Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Nick]

I suppose my biggest gripe with a Squid Games house would be that, for it to work, it would need to be highly interactive to the point of being an upcharge experience

If they are ever to do an upcharge house again, this would probably do gangbusters. But you're right, I think it would need to be interactive and I do think it could be a really cool experience, but I don't think at all that this will happen.

 

[Imperius]

In no way does Squid Game make any sense as a house or a zone IMO. Is it just going to be a bunch of people getting shot?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I get big “Clocks in the Walls” vibes from Squid Game in terms of something the fandom thinks should come because it’s popular but not because it fits.

 

[Disneyson1]

In no way does Squid Game make any sense as a house or a zone IMO. Is it just going to be a bunch of people getting shot?

In this way, it hurts speculation that Seek and Destroy was just this, and that the reviews were middling at best… without nearly enough victims. If I were an executive, and you were trying to sell me on the rights, I’d point to both Seek and Destroy and Saw houses of the past to show that these sorts of IPs don’t really work.

Also, if you thought enforcement of a costume ban was bad this year, imagine what it would be like during a Squid Games experience. The amount of badly behaved guests actively hurting Scareactors to “win”, people changing into jumpsuits after crossing the turnstiles to do TikTok dances in front of the stages, and the larger fan community saying “this isn’t scary” might not make it worth it.

But, consider that Seek and Destroy DID get greenlit, as have Saw, Run, and a variety of other high-concept dystopia haunts over the years, each having similar complaints, I can’t see why the people that approved those past zones wouldn’t want to try again. Especially considering that one of the designers (apologies for blanking on his name) had called Seek and Destroy his “baby”, I wonder if he might want another go at it.

 

[Legacy]

In this way, it hurts speculation that Seek and Destroy was just this, and that the reviews were middling at best… without nearly enough victims. If I were an executive, and you were trying to sell me on the rights, I’d point to both Seek and Destroy and Saw houses of the past to show that these sorts of IPs don’t really work.

Also, if you thought enforcement of a costume ban was bad this year, imagine what it would be like during a Squid Games experience. The amount of badly behaved guests actively hurting Scareactors to “win”, people changing into jumpsuits after crossing the turnstiles to do TikTok dances in front of the stages, and the larger fan community saying “this isn’t scary” might not make it worth it.

But, consider that Seek and Destroy DID get greenlit, as have Saw, Run, and a variety of other high-concept dystopia haunts over the years, each having similar complaints, I can’t see why the people that approved those past zones wouldn’t want to try again. Especially considering that one of the designers (apologies for blanking on his name) had called Seek and Destroy his “baby”, I wonder if he might want another go at it.

Blake. He’s the Streets director.

And Saw can’t really be compared to any originals. IPs are green lit because of perceived marketability and potential ROI—not so much the content itself. Original content is green lit based on the designers’ ability to convey a story, moments that exists in that story, and an assumption about the guests’ reaction to it.

Apples and oranges.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Seek & Destroy was not received poorly by the majority of guests. It was perfectly fine for a NY Zone.

CryptTV, Gorewood, and 30 Years on the other hand...

 

[Vyrus]

Seek & Destroy was not received poorly by the majority of guests. It was perfectly fine for a NY Zone.

CryptTV, Gorewood, and 30 Years on the other hand...

Gorewood was atmospheric and fine in that respect. 30 Years was a great photo op zone, but I honestly wouldn't call it a zone.....CryptTV to me was the biggest WOOF of a scarezone I think I've seen in HHN history, and yes I think it was worse than Vanity Ball. At least that zone had a lot of kinetic energy and was doing what a zone is supposed to do which is pull your attention in many which ways.

To me the biggest lack in scarezone this year that SW did very well was Fog. Besides 30 years and a little bit in Gorewood, I didn't see use of Fog in the zones much this year.

 

[shiekra38]

Seek & Destroy was not received poorly by the majority of guests.

Says who?

logistically speaking , squid game would be perfect as a zone. but wouldnt work as a house.
show is tailor made for a zone,

the games in squid game take place in big yards and playgrounds, and each game had a lot of participants, both things would work perfectly in a zone,
the streets are big enough to recreate all the games with props and stages, recreate the game environments, and there would be a lot of actors running around, and then the guests would be like extra players. perfectly recreating how crowded the games were.
it would be true to the show and easy to adapt
(you could have a show in the zone where the speakers play the green light red light song and the actors mimick the game every hour or so. imagine the big doll turning her head in the zone for example)
each section of the zone could have the actors playing the games, the rope, the sugar game, have the leader masked guy in a stage overseeing the games. is literally perfect.
but in a house you lose the big yard setting and the crowded element. house is narrow and single file line. house rooms are too small to recreate the games. wouldn't feel crowded, and each game in a house (each room) would just have a couple of actors.

I'm not saying I want squid game but a zone would imitate the show the most. just say that for hhn, all games are played at once. or make it part of the plot, or something.

I would say it doesn't really work as a zone either

It would just turn into Seek and Destroy 2, but with playground equipment, and no evil version of the VB volcano spirit

 

[FaceBagman]

30 Years had the fog ROLLING in the last week of the event. The more humid nights definitely helped the fog stick around longer.

But yeah, Squid Games is a total wtfnope for me for several reasons. Sure, Seek and Destroy featured a similar conformed uniform for the actors. But SaD didn't have actors actively being gunned down and massacred in front of guests. I mean with Saw, as much of a "museum" house as it was and as bad as it is, at least you're walking through a "museum" of Jigsaw's funky traps in action, akin to a classic wax museum I guess. In Squid Games, one of your first scenes is walking by a bunch of normal-dressed people being shot in the back? Yeah thinking as if I were in an executive position in 2021, I don't like the optics of that at all, nor would I really have fun looking at a scene like that in a walkthrough. That's not even mentioning the crowd tomfoolery that immature guests could get into the second they see any sign of the Red Light Green Light game. >.<

 

[reeseyNG]

I truly wonder if they'll try to tinker with zones at all. I'm one of like, 3 people who loved S&D to death but I did think the rest of the zones this year were totally lacking. I just feel like you can't get the right immersion/scare factor out of zones anymore thanks to the crowds of the event.

To me if a zone just makes me smile enough it becomes my favorite (hence S&D being one of my favs) but I get that what my idea of a “good zone” is is wildly different than the rest of the event’s audience, so I really wonder if they’ll even bother to try and figure out a way to make zones actually immersive and unnerving again

 

[shiekra38]

Wishful thinking, but the park loop was uber cheesy with the metal instrumental music

Here's hoping they actually return to some horror music at some point

Maybe play music from the IPs featured, like an anti version of the daytime loop

 

[JawsVictim]

Wishful thinking, but the park loop was uber cheesy with the metal instrumental music

Here's hoping they actually return to some horror music at some point

Maybe play music from the IPs featured, like an anti version of the daytime loop

Couldn’t agree more. The music at 30 was awful. The dub step years were pretty bad too. Hoping they go back to the John Carptenter-inspired synth wave music.

 

[FaceBagman]

"Viper" was a banger though. Reminded me of something I'd hear playing a Mega Man X game in my childhood lol

Anyways back on topic, at least we're not the Reddit sub throwing the Casper rumor out there and hoping it'll stick :grin:

 

[MikePat]

Wishful thinking, but the park loop was uber cheesy with the metal instrumental music

Here's hoping they actually return to some horror music at some point

Maybe play music from the IPs featured, like an anti version of the daytime loop

30's park loop was definitely not as strong as 29's park loop.

 

[shiekra38]

30's park loop was definitely not as strong as 29's park loop.

I feel over the last few years there has been a meeting where someone suggests "what if we just turned it up louder?"

No hun, you need to change it

Come to think of it, the entrance to Icons had it too, and I said to myself "is this what the 40/50 year old A&D team think we want to listen to?"

 

[reeseyNG]

Come to think of it, the entrance to Icons had it too, and I said to myself "is this what the 40/50 year old A&D team think we want to listen to?"

Trying to listen to the narrator at the entrance of Tooth Fairy only to be blasted by the Icons music was the funniest thing about the entire event.

 

[bobo5162]

It sure is nice seeing new topics being speculated... Cheers to a brand new HHN 31!!! I am loving he talk of a full Halloween (holiday not movie) theme! It makes sense, and i can see marketing and a&d getting along well with it!

 

[Blysthon]

I still think we’re getting an icon next year probably pumpkin lord because the house ranked one of the highest and he grows on Halloween which is why 31 is the perfect choice for him but that’s just my guess.

 

[JawsVictim]

Yeah they totally need to go all in on The Pumpkin Lord and Halloween theme. Each scarezone being a play on a traditional Halloween theme with The Pumpkin Patch at the entrance/Production Central. Have a Pumpkin Lord spieler talking sh- in his big a- pumpkin up front as you enter. Other zones could be…

Witches of Hollywood Blvd
Scarecrow: The Harvest (Central Park obv)
Pirate/Skeleton Themed Zone in SF (I’m not gonna do all the work for them without being paid, ok?)
Universal Classic Monsters Take NYC! - UCMs terrorizing the NYC Halloween Parade
Chainsaw Clown Horde in Simpsons (no brainer to bring them back)

Gives the event a loose atmospheric theme on point to the corresponding event year along with a new original icon. Houses can be anything and fit into the overall story/theme - that’s how to do icons and event themes at this point.

HHN 31: Scream Your Guts Out

 

[Blysthon]

Yeah they totally need to go all in on The Pumpkin Lord and Halloween theme. Each scarezone being a play on a traditional Halloween theme with The Pumpkin Patch at the entrance/Production Central. Have a Pumpkin Lord spieler talking sh- in his big a- pumpkin up front as you enter. Other zones could be…

Witches of Hollywood Blvd
Scarecrow: The Harvest (Central Park obv)
Pirate/Skeleton Themed Zone in SF (I’m not gonna do all the work for them without being paid, ok?)
Universal Classic Monsters Take NYC! - UCMs terrorizing the NYC Halloween Parade
Chainsaw Clown Horde in Simpsons (no brainer to bring them back)

Gives the event a loose atmospheric theme on point to the corresponding event year along with a new original icon. Houses can be anything and fit into the overall story/theme - that’s how to do icons and event themes at this point.

HHN 31: Scream Your Guts Out

I could see this happening tbh I’ve seen many pumpkins at the event for 2 years besides at 28 there was a pumpkin on the banner which is really suspicious.