Halloween Horror Nights began at Universal Studios Florida
in 1991 under the title Fright Nights. It began as a three-night event on
October 25, 26, and 31, 1991, with one haunted house, The Dungeon of Terror.
The first year, the admission price was $12.95. From 1991–2001, the event was
held at Universal Studios Florida.
The event was renamed "Universal Studios Florida
Halloween Horror Nights" in 1992 and advertised as the second annual
Halloween Horror Nights. There were two haunted houses, with The Dungeon of
Terror returning to the Jaws queue building, and The People Under The Stairs
making its debut in Soundstage 23. The event ran five nights, October 23, 24,
29, 30, and 31.
The Third Annual Halloween Horror Nights at Universal
Studios Florida saw the event increase to seven nights. Due to the re-opening
of the Jaws attraction, the in-park haunted house moved from the Jaws queue in
Amity to the Nazarman's facade in the New York area. The number of haunted
houses increased to three, with the third at the Bates Motel set at Universal
Studios Florida.
Halloween Horror Nights 4 expanded to an eight-night run in
1994. This year marked the return of a newly-designed Dungeon of Terror, along
with three more haunted houses. In addition to Nazarman's and the Bates Motel,
the new locations were in the Earthquake overflow queue and the Boneyard. This
year also marked the first use of the term "Scaracters", as well as
the first official "Ghoul School" for actors participating in the
event. Ticket prices increased to $36 this year.
Halloween Horror Nights V featured a 12-night run and three
haunted houses, one of which was a dual-path house. It was also the first time
Universal themed the event around a character, in this case Tales from the
Crypt's Crypt Keeper. The event was subtitled "The Curse of the Crypt
Keeper".
Universal Studios Hollywood had featured Halloween
attractions in 1986 and 1992. The 1986 effort was actually, a tram tour and
bore little resemblance to the modern event. The 1992 event was a direct result
of the success of Fright Nights at Universal Florida the year before, but was
not successful. Halloween Horror Nights officially launched at Universal
Studios Hollywood October 9, 1997, running through the 2000 season. From 2001
to 2005, Halloween Horror Nights went on hiatus at Universal Studios Hollywood,
then returned in 2006. It has continued yearly since. Between 2007 and 2014,
Universal Studios Hollywood made use of Universal's House of Horrors, its
permanent haunted attraction, as a part of Halloween Horror Nights, by
re-theming it for the event.
Back in Florida, Halloween Horror Nights VI through X
followed the formula developed for Halloween Horror Nights V in 1995, growing
from 15 nights in 1996 to 19 in 2000. There were three haunted houses each
year, although from 1998 on, two each year were dual-path houses, for a total
of five experiences. One notable change was the first 3-D haunted house, in
1999, in the Nazarman's facade. By 1999, ticket prices were $44.[16] In 2000,
Universal launched its first in-house created Icon, Jack the Clown.
Because the September 11 attacks occurred so close to
Halloween Horror Nights XI, Universal made many changes to tone down the event.
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 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.[18] The event again ran
for 19 days, admission was $48, with five haunted houses. The dual house was in
Soundstage 22.
Halloween Horror Nights moved to Universal's Islands of
Adventure in 2002. The Caretaker was not the original icon for Halloween Horror
Nights 12 in 2002. Cindy (sometimes spelled "Sindy"), 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 changed into Dr. Albert Caine, also known as The
Caretaker. Cindy would eventually appear in 2006's "Scream House
Resurrection", 2009's "Shadows of the Past" and 2010's "The
Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes". Halloween Horror Nights 12, the first to be
held at Universal's Islands of Adventure park, featured five haunted houses,
with admission set at $49.95.
Halloween Horror Nights 13 again took place at Islands of
Adventure. It featured six haunted houses. The Icon was The Director.
For Halloween Horror Nights 14 in 2004 the resort
experimented with a dual-park format, which connected and utilized parts of
both parks. The fourteenth edition featured a mental patient. It ran 18 nights
and featured seven haunted houses.
Halloween Horror Nights 15 in 2005 ran 19 nights, had seven
haunted houses, and an admission of $59.75. This year was the first time an
entire alternate reality (Terra Cruentus) was the basis for the entire event.
Universal offered backstage tours of the Halloween Horror Nights sets.
In 2006, "Horror Comes Home" to the Universal
Studios Florida park for its sweet 16 celebration with the four previous icons.
Admission was $59.95. It ran 19 nights, featuring seven haunted houses.
For Halloween Horror Nights 17 in 2007, Universal Studios
acquired the rights to use New Line Cinema's characters Freddy Krueger, Jason
Voorhees, and Leatherface for Halloween Horror Nights. There were eight haunted
houses. The event ran 23 days, with a ticket price of $64.95.
2008's Reflections of Fear featured a new icon in the form
of Dr. Mary Agana, an original take on the Bloody Mary legend. The event
revolved around the realm of reflections where Mary dwelled.
A musical tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show was added
for the 18th and 19th installments.
2010 marked the 20th installment of the event at the Orlando
park. It was titled "Twenty Years of Fear", and it featured Fear as
the event's icon.[40] There were eight haunted houses. The event ran 23 nights
and admission was $74.99.
2011 (Halloween Horror Nights 21) and 2012 (Halloween Horror
Nights 22): eight and seven haunted houses, respectively; 25 nights and 22
nights, respectively; $81.99 and $88.99. "Roaming hordes" replace
scare zones and The Walking Dead arrive as the event icon in 2012.
In 2011, Universal Studios Singapore began their Halloween
Horror Nights event. There was one haunted house, the event ran seven nights,
and admission was S$60.00. Universal Studios Singapore Halloween Horror Nights
2 in 2012, ran seven nights, had three haunted houses, with admission at
S68.00. By 2015, Singapore's Halloween Horror Nights 5 had grown to four
haunted houses, three of which were designed using local Singaporean horror
legends and myths. Singapore's Halloween Horror Nights 6, in 2016, featured
five haunted houses, ran 16 nights, with admission at S$69.00.
In 2012, Universal Studios Japan joined the Halloween Horror
Nights franchise with an event themed to the Biohazard video games (known as
Resident Evil in other countries). It ran 36 nights, from September 14 through
November 11. Tickets were ¥8,400. By 2015, Universal Studios Japan had
increased its "Universal Surprise Halloween at Universal Studios
Japan" (which includes Halloween Horror Nights) to 59 days, featuring both
daytime and nighttime activities.
2013 Florida's Halloween Horror Nights 23 featured a haunted
house based on An American Werewolf in London, another based on The Cabin in
the Woods, and a third based on Resident Evil, plus five more, for a total of
eight. The Walking Dead continued as the event icon and The Rocky Horror
Picture Show Tribute returned. It ran 27 nights. Admission was $91.99.
Florida's Halloween Horror Nights 24 in 2014 featured eight
haunted houses and a return to the use of scare zones, absent since 2012.
Universal again made use of licensed properties from others, including The
Walking Dead, Alien vs. Predator, From Dusk till Dawn, Halloween, and The
Purge. There were two shows, Bill and Ted and the Rocky Horror Tribute.
Halloween Horror Nights 25, in 2015 at Universal Studios
Florida, brought back Jack the Clown as the icon along with his icon friends.
HHN 25 ran a record 30 nights. HHN 25 featured nine haunted houses, with
admission reaching $101.99 during the prime days.
Halloween Horror Nights 27 was the final year Bill &
Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure was performed at Universal Studios Florida.
The show had been running at HHN since 1992.
Come back tomorrow for some more content on all things Haunts and Horror!
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