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Predictions & Speculations for Universal Halloween Horror Nights 2023 | HHN 32
Halloween Horror Nights - 2023
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The blog post will tell you all of my personal predictions and speculations for Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2023, along with some details and information about the event.
Of course, it should go without saying that Halloween Horror Nights is a halloween themed event, meaning we have months until official information is released by the creators. Until then, we have the freedom of making our own predictions and piecing together information we find all over the internet.
Universal officially announced last November that CHUCKY would be returning to 2023's Halloween Horror Nights event. The house, which will be based on the Syfy CHUCKY series, will be present at both the Orlando and Hollywood versions of the event. The first permits for haunted houses were filed with the city of Orlando just a few days after the start of the new year and more recently (February 21st) the creative team behind HHN Hollywood celebrated the ‘First Swing of the Hammer’ ceremony, meaning decisions for all mazes and scare zones have been made and construction is officially underway in both locations.
For context, based off of past HHN events I’m going to breakdown the number of houses and scare zones we usually see at both Orlando and Hollywood. The numbers can vary, particularly in Orlando, but here are the usual numbers for your reference. Hollywood usually has up to eight houses and three scare zones. Orlando usually has up to ten houses and five scare zones. It has been speculated Orlando could be seeing eleven houses this year but of course, this early on it’s truly hard to say.
John Murdy is the creative director of Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, AKA a legend when is comes to HHN. He has been a key member behind the Halloween Horror Nights event in Hollywood since 2006. Although the event originated in Orlando, Hollywood followed only one year later and the two have their separate fanbases who advocate for ‘theirs’ being better! Which HHN is better? Orlando or Hollywood? Also, if you want regular updates for HHN or simply love horror updates, I highly recommend you follow Murdy on twitter @john_murdy! During the run up to HHN, he posts teasers and clues to what we may see that year.
February 20th, John Murdy posted a tweet with a hint for an upcoming maze. This tweet got a lot of people scratching their heads, most speculating a Phantom of the Opera maze but personally, I feel as though we may be getting a Vampire maze. Murdy’s tweet specified the film in which the maze is set, is based in 1874, which is when ‘Blood of the Vampire’ (1958) is directly set. Distributed by Universal Studios, this sci-fi horror could be an inspiration for one of their newest Dracula/ Vampire themed mazes.
On that note, if you’re enjoying this blog post so far, you’re in for a treat. I’ve broken down three of my personal predictions and a few speculated concepts for this years HHN. Of course, none of these have been confirmed apart from CHUCKY but it’s fun to line up all our potential options…
PREDICTION #1
M3GAN
Whilst promoting the now highly viral and talked about Blumhouse feature, M3GAN. A Reddit page (Ask Me Anything) was used for the character to interact with fans and ask her questions, Megan answered one fan by expressing her excitement to visit HHN this year (2023), which plenty of speculating fans have concluded this could mean a M3GAN themed house this year as the movie was distributed by Universal.
Over the last few years, HHN have featured at least three Blumhouse branded haunted houses. Last year, Orlando featured a double-feature house with both “The Black Phone” and “Freaky”, and in the past we’ve seen The Purge and Happy Death Day.
PREDICTION #2
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
This prediction is definitely being passed around the HHN fanbase, people are predicting to see this Universal Monster in his very own maze this year and I would be beyond happy with that. Essentially, the Universal Monsters have had their fair share of mazes, in recent years we’ve seen:
Universal Monsters, Hollywood 2018 (Featuring: Frankenstein, Wolf-man, The Invisible Man, Dracula, The Mummy, Bride of Frankenstein)
Universal Monsters, Orlando 2019 (Featuring: Dracula, Phantom of the Opera, Hunchback, Frankenstein, Wolf-man, The Mummy, Creature of the Black Lagoon)
The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, Orlando 2021
Universal Monsters: Legends Collide Hollywood 2022 (Featuring: The Mummy, Dracula, The Wolf-man)
And the list above is just to name the most recent appearances of these monsters. The above houses have gone down very well with fans, its a very special experience to be up close and personal with these icons. Although on my list it states the Creature of the Black Lagoon has appeared in 2019, his involvement in the maze was very short overall. There were only two scare actors and the whole scene was very simple, this monster deserves his own house. The concepts and ideas are simply endless, incorporating lighting and sound to appear as though we are under water whilst walking through would be a very cool experience. I would really love to see this prediction come to life.
Fans are predicting a Phantom of the Opera maze but I am sticking with my gut and predicting we’ll see the Creature of the Black Lagoon this year.
PREDICTION #3
SCREAM
Scream is one of the most successful horror franchises to date and with the new editions to the franchise being fan favourites, I have a strong intuition that we’ll be seeing Scream at HHN 2023. It would be obvious for the creators to go for the newest Scream movie, released in 2022 but I would love to see a merging of all the scream movies. Taking us back to the original house and sending us through a timeline of all the movies, what an unforgettable experience. We’ve only seen Ghost-face make one appearance at HHN, believe it or not but he featured in his own scare zone in Orlando HHN 2011.
It’s about time we see Ghost-face back again in a fully themed Scream maze, this year I’d love to see Scream instead of Halloween and Michael Myers. As much as I adore the Halloween franchise, we’ve seen it many times before, It’s time for change.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS…
Musical Artist - The Weeknd again? (Don’t forget that in 2011 we saw an Alice Cooper themed maze and a Black Sabbath maze in 2013… it isn’t impossible)
The Exorcist
Halloween: Ends
SOME MORE SPECULATION…
A24
With the Blumhouse themed houses rising in popularity, it could be expected that using the production house as an umbrella category for the theme is highly affective. A24 is a production company rising in popularity and also known primarily for their horror features, it could be an idea to house several of their most recent horror features under one roof? Released in 2022 alone was X, Pearl, Bodies Bodies Bodies and Men. Not the mention older features like Midsommar and Hereditary.
I find this particular concept to be extremely exciting and if not this coming year, in the yeas to come seeing an A24 themed house would be absolutely inspired.
THE LAST OF US
The beloved HBO original series currently being released once a week has had an unthinkable about of support and love from fans. The Last of Us (2023) is based on the video game of the same name from 2013. An action-adventure survival horror game which has been visualised into one of the most compelling and visually engaging tv series, The Last of Us would thrive as a HHN house. Imagine the clickers around every corner and walking through Bill and Franks house? The possibilities are endless for this concept. If not this year, then soon because The Last of Us would be a highly popular maze.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS / PSYCHO
Last year HHN Hollywood featured an original concept house called, Universal Horror Hotel. The concept was fully developed and completely immersive, one of my favourite houses to have experienced last year. Since then, I have been thinking about the potential for a Hitchcock themed house, where each room is a different movie or simply based solely off of Psycho (1960), Bates Motel.
Norman Bates has appeared during HHN Hollywood almost every year on the Terror Tram experience and has also appeared in a few houses but nothing since at lease 2015. I think seeing this infamous character in a fully immersive, black and white themed house would be unbeatable.
‘The Psycho Path Maze’ featured at HHN Hollywood in 1993 and 1994, just as the event was finding its feet. They created a show tent behind the facade of the Bates Motel and used the facade for the entrance to the maze. This sounds absolutely incredible and I hope and prey we get to experience this in both Hollywood and Orlando.
TERRIFIER
Terrifier is a cult classic horror movie, with the original movie being released in 2016, the writer/director Damien Leone brought us a highly anticipated sequel in October of 2022. The story follows Art the Clown who returns to Miles County to terrorise a teenage girl and her younger brother on Halloween night. The plot speaks for itself, simple yet highly affective. The Terrifier movies are extremely gory but have a huge cult following and a large fan base all over the world.
It would be really special to see Art the Clown at HHN, similarly to the previous ‘Halloween’ mazes we’ve seen in the past, Art could continuously pop up in each room and not get boring. It was always a thrill to see Michael Myers and I just know Art would be very well received. The rooms would be incredibly visual and immersive with overtly dramatic gore and recreations from both the 2016 and 2022 movie.
(A LOT can change between now and Halloween, so keep in mind all of these ideas are simply speculation. We can dream though!)
Thank you so much for reading, if you made it to the end I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section down below!
Are you a Halloween Horror Nights fan?
What houses would you love to see this year?
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