The Icons and Lore Thread

[pumpkinbot343]

It's funny because the only interesting one is depicted as a broken mirror due to copyright lol

All that being said, this is very good and I particularly like the warm tones used and the Storyteller is adorable

I couldn’t find any fanart of HHN concerning Bloody Mary. I’m not just talking good fanart, I couldn’t find anything. Guess that’s to be expected considering she’s a character not seen for over 13 years.

I’m kinda considering legit commissioning an artist to do it but I don’t know where to look and I usually don’t have enough money for it.

Not really “fanart” but Dark Fantastic Design on redbubble does some merchandise based on HHN. Below is a design for Bloody Mary (High Priestess) used for various items like shirts and magnets.

 

[Clive]

A reminder to avoid double posting when possible, please.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Noted.

Some behind the scenes info on the Usher’s creation (Credit to HalloweenHorrorNightsNerd; speaking of the rest of which is found here):


Inspiration for The Usher’s Backstory: His death (accidently hanging himself backstage) was inspired by actual IRL tragic accidents that happened at old theaters back in the day, Universal’s HHN Team just turned up the ghost lore aspects of it by alluding to an evil force inside the theater caused the accidents. Also some of the creative directors have noted that inspiration for Julian’s strict enforcement of the rules stemmed from their own bosses at movie theaters they worked during their own teen years.

Inspiration for The Usher’s Personality: The actor who plays him the most in commercials and interviews has stated he took inspiration from the character Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and decidedly creepy old people when deciding how best to personify the undead usher. Many other actors who have played the character often point to inspiration from the original actor himself as well as a “chill version” of The CryptKeeper from the TV show Tales from the Crypt.

Inspiration for The Usher’s Appearance: Surprisingly enough Universal’s HHN Artists designed Julian’s costume to be unique, not realizing until after having made countless duplicates for the event that the costume bares a striking resemblence to Disney’s Tower of Terror bellhop uniforms. They literally shrugged and just went with what they had already designed. The flashlight was inspired by the actual flashlights used in movie theater ushers back during the 1940s.

Julian’s makeup was designed around the idea that he was dead, you’ll note that Julian has a more yellow tint* to his skin during 2009 that turns to a more regular pale shade as the years progress. This is because the makeup director wanted Julian to look like a real corpse who’s skin had yellowed, cheeks had puffed while cheekbones had sunken in, and eyes had sunken in and darkened as well as lips had darkened. They actually researched actual images of dead people for reference when designing his makeup. The scar on his neck from his death seems to have become a sort of after thought after the 2009 event because occasionally you’ll find images of actors playing the Usher where he’s missing his most noteworthy wound and when it does appear anymore it’s usually just a mark across the neck and not an actual prosthetic.

For reference regarding the slight change in Usher’s makeup; this was the more yellow looking Usher in 2009

and the pale Usher since then

I couldn’t find anything in 2009 regarding the neck wound but yeah from below it does seemed to have softened quite a bit (though I’m not quite sure this was the finished makeup from 2015 though, and I remember this Usher had long hair).

 

[Kichkinet85]

Noted.

Some behind the scenes info on the Usher’s creation (Credit to HalloweenHorrorNightsNerd; speaking of the rest of which is found here):


Inspiration for The Usher’s Backstory: His death (accidently hanging himself backstage) was inspired by actual IRL tragic accidents that happened at old theaters back in the day, Universal’s HHN Team just turned up the ghost lore aspects of it by alluding to an evil force inside the theater caused the accidents. Also some of the creative directors have noted that inspiration for Julian’s strict enforcement of the rules stemmed from their own bosses at movie theaters they worked during their own teen years.

Inspiration for The Usher’s Personality: The actor who plays him the most in commercials and interviews has stated he took inspiration from the character Riff Raff from The Rocky Horror Picture Show and decidedly creepy old people when deciding how best to personify the undead usher. Many other actors who have played the character often point to inspiration from the original actor himself as well as a “chill version” of The CryptKeeper from the TV show Tales from the Crypt.

Inspiration for The Usher’s Appearance: Surprisingly enough Universal’s HHN Artists designed Julian’s costume to be unique, not realizing until after having made countless duplicates for the event that the costume bares a striking resemblence to Disney’s Tower of Terror bellhop uniforms. They literally shrugged and just went with what they had already designed. The flashlight was inspired by the actual flashlights used in movie theater ushers back during the 1940s.

Julian’s makeup was designed around the idea that he was dead, you’ll note that Julian has a more yellow tint* to his skin during 2009 that turns to a more regular pale shade as the years progress. This is because the makeup director wanted Julian to look like a real corpse who’s skin had yellowed, cheeks had puffed while cheekbones had sunken in, and eyes had sunken in and darkened as well as lips had darkened. They actually researched actual images of dead people for reference when designing his makeup. The scar on his neck from his death seems to have become a sort of after thought after the 2009 event because occasionally you’ll find images of actors playing the Usher where he’s missing his most noteworthy wound and when it does appear anymore it’s usually just a mark across the neck and not an actual prosthetic.

For reference regarding the slight change in Usher’s makeup; this was the more yellow looking Usher in 2009

and the pale Usher since then

I couldn’t find anything in 2009 regarding the neck wound but yeah from below it does seemed to have softened quite a bit (though I’m not quite sure this was the finished makeup from 2015 though, and I remember this Usher had long hair).

Usher is my favorite so thank you!

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Question for anyone who knows the behind the scenes at Uni; this bugs the hell out of me about the commercials : why do most of them have different actors playing the HHN Icons as opposed to in-park actors? Bryce Ward did not portray the Caretaker for the spots in 2002 and 2006. The actors who played Storyteller, Director, and Lady Luck in the TV ads were not the ones who acted for the “in house” promos at Universal Orlando itself. I remember a podcast featuring one of the people (Michael Roddy) who used to work at Uni where he confirmed he had a friend who played Bloody Mary for the video they shot that year (2008) and there was another one who played Mary for the commercial and photo shoot. Hell even the DESIGNS of Albert, Elsa and Dr. Agana for the commercials don’t actually match the designs in-park.

I would assumed this was just because of the location (I’m pretty sure most of them were shot at Hollywood); however the spots for 2006, 2007, and 2015 DID feature the original actor for Jack the Clown (James Keaton) as well as Erin as Chance in 2015 (not counting her appearance in 2016’s ad as I’m pretty sure that just shoehorned a shot of her there). So… what gives?

Bringing this topic back because it’s been a while and it still weirds me out.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I kind of have an idea for Terra Cruentus but I’m not sure if I should share it as it doesn’t really have anything to do with Icons and it’s both unrealistic and rips characters from other franchises.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Something mildly interesting I found about Jack’s backstory in 2000; this article claimed he had “one bad day” and was confined to an asylum until he escaped to Universal that year, whereas this article is similar to the current backstory but instead of killing children he was simply a cannibal.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Credit to the guy who plays Jack.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Out of all the Icons of HHN Orlando, in all my years of research, I think Lady Luck is the one who got screwed over the most. The people who attended HHN 21 agreed. True Usher got shafted in marketing, FEAR was also a last minute add on, and everything about Chance looked cheap. But at least Usher seemed to have a good presence in 2009, FEAR still looked cool, and the problem with Chance is that Harley Quinn doesn’t work as a serious and scary villain.

Who is Lady Luck?

Fear, Luck and Chance stand out from the Icons in that they don’t have backstories, but for the former two it makes sense; they’re gods. Lady Luck has been with the people of this world since time began. The legends date back at least to the time of Ancient Greek and Rome; her true name may be Fortuna. Throughout history, she has assumed the form of guises, be it a secretary or a teacher, and rolled the dice for those to make their choice. Play their cards wrong, they would often suffer the harshest of despairs. Sometimes they got it coming, like a schoolboy who really should have left precious relics alone. But often Luck showed how unfair she can be, like when she sicced Nightingales on a man who only wanted to serve his country. Any time misery (small or big) befalls a person, chances are she was there. Recently, she has grown tired of waiting by the sidelines and occasionally hunts down her victims personally, transforming into a beast that devours her victims. The victims becomes her playthings after death, marked with symbols like the Ace of Spades.

The scariest HHN Icon?

Let’s look at the other Icons. Jack and Director are probably the scariest as they have no established bounds. The Caretaker and Usher are only threats if you decide to crash their mortuary/theater, and even so it’s only if you behave like a donkey in the latter case. The Storyteller is too ambiguous and the “siren” reveal actually made her stupider. Bloody Mary is already dead, so there’s no reason she has to kill you. Chance is Harley Quinn, nothing to see here. In addition all said Icons have a similar vibe to them, so not one of them feel out of place from another.

Fear and Luck are… different. Chance and Jack are humans, the others used to be humans. Lady Luck on the other hand is LITERALLY a god, and unlike Fear is not trapped in a sealed can (and he’s solely interested in Universal). The whole world is her oyster, she can do as much as her heart commands her to (which is often depraved). Life is made of choices after all, and often she would be there when you don’t know it. There’s no fighting her, she can simply eat your flesh and turn you into a plaything.

Lady Luck is a creature of presence and omnipotence. One time she posed as Queen Isabella of Spain. How many historical figures has she assumed the guise of (if not being them herself the whole time)? Could the wars and atrocities be a result of somebody playing a bad hand? Is Lady Luck the source of bedlam in the universe?

The commercial for HHN 21 was fantastic. showcasing her glee at misery, class, and terrifying monster form.



Why She Sucks

Fear and Luck don’t have no real personality to them opposed to the others. It made sense for Fear since he’s the devil/Chernabog of HHN. Lady Luck may be a god but she could have had more meat to her.

However that’s because the event didn’t really give anything to offer. The Arch Screen was simply an edited version of the TV ad with an uncompelling presentation of the house/zone logos. It didn’t have a monologue for its main villain like the previous 3 years had. She only appeared in ONE location for the whole event, the scarezone Your Luck Has Run Out. A scarezone. A single scarezone. Lady Luck and the Nightingales like to eat people, they couldn’t have bothered to make her the ringleader of that group? Many complained that the Luck masks made her look more silly than ominous and it stood out against the more excellent makeup work shown that year. At least with Chance’s misfires they showed her personality.

Conclusion

I wonder why they even bothered with an Icon that year. It was supposed to be A New Age of Darkness, yet it didn’t seem different from 2008 except it’s icon was not well received. 2012 was when the TRUE New Age occurred, with the exorcising of the icons and arrival of Walkers.

 

[HHN Maddux]

With how strong the Pumpkin Lord is, makes you wonder if he could be more powerful than Fear. Could make for an interesting power struggle at 35 or 40...

 

[pumpkinbot343]

With how strong the Pumpkin Lord is, makes you wonder if he could be more powerful than Fear. Could make for an interesting power struggle at 35 or 40...

Pumpkin Lord is merely the power of Halloween, whereas Fear’s power resonates on a more familiar and worldwide level. Granted Fear only cares about Universal, but my bets on Fear.

 

[pumpkinbot343]

I think this was the date that Mary went bloody?

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

I think this was the date that Mary went bloody?

<Wolverine holding photograph meme>

 

[pumpkinbot343]

The Director and Lil Boo get the spotlight.

 

[HHN Maddux]

A Beginner's Guide to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Lore

A deep dive into the traditions of HHN, from the event's history and must-know terms to the original icons and recurring characters.

blog.discoveruniversal.com

 

[pumpkinbot343]

A Beginner's Guide to Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Lore

A deep dive into the traditions of HHN, from the event's history and must-know terms to the original icons and recurring characters.

blog.discoveruniversal.com

So the Storyteller’s backstory was that she gobbled up a monster and turned evil? Lame.

 

[HHN Maddux]

So the Storyteller’s backstory was that she gobbled up a monster and turned evil? Lame.

Absolutely agree.

But hey... They did say Bloodengutz is in prison, never said that he died! That means he'll surely return in the future, right, RIGHT?!

 

[pumpkinbot343]

Absolutely agree.

But hey... They did say Bloodengutz is in prison, never said that he died! That means he'll surely return in the future, right, RIGHT?!

Even if he died, he would surely come back as a more stronger supernatural force.

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Absolutely agree.

But hey... They did say Bloodengutz is in prison, never said that he died! That means he'll surely return in the future, right, RIGHT?!

As I've said, it would be difficult finding a consistent enough theme of movies to play in prison. I guess reality shows, but even then, would the shows be "real" in the canon? And why would they be horror? The only thing I could think of that would make it work is he dies and his ghost takes over the studio, which is now been converted to reality shows, making it his world you're entering--think

Spoiler

Trickster/Gabriel

from Supernatural. But even then I'd like a second one somehow for the framing to be in prison.

Now that I think about it, while Case Files was a great idea, maybe each novel could've instead been adapted into its own horror movie that he broadcasted?

Or how about decades ("HRB Presents: Pop Torture/CUT-ture")? IDK what torture methods would be used for each, of course.

 

[Brian G.]

As I've said, it would be difficult finding a consistent enough theme of movies to play in prison. I guess reality shows, but even then, would the shows be "real" in the canon? And why would they be horror? The only thing I could think of that would make it work is he dies and his ghost takes over the studio, which is now been converted to reality shows, making it his world you're entering--think

Spoiler

Trickster/Gabriel

from Supernatural. But even then I'd like a second one somehow for the framing to be in prison.

Now that I think about it, while Case Files was a great idea, maybe each novel could've instead been adapted into its own horror movie that he broadcasted?

Or how about decades ("HRB Presents: Pop Torture/CUT-ture")? IDK what torture methods would be used for each, of course.

Overthinking this.

It could always have a part 2 with Holidays... in prison.

Or he escapes and does Part 2 where ever.