abel makes his return. I honestly was hoping we would get more Dawn FM material in this house (especially scenes from Sacrifice) but I really want to see more collaboration with Abel. I think the teams also enjoyed working with Abel so they probably want to explore more of his material.
PROBABILITY: 8/10

The Last of Us: With the creators tweeting about how they would love to make the house a reality I would love to think Universal would take notice and try to work out a deal.
I think they will only include the show with references to the games as the show will generally follow the games.
PROBABILITY: 7/10

Monsters: It's a guarantee at this point, there will be a house featuring more of these guys. The houses have been successful and I think it is likely we won't get another Monster vs Monster situation, but instead, a solo house on one monster (most likely Creature or Phantom as they are the least represented thus far.) will it be an original story or follow their respected film? Who knows.
PROBABILITY: 9.5/10

More Blumhouse something, to early to tell yet what it may be yet.

ORIGINALS
I won't rate these because there is not much proof/probability of any originals quite yet, except...

LEAVE IT TO CLEVER 2: You're telling me they bring in the meat locker for nothing? No way, definitely something fishy going on here. But hey go for it! It's a classic original that has had some representation in the past few years and made the GP more familiar with the characters and concept due to the light representation. I wanna say this is the only "Shoe in original". It's got a fair shot.

Everything Original besides that though is out in the open, it's anyone's game what concepts those could feature.
But if I had to guess...

-More cryptids
-Something midevil
-More animatronics/puppets of some kind

ZONES

More Ip than originals zones this year, I also want to say the same with houses.
Maybe wip out all those Evil Dead Rise props eh?

I left a lot open as it seems this will be a curveball year.
Overall, my guess is it will be a heavy IP year.

Happy spec season!

 

[Crypt Keeper]

Here we go...

Houses- (I wanna say there is a good chance there will be 11)

IPS
Five Nights at Freddy's: I think it's finally time, if it's gonna happen it would be now. The film should be out next year and I wanna say they will not just represent the film but the games as well. The release date of the film probably won't be before the start of the event so I expect only a sneak peek (Similar to 2017s Saw). Bonus points if they pull the books as well (which is unlikely, there is already too much ground to cover)
PROBABILITY: 6.5/10

Dawn FM: There is a good chance Abel makes his return. I honestly was hoping we would get more Dawn FM material in this house (especially scenes from Sacrifice) but I really want to see more collaboration with Abel. I think the teams also enjoyed working with Abel so they probably want to explore more of his material.
PROBABILITY: 8/10

The Last of Us: With the creators tweeting about how they would love to make the house a reality I would love to think Universal would take notice and try to work out a deal.
I think they will only include the show with references to the games as the show will generally follow the games.
PROBABILITY: 7/10

Monsters: It's a guarantee at this point, there will be a house featuring more of these guys. The houses have been successful and I think it is likely we won't get another Monster vs Monster situation, but instead, a solo house on one monster (most likely Creature or Phantom as they are the least represented thus far.) will it be an original story or follow their respected film? Who knows.
PROBABILITY: 9.5/10

More Blumhouse something, to early to tell yet what it may be yet.

ORIGINALS
I won't rate these because there is not much proof/probability of any originals quite yet, except...

LEAVE IT TO CLEVER 2: You're telling me they bring in the meat locker for nothing? No way, definitely something fishy going on here. But hey go for it! It's a classic original that has had some representation in the past few years and made the GP more familiar with the characters and concept due to the light representation. I wanna say this is the only "Shoe in original". It's got a fair shot.

Everything Original besides that though is out in the open, it's anyone's game what concepts those could feature.
But if I had to guess...

-More cryptids
-Something midevil
-More animatronics/puppets of some kind

ZONES

More Ip than originals zones this year, I also want to say the same with houses.
Maybe wip out all those Evil Dead Rise props eh?

I left a lot open as it seems this will be a curveball year.
Overall, my guess is it will be a heavy IP year.

Happy spec season!

Cleaver 2 is the only Original house that I've seriously considered as a guarantee. As you mentioned, it's been getting some representation in the past few years and with all that taking place, it just doesn't make sense to not finally give it a sequel or even just a requel.