Halloween Horror Nights is a Halloween event presented annually at the Universal Orlando Resort. Beginning in 1991 in Universal Studios Florida with only one haunted house, it has continued annually for 19 years to become one of the largest Halloween events in the United States. In its later years the event has split time between its original park and the more recently built Islands of Adventure. Universal's design team has created six original icons for the event and have also used many of the Universal Monsters.
History
Halloween Horror Nights began at Universal Orlando in 1991 under the title "Fright Nights" but was re-christened Halloween Horror Nights in 1992, advertising it as the "second annual." It began as a 3 night event but has since been extended to 23 nights.
From 1991-2001, the event was held at Universal Studios Florida. Halloween Horror Nights moved to Universal's Islands of Adventure (IOA) in 2002. In 2004, the park experimented with a dual-park format, which opened parts of both parks. Guests were funneled through backstage areas and the sound stages, where most of the haunts are built. In 2006, the event made a return to Universal Studios Florida.
Event Icons
Halloween Horror Nights has amassed a number of icons, six of which were original creations by the Universal Design team. These icons were characters with elaborate back stories that involved the event's theme, houses, or scarezones. Predominantly they have been used for promotional materials and merchandising. The first unofficial icon was the Cryptkeeper, from TV's "Tales from the Crypt", a series popular at the time of his first event appearance: The Cryptkeeper returned the next year, but didn't return after as the series had been canceled. After the Cryptkeeper came four years of the event without an icon, until the design team created one for the tenth year.
List of Event Icons
- Jack Schmidt / Jack the Clown / The Ringmaster : An insane, homicidal, undead clown.
- Dr. Albert Caine / The Caretaker : An apparently-undead mortician with an obsession with cutting apart humans to find their souls.
- Paulo Ravinski / The Director : An Eastern-European snuff film director.
- Elsa Strict / The Storyteller : An elderly, evil woman who brings visitors into her stories.
- Dr. Mary Agana / Bloody Mary : A homicidal, psychotic psychiatrist who began killing her patients to satisfy her own fear of death.
- Julian Browning / The Usher : An undead usher at the Universal Palace Theater who brings visitors into horror movies.
List of Unused Event Icons
- Edgar Sawyer / Eddie Schmidt : The chainsaw-wielding brother of Jack, originally intended for 2001.
- SINdy / Cindy Caine : An evil little girl, originally intended for 2002, later revamped into The Caretaker's deceased daughter.
Islands of Adventure
When the event moved to Islands of Adventure for HHN XII where it stayed until 2006, new opportunities arose along with new complications. Every island of the park was to be converted into a scarezone with its own house, however, Seuss Landing, which would be come "Boo-Ville" in 2002 and 2003 during the event, is used with express permission from Audrey Geisel, widow of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss), who approved of its construction and the attractions within and has rights over what occurs during the events. It is said that the park was restricted to simply darkening this section of the park and playing the music backwards. Strobe lights and fog were inserted in some sections, but under no circumstances could characters be seen in any antithetical manner. In fact, actors were strictly prohibited up until 2005, when the park put cloaked characters in the streets on Friday and Saturday nights only.
Fright Nights (1991)
Fright Nights started Halloween Horror Nights off. The event featured only one haunted house, but many shows special to it.
Haunted Houses
- Dungeon of Terror (Jaws Queue) , Travel through a roadside haunt of gore and terror.
Shows
- Beetlejuice Dead in Concert! Featuring the Ghostbusters! (New York Library)
- Chainsaw Massacre (New York Streets)
- Dr. Death (New York Streets)
- The Human Pincushion (New York Streets)
- Magical Mania (New York Streets)
- Madame Kuszel (New York Streets) , Gypsy Fortune Teller
- Cobra Woman (New York Streets)
- Dragon Breath (New York Streets)
- Starshower (Hollywood)
- Paul Revere & the Raiders (Hollywood)
- Monster Mardi Gras Costume Contest (Hollywood)
- Prince Dragon (Amity)
- Iron Belly (San Francisco)
- Dr. Frankenstein's Theater Featuring Mistress of the Night, Frankenstein and Dracula (An American Tail Theatre)
- The Human Impaler (San Francisco)
- The Gravediggers (World Expo)
- The Pendragons (Animal Actors Stage)
- Universal Science Band (World Expo)
- Beetlejuice Graveyard Tours (World Expo)
Rides
- The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera , a motion simulator ride with characters created by Hanna-Barbera including Yogi Bear and The Jetsons.
- Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies , a theatrical show on film-making that detailed, among other things, the secrets of the famous shower scene from Hitchcock's film Psycho .
- Ghostbusters Spooktacular , a live stage show based on the Ghostbusters film series.
- Kongfrontation , a ride where guests encountered King Kong while on a cable car.
- Earthquake: The Big One , put guests in the middle of an 8.3 scale earthquake inspired by the disaster film.
- The Wild Wild Wild West Stunt Show , a live stunt show featuring Wild West performers in death defying stunts.
- Back to the Future: The Ride , a high tech motion simulator ride inspired by Universal's Back to the Future film series.
- E.T. Adventure , a dark ride based on the 1982 hit film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial .
- The Gory Gruesome and Grotesque Horror Make-Up Show is a live stage show that shows guests how horror film special effects are created. Features a pre-show walk-through of set pieces and props used in various horror movies.
II (1992)
Halloween Horror Nights II featured the introduction of two staples of the event: Robosaurus (at least for the early years) and Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure. Although this event was named the second, the original was not Halloween Horror Nights, but Fright Nights . During this event some of Universal's rides and attractions were given scarier names and back stories to go along with the theming.
Horror-fied Attraction
- Tramway of Doom (Kongfrontation) , Darkman haunts New York. Based on the film by Sam Raimi.
- Terror Underground (Earthquake) , A blood-filled tour.
- Voyage into the Unknown (Back to the Future) , A deadly voyage.
- Alien Forest (E.T. Adventure) , Escape from a ghoulish forest to an alien world.
Haunted Houses
- Dungeon of Terror (Jaws Queue) , A cast of ghouls haunt the halls of this dungeon.
- The People Under the Stairs (Soundstage 23) , A trip through a cryptic movie set. Based on the film by Wes Craven.
Shows
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure (Wild West Stage)
- Robosaurus (New York Streets)
- Carnival of Horror (Hollywood) , A one-night costume contest.
- Thunderdome (Hollywood Streets) , An evil army and its barbaric queen terrorize guests.
- The Pendragons (Animal Actor's Stage) , A magical act by this team of illusionists.
III (1993)
Haunted Houses
- The Slaughterhouse (Nazarman's) , A blood-filled house.
- The Psycho Path Maze (Bates Motel Set) , Enter into the Bates Motel and relive the horror.
- The People Under the Stairs (Soundstage 23) , A haunted house wh
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