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Name: Halloween Horror Nights 12: Islands of Fear
Year: 2002
Icon: The Caretaker
Houses: Scream House, Fear Factor, Maximum Carnage, Project Evilution, Scary Tales II
Scare Zones: Boo-Ville, Island of Evil Souls, Island Under Siege, JP Extinction, Port of Evil, Treaks and Foons
Shows: Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, Studio 666
URL: Halloween Horror Nights™ at Universal Orlando Resort™


Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights "Toe Tag" (2002):


Halloween Horror Nights "Sting Alley" Coca-Cola TV Spot (2002):


Halloween Horror Nights "Eenie Meenie" Universal's Islands of Adventure (2002):
 
You should, I'd love to see them. It's always good to reflect on the past and see the technology used at that time.
What technology? The most advanced effect Screamhouse had was the pneumatic bouncing coffin that they still use.
 
Your time has come...I loved hearing those words!

Islands of Fear was the event that made me fall in love with HHN. It was my first visit (I was on the WDWCP and came with a bunch of other CP's). I am so happy the event was professionally documented so I can relieve it.

Aside from Scream House the houses were forgettable but the streets were amazing. The multiple special effects throughout the parks narrow pathways were incredible. Fireballs, flame throwers, puppets, foam, dense fog, bikers, lasers...so many sensory distractions used all at once that are missing from recent events.

Its amazing how the event has transformed over the years. In my opinion Islands of Fear was the beginning of what the event has become today.
  1. Scream House was the original ultra detailed sound stage house that raised the bar for set design for years to come. It wasn't the first sound stage house but from researching on line it seems to be the first most 'movie set' like house.
  2. Maximum Carnage was the first use of an IP that wasn't Universal Pictures (may be wrong but seems right)
  3. Chaos was the original ultra detailed character design whose primary purpose was to be looked at.
  4. First major year with no parade (I think)
  5. Caretaker was the begging of ultra detailed backstory that was truly represented in the event. Jack is the original icon and has a backstory but I don't think it was fully fleshed out his first year. Jack's story seems to have really come out in his return years and has now become the most fully developed story for HHN. However I believe he wasn't really a fully realized/developed character in his first year unlike the Caretaker.
  6. First use of 'live kills' mini shows in scare zones. (may be wrong but I couldn't find anything online that disproves it. However they definitely returned in subsequent years)
It wasn't the perfect event by any standards but it sure did have a lot of great things going for it. Ironically Islands of Fear seems to go down as an off year and a disaster on many accounts. However, I think it was simply the beginning of a new type of event that took risks, some worked and some didn't. History seems to be remembering the event for what didn't work. However, the risks that did work, worked very well, and set a new benchmark that pushed the event for years to come.
 
Chaos was the original ultra detailed character design whose primary purpose was to be looked at.
Chaos? There was no character named Chaos that year. If you’re referring to the green, horned guy, his name is Nightmare.

Bigger factor, 12 was the first year Universal really used a website. So, there’s a better archive of its stuff. Jack’s backstory was public in 2000, but was only published in the Orlando Sentinel’s weekly Calendar insert.
 
Chaos? There was no character named Chaos that year. If you’re referring to the green, horned guy, his name is Nightmare.

Bigger factor, 12 was the first year Universal really used a website. So, there’s a better archive of its stuff. Jack’s backstory was public in 2000, but was only published in the Orlando Sentinel’s weekly Calendar insert.

Ahhh yes, Nightmare not Chaos. Thanks for the correction! I thought 12 was possibly the first year to use a website but wasn't sure. Thanks for the info.
 
I went looking at the Wayback Machine for 2002 music Thread from the HNN forums, but it wasn’t archived. So I went through google cache and got it there instead. Here’s the soundtrack for 2002 (Credit to HNN member “DarkLegend”):


PORT OF EVIL
  • Dracula’s Castle – John Beal (Super Scary Monster Party), Town Square of Tortured Souls BGM
  • Pencil Neck – Don Davis (House on Haunted Hill OMPS), Opening Scaremony Music
  • Epiphanic Evelyn – Don Davis (House on Haunted Hill OMPS), Opening Scaremony Music

ISLAND UNDER SIEGE
  • Supernova Goes POP – Powerman 5000 (Tonight the Stars Revolt!), Maximum Carnage Queue BGM

TREAKS AND FOONS
  • Carnival of Souls Theatre Organ & Calliope – Verne Langdon (CoS Collection), Treaks and Foons Island BGM tweaked with sound effects
  • Carnival of Souls Harpsichord – Verne Langdon (CoS Collection), Scary Tales II Queue BGM

JP EXTINCTION
  • Opening Titles - John Williams (Jurassic Park OMPS), JP Extinction Island BGM
  • Frenzy Fuselage - Don Davis (Jurassic Park III OMPS), Project Evilution Maze BGM (Unconfirmed)
  • Eat It – ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic ("Weird Al" Yankovic in 3-D), Fear Factor Queue BGM

ISLAND OF EVIL SOULS
  • Descent into the Abyss – Neil Norman (Super Scary Monster Party), Island of Evil Souls Island BGM
  • Awakening – Midnight Syndicate (Vampyre: Symphonies from the Crypt), Nightmare's Stage BGM
  • End Credits: Halloween Theme - Reprise – John Carpenter (Halloween 20th Anniversary OMPS), Fountain of Evil Music

BOO-VILLE
  • Hall of Mirrors – Christopher Young (Hellraiser II OMPS), Boo-ville Island BGM
  • Unknown Title – Universal, Screamhouse Facade & Screamhouse Maze BGN
  • Main Title – Don Davis (House on Haunted Hill OMPS), Screamhouse Maze BGM
And working notes on I identified tracks:


Port of Evil
Island BGM played between :47 – 1:44 []
Has a synth dream/enchanting undertone? Maybe from an 80’s era horror film? Separately, find confirmation theme from The Thing played in this zone.

Island Under Siege
Island BGM played between 6:17 – 7:02 or 10:03 - 10:56 or 11:27 – 11:52 []
Try Super hero movie soundtrack/villain themes. Movies with city chaos/destruction/Villain plans unfolding. Multiple fanfare loops stitched together?

Maximum Carnage
[] - No Music (?). Generic laboratory pulse. Wind and electric current sound effects.

Project Evilution
Island BGM played between :32 – :40 []
Very small snippet. My thought, this is the Jurassic Park End Credits?

Scary Tales II
[] - No Music (?). Twinkle, Twinkle (Rhyme from possible Halloween FX CD??), Wind, Dog Howl, Night Noise effects



**OMPS - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
**BGM - Background Music
**BGN - Background Noise
 
First use of 'live kills' mini shows in scare zones. (may be wrong but I couldn't find anything online that disproves it. However they definitely returned in subsequent years)
Literally the first year 1991... "Thunderdome"


I literally pulled them out of a box two days ago. They’ll get uploaded in the next couple of weeks.
Any update on those rare 2002 Screamhouse photos? Obviously "Art of Scare" only showed off so much.

That description of the house itself kept making me think "House of 1000 Corpses". I don't think I've seen you post the "Revisited" differences yet though.
 
Any update on those rare 2002 Screamhouse photos? Obviously "Art of Scare" only showed off so much.

That description of the house itself kept making me think "House of 1000 Corpses". I don't think I've seen you post the "Revisited" differences yet though.
I’ll check if I have them with us in Korea. We left most of our photo albums in storage. I’ll try to get them scanned if I have to. And yeah, I still need to do a “distinctive” list.
 
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