The Old HHN 30 Speculation Thread (2020)

[viking_wizard_eyes]

Still amazed people don’t understand this. It’s a haunt event put on by a massive theme park. They only want your money people.

This is tad bit cynical, no? HHN clearly has a lot of passion for what they do and they pride themselves on delivering a unique and memorable experience. They don’t only want money from us, they genuinely want to blow minds and entertain and make a lot of money doing so lol. If it was a pure cash grab, there’s a lot of things Universal could do rather than spend millions of dollars on HHN. A partnership with someone like Billie is just good business sense.

 

[Imperius]

This is tad bit cynical, no? HHN clearly has a lot of passion for what they do and they pride themselves on delivering a unique and memorable experience. They don’t only want money from us, they genuinely want to blow minds and entertain and make a lot of money doing so lol. If it was a pure cash grab, there’s a lot of things Universal could do rather than spend millions of dollars on HHN. A partnership with someone like Billie is just good business sense.

I mean yes and no. The HHN team wants that, but Comcast/Universal look at it as money.

 

[Legacy]

This is tad bit cynical, no? HHN clearly has a lot of passion for what they do and they pride themselves on delivering a unique and memorable experience. They don’t only want money from us, they genuinely want to blow minds and entertain and make a lot of money doing so lol. If it was a pure cash grab, there’s a lot of things Universal could do rather than spend millions of dollars on HHN. A partnership with someone like Billie is just good business sense.

Cynicism is necessary to counter-balance idealism.

Here’s the thing. A&D, and whole of Entertainment, wants a quality event. Marketing wants more people to attend. Management wants those more people to spend money (which occurs if they’re enjoying themselves). A more enjoyable (read—“quality”) means more money.

A “bad” year for HHN fans’ perspective means less money from management’s perspective.

It’s about money. And the fact is Billie Eilish will bring 2-4 new fans for every old fan lost because of her.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Cynicism is necessary to counter-balance idealism.

Here’s the thing. A&D, and whole of Entertainment, wants a quality event. Marketing wants more people to attend. Management wants those more people to spend money (which occurs if they’re enjoying themselves). A more enjoyable (read—“quality”) means more money.

A “bad” year for HHN fans’ perspective means less money from management’s perspective.

It’s about money. And the fact is Billie Eilish will bring 2-4 new fans for every old fan lost because of her.

Basically, balance is needed.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

It’s about money. And the fact is Billie Eilish will bring 2-4 new fans for every old fan lost because of her.

Agree with this 100%, I just push back against the idea that HHN and anyone else involved (entertainment, marketing, management, corporate, whomever) is only interested in our money and nothing else. Obviously the bottom line of every decision they make is “we will do this because it will make us money,” but the original post framed the entire event as some sort of vicious cash grab and I just don’t buy that. Like I said, there are way easier things Universal could do if that was literally the only thing they were trying to accomplish.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Agree with this 100%, I just push back against the idea that HHN and anyone else involved (entertainment, marketing, management, corporate, whomever) is only interested in our money and nothing else. Obviously the bottom line of every decision they make is “we will do this because it will make us money,” but the original post framed the entire event as some sort of vicious cash grab and I just don’t buy that. Like I said, there are way easier things Universal could do if that was literally the only thing they were trying to accomplish.

I mean, even back in the day Fear Factor and Doomsday were things.

 

[Oakley]

People seem to forget that we have gotten some...lowest of the low houses or simply houses that seemed to come out of left field. I mean, we've had a Wrestler house (forgot his name), Fear Factor(mentioned before), Alice Cooper, and Penn and Teller. HHN hasn't always been 100% for the horror fans, we literally just forget that they frequently make strange houses based on shows or iconic people to hopefully draw in a brand new crowd.

 

[mystiquephreeq]

For me, this isn’t a step forward, though. That’s what’s throwing me off. Highlighted individual talent is a throwback to HHN of old. Yes, Eilish is far more popular and audience drawing than The Pendragons and Robosaurus, but it’s still a similar concept. Take a shiny popular thing and shove it into a show. I’m not adverse to it. The first HHN I went to was all shows and shiny and KISS Army playing on a stage near the lagoon. I fell in love with it that year.

It’s not a new thing, though. It’s not progress. That’s what’s weird and off for me. The new age is the same as the old age. We are going back to the original formula, they just have a bigger budget now. I’m ok with it, but marketing it or referring to it as a new concept would be silly.

 

[Oakley]

For me, this isn’t a step forward, though. That’s what’s throwing me off. Highlighted individual talent is a throwback to HHN of old. Yes, Eilish is far more popular and audience drawing than The Pendragons and Robosaurus, but it’s still a similar concept. Take a shiny popular thing and shove it into a show. I’m not adverse to it. The first HHN I went to was all shows and shiny and KISS Army playing on a stage near the lagoon. I fell in love with it that year.

It’s not a new thing, though. It’s not progress. That’s what’s weird and off for me. The new age is the same as the old age. We are going back to the original formula, they just have a bigger budget now. I’m ok with it, but marketing it or referring to it as a new concept would be silly.

They've done this almost every year. The Walking Dead. American Horror Story. Stranger Things. All properties that are aimed for a much larger audience than your typical horror fan. I know tons of people who state they hate horror movies, but will watch all three of those. We've always used this formula. It's how business works. You need something that is marketable and capable of drawing in new audiences.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Time is a flat circle.

 

[JawsVictim]

Thinking more about this, I really wish they would have conceded AoV to her. AoV Presents Where Do We Go When We Fall Asleep. Would have been more appropriate than the lagoon show.

 

[mystiquephreeq]

They've done this almost every year. The Walking Dead. American Horror Story. Stranger Things. All properties that are aimed for a much larger audience than your typical horror fan. I know tons of people who state they hate horror movies, but will watch all three of those. We've always used this formula. It's how business works. You need something that is marketable and capable of drawing in new audiences.

It’s not quite the same as popular horror properties, though. Big name IPs aren’t new to HHN. The two things I mentioned are closer in concept. It’s a really old school approach. A very pre-icon 90s HHN concept. The closest Orlando example I can think of recently is Penn & Teller, Alice Cooper, and Fangoria being attached to houses. Stranger Things isn’t the same type of marketing concept. Neither is TWD or AHS. They are big name properties to bring in newer crowds which is no different than PUTS or Psycho or The Cryptkeeper being used in the early 90s. Hollywood has used a this concept more often in recent years, but it was a mainstay of the event in the 90s in Orlando. The Thunder Dome show is another example of this type of marketing.

If done correctly, it’s a good marketing concept. It just has to be done correctly. It can easily fall flat, and feel superfluous and exploitative for either party involved. It can backfire. Too much saturation can cause backlash.

 

[ChaseTuff]

Thinking more about this, I really wish they would have conceded AoV to her. AoV Presents Where Do We Go When We Fall Asleep. Would have been more appropriate than the lagoon show.

That presumes AOV would accept being forced to do a Eilish tie concept instead of producing their own concept.

 

[rageofthegods]

Full disclosure, I really enjoy a lot of her music and I think I'm younger than most people on here (the age range on my profile is wrong).

I'm very surprised by the reaction that Billie Eilish is getting on the forum. People on the Hollywood thread was talking about the groaner property and I was working myself into a fit trying to come up with what it could be. Then it turned out to be Eilish and frankly, I was excited.

What I don't get most of all is people saying she doesn't fit in a horror event. The music video for Bury a Friend was directed by the guy that's doing Conjuring 3. Little girls acting creepy and walking on ceilings is practically as old as Horror itself.

 

[RJ MacReady]

Not a huge fan of Billie but i started listening to her ever since i saw Brightburn.

 

[mystiquephreeq]

Full disclosure, I really enjoy a lot of her music and I think I'm younger than most people on here (the age range on my profile is wrong).

I'm very surprised by the reaction that Billie Eilish is getting on the forum. People on the Hollywood thread was talking about the groaner property and I was working myself into a fit trying to come up with what it could be. Then it turned out to be Eilish and frankly, I was excited.

What I don't get most of all is people saying she doesn't fit in a horror event. The music video for Bury a Friend was directed by the guy that's doing Conjuring 3. Little girls acting creepy and walking on ceilings is practically as old as Horror itself.

She fits visually, but does she fit lyrically? Does the sound fit? Even if the sound/lyrics don’t fit the genre at first glance, can the lyrics/sound be juxtaposed in a way that creates the unsettling imagery/feel necessary for a horror event.

And, given the reactions here, is it possible that the over saturation has already begun?

I’m indifferent to her. As I said, I find it odd that they are going back to a 90s marketing concept. Took me a while, but that’s what throws me off about the whole thing.

EDIT: One more thought on this style marketing technique. Celebrity endorsements/calibrations are double edge swords. While a popular market concept in the past, it’s not used as much today due to the unreliability of using a real person instead of a fictional persona/thing. All it takes is one major publicity snafu for a brand to be harmed by association. It’s rarer to have backlash with a fictional entity. Although, I think Universal dodged a bullet with GoT and backlash from fiction can occur.

 

[Spaulding]

Time is a flat circle.

Ka is a wheel?

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

The music video for Bury a Friend was directed by the guy that's doing Conjuring 3.

It's a small world after all...

 

[Legacy]

She fits visually, but does she fit lyrically? Does the sound fit? Even if the sound/lyrics don’t fit the genre at first glance, can the lyrics/sound be juxtaposed in a way that creates the unsettling imagery/feel necessary for a horror event.

And, given the reactions here, is it possible that the over saturation has already begun?

I’m indifferent to her. As I said, I find it odd that they are going back to a 90s marketing concept. Took me a while, but that’s what throws me off about the whole thing.

EDIT: One more thought on this style marketing technique. Celebrity endorsements/calibrations are double edge swords. While a popular market concept in the past, it’s not used as much today due to the unreliability of using a real person instead of a fictional persona/thing. All it takes is one major publicity snafu for a brand to be harmed by association. It’s rarer to have backlash with a fictional entity. Although, I think Universal dodged a bullet with GoT and backlash from fiction can occur.

I think you’re overestimating the market if your asking about the lyrical versus visual appropriateness of any IP. We have the conversation every year about some idea that “doesn’t fit” because people get wrapped around the axel of an idea they can’t expand their mind beyond. Last year, it was Vikings. People doubted Scarecrows, and Dolls, and Gargoyles. People doubting if a “horror-adjacent” pop artist is appropriate for a music-centric show at a horror event are ignoring the forest for the trees.

Guess what. I can’t recite the lyrics to ANY band that’s referenced as “must do HHN band.” But I understand that visually, some work. Billie, genre aside, is one of those that works for it.

And as we seen, Universal has never faced any backlash with fictional aspects of the event.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

I agree, but it’s still going to waste a lot of talented people’s time to create something that they’re dispassionate about.

Is this concept even that big of a draw? The album will be 18 months old by the time HHN starts. Eillish is on tour playing most major US cities including Orlando and the LA area. Perhaps I’m naive, but who’s going to HHN because Billie Eillish has a lagoon show? Or even her own HHN house in Hollywood (which I now realize I’ve already committed to experiencing :ack.

I mean, when it comes down to it; Billie going to have the tours, but is also working on singles such as No Time To Die (for No Time To Die because Bond themes), and that I know there is an audience for it.

As far as Hollywood..Murdy's Murdy. I mean, considering he's worked with Figure, Slash, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper; it isn't shocking to see him bank on music and singers.