Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - News & Info

[Casper Gutman]

There’s a big difference in the attitudes and preferences of HHN’s primary demo between 2010 and 2022, though. I agree the event is missing something but I do think music is one of the changes (along with the food offerings) that’s an overall improvement. Playing dark and scary music would come off cringe and #edgelord in today’s world where even major blockbusters don’t take themselves seriously and are constantly winking at the audience. There’s less willing suspension of disbelief in today’s mainstream media and I think updating the music from moody and atmospheric to a more self-aware “this is a party, enjoy yourself” vibe is a good call.

Me personally, while I wouldn’t see myself buying a theme park soundtrack on vinyl, I’d be more inclined to get a version with the synth-heavy music from ‘18 and ‘19 over the Midnight Syndicate stuff they sell now.

I question this. The heyday of self-aware, postmodern horror was the late 90s and 2000s, when the event featured the spooky music folks long for. Modern horror - current hits like Barbarian or Smile - are much more likely to play things very straight, with an earnest sense of dread.

That said, the music wasn’t great, but the main problem was the play list seemed very short, so the same song seemed to play constantly (which is also more noticeable with songs with lyrics rather then the pure instrumentals the event used to favor).

That said, the music in NY was fantastic this year and the loop was very long. I love when old pop tunes are used in scarezones.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Honestly this year has been one of the absolute best that I've been to yet. Looking back on 30, I really did not like much of that year at all. WG, Puppet, Case, and Tooth were cool. The rest was all mediocre to just bad imo. The Halloween party music is wayyyy better this year than the samey Synthwave we were getting in 2018 or the lame metal fusion they had last year, the zones are infinitely better than I've ever seen them, they've got a great mix of old and new HHN material (bringing back Pumpkin Lord as a semi-icon, Dead Man's, Halloween), I really love the houses and how creative and fun they all are, We've gotten a new house location for the first time since I've been going which was a trip to not know how the layout would go exactly (it was pretty great too!), the water show while it lasted is the best one HHN has seen so far and infinitely better than the laughably bad TCMxHill House watershow they had last year. This year has a uniting theme, it finally has a few houses without much of any irony or comedy again which I love, roaming saws are back, no plexi to speak of and a lot of performers willing to get in your face which was sorely missing last year.

Is it perfect? No, but none of the events I've been to since 26 have been. And frankly, I think this year's event has way more of what I love about HHN than any year previous. It's not for everyone, but it speaks a whole lot to my personal HHN taste.

 

[shiekra38]

Honestly this year has been one of the absolute best that I've been to yet. Looking back on 30, I really did not like much of that year at all. WG, Puppet, Case, and Tooth were cool. The rest was all mediocre to just bad imo. The Halloween party music is wayyyy better this year than the samey Synthwave we were getting in 2018 or the lame metal fusion they had last year, the zones are infinitely better than I've ever seen them, they've got a great mix of old and new HHN material (bringing back Pumpkin Lord as a semi-icon, Dead Man's, Halloween), I really love the houses and how creative and fun they all are, We've gotten a new house location for the first time since I've been going which was a trip to not know how the layout would go exactly (it was pretty great too!), the water show while it lasted is the best one HHN has seen so far and infinitely better than the laughably bad TCMxHill House watershow they had last year. This year has a uniting theme, it finally has a few houses without much of any irony or comedy again which I love, roaming saws are back, no plexi to speak of and a lot of performers willing to get in your face which was sorely missing last year.

Is it perfect? No, but none of the events I've been to since 26 have been. And frankly, I think this year's event has way more of what I love about HHN than any year previous. It's not for everyone, but it speaks a whole lot to my personal HHN taste.

Yes, the zones were much improved and the programmed boo holes are great to have

Graveyard is a good example of what I'm hoping they continue to implement moving forward from a technical aspect

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I question this. The heyday of self-aware, postmodern horror was the late 90s and 2000s, when the event featured the spooky music folks long for. Modern horror - current hits like Barbarian or Smile - are much more likely to play things very straight, with an earnest sense of dread.

I think there’s a difference between self awareness (which can still be earnest) and parody (which is what I believe you’re referring to in terms of 90’s horror like Scream). I wouldn’t ever advocate for HHN to become a parody of horror/itself, but I think with the extensive data we have in 2022 regarding customer demographics and motivations, it’s okay for HHN to embrace the fact that a lot of people see it as a party over a serious artistic exercise in horror.

 

[shiekra38]

I think there’s a difference between self awareness (which can still be earnest) and parody (which is what I believe you’re referring to in terms of 90’s horror like Scream). I wouldn’t ever advocate for HHN to become a parody of horror/itself, but I think with the extensive data we have in 2022 regarding customer demographics and motivations, it’s okay for HHN to embrace the fact that a lot of people see it as a party over a serious artistic exercise in horror.

Funny enough the first few years had an emphasis on the "Halloween Party" idea

It's always been in the HHN DNA

Another example of the event circling back around to its roots

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Honestly this year has been one of the absolute best that I've been to yet. Looking back on 30, I really did not like much of that year at all. WG, Puppet, Case, and Tooth were cool. The rest was all mediocre to just bad imo. The Halloween party music is wayyyy better this year than the samey Synthwave we were getting in 2018 or the lame metal fusion they had last year, the zones are infinitely better than I've ever seen them, they've got a great mix of old and new HHN material (bringing back Pumpkin Lord as a semi-icon, Dead Man's, Halloween), I really love the houses and how creative and fun they all are, We've gotten a new house location for the first time since I've been going which was a trip to not know how the layout would go exactly (it was pretty great too!), the water show while it lasted is the best one HHN has seen so far and infinitely better than the laughably bad TCMxHill House watershow they had last year. This year has a uniting theme, it finally has a few houses without much of any irony or comedy again which I love, roaming saws are back, no plexi to speak of and a lot of performers willing to get in your face which was sorely missing last year.

Is it perfect? No, but none of the events I've been to since 26 have been. And frankly, I think this year's event has way more of what I love about HHN than any year previous. It's not for everyone, but it speaks a whole lot to my personal HHN taste.

Do we hype up the event too much? Are we doing any favors to the event/creators/staff for predicting this event for 3/4 of a year? If the event opened this year with no spoilers, no announcements, how would people actually rate it? I mean look at the discussion of the park wide music this year - is it actually bad or is one trying to grasp on to why they aren't as engaged with the event IRL than they are the pre-season hype.

Are we just freebasing hyper sped up attraction cycles? Disappointed it takes Disney 4 years to build a play area and Epic Universe will be delivered in 5 1/2 years? Well I got 10 new attractions opening every year to guess upon!

 

[Legacy]

It’s interesting, observing these conversations from the outside. I just get a sense of each year’s perception by assessing these conversations. I get to be somewhat impartial. Based on that, this is a mid-tier year. I even said as much in private conversations the first weekend.

That said, EVERY year I see a subset of fans who attempt to hype HHN as a continuously improving event over previous years. But that’s impossible. What it is is a continuously evolving event. Sometimes, it evolves away from what you specifically like. And that’s okay.

HHN has never been everything for everyone. If you were someone who enjoyed 98% of a year, congrats on your luck. Most guests have a 60-70% enjoyment rate. But it all boils down to personal taste and specific experiences.

(Case in point, “Jungle of Doom” is a top five house for me.)

This whole music discussions reads like an attempt to explain away a “weaker” year when it’s just a different year. It was a year of transition. They went for higher concept housed and those sometimes don’t hit. Just accept the year for what it is - another year.

Because this year is going to be someone’s first year going, and it will set the bar for them.

 

[Lucky Planet]

I know I do not like the music used in the streets this year, but I do not think anything can be as bad as the year when all zones where the Walking Dead.

I do feel the houses are missing the care that has been used in years past, how background music/sound effects, they all set a mood in the house, the house's sounds and music also set the tempo to the house. For some reason, for me this year, I just do not feel the BGM used in the houses match the quality of the houses and that is the only thing I can spot that feels different to me this year.

You make a good point, the sets of the houses are really great, overall, technically even coven is nice set wise. But yes. Maybe it's just missing those little extra elements.

( And I really really loved when the entire park was walking dead. I loved every zone. It was really amazing for me lol. I loved how the entire park felt like one big entity. I loved the street props. I hoped they do that again with another property )

Hot Topic is where the youths go...you just don't understand


Totally, buuut, she had her own house, original songs, and a storyline...And also the rest of the park didn't play rock music


I get the vibe they were going for at HHN this year...I'm just not sure it totally clicked

That being said, the soundtracks for Sweet Revenge, Graveyard, and the houses are great

Towards the back of the park I'm hoping they play more ambient stuff moving forward

Example:

There’s a big difference in the attitudes and preferences of HHN’s primary demo between 2010 and 2022, though. I agree the event is missing something but I do think music is one of the changes (along with the food offerings) that’s an overall improvement. Playing dark and scary music would come off cringe and #edgelord in today’s world where even major blockbusters don’t take themselves seriously and are constantly winking at the audience. There’s less willing suspension of disbelief in today’s mainstream media and I think updating the music from moody and atmospheric to a more self-aware “this is a party, enjoy yourself” vibe is a good call.

Me personally, while I wouldn’t see myself buying a theme park soundtrack on vinyl, I’d be more inclined to get a version with the synth-heavy music from ‘18 and ‘19 over the Midnight Syndicate stuff they sell now.

I'm going to say something Very very obvious but I'll just say it, just to clarify,
Metal and Rock are as varied as horror movies, it's Like, Metallica is very different than Korn, or very different to ozzy Osbourne, or different to slayer, or limp Bizkit or slipknot, or Linkin park etc.

I kinda understand what they went for this year, ( Halloween house party) but they needed to pick rock music that sounded more scary maybe. Or darker or something. I'm not thinking of any specific band, but some rock music can be more horror related than others. Or I wish they had picked songs that fit to a horror vibe more? Or maybe something fitting the scarezones more ,

( You could even have pop and Rap that is scary or horror sounding, like when people take the SAW theme song and make it a rap beat, or the Halloween theme song and make it a rap beat. Every horror theme out there has been turned into a rap beat on YouTube. Night nightmare on elm street rap beat, etc)
They could incorporate scary darker sounding rap beats as the music for the park. Teens could like that

The music around the park feels like it's from academy of villains or the nightmare fuel fire show, it technically feels the same. And those songs are fine for a dance show, but it's not that good for the rest of the park.

 

[shiekra38]

Not enough Evanescence

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

1,000x this. Obviously the event has grown in popularity, while concurrently has gone from the resort’s life-blood to just another event USF and the TMs have to get through. What used to feel like a passion project now almost feels like going through the motions. Everything serves a functional purpose because the event just needs to funnel through as many people as possible and maximize revenue. The talent is still there and that’s evident in the amazing production values of everything…but the homegrown labor of love aspect is gone and I think that’s where these reactions stem from.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I don't know if it's because I don't have anyone to go with, being too busy with life/work, or what but I've gone twice during opening weekend had fun but can't get super pumped to go again. I keep saying I want to and then something pops up or I just don't feel like heading out that way. I haven't even done all the houses yet....

I do really like some of the houses Weeknd is stupid fun and Chupacabra being my stand outs, and the scare zones are the best they've been in a very long time. It just felt like everything was way overcrowded and/or overpriced.

I'm feeling very very good about those >=75 extra dollars in my pocket!

 

[Midnight Detective]

Y’all always complain about the music.

This year they went for a Halloween party vibe, and I think it fits the bill - whether I’m a fan of the music or not.

A party for who though? It's not hip or new enough to be trendy and it's not nostalgic radio rock. It's just kinda... music with spooky track titles? It doesn't ellict any feelings or hype or aura. HHN is having a music identity crisis that was held over for 3 years by synthwave.

The party analogy kind of makes the point - music can absolutely make or break a party and it definitely sets the mood of one. I'm still having fun, the food and drinks and party are amazing, but I'm not vibing with these jams lol

For the record though, I'm having a great time this year (and do every year)!

 

[IHateJumpScares]

So many hating on Coven but we did it 3/4 times and really liked it. Seems most people didn’t notice the historically-accurate progression into more and more significantly illegal stuff (password-protected bar, to back room gambling, to an illegal alcohol production, storage, and period-appropriate underground distribution system).

Or the way the music changed as you went through the house, devolving from peppy and tight to eventually discordant and kind of sloppy/unnerving before everything goes full nutty and people are chanting.

Or the way the witches devolve from young and attractive to increasingly older and hideous.

We thought it was very well done indeed.

 

[shiekra38]

So many hating on Coven but we did it 3/4 times and really liked it. Seems most people didn’t notice the historically-accurate progression into more and more significantly illegal stuff (password-protected bar, to back room gambling, to an illegal alcohol production, storage, and period-appropriate underground distribution system).

Or the way the music changed as you went through the house, devolving from peppy and tight to eventually discordant and kind of sloppy/unnerving before everything goes full nutty and people are chanting.

Or the way the witches devolve from young and attractive to increasingly older and hideous.

We thought it was very well done indeed.

I liked the first half of Coven...it seemed to fizzle out towards the end though

I did enjoy the change up in tone though

And the mine cart ofc

 

[pumpkinbot343]

There’s a big difference in the attitudes and preferences of HHN’s primary demo between 2010 and 2022, though. I agree the event is missing something but I do think music is one of the changes (along with the food offerings) that’s an overall improvement. Playing dark and scary music would come off cringe and #edgelord in today’s world where even major blockbusters don’t take themselves seriously and are constantly winking at the audience. There’s less willing suspension of disbelief in today’s mainstream media and I think updating the music from moody and atmospheric to a more self-aware “this is a party, enjoy yourself” vibe is a good call.

Me personally, while I wouldn’t see myself buying a theme park soundtrack on vinyl, I’d be more inclined to get a version with the synth-heavy music from ‘18 and ‘19 over the Midnight Syndicate stuff they sell now.

I don’t know about this year’s music; but that’s a bizarre comment. This is a horror event, dark and scary is kind of what ya should expect for something like this. You have kids killing people in Sweet Revenge, hell the whole event is comprised of monstrous gore-lovin killers, wouldn’t that be sort of edgelord by itself?

“even major blockbusters don’t take themselves seriously and are constantly winking at the audience.”

Not like it’s a good thing, see the divisive reception for Love and Thunder.

 

[Legacy]

I’ll say this. The icon years didn’t lean into “rock” or “metal.” Some areas didn’t have music at all; It was just ambient noise.

But sometimes the juxtaposition is the point.

 

[shiekra38]

I’ll say this. The icon years didn’t lean into “rock” or “metal.” Some areas didn’t have music at all; It was just ambient noise.

But sometimes the juxtaposition is the point.

Blood Thunder Alley for instance

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Blood Thunder Alley for instance

Or Fright Yard.

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I don’t know about this year’s music; but that’s a bizarre comment. This is a horror event, dark and scary is kind of what ya should expect for something like this. You have kids killing people in Sweet Revenge, hell the whole event is comprised of monstrous gore-lovin killers, wouldn’t that be sort of edgelord by itself?

“even major blockbusters don’t take themselves seriously and are constantly winking at the audience.”

Not like it’s a good thing, see the divisive reception for Love and Thunder.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ just my take. I think the Sweet Revenge zone is actually an obvious example of being dark but also being tongue in cheek. I just see there being a disconnect between going from pregaming with your friends and drinking/eating pun-laden items in the park, and then being expected to get blasted with heavy, horror atmospheric music.

Maybe I’m an outlier (or just a simple drunk ) and admittedly I have no education in themed design. But to be fair, neither do the majority of HHN customers.

 

[Jakemeister]

It's wild how vastly differently all of our opinions are but consistently most of us think that the event has transitioned into a direction we don't like as much.

I know Sheikra was saying that he *liked* the triggers in the scarezones, where that's something I absolutely DESPISE. I prefer spieling actors to give a truly intimate setting.

On that note, I hope that the feedback is taken into account. I know some of these things happened to prevent actor burnout & injuries, but I feel like they're impacting burnout now as well. A lot of my actor friends have jumped ship to Howl-O-Scream Orlando because they'd rather have creative freedom over their roles.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

but consistently most of us thing that the event has transitioned into a direction we don't like as much.

No? This year reminds me of 26, 24, and 27.