Greetings internet dwellers!

Well, USA Today, spilled the beans a little early. However, HHN didn't wait long to reveal the original houses. And just like that, our full lineup has been revealed. As has already been talked about, yes, no Walking Dead this year. I have been sitting on that since January. Nice that people are finally realizing that. 

​So, without further delay, here are the four original houses: 

This will be based on the Bayou of Blood scare zone, from 2014. The popular Voodoo Queen will be present as well. Seriously, the look of the house is amazing. Riverboats? Sure, I'll step aboard. 

The so called "Dust Bowl" house that everyone was referring to, all season. Again, the imagery from inside, is killer. Scarecrows guarding the land, perhaps some possessed farm equipment trying to harvest...US? I'm in.  

It's an ancient battle between good and evil. Shades of Gothic in here, with their flying creatures. I think they are saving some surprises for this one. Again, some of the imagery in here, is spectacular.

Hey, there's that Carey, Ohio town! In the 1980's! Vampires. However, these are inspired by Nosferatu, and are vicious. Not just your everyday vampires, bu more monstrous in nature. 

So, that's it. Three of these sound amazing, one doesn't strike my fancy much. And the imagery coming out of these houses, are incredible. I can't believe, we are two weeks away from opening night. This has been another long season, both in reveals, and months of "chatter". 

A few quick notes: earlier in the year the Halloween Horror Nights Facebook page, made a goof. And it's still goofed. The times, will be the same as last year. 6:30pm - 1:00am on non peak nights, and 6:30pm - 2:00am on peak nights. The Facebook page, has everything closing at 2:00am. Which is wrong.   

The map for this year, has a bit of a change. I sat on this for a while too. We will now have two entrances, over by the MIB store. A certain mustachioed plummer, is probably the culprit.

I don't see any mention of a Repository. That's all I have to say about that.   

So, I plan on that last Chatcast before the event, to be probably this coming Sunday. We will see how that goes. If I have to change it, I will let you know. 

And that about covers it. A few videos forthcoming today. 

​Go forth, and be good. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Well, we have reached the end of the IP's. The Horrors of Blumhouse, has had a very interesting path getting done this year. Things. Things have happened throughout its life cycle and I'm sure that its current state, is going to make some people angry. 

Jason Blum himself, took to Youtube, to tell us about his house coming to the event. It will feature three different properties: Sinister, Insidious and The Purge. That last one, is probably going to make people angry. Of course, HHN Orlando, is getting a Purge scare zone this year as well. In the spirit of full disclosure, The Purge was not supposed to be featured. That, was a last minute addition. Hollywood, will feature Happy Death Day, instead of Insidious, for obvious reasons.

The Universal blog, doesn't seem to explicitly say which films of each franchise, will be featured. Minus Insidious which from the information, seems it will heavily feature Part 4. It does say that there will be a pseudo connection to each film, as you experience each one in the house.  

This, is not high on my list either. I wish we had a few different properties in here. None of the ones in the house, make me excited at all. However, Sinister has its fans, and so do Insidious and The Purge. 

​Anyway, you can see the video below. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Earlier today, the Orlando Sentinel released an article, detailing this year's commercial for Halloween Horror Nights. About an hour later, Universal Orlando followed suit, by releasing the commercial on social media. 

The commercial this year, was directed by Eli Roth. Roth, is probably best known for directing the horror hits Cabin Fever, and Hostel. Others, may know him today, as the Shark After Dark host, during Discovery's Shark Week. He also had a famous acting turn, in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In the Sentinel article, Roth, talks about his love of Halloween Horror Nights, and the properties featured in the commercial. 

In addition, Halloween Horror Nights also released a short clip, detailing content from their original houses this year.

You can see the behind the scenes footage, as well as the commercial below. 

Greetings internet dwellers!

Information dump! Halloween Horror Nights has unleashed a plethora of information this morning. Before we get to the good stuff, we will start with something small, and something that I'm sure isn't a shock to anyone: Academy of Villains.

Last year, Academy of Villains made a mark on Halloween Horror Nights. The show was fresh, different and offered something new to the event. Sure, some people scoffed at the fact that it was a dance troupe, but Academy of Villains was something a little different. They weren't just a dance troupe, but more performance art. It was more or less a hit overall with visitor's. With their final performance last year, Academy of Villains, teased a return. There may have been some spilling the beans happening earlier this year in some Tweets, by the group as well. 

So this morning, HHN announced, Academy of Villains: Afterlife will hit the event. The show will be all new, and different from last year. The blog described the show as follows: ​"This group of powerhouse artists will make you bear witness to what happens after we leave this life. They’re going to give you one mind-blowing and shocking dance performance that will escort you from this world to the great beyond." I can't wait to see what they have in store. I really enjoyed the show last year.

Now to the good stuff. Halloween Horror Nights, dropped details on ALL the scare zones for this year. We of course, have started to see the park begin it's transformation in the streets over the past few days, so this is actually quite nice. We now have confirmation on what is going where, and are able to put details on whatever props we see.

Full disclosure: when I found out about what was coming to the streets a few months ago, some things made me happy, others not so much. However, there is a great variety involved here, which is nice. 

​So, here's the thing. Yes, based on the film. Trick r' Treat, was also Michael Dougherty's first film as a director. Yes, the same guy who did Krampus. I don't get the hype for Trick r' Treat. I mean, it's a fair film, but I find it kind of dull. Sam, the film's star, is pretty cool, but other than that, meh. This was said on the blog: "In this zone, you’ll have the opportunity to come face-to-face with several characters from the film, and learn for yourself what happens when you don’t follow the rules."

The scare zone I am least looking forward to. Yes, The Purge was supposed to come last year, and got changed into Survive or Die last minute. Meh. Purge is easy. We will have familiar elements, like the auction, and they are putting a spin on it, like a clean-up crew, but it's still The Purge. From the blog: "We also have some new surprises in store. For example, how do you clean up all the mayhem on the streets during a Purge night? Visit the clean-crew up crew with their trusty wood chipper to find out. Just don’t get too close…"

Another one, that kind of confused me when I first heard about it a few months ago. Characters from the houses? Or will there be other popular characters? The blog doesn't mention other characters, just some from the houses for this year. Interesting. "In this zone, we’re taking some of the larger than life characters featured in this year’s houses, and letting them have their own scare zone. A lot of work goes into bringing these iconic film characters to life in our houses. Now you’ll have the opportunity to get an even better look at them."

The scare zone, I am most looking forward to. Seems like they are going for a little camp, and scares. I fully expect a great prop here: give me a flying saucer! I can't wait to see how they pull this off. This was said on the blog: "They aren’t just here to destroy; these invaders are also on a mission to learn everything they can about us humans. Careful, or you may find yourself on the experiment table at the mercy of an alien scientist."

If I were a betting man, I think the Soul Collector's may be represented in here. In some capacity. It's a little bit celebration, and a little bit horror. This one sounds interesting: "A gathering of the most unearthly, hellish terrors has emerged from the darkest corners of despair. It calls to those who long for the thrill of the scare and wish to have their fears made real. You’ll be drawn like moths to a flame, and once you join this hallowed celebration, your nightmares will never end."  

What has become commonplace over the course of the last few years. This year though, they seem to have given them a bit of a story: "Unhappy with how popular culture has made clowns scary, this grotesque gang of gigglers has risen from the grave determined to show the world that if you want scary clowns, they’re going to make sure you get your worst nightmare."

So there you have it. All the scare zones, plus Academy of Villains. We are less than a month away, people! It's happening!

Greetings internet dwellers!

Halloween Horror Nights announced today, the final performance of Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure will take place this year. I say this: GOOD RIDDANCE. HHN 27 will mark the 26th year of the show. That is a long time to milk something like this. 

My first time visiting HHN back in 2000, I fell in love with this show. I have a very dry, and goofy sense of humor. I love parodies. I love Bill & Ted. However, over the course of my HHN tenure, a lot of things became apparent. Around 2008, the show began to dip in quality. The show was never as good as it was in the past. 

Since 2008, the show just continuously went down hill. Recycled jokes, horrible scripts, bad music, and a lost sense of what made the show great in the first place: pop culture. The hard, honest truth, is Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure just hasn't been good in years. 

I am in no way harping on the actors either; so before I get accused of that, shut your piehole. These guys and gals, work hard to put on the best shows possible. However, sometimes, even the best actors can't transcend the bad material they are given.

As Bart Simpson once said, "George Burns was right. Show business is a hideous bitch goddess."
The curtain must fall at some point. And while the reasoning behind this decision is a little bigger than what's on the surface, it is time. Bill & Ted, had their run. It's time to move on. HHN die-hards don't like change, and this is probably not going to sit well in the community. 

I would be amiss, if I didn't mention another aspect to all of this. While for me the show hasn't been funny in quite some time, this show has been systematically ruined over time. Ruined by a creepy, cult-like, die-hard fanbase. I dreaded going to these shows sometimes because of them. Shouting back lines, bringing food to performers, going to EVERY SINGLE PERFORMANCE just to say they did, a stalking behavior with performers that is just plain CREEPY, and many other odd behaviors that make one question.  

This behavior, found its way to other aspects of the park as well. Bettlejuice, random scare zone, and house performers, other normal show performers; it's weird, and is skeezy at best. It's a bizarre culture that I will never understand. I get being appreciative for doing a good job, but one should never cross a line, no matter what the intentions are. 

It's. Just. Plain. Weird.

So with that, I say good riddance to Bill & Ted. Thanks for the memories, but ride that phone booth into history. 

​That last show, is going to be interesting...  

Greetings internet dwellers!

On Friday, the HHN Twitter account gave us some inside looks, at of their upcoming houses. On Monday, the gave us a reveal: Saw: The Games of Jigsaw, is coming to Halloween Horror Nights 27!

​According the the Universal blog, it seems like they are using a bit Dracula Untold terminology to describe some of the house. Show Director Patrick Braillard, says the house will not be a rehash of the first house, showcased at Halloween Horror Nights 19. Although, Braillaird says there will be nods to the house from HHN 19. It appears, they will be featuring some of the best known traps, set by Jigsaw over the years.

The setting of the house will be different, from the first house. It will also feature a "living preview" (there's that Dracula Untold terminology), of the new film Jigsaw coming out in October. A trap, appearing in the new film, will be featured in the house.

That's it for now. Keep your eyes peeled. You never know when more announcements will pop up.  

Greetings internet dwellers!

So, the Soul Collector countdown timer finally hit zero this morning. It's time for me to get on my soapbox. While I think it was a poor choice to use the countdown timer to reveal a sweepstakes, Universal and Halloween Horror Nights promised nothing else. 

This is an example of the dangers of those, who hype something out of nothing. When the countdown was first revealed, nothing was said about what it would lead to. A rational person, probably could have deduced that whatever it was, was not related to any kind of content announcement. The counter, was situated on the Soul Collectors page. Not the main page. 

If HHN were going to make a house, Scare Zone, or show announcement when the counter hit zero, it would have gone on the main page. A rational person, probably could have deduced, that another one of those locked boxes would have been opened. Which more than likely would have been another form of wallpaper, or BTS content. 

Instead, what we had leading up to this, is nothing more than speculation hype. This creates false promises. This is also why I stay away from such practices for the most part. When you have influence, people will listen. In the case of Theme Park and HHN Twitter, people tend to follow blindly. 

A wise man once said, "With great power, comes great responsibility." In Theme Park Twitter world, that power is used for mere website hits. Views, are more important that facts. Sure, not all do this, but a vast majority do. 

Universal does not get off the hook here either. If there was never a countdown timer on any page, and they just announced the sweepstakes, things would have been different. Sure, you would have the same moaning about the lack of announcements. However, the backlash would have been far less. 

​The HHN fandom is easily triggered, and they have a sense of entitlement. When something like this happens, it can be catastrophic. I don't blame Universal alone. I blame those who also create a false narrative. Utilizing their influence to post nonsense, creates an anticipation. Couple that with the countdown timer, and you have what we have today.  

Every year, people moan about the lack of announcements. If you search this page alone, I have addressed the moaning in the past. This, is nothing new, although some would like to have you believe it is.

Yes, this was a mistake today. No, I don't have sympathy for those who were falsely mislead by other websites. And those websites, will now feed off the anger of HHN fans. Those who were lead astray, will now follow those same places in their anger. They will forget that it was those places, who made the false promises, not Universal.

Anyway, that being said. Keep your chins up True Believers! Things will come.