Halloween Horror Nights

History

Halloween Horror Nights began at Universal Studios Florida in 1991 under the title "Fright Nights", created by Julie Zimmerman and John Paul Geurts. The event was renamed "Halloween Horror Nights" in 1992 and advertised as the "Second Annual Halloween Horror Nights". It began as a three-night event, but has now been extended to 30 nights, spanning from Wednesday through Sunday night each week.

The first year, the admission price was only $19.00. "Scareactors", a term used by Julie Zimmerman to identify the performers during Halloween Horror Nights, had little experience with such a large event and were required to provide their own costumes and makeup. Julie Zimmerman orchestrated a scareactors camp called "Ghoul School," where the actors were taught scaring techniques.

From 1991–2001, the event was held at Universal Studios Florida. Halloween Horror Nights moved to Universal's Islands of Adventure in 2002. In 2004, the resort experimented with a dual-park format, which connected and utilized parts of both parks. In 2006, the event made a return to Universal Studios Florida.

Halloween Horror Nights officially launched at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1997, although the park had featured Halloween attractions in 1986 and 1992. From 2001 to 2005, Halloween Horror Nights went on hiatus at Universal Studios Hollywood and returned in 2006.

Halloween Horror Nights XI, coming so close after the events of September 11, 2001, caused Universal to make many changes to tone the event down. Lots of gore was scrapped from the event, and blood was replaced with green "goop". The names of several houses, scare zones, and shows were changed. The original icon character "Eddie" was scrapped. Edgar Sawyer was conceived as a demented, chainsaw-wielding horror movie buff that had been disfigured by a fire. He was supposed to be a threat to previous icon Jack and the tagline "No more clowning around" was used and even seen on early advertisements and merchandise. Eddie was ultimately removed from the event before it began, although he was still appearing on that year's logo and merchandise with the official "I.C.U." tagline. As a hurried replacement, Jack would return along with a line of merchandise bearing the tagline "Jack's Back." Eddie's back-story was changed, and his name was changed to Eddie Schmidt, Jack's younger brother. He later appeared with other icons at Halloween Horror Nights XIV in Horror Nights Nightmares, and with his own house for Halloween Horror Nights XVI, "Run: Hostile Territory".

The Caretaker was not the original icon for Halloween Horror Nights XII. Cindy, the daughter of mortuary owner Paul Bearer, was originally the icon of the event. In the event's premise, every land would be ruled over by her "playthings". After several child abductions in the area, the Cindy concept was abandoned and her father Paul Bearer morphed into Dr. Albert Caine, also known as The Caretaker. Cindy would eventually appear in 2006's "Scream House Resurrection", and 2009's "Shadows of the Past" and "The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes".

For 2007, Universal Studios acquired the rights to use New Line Cinema's characters Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Leatherface for Halloween Horror Nights. Universal Studios Hollywood used the characters for a second year in 2008. In 2010, Hollywood again used the characters Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees, in their newer incarnation, following franchise reboots.

2010 marked the 20th installment of the event at the Orlando park. It was titled "Twenty Years of Fear", and it featured the "Fear itself" as the event's icon.

In 2011, Universal Studios Singapore began their Halloween Horror Nights event. The event in Orlando is currently headed by Michael Aiello, while the Hollywood event is run by John Murdy and Chris Williams.

Event icons

Halloween Horror Nights has amassed a number of lead characters, known as icons. These icons usually have elaborate back-stories that involve the events' themes, houses, or scare zones. Predominantly, they have been used for promotional materials and merchandising. The first unofficial icon was Crypt Keeper, from the TV series Tales from the Crypt, a series popular at the time of his first event appearance. The Crypt Keeper returned the next year for one of the houses, but was not featured in the advertising campaign. After the Crypt Keeper, the event continued for four years without an icon. Halloween Horror Nights has had an icon, and in some cases, multiple icons, every year since, excluding Halloween Horror Nights XIV and XXII. These characters have included Jack the Clown, The Caretaker, The Director, The Storyteller, Bloody Mary, The Usher, Fear, Lady Luck, and Chance. Chance was the icon for Halloween Horror Nights 2016. She was a new icon but used to serve as a "sidekick" to Jack (though there are rumours that they have a romantic relationship) in his shows (her role and look being inspired by Batman antagonist Harley Quinn).

Houses

When the event first started as "Fright Nights", there was simply one haunted house, but as the event progressed, the number has increased by up to as many as nine different houses, as of Halloween Horror Nights 2015.

Scare zones

Halloween Horror Nights IV was the first year to introduce a "scare zone", a name given to specific outdoor areas that feature costumed characters that fit the theme with the intent of scaring people who walk through the areas. To get to certain areas of the park, it is necessary to travel through these scare zones. In 2012, Orlando re-envisioned the scare zones as "street experiences," claiming that scare actors were no longer restricted to specific "zones." Instead, there were a number of "hordes" which would change their location in the park every 90 minutes. By 2014, the traditional scare zones returned with The Purge: Anarchy (inspired by the film), Face Off: In the Flesh, Bayou of Blood, and MASKerade: Unstitched.

Live entertainment

Halloween Horror Nights has featured several live entertainment shows. Recurring shows have included "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute", "Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure", and Robosaurus.

Rides

Several of the rides at Universal Studios remain operational during the event. In past event years, some rides were re-themed for the event such as Kongfrontation becoming Tramway of Doom during HHN II. Since 2015 Diagon Alley has been open for Halloween Horror Nights. It was closed-off in 2014 despite opening just a few months earlier and to date it has never been re-themed or have any scare actors present.

Commercials and media

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights is known for the dark tone of its advertisements and commercials. In 2010, the directors of Daybreakers, Michael Spierig and Peter Spierig, directed the commercial for Halloween Horror Nights.