The last 90 degree day in Orlando was October 1st, over two weeks ago now. As each day goes on without the needle reaching back to 90 degree it becomes increasingly likely we've seen our last 90 degree day until April. If it holds, it would be the second earliest day for the last 90 degree day in the past 15 years. Lets take a look at the past 7 years and when the last 90 degree day was
2014: October 14th
2013: October 21st
2012: October 6th
2011: September 30th
2010: October 28th
2009: October 29th
2008: October 10th
One thing we are still waiting for is the first time the temperature falls below 60 degrees (So far our lowest is 64 degrees.) Here's a look at the first time below 60 the past seven years
2014: October 26th
2013: November 3rd
2012: October 28th
2011: October 20th
2010: October 18th
2009: October 17th
2008: October 27th
The window here is basically between October 17th and November 3rd
Finally the question is when does the high humidity subside for good? A good way to determine when the air has dried out in Orlando is when the nighttime low consistently falls below 66 degrees (Averaging at least seven days out of 10) Here is the day in which that has happened the past seven years.
2014: October 23rd
2013: November 13th
2012: October 28th
2011: October 19th
2010: October 30th
2009: November 4th
2008: October 26th
Basically, summer weather has slowly been subsiding the past couple weeks, and the beginning of perfect weather almost daily is right around the corner.
Friday, October 16, 2015
Friday, October 9, 2015
Ranking All 47 HHN Houses Ive been through
1. Dollhouse of the Damned
2.
Monsters and Mayhem
3.
Catacombs
4
Halloween
5
Dead End
6
Saws N Steam
7
Cabin in the Woods
8 Evil Dead
9 Insidious
10.
House of Horrors
11.
American Werewolf in London
12.
HR Bloodengutz
13.
Hades
14.
Giggles and Gore
15.
Freddy Vs Jason
16.
Body Collectors
17.
Nightingales
18.
Havoc: Dogs of War
19.
Winters Night
20.
La Llorona
21.
Gothic
22.
Legendary Truth
23.
Hallowed Past
24.
Nevermore
25.
Penn and Teller
26.
Inbetween
27.
Alien Vs Predator
28.
RUN
29.
Asylum
30.
Havoc: Derailed
31.
Walking Dead (2014)
32.
Forsaken
33.
Zombiegeddon
34.
Roanoke
35.
From Dusk Till Dawn
36.
Silent Hill
37.
The Thing
38.
The Orfanage
39.
Psychoscareapy
40.
Walking Dead (2013)
41.
Dracula Untold
42.
Walking Dead (2015)
43.
Afterlife
44.
Purge
45.
Walking Dead (2012)
46.
Alice Cooper
47.
Resident Evil
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Full HHN 25 Review
This is one of my favorite things to write up every year, a full review of Halloween Horror Nights. By this point I have done every house at least twice and many houses 4 or 5 times so I am comfortable enough with them to write up my reviews for the houses. Every year takes on an identity as to how the houses shape up: 2011 was a ridiculously strong year from top to bottom, 2012 had a solid top 2, a decent 3-4 and a very weak 5-7. 2013 had an incredible top 4, a decent 5, then a huge drop off with a very weak 5-8. 2014 had an incredible top 3, a very good middle, and also the bottom two were pretty good for a bottom two.
How does 2015 shape up. This year to me there are four groups of two houses. There is a clear top 2, but they are very close to each other as to which is number one. There is a clear 3 and 4, a clear 5 and 6, and a clear bottom two. In other words 1 and 2 are very close, but 2 and 3 are not. 3 and 4 are very close, but 4 and 5 are not. 5 and 6 are very close, but 6 and 7 are not. Hopefully that makes a little sense. Lets get into the rankings
1. Insidious: One of the all around creepiest and most disturbing houses I have ever done at HHN. A number of standout scenes include a room with actors standing still with creepy smiles before they lunge at you. The room with red face with tiptoe through the Tulips playing is pretty unnerving. The top scene though is actually a scene with 0 scareactors. A long dark narrow hallway with a effect that makes it feel like hands are touching you at either side. I love this house.
2. Jack Presents: 25 years of Monsters and Mayhem: This house is a dream for every die hard HHN fan. The facade sets the tone right off the bat, stepping into Jacks mouth with posters of all the other icons surround you. You step in and immediately see jack o lanterns in a darkened room, its a perfect start to the house. The house includes the icons, all the classic Universal monsters and select scenes from past houses, my favorite being the effect seen in Gothic in 2012 where it looks like you are very high up. Other scenes are from Havoc in 2010, and Nightingales in 2011 among others. It also includes several appearances from Jack himself.
3. Freddy Vs Jason: I was so stoked for this house when it was first introduced and it mostly lives up to my excitement level, but there are some flaws. First of all the mid-house facade entering the house on Elm Street is stunning. I also love the hallway where you see iconic kills from the NOES movies including smashing Amandas head into the TV. The scene after that however with all the mirrors lasts too long and they could have gone another direction with that. The screens in the boiler room scene are also kind of cheesy and could have been replaced with a better effect. Overall though its hard to screw up the two biggest horror icons of all time in house, and Universal mostly did a great job here.
4. Body Collectors: Recollections: This is the 4th BC house in HHN history, as they have became an HHN staple, people love the Body Collectors. The facade for this house is incredible, and the spine rip scene as well as the room with a Gentleman in the center as you go around him with different bloody images around you are both amazing. However I feel there could have been a few more detailed, expansive scenes, as I think a couple of scenes fell into generic territory. Still, its easy to see why the body Collectors are so popular, the look they have is just so disturbingly delightful.
5. RUN: I always enjoy the house in the Disaster queue more than most people and this house is no exception. The concept of this house is very intriguing, the the set up and scenes presented give this house a ton of potential. The "spark" effect returns this year for the first time in a few years which is a really good one in my opinion because the sound of those sparks is scary. The gore in this house is pretty good too. Maybe the house feels a little bit haphazardly put together, but the scenes that are there are strong.
6. Asylum in Wonderland: This is the 4th 3-D house in 5 years, and since they all pretty much use the same tricks there is a sense of "been there, done that" with this house. However, where this house sets itself apart from past 3-D houses is in its premise, and its costumes. The Alice in Wonderland gone mad concept is much stronger than the generic premises of previous 3-D houses, and the costumes in this house are among the most unique and fun to look at of any HHN house ever. Again though, because it uses so many of the same tricks in houses Ive done before, it ranks as a strong sixth this year. The 6th best house this year is much better than the 6th best house the past 3 years however.
7. The Purge: This house is loud, intense, and has a very agressive group of scareactors, and all that together saves it from the bottom. Its also a very generic atmosphere and in the grand scheme of things unmemorable and forgettable when compared to the unbelievably immersive atmopsheres of all six of the houses ahead of this one.
8. The Walking Dead: Talk about "been there done that." This is the 4th year in a row with a Walking Dead house and it just feels stale at this point. Walking Dead houses were never that good to begin with (last years was by far the best of the four and still only ranked as the sixth best house last year), but this years just feels lazy and one cant help but feel the Walking Dead well has run dry.
Scarezones: After three straight underwhelming years for the scarezones this year brings back the top notch zones HHN became famous for. Highlights include psychoscareapy and the Icons zone. Evils roots has a great atmosphere even iif the actual costumes are lacking, and all night die in is a real treat for fans of classic horror movies to see some of their favorite monsters. One of my favorite parts of that zone is the inclusion of Carrie.
Shows:
Carnage Returns: Only one other time in the History of Halloween Horror Nights has HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted. Every year there is a second show but it is often a standard run of the mill magic show not worth the time. The other time was with the Carnival of Carnage in 2007, but this show tops that in every way. Never has Universal put on a show with the production value of this, it is a sight to behold.
Bill and Ted: I love the houses, I love the scarezones, but to me Bill and Ted is Halloween. This years show falls somewhere in the middle of the six I have seen now, probably 3rd. I think some of the song choices for the finale were curious, but I loved the inclusion of Shut up and Dance and Uma Thurman, as well as Thriller for the final song this year. The opening dance was solid as it was clearly a nod to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Disney jokes are always one of the highlights and of course the Avatar bit returns for a 3rd year, (They have sex with their tails!) My favorite joke this year though was Bill and Ted making fun of Disney as well as themselves for having a Hocus Pocus show this year (Why would Disney base a Halloween show on a movie almost 25 years old?) then look at each other and realize Bill and Ted is in the same boat.
Overall the event this year is firing on all cylinders, something it hasn't done to this level since 2011. I would say overall this could be the best year for the event since I started going, at worst its second best behind 2011. There is 24 more nights for this years event to convince me it is better than the great 2011, I cant wait!
How does 2015 shape up. This year to me there are four groups of two houses. There is a clear top 2, but they are very close to each other as to which is number one. There is a clear 3 and 4, a clear 5 and 6, and a clear bottom two. In other words 1 and 2 are very close, but 2 and 3 are not. 3 and 4 are very close, but 4 and 5 are not. 5 and 6 are very close, but 6 and 7 are not. Hopefully that makes a little sense. Lets get into the rankings
1. Insidious: One of the all around creepiest and most disturbing houses I have ever done at HHN. A number of standout scenes include a room with actors standing still with creepy smiles before they lunge at you. The room with red face with tiptoe through the Tulips playing is pretty unnerving. The top scene though is actually a scene with 0 scareactors. A long dark narrow hallway with a effect that makes it feel like hands are touching you at either side. I love this house.
2. Jack Presents: 25 years of Monsters and Mayhem: This house is a dream for every die hard HHN fan. The facade sets the tone right off the bat, stepping into Jacks mouth with posters of all the other icons surround you. You step in and immediately see jack o lanterns in a darkened room, its a perfect start to the house. The house includes the icons, all the classic Universal monsters and select scenes from past houses, my favorite being the effect seen in Gothic in 2012 where it looks like you are very high up. Other scenes are from Havoc in 2010, and Nightingales in 2011 among others. It also includes several appearances from Jack himself.
3. Freddy Vs Jason: I was so stoked for this house when it was first introduced and it mostly lives up to my excitement level, but there are some flaws. First of all the mid-house facade entering the house on Elm Street is stunning. I also love the hallway where you see iconic kills from the NOES movies including smashing Amandas head into the TV. The scene after that however with all the mirrors lasts too long and they could have gone another direction with that. The screens in the boiler room scene are also kind of cheesy and could have been replaced with a better effect. Overall though its hard to screw up the two biggest horror icons of all time in house, and Universal mostly did a great job here.
4. Body Collectors: Recollections: This is the 4th BC house in HHN history, as they have became an HHN staple, people love the Body Collectors. The facade for this house is incredible, and the spine rip scene as well as the room with a Gentleman in the center as you go around him with different bloody images around you are both amazing. However I feel there could have been a few more detailed, expansive scenes, as I think a couple of scenes fell into generic territory. Still, its easy to see why the body Collectors are so popular, the look they have is just so disturbingly delightful.
5. RUN: I always enjoy the house in the Disaster queue more than most people and this house is no exception. The concept of this house is very intriguing, the the set up and scenes presented give this house a ton of potential. The "spark" effect returns this year for the first time in a few years which is a really good one in my opinion because the sound of those sparks is scary. The gore in this house is pretty good too. Maybe the house feels a little bit haphazardly put together, but the scenes that are there are strong.
6. Asylum in Wonderland: This is the 4th 3-D house in 5 years, and since they all pretty much use the same tricks there is a sense of "been there, done that" with this house. However, where this house sets itself apart from past 3-D houses is in its premise, and its costumes. The Alice in Wonderland gone mad concept is much stronger than the generic premises of previous 3-D houses, and the costumes in this house are among the most unique and fun to look at of any HHN house ever. Again though, because it uses so many of the same tricks in houses Ive done before, it ranks as a strong sixth this year. The 6th best house this year is much better than the 6th best house the past 3 years however.
7. The Purge: This house is loud, intense, and has a very agressive group of scareactors, and all that together saves it from the bottom. Its also a very generic atmosphere and in the grand scheme of things unmemorable and forgettable when compared to the unbelievably immersive atmopsheres of all six of the houses ahead of this one.
8. The Walking Dead: Talk about "been there done that." This is the 4th year in a row with a Walking Dead house and it just feels stale at this point. Walking Dead houses were never that good to begin with (last years was by far the best of the four and still only ranked as the sixth best house last year), but this years just feels lazy and one cant help but feel the Walking Dead well has run dry.
Scarezones: After three straight underwhelming years for the scarezones this year brings back the top notch zones HHN became famous for. Highlights include psychoscareapy and the Icons zone. Evils roots has a great atmosphere even iif the actual costumes are lacking, and all night die in is a real treat for fans of classic horror movies to see some of their favorite monsters. One of my favorite parts of that zone is the inclusion of Carrie.
Shows:
Carnage Returns: Only one other time in the History of Halloween Horror Nights has HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted. Every year there is a second show but it is often a standard run of the mill magic show not worth the time. The other time was with the Carnival of Carnage in 2007, but this show tops that in every way. Never has Universal put on a show with the production value of this, it is a sight to behold.
Bill and Ted: I love the houses, I love the scarezones, but to me Bill and Ted is Halloween. This years show falls somewhere in the middle of the six I have seen now, probably 3rd. I think some of the song choices for the finale were curious, but I loved the inclusion of Shut up and Dance and Uma Thurman, as well as Thriller for the final song this year. The opening dance was solid as it was clearly a nod to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Disney jokes are always one of the highlights and of course the Avatar bit returns for a 3rd year, (They have sex with their tails!) My favorite joke this year though was Bill and Ted making fun of Disney as well as themselves for having a Hocus Pocus show this year (Why would Disney base a Halloween show on a movie almost 25 years old?) then look at each other and realize Bill and Ted is in the same boat.
Overall the event this year is firing on all cylinders, something it hasn't done to this level since 2011. I would say overall this could be the best year for the event since I started going, at worst its second best behind 2011. There is 24 more nights for this years event to convince me it is better than the great 2011, I cant wait!
Friday, September 25, 2015
HHN 2015 House Rankings
A full review will come later once I become fully comfortable with every nook and cranny of every house but for now here is my rankings of the 8 new houses this year for HHN. I dont think its fair to put American Werewolf in London in this years rankings because it is the exact same house it was in 2013 and already got its spot in that years list.
1. Insidious (10 out of 10)
2. Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem (9.5 out of 10)
3. Freddy Vs Jason (8.5 out of 10)
4. Body Collectors (8 out of 10)
5. RUN (7.5 out of 10)
6. Asylum in Wonderland (7 out of 10)
7. The Purge (6 out of 10)
8. Walking Dead (4 out of 10)
Insidious has a chance to end up in my top 3 all time, I enjoyed it that much. Jack Presents will also end up in my all time top 10. Freddy Vs Jason will be close, only time will tell.
Overall from top to bottom the best house lineup since 2011.
Scarezone Rankings
1. Psychoscareapy
2. Icons
3. Evils Roots
4. All Night die-in
5. Scary Tales
Overall from top to bottom the best scare zone lineup since 2010.
Not only are this years scare zone and house lineup the best in a few years, but for the first time since 2007 HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted in the Carnage Returns. It truly is shaping up to be quite a special year for HHN.
1. Insidious (10 out of 10)
2. Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem (9.5 out of 10)
3. Freddy Vs Jason (8.5 out of 10)
4. Body Collectors (8 out of 10)
5. RUN (7.5 out of 10)
6. Asylum in Wonderland (7 out of 10)
7. The Purge (6 out of 10)
8. Walking Dead (4 out of 10)
Insidious has a chance to end up in my top 3 all time, I enjoyed it that much. Jack Presents will also end up in my all time top 10. Freddy Vs Jason will be close, only time will tell.
Overall from top to bottom the best house lineup since 2011.
Scarezone Rankings
1. Psychoscareapy
2. Icons
3. Evils Roots
4. All Night die-in
5. Scary Tales
Overall from top to bottom the best scare zone lineup since 2010.
Not only are this years scare zone and house lineup the best in a few years, but for the first time since 2007 HHN has a top notch second show to go along with Bill and Ted in the Carnage Returns. It truly is shaping up to be quite a special year for HHN.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Where we stand on September 7th
One of my favorite "nerd" things is that I am very interested in weather patterns and averages. I keep track of how many days in a given month in Orlando are above average and below average and how many days of rain we get and how it relates to the average. This is my favorite time of the year because after months of never ending heat the daily temperatures slowly start to dwindle down, so on September 7th with fall approaching lets take a look where we are and how close we are to real fall' or Floridas version of fall at least.
First of all the maximum average high temperature and maximum average low temperature in Orlando both reach their peak on the same day: July 29th. After that day both start to decrease. However, one thing that I find interesting it that until about the beginning of October the average high temperature drops much faster than the average low temperature.
The maximum average high temperature in Orlando is 92.3 degrees. On September 7th it is 90.1 degrees, so we have lost 2.2 degrees off the average.
The maximum average low temperature in Orlando is 76.1 degrees. On September 7th it is 74.9 degrees, so we have lost 1.2 degrees off the maximum average.
The probability of rain on a given day in Orlando maxes out on July 20th, when it rains on 71% of that day historically. On September 7th, the chance that it will rain on that day historically has dropped to 58%, we are down 13% from the maximum.
If you are looking for a specific day this year in which there was a "dropoff" in temperature look at August 27th. In the 10 days before August 27th, the average high reached 94.0, in the 11 days starting on August 27th the average high has reached 89.8, still not low enough to say we have reached fall, but it shows that the relentless 90 degree days are more or less behind us.
Another interesting thing to look at is how much daylight we have lost.
On the longest day of the year the sun rise at 6:28 AM and sets at 8:26 PM for 15 Hours and 58 Minutes of daylight.
On September 7th the sun rise at 7:06 AM and sets at 7:40 PM for 12 Hours and 34 Minutes of daylight.
First of all the maximum average high temperature and maximum average low temperature in Orlando both reach their peak on the same day: July 29th. After that day both start to decrease. However, one thing that I find interesting it that until about the beginning of October the average high temperature drops much faster than the average low temperature.
The maximum average high temperature in Orlando is 92.3 degrees. On September 7th it is 90.1 degrees, so we have lost 2.2 degrees off the average.
The maximum average low temperature in Orlando is 76.1 degrees. On September 7th it is 74.9 degrees, so we have lost 1.2 degrees off the maximum average.
The probability of rain on a given day in Orlando maxes out on July 20th, when it rains on 71% of that day historically. On September 7th, the chance that it will rain on that day historically has dropped to 58%, we are down 13% from the maximum.
If you are looking for a specific day this year in which there was a "dropoff" in temperature look at August 27th. In the 10 days before August 27th, the average high reached 94.0, in the 11 days starting on August 27th the average high has reached 89.8, still not low enough to say we have reached fall, but it shows that the relentless 90 degree days are more or less behind us.
Another interesting thing to look at is how much daylight we have lost.
On the longest day of the year the sun rise at 6:28 AM and sets at 8:26 PM for 15 Hours and 58 Minutes of daylight.
On September 7th the sun rise at 7:06 AM and sets at 7:40 PM for 12 Hours and 34 Minutes of daylight.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Full HHN 25 Preview Part 1: The Past
25 years ago Universal Studios ran a little 3 night event called "fright nights." It was a modest event costing a mere $20 dollars per person, and included just one haunted house, a parade, a costume contest, and a special fireworks show. That little event over time transformed into what is the biggest, best, and most popular Halloween event in the United States today.
The first nine years of the event basically followed the same pattern as the first. 1-3 haunted houses, a parade, keep the rides open, a costume contest, and a fireworks show. Then in 2000, Universal changed the game on what a Halloween event could be, and Halloween Horror Nights would never be the same. Universal decided to build 5 haunted houses in 2000, but rather than just have them be a mishmash of five unrelated haunted houses, they set out to relate them in a way. To do this they created "Jack the Clown" the first and still most popular of what is now a long list of Halloween Horror Nights "hosts" or as they are really called "icons." Universal created an elaborate backstory for Jack, that he was a mass murdering clown setting up his carnival at Universal. All the houses that year had Jack tied into it somehow giving the event one overall cohesive theme. Fans ate up this cohesive theme idea and the events popularity would skyrocket as a result and never turn back.
In 2001, Universal created a new icon "Eddie" a chainsaw wielding maniac who also happened to be Jacks brother. Unfortunately due to 9/11, Eddie was scrapped at the last minute and Jack ended up returning as the events host that year, and even though Eddie never got his place at HHN, he is still popular in HHN lore among die hard fans and has appeared in scare zones in two separate years since.
In 2002, the icon was supposed to be "Cindy" the daughter of an owner of a morgue, with an interest in experimenting on dead things. Once again however, that plan needed to be scrapped as a string of Child abductions in Florida around this time led Universal to believe it would be in bad taste to have the icon be a child. So instead, her dad "The Caretaker" became the icon. Cindy would finally get her own house "The Orphanage" in 2010.
2003 would bring yet another new icon, the Director, a director of snuff films notorious for killing people in gruesome ways to entertain himself and others. Universal took a break from the icon idea in 2004, and fans were so upset that they went right back at it in 2005 with the Storyteller. Even over ten years later these four Icons (Jack, Caretaker, Director, Storyteller) are still known as the "core four" and remain incredibly popular among HHN fans and still always have a precense at the event. These years can be known as the golden years of HHN, as since 2005 Universal has not created a single icon that has been able to find the popularity that these four have to this day.
2006 was a "sweet 16" bringing together all of the core four icons together to all host the event. In 2007, Jack the Clown took the reigns yet again for the 3rd time as the event host. In 2008, Universal secured the rights to use "Bloody Mary," and so she became the icon of that year. It was the first time that a well known character, rather than an original creation served as the events host. In 2009, Universal came up with "The Usher", an owner of an old dilapidated movie theatre where the movies come to life. While a popular character, the Usher failed to resonate with fans as strongly as the core. 2010 and 2011 would bring FEAR and Lady Luck respectively, and mark a huge turning point in the events history yet again. FEAR and Lady Luck both were big flops as icons, neither were strongly liked by either die hard fans of HHN or even casual fans. Due to back to back flops, Universal went in a new direction with the event in 2012 and hasn't looked back since. With 2012 Universal opted to stop creating new icons, and stop creating an overall cohesive theme for the event, and put together more houses based on Movies and TV shows. Before 2012, HHN hardly ever had houses based on Movies or TV Shows, but every year since has seen a plethora them. It truly has been a new era of HHN. Even though it appears new "icons" are a thing of the past, the core four remain as popular as ever, and are set to return in their own scare zone in 2015, with Jack having his own show. Maybe one day Universal will return to creating new icons and a cohesive theme for the event, but with record crowds every year, for now they feel making houses off of popular Movies and TV Shows are what brings people in.
The first nine years of the event basically followed the same pattern as the first. 1-3 haunted houses, a parade, keep the rides open, a costume contest, and a fireworks show. Then in 2000, Universal changed the game on what a Halloween event could be, and Halloween Horror Nights would never be the same. Universal decided to build 5 haunted houses in 2000, but rather than just have them be a mishmash of five unrelated haunted houses, they set out to relate them in a way. To do this they created "Jack the Clown" the first and still most popular of what is now a long list of Halloween Horror Nights "hosts" or as they are really called "icons." Universal created an elaborate backstory for Jack, that he was a mass murdering clown setting up his carnival at Universal. All the houses that year had Jack tied into it somehow giving the event one overall cohesive theme. Fans ate up this cohesive theme idea and the events popularity would skyrocket as a result and never turn back.
In 2001, Universal created a new icon "Eddie" a chainsaw wielding maniac who also happened to be Jacks brother. Unfortunately due to 9/11, Eddie was scrapped at the last minute and Jack ended up returning as the events host that year, and even though Eddie never got his place at HHN, he is still popular in HHN lore among die hard fans and has appeared in scare zones in two separate years since.
In 2002, the icon was supposed to be "Cindy" the daughter of an owner of a morgue, with an interest in experimenting on dead things. Once again however, that plan needed to be scrapped as a string of Child abductions in Florida around this time led Universal to believe it would be in bad taste to have the icon be a child. So instead, her dad "The Caretaker" became the icon. Cindy would finally get her own house "The Orphanage" in 2010.
2003 would bring yet another new icon, the Director, a director of snuff films notorious for killing people in gruesome ways to entertain himself and others. Universal took a break from the icon idea in 2004, and fans were so upset that they went right back at it in 2005 with the Storyteller. Even over ten years later these four Icons (Jack, Caretaker, Director, Storyteller) are still known as the "core four" and remain incredibly popular among HHN fans and still always have a precense at the event. These years can be known as the golden years of HHN, as since 2005 Universal has not created a single icon that has been able to find the popularity that these four have to this day.
2006 was a "sweet 16" bringing together all of the core four icons together to all host the event. In 2007, Jack the Clown took the reigns yet again for the 3rd time as the event host. In 2008, Universal secured the rights to use "Bloody Mary," and so she became the icon of that year. It was the first time that a well known character, rather than an original creation served as the events host. In 2009, Universal came up with "The Usher", an owner of an old dilapidated movie theatre where the movies come to life. While a popular character, the Usher failed to resonate with fans as strongly as the core. 2010 and 2011 would bring FEAR and Lady Luck respectively, and mark a huge turning point in the events history yet again. FEAR and Lady Luck both were big flops as icons, neither were strongly liked by either die hard fans of HHN or even casual fans. Due to back to back flops, Universal went in a new direction with the event in 2012 and hasn't looked back since. With 2012 Universal opted to stop creating new icons, and stop creating an overall cohesive theme for the event, and put together more houses based on Movies and TV shows. Before 2012, HHN hardly ever had houses based on Movies or TV Shows, but every year since has seen a plethora them. It truly has been a new era of HHN. Even though it appears new "icons" are a thing of the past, the core four remain as popular as ever, and are set to return in their own scare zone in 2015, with Jack having his own show. Maybe one day Universal will return to creating new icons and a cohesive theme for the event, but with record crowds every year, for now they feel making houses off of popular Movies and TV Shows are what brings people in.
Sunday, May 3, 2015
HHN House #2
Last week we talked about the first HHN house in this years 2015 lineup, An American Werewolf in London, and since that post there has been a little bit of controversy surrounding the legitimacy of the leaked HHN house lineup. According to a few people "in the know" Universal intentionally leaked a false house lineup and all the houses that have been leaked are not actually happening. A few others in the know say that is not true and that the leaked lineup is 100% Accurate. And a few say the leaked lineup is a mix of false houses and accurate houses. It would make a little sense for it to be false because some houses, such as the return of American Werewolf in London, seem questionable. However, my personal opinion is that Universal is just embarrassed the houses leaked so early and is trying to save face by making it seem like false info and I believe the lineup is more or less accurate. So today we continue to house Number Two
The Walking Dead
This will be the 4th year for the Walking Dead at Halloween Horror Nights and many people are sick of it. There are two groups of people that go to HHN. There are the first group like me, who talk about HHN year round, count down the days, and go 10+ nights a year when it comes around. That group HATES the Walking Dead at HHN. Group two is the group that doesnt even give a passing thought to HHN until October rolls around, goes for one night, then doesnt give a passing thought about it until the next year. Group two LOVES Walking Dead at HHN. The Walking Dead is a show I enjoy, alot. Its a great show, but it is not a show that lends itself well to a haunted house. It's not a "horror" show, its a drama, and trying to make it a haunted house has failed 3 straight years, so why would a 4th be any better? One thing is for sure though, group two will flock to this house like bees to honey, it will draw 3+ hours long lines every night, the big suits who only care about money will deem it a success no matter how much the house sucks, and Walking Dead will return in 2015 for a 5th year, the cycle repeats again. The Walking Dead is going to be in the parade building this year behind ET, which will allow them to use the ET queue line for the house on super busy nights. The parade building house has the most potential space for a line so it makes sense to put the house that will draw the longest lines there.
Next week we will talk about house number three.
The Walking Dead
This will be the 4th year for the Walking Dead at Halloween Horror Nights and many people are sick of it. There are two groups of people that go to HHN. There are the first group like me, who talk about HHN year round, count down the days, and go 10+ nights a year when it comes around. That group HATES the Walking Dead at HHN. Group two is the group that doesnt even give a passing thought to HHN until October rolls around, goes for one night, then doesnt give a passing thought about it until the next year. Group two LOVES Walking Dead at HHN. The Walking Dead is a show I enjoy, alot. Its a great show, but it is not a show that lends itself well to a haunted house. It's not a "horror" show, its a drama, and trying to make it a haunted house has failed 3 straight years, so why would a 4th be any better? One thing is for sure though, group two will flock to this house like bees to honey, it will draw 3+ hours long lines every night, the big suits who only care about money will deem it a success no matter how much the house sucks, and Walking Dead will return in 2015 for a 5th year, the cycle repeats again. The Walking Dead is going to be in the parade building this year behind ET, which will allow them to use the ET queue line for the house on super busy nights. The parade building house has the most potential space for a line so it makes sense to put the house that will draw the longest lines there.
Next week we will talk about house number three.
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