Halloween Horror Nights 33 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Casper Gutman]

You keep focusing on the micro of it all. From 2012 - 2022, there was little to no effort to provide any sort of lore to give fans. Beginning last year, they started diving back into it and it seems even moreso this year. This is the first year since 2015 (I think?) we haven't had 1 house announced and May is halfway over.

If your point is merely that we are getting a renewed emphasis on lore and don't have a lot of solid info, I agree with you. I got a different impression from your response to Saint. What's more, that's not what made the "golden age" reveals memorable to me, but that's strictly a subjective judgement.

I am very happy about the return of icons (regardless of backstory) and would argue that the post-Covid events have been, while not perfect, some of the strongest Universal has ever done.

PS: To Alison - I repeatedly acknowledged that Brian may have info that leads him to see the current campaign as a spiritual successor to the earlier one. Based on the teaser itself and the information that is available to us outsiders, disputing that this campaign evokes older ones is no more premature then asserting that it does so. In any case, as the above indicates, I now see the point Brian was making and don't disagree with it.

 

[Alicia]

Starting to think the icon is the Park itself, especially after that ad we got today... This is very interesting. Having the park/event manifest as a living creature/entity is a very unique idea.

View attachment 21857

"Come inside me... if you dare."

 

[johnathanm]

Starting to think the icon is the Park itself, especially after that ad we got today... This is very interesting. Having the park/event manifest as a living creature/entity is a very unique idea.

View attachment 21857

The Arches from Hell: the icon: the ride

 

[Returning-The-Reaction]

"Come inside me... if you dare."

The last time I heard that...

 

[saint.piss]

The last time I heard that...

Gotta wear protection....

 

[Kichkinet85]

How did an HHN thread turn to this!!! brain ban @Alicia

 

[Tobias]

You SHOULD remember that 18 and 19 was updated every few weeks giving fans new kernels of info until the full reveal. We obviously live in a very different time (as @Tbad556 so eloquently posted).

Either way, I meant in the sense of knowing absolutely nothing to little about the event and Universal giving us a bone leading up to the full reveal (Like HHN 14 when they debuted the unnamed straight-jacket guy and nondescript boxes, or 15 with a bookshelf full of items). It left fans to speculate what it all meant until the next reveal...

So here you have a cocoon that lives underneath the streets of Universal, where we'll get reveals over the next few months...and fans are wondering what it all means - leaving it all up to speculation.

To add, something that's always important to marketing is getting people's attention and getting them talking, this tease being released in May is clearly for folks like us and we're clearly talking about it. So mission accomplished right there.

And for me, this is one of the more polished and intriguing teases they've done in a long while. Even if it's just a framing device/motif, that arch got a legit reaction out of me. And I love they're able to do something like this, we would've killed to get something like this in the period between the Icon years and the past few years. That was a period where we just didn't get much, if any.

It really feels like A&D and Marketing have been on much better terms the past several years, Marketing still gets what they want, and A&D is able to play with and put out the crazy ideas they come up with. It's not like 2017 where there was the whole Caretaker/Bone drama between them.

 

[Jake S]

I had a really good boss that told me any time our organization devolved into intra-company fights, we've all lost. It is really nice that (it appears!) they've found better footing to execute a vision they can all be proud of.

 

[HHN Maddux]

I think we might see history repeat itself here.

Adaru was the big retcon of 2010, suddenly becoming the overlord behind everything and secret puppet master of the Icons.

Now we might be seeing an even bigger retcon: Adaru secretly having a never-before-mentioned master this entire time. Personally, I think it could be extremely cool, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they're gonna need one hell of an explanation to explain this.

 

[Wesker69]

Just going to throw this out there/remind you since nobody has mentioned it (surprisingly)...

2012
While it was the unfortunate debut of TWD era, it was also the year the entire park had no set SZs, just roaming "legions". Putting all that aside, I'd like to point out the "beneath the park" gimmick they're teasing. In 2012, the entire park was themed to be a cemetery. The tombstone & mausoleum ruins around the park had been "unearthed" ....Horror Unearthed. So this isn't the first time the evils from beneath Universal have surfaced (at least for Orlando). The tagline: "Once You're Inside, There's No Way Out!"

Here is the commercial for 2012...

So as it's been said, I wouldn't put too much into what they've given us until actual announcements begin. Still figured I'd add more fuel to the fire.

FunFact: hidden within some of the set pieces were grave markers for JAWS, KONG, Herc&Xena (I "think" maybe Murder She Wrote too)

 

[GA-MBIT]

What if the underground utilidors from this teaser cycle and the HHN30 promos have held the beating heart of Halloween Horror Nights itself all along? Universal built the park on top of a sinkhole with an ancient eldritch being inside that requires the sacrifice of fear and screams each year from September to October in order to not destroy the park entirely, and that's why HHN exists. Or something like that, I don't know.

Maybe the utilidors are the Legendary Truth? or a new opposing group that has been feeding this HHN abomination for years now under the radar? Maybe it's the Legendary Truth feeding it because they've taken over by bad guys, like S.H.I.E.L.D. getting infiltrated by Hydra in Winter Soldier?

Or it could just be a marketing gimmick for a few promos that has no greater lore or in-event significance, that no one on the design team has thought very deeply about, kinda like the conspiracy theory stuff from 32's IP trailers. That's the fun thing about HHN lore, the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

 

[HHN Maddux]

What if the underground utilidors from this teaser cycle and the HHN30 promos have held the beating heart of Halloween Horror Nights itself all along? Universal built the park on top of a sinkhole with an ancient eldritch being inside that requires the sacrifice of fear and screams each year from September to October in order to not destroy the park entirely, and that's why HHN exists. Or something like that, I don't know.

Maybe the utilidors are the Legendary Truth? or a new opposing group that has been feeding this HHN abomination for years now under the radar? Maybe it's the Legendary Truth feeding it because they've taken over by bad guys, like S.H.I.E.L.D. getting infiltrated by Hydra in Winter Soldier?

Or it could just be a marketing gimmick for a few promos that has no greater lore or in-event significance, that no one on the design team has thought very deeply about, kinda like the conspiracy theory stuff from 32's IP trailers. That's the fun thing about HHN lore, the rules are made up and the points don't matter.

I absolutely love this theory.

Legendary Truth's corruption can be made a bit more morally grey, they only did what they did because it would be better to let Adaru reign with terror than it would be to let his master (or whatever it is) be free.

If it is Adaru's master, usually it lets things be, but since Fear and the Heralds locked away until 40, and the rising threat of new Icons with Pumpkin Lord and Oddfellow (especially the latter), it finally reveals itself to try and put it down.

Or, better yet, this being wishes to discard of Adaru and the Heralds, now seeing no more use in them with a new generation of Icons on the rise, which in turn could make an Icon War for 40 even more insane: Two Gods of horror and their Heralds locked in an epic battle.

 

[Legacy]

Do any insiders remember the “Unholy Trinity” that was rumored briefly during 27-28 where Jack, Chance, and Eddie was supposed to headline HHN 30 as a trio? That was supposed to START its build with Chance at 26?

Or does anyone remember J. Michael Roddy talking about how he wanted a “Jack Trilogy” that ended with the wedding of Jack and Chance?

Universal has yet to pull off a multi-year “arc” with any of its lore. Trying to anticipate something that is seven years away is silly.

 

[HHN Maddux]

Do any insiders remember the “Unholy Trinity” that was rumored briefly during 27-28 where Jack, Chance, and Eddie was supposed to headline HHN 30 as a trio? That was supposed to START its build with Chance at 26?

Or does anyone remember J. Michael Roddy talking about how he wanted a “Jack Trilogy” that ended with the wedding of Jack and Chance?

Universal has yet to pull off a multi-year “arc” with any of its lore. Trying to anticipate something that is seven years away is silly.

Sorry I got a lil too excited, I love the concept but yeah this is a fair point.

Unrelated, but what do you think the chances could be of the Spooky Empire panel potentially revealing the Icon (or giving more hints/teases as to who or what it is)?

 

[Legacy]

Sorry I got a lil too excited, I love the concept but yeah this is a fair point.

Unrelated, but what do you think the chances could be of the Spooky Empire panel potentially revealing the Icon (or giving more hints/teases as to who or what it is)?

Depends on what else they may have to discuss.

 

[Wesker69]

In regards to the spooky monster arch reflection, I'm just going to leave this 1994 iconic graphic here...

(was too lazy to dig out the better quality poster, so you get the back of my hoodie)

 

[DannyPowers]

Universal has yet to pull off a multi-year “arc” with any of its lore. Trying to anticipate something that is seven years away is silly.

What about something that's two years away?

 

[Legacy]

What about something that's two years away?

Nope.

A LOT can happen in two years, specifically, the people responsible for creating this year’s theme may not be there next year. That’s one of the reasons neither the Trinity nor the Wedding happened. Throw in variables such potential IP focuses, changes in management philosophies, changes in actual management…

Shoot, sometimes strong themes that are fully fleshed out (Halloween Tree for 20) can get replaced less than six months from execution.

The Creative team may have ideas they’d like to explore in the future, but each year’s theme is developed and (most importantly) approved during THAT year. Imagining long term story potential can be a fun exercise, but anticipating any long term storyline is expecting disappointment.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

With the talk of Fear using a "master" to take on Oddfellow..

Imagine all this time we were speculating Jack vs Oddfellow, but it's actually Fear vs Oddfellow.

 

[DannyPowers]

Nope.

A LOT can happen in two years, specifically, the people responsible for creating this year’s theme may not be there next year. That’s one of the reasons neither the Trinity nor the Wedding happened. Throw in variables such potential IP focuses, changes in management philosophies, changes in actual management…

Shoot, sometimes strong themes that are fully fleshed out (Halloween Tree for 20) can get replaced less than six months from execution.

The Creative team may have ideas they’d like to explore in the future, but each year’s theme is developed and (most importantly) approved during THAT year. Imagining long term story potential can be a fun exercise, but anticipating any long term storyline is expecting disappointment.

I agree with all of this. The one thing that I will point out is, most of those were being planned before Marvel proved the popularity of long-term storytelling with Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame.

I'd argue that multi movie/year arcs are more popular now than ever, and Universal may see some dollar signs.

But, to your point, a lot can happen between now and 2026.