Halloween Horror Nights 2024 (USH) - Speculation & Rumors

[highdefrex]

Using IPs & celebrities just seems desperate & clout chasing to a certain degree.

It's Hollywood, though. It's not Dark Harbor, or Knott's. It's not even Universal Orlando. The park itself is famous for giving people a glimpse into the studios where IPs are made. There's a certain intrinsic expectation that, hey, if people are going to the place "where movies are made," they're gonna want to see famous movie and TV IP represented in a way they can't get at other haunts. Even if it's repetitive, you're not gonna see Michael Myers or Leatherface walking around Knott's, in the same way you're not gonna see things like Jordan Peele's Us or Stranger Things or The Last of Us at Dark Harbor or Howl-O-Scream. It's not really clout chasing to use IPs/celebrities when the entire concept of Hollywood itself is built around... IPs and celebrities.

And even if TCM or Halloween is repetitive, it's weird seeing some act like their returns are some creative death knell for the event as if the event is only built on repeats. In the last five years, we've seen mazes given to a number of Universal monsters, we've gotten mazes for IPs like Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, Killer Klowns, Exorcist, The Haunting of Hill House, Us, The Last of Us, Chucky, Evil Dead, and on and on, and that's before originals like Monstruos or Scarecrow. Have some of those IPs been reused since? Sure, but even when Michael or Leatherface are "back again," they're surrounded by stuff that hasn't been done before (or, if it has, it's at least relatively new, like the difference between ST and ST4, barring some exceptions like Klowns).

Last time we got Leatherface/TCM, the event featured Hill House, The Purge, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Exorcist, Pandora's Box, and TWD, with Michael Myers there as well. This year, none of those IPs or originals are going to be there (unless Bride makes an appearance), with Leatherface surrounded by an entirely new lineup, and yet this entire conversation feels like it's been derailed by the idea that the event as a whole this year is just another retread simply because TCM is being used again, all before a single thing has actually even been confirmed for the event.

 

[Wishmaster]

This is how I view HHN - the Lakers of horror events
If you’re a NBA fan it’ll make sense. Hardcore Lakers fans have always wanted the team to be built mainly through the draft instead of winning by signing the biggest FAs possible. Majority of the great Lakers teams in recent history have acquired a star/superstar via FA or trade. All the celebrities come to the games because of it. Majority of the standout years for HHN featured IPs that the GA enjoys. It’s the hardcore fans that would have a year of all originals which I don’t have an issue with but I know it’s not realistic. I’ll never have an issue with certain slasher IPs reoccurring because there are others we may never see again or at least for another decade. Think about it…the greatest event of the 2010’s featured Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, Exorcist, TWD, AHS, and Purge SZ. That’s Hollywood AF lol.

 

[chris.g]

When the analogies become so meta you start getting scared….

 

[downunder]

All this silence on the announcement front for Hollywood, is it meant to be a lead in to A Quiet Place announcement lol. I'd settle for a date range or even actual dates.

I have to admit I'm always up for a Myers house, just my preference. I think any of the Titans can work depending on creativity and execution - Chucky was pretty good last year. Also I'd like to see some single Universal Monsters houses like Dracula, maybe that will happen when they've played out the mashups.

Only time will tell...

 

[TonyPizza]

I think that casual fans of haunts aren’t coming to Hollywood’s HHN because of some long standing attraction to HHN as an event - they’re coming because they get to experience their favorite IP’s as mazes. As much as I wish that Hollywood had its own lore and original history like Orlando, it simply doesn’t, which I think has lead to less die-hard Hollywood HHN fans. Ultimately, the shadowy figures in charge aren’t as concerned about diehard HHN fans as they are about bringing in popular IP’s to sell as many tickets as possible. If that means retreading the same IP’s every few years then so be it.

I would be interested to see how many people attend HHN every year, or how many haunt events people attend each year. I think that, generally, people who aren’t as invested as someone on this forum might have a smaller memory of what IP’s were used a few years ago as well, contributing to HHN leadership being willing to rotate the same IP’s every few years.

 

[kingcooger]

Okay. What’s stopping them from doing Scooby Doo? At some point some gate-keeping is helpful. You have to draw the line somewhere.

Bring on Scooby Doo!

 

[TheHaunter]

It's Hollywood, though. It's not Dark Harbor, or Knott's. It's not even Universal Orlando. The park itself is famous for giving people a glimpse into the studios where IPs are made. There's a certain intrinsic expectation that, hey, if people are going to the place "where movies are made," they're gonna want to see famous movie and TV IP represented in a way they can't get at other haunts. Even if it's repetitive, you're not gonna see Michael Myers or Leatherface walking around Knott's, in the same way you're not gonna see things like Jordan Peele's Us or Stranger Things or The Last of Us at Dark Harbor or Howl-O-Scream. It's not really clout chasing to use IPs/celebrities when the entire concept of Hollywood itself is built around... IPs and celebrities.

And even if TCM or Halloween is repetitive, it's weird seeing some act like their returns are some creative death knell for the event as if the event is only built on repeats. In the last five years, we've seen mazes given to a number of Universal monsters, we've gotten mazes for IPs like Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, Killer Klowns, Exorcist, The Haunting of Hill House, Us, The Last of Us, Chucky, Evil Dead, and on and on, and that's before originals like Monstruos or Scarecrow. Have some of those IPs been reused since? Sure, but even when Michael or Leatherface are "back again," they're surrounded by stuff that hasn't been done before (or, if it has, it's at least relatively new, like the difference between ST and ST4, barring some exceptions like Klowns).

Last time we got Leatherface/TCM, the event featured Hill House, The Purge, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Exorcist, Pandora's Box, and TWD, with Michael Myers there as well. This year, none of those IPs or originals are going to be there (unless Bride makes an appearance), with Leatherface surrounded by an entirely new lineup, and yet this entire conversation feels like it's been derailed by the idea that the event as a whole this year is just another retread simply because TCM is being used again, all before a single thing has actually even been confirmed for the event.

To add onto to this Leatherface/TCM is not going to be used as the same concept. Based on the clues we were given we could most likely identify that TCM is actually in fact going to be a IP original which means we can see Leatherface in a new setting. Since John Murdy clearly stated this IP will in fact have no direct repeats we could use this to narrow our options down.

 

[Wishmaster]

Has anyone heard a rumor that HW announcements won’t happen till MSS?

 

[TheHaunter]

Has anyone heard a rumor that HW announcements won’t happen till MSS?

I have never heard that rumor before but that sounds like a long panel for people to be attending if that's true. Are you serious of course this is not true ThemeParkParker is a troll account don't listen to anything they say.

 

[Freak]

Everyone is complaining about the lack of announcements but I still get Vietnam flashbacks to 2010 when we didn’t get a single announcement until early August! And after that they didn’t announce until September the rest of the lineup and find out they’re basically repeats.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Has anyone heard a rumor that HW announcements won’t happen till MSS?

Pinhead over on r/HHHN spoke that the first announcement for us will be a shared in the first week of June; so atleast we will be getting shared stuff soon.

 

[Freak]

I forget where I saw it, but I saw on one of the spec maps about them possibly resurrecting the concept of Dead Exposure for HHN. Here are the clues for house one:

House #1 - Original
-91 pages of treatment
-Some of Murdy's research included “Borax,” Quonset Hut Design,” “Cryogenic Freezers,” Bible verses from “Proverbs,” and “Sir Galahad.”
-For the Bible verses, he specifically read Proverbs 16 18-20
-Clue: “Former Borax Mine”

 

[Wishmaster]

I forget where I saw it, but I saw on one of the spec maps about them possibly resurrecting the concept of Dead Exposure for HHN. Here are the clues for house one:

ThemeParkParker’s spec map

 

[deadbydawn]

It's Hollywood, though. It's not Dark Harbor, or Knott's. It's not even Universal Orlando. The park itself is famous for giving people a glimpse into the studios where IPs are made. There's a certain intrinsic expectation that, hey, if people are going to the place "where movies are made," they're gonna want to see famous movie and TV IP represented in a way they can't get at other haunts. Even if it's repetitive, you're not gonna see Michael Myers or Leatherface walking around Knott's, in the same way you're not gonna see things like Jordan Peele's Us or Stranger Things or The Last of Us at Dark Harbor or Howl-O-Scream. It's not really clout chasing to use IPs/celebrities when the entire concept of Hollywood itself is built around... IPs and celebrities.

Bingo. This is what made Horror Nights an annual event for me when I started going almost 15 years ago. Not only was it cool that you could be on the lot or in a soundstage, but it felt like you were stepping into the movie at the place where they make movies. It was something that no other event could replicate (Warner Bros. would come close, but they never got a chance to fully flesh out Horror Made Here). I do expect there to be some properties that make returns because they are popular, and popular sells tickets. Selfishly I just sometimes wish they weren't as frequent. That all being said, I also fully understand that the general public does not see it the same way we do, hah.

I am excited to see the lineup regardless. I've seriously scaled back on the amount of Halloween events I attend now so I can't wait for some actual announcements to start dropping.

 

[Wishmaster]

Fun fact: Did you know by number, this would be HHN24 for us?

 

[Freak]

Fun fact: Did you know by number, this would be HHN24 for us?

If you exclude the pre-hiatus years, this would be HHN 18 for us.

 

[00_Themeparkfan_00]

Okay, so I did some research on Murdy's clues for the unknown house in Mummy Queue and I genuinely think I cracked it.

Borax/Borax Mines—Borax mines resemble World War I/II trenches, albeit much deeper and much larger.

Quonset Tents—Quonset Tents look like quarantine tents, and the facade in Mummy Queue clearly matches that (pretty obvious, I know).

Sir Galahad—This one was a bit tricky on the surface. But after more digging, I discovered a ship named the HMS Sir Galahad that served during World War II (interestingly enough it was one of the ships present during Normandy)

Cryogenic Freezers—This could be referring to cryogenic freezers present in whatever facility. Maybe some bodies of soldiers that have died are being cryogenically frozen?

Proverbs—To summarize, Proverbs 16:11 revolves around tampering with the word of God. Maybe this virus was manmade and infected everyone within this military facility.

Case in point: I believe it’s Dead Exposure

Infact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if it's Dead Exposure, it'd most likely be set on/near D-Day (mainly added by the fact that the HMS Sir Galahad, as stated, was present during D-Day.)

 

[downunder]

@00_Themeparkfan_00 great analysis, good work. Dead Exposure would be a good addition. The Scarecrow crossover from Orlando was great.

Ghostbusters is looking a bit firmer for the T-pad possibly. I appreciate the spectacular show of Ghostbusters, but I prefer actual horror personally.

They're being so coy about announcements lol, Last year would be hard to top IMO.

 

[Clive]

Okay, so I did some research on Murdy's clues for the unknown house in Mummy Queue and I genuinely think I cracked it.

Borax/Borax Mines—Borax mines resemble World War I/II trenches, albeit much deeper and much larger.

Quonset Tents—Quonset Tents look like quarantine tents, and the facade in Mummy Queue clearly matches that (pretty obvious, I know).

Sir Galahad—This one was a bit tricky on the surface. But after more digging, I discovered a ship named the HMS Sir Galahad that served during World War II (interestingly enough it was one of the ships present during Normandy)

Cryogenic Freezers—This could be referring to cryogenic freezers present in whatever facility. Maybe some bodies of soldiers that have died are being cryogenically frozen?

Proverbs—To summarize, Proverbs 16:11 revolves around tampering with the word of God. Maybe this virus was manmade and infected everyone within this military facility.

Case in point: I believe it’s Dead Exposure

Infact, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that if it's Dead Exposure, it'd most likely be set on/near D-Day (mainly added by the fact that the HMS Sir Galahad, as stated, was present during D-Day.)

This is good spec.

 

[chris.g]

My beloved Exterminatorz maze is never happening.