Halloween Horror Nights 34 (UOR) - Speculation & Rumors

[Map Monster]

One could argue the change in demographics were due to the arrival of Stranger Things. Lol

1000% lol

 

[moth]

They're gonna get even younger if FNAF actually happens this year.

 

[mccgavin]

They're gonna get even younger if FNAF actually happens this year.

Five Nights at Freddy's came out 11 years ago. Most of the people who grew up with the series when the games were at their peak popularity are in their 20s now...

 

[Lucky Planet]

Glory days of Halloween Horror Nights. My buddy and I started going in 2006 and our best memories come from pre 2018. The event or the attendees have not felt the same since the introduction of Strangers Things. We never drink throughout the year but we do let loose at HHN, and it always led to meeting new people. Those were the stories we always went home with and still talk about today, not the houses or the scare zones but the interactions with complete strangers over a drink. Nowadays you spark a conversation with somebody and they look at you like your nuts.

The Walking Dead made HHN more popular with the horror audience by bringing in folks who weren't locals and convinced people to stay at their resorts.

Stranger Things made HHN the "place to be" during the Halloween season, specifically younger demographics who only care about being there.

I thought it was just me. the event definitely feels "colder" in some ways, the crowds. not even about randomly talking to people in line, but just in general, it's lost something,

and the event kind of used to feel more creepy before, and more haunted too, I will always, always partly blame the change in music.
let's say when you go to universal studios or islands during the day or if you visit the Disney parks, you usually hear instrumental music that feels iconic and memorable to those parks, movie scores, that's how hhn felt before the techno and before stranger things.

stranger things not only changed the demographic but in some ways feels responsible for all the newer music used now (the dance/ techno stuff)
it might seem very small but music plays a gigantic influence on the way something feels, the way you remember it. how scary it is,
now it's just different. the energy is different. it definitely doesn't feel like a horror event is taking place.

in that sense, five nights at Freddy's fits perfectly with the current hhn,

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I thought it was just me. the event definitely feels "colder" in some ways, the crowds. not even about randomly talking to people in line, but just in general, it's lost something,

and the event kind of used to feel more creepy before, and more haunted too, I will always, always partly blame the change in music.
let's say when you go to universal studios or islands during the day or if you visit the Disney parks, you usually hear instrumental music that feels iconic and memorable to those parks, movie scores, that's how hhn felt before the techno and before stranger things.

stranger things not only changed the demographic but in some ways feels responsible for all the newer music used now (the dance/ techno stuff)
it might seem very small but music plays a gigantic influence on the way something feels, the way you remember it. how scary it is,
now it's just different. the energy is different. it definitely doesn't feel like a horror event is taking place.

Yeah, while it's all personal preference, HHN has felt less "creepy/dark" than before in tone. And I think the overall atmosphere at the park such as music selection and scare zone design is to blame. The event feels more 'up beat', which I'm not sure works for this type of event.

HHN is still gory and still features mature content, but there's just something off about the event overall.

It's an issue that can be corrected though. So I'm hoping they can find a happy medium.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Yeah, while it's all personal preference, HHN has felt less "creepy/dark" than before in tone. And I think the overall atmosphere at the park such as music selection and scare zone design is to blame. The event feels more 'up beat', which I'm not sure works for this type of event.

HHN is still gory and still features mature content, but there's just something off about the event overall.

It's an issue that can be corrected though. So I'm hoping they can find a happy medium.

technically the houses are still as scary as ever, and the actors in the streets are as scary as always, those parts are good like before,
but yeah hhn used to feel scary the moments you arrived at the gate, even before you even got near to any zone or house, the event felt creepy ,

I didn't mention the houses because they have so much variety in subject and theming, but the park atmosphere it's been the same for like 4 to 5 years straight, even before COVID happened, it's been the same nightclub feel for the park overall.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

technically the houses are still as scary as ever, and the actors in the streets are as scary as always, those parts are good like before,
but yeah hhn used to feel scary the moments you arrived at the gate, even before you even got near to any zone or house, the event felt creepy ,

I didn't mention the houses because they have so much variety in subject and theming, but the park atmosphere it's been the same for like 4 to 5 years straight, even before COVID happened, it's been the same nightclub feel for the park overall.

HHN Houses are still top tier, they always have 2-3 solid houses, paired with ok houses, and a dud or two.

But, zones and the overall atmosphere of the event have taken a toll.

 

[Midnight Detective]

I thought it was just me. the event definitely feels "colder" in some ways, the crowds. not even about randomly talking to people in line, but just in general, it's lost something,

and the event kind of used to feel more creepy before, and more haunted too, I will always, always partly blame the change in music.

Corporate is the most accurate descriptor I've seen thrown around.

The atmosphere shift crossing the bridge to the park entrance from City Walk used to be palpable.

 

[Lucky Planet]

HHN Houses are still top tier, they always have 2-3 solid houses, paired with ok houses, and a dud or two.

But, zones and the overall atmosphere of the event have taken a toll.

Corporate is the most accurate descriptor I've seen thrown around.

The atmosphere shift crossing the bridge to the park entrance from City Walk used to be palpable.

and the conversation was on how stranger things and walking dead changed the event and the audience, but at least the music for the walking dead still felt horror ( when all the scarezones were walking dead)
back then it still felt eerie. I know everyone got sick of walking dead, but at least it still had a scary, horror element. the zombies were scary, the atmosphere around walking dead was still horror.
maybe walking dead made hhn too popular, but it never changed the atmosphere of the event like stranger things did.

 

[Neo]

I think the biggest problem about the vibes of the event is the crowd.

Much like a house with a pulsed line of you and your 4 buddies would be infinitely more enjoyable and scary than the conga line, the same is true with the streets.

10 years ago you'd walk through a zone where it would be you and your buddies and maybe 5 other people you could see and you'd get legit scares. You could see a stoic figure sanding half in the shadows pretending to be a statute ready to pounce. You could have 4 boo holes in a zone and know a scareactor is hiding in one and have the dread trying to figure out which and the scare of them revealing themselves. And you could have the ominous Midnight Syndicate music giving you a sense of dread and unease.

Now you have 500 people crammed 10 wide in a zone. Scareactors have to keep moving at all times and just go for little startle scares because there's no where to hide, pick out a target, and do a targeted scare. Plus if they stop moving for 5 seconds, there's a line of people wanting selfies with them. You're not worried about boo holes any more because in the unlikely event that someone is hiding in one in Central Park, there will be 10 people trying to take pictures of them when they're "cornered" removing all surprise. Even the passerby "boos" don't work that much any more as you're too busy trying to avoid @$$holes taking selfie videos of themselves walking through the zones and not looking where they're going. The soundtrack of the zones is music that you can barely hear over the talk of 500 people telling their friends about how their experiences at the event are better than everybody else's.

But I will admit, the industrial music was a tiny step down from the spooky stuff. And the techno/dance stuff is 100 steps lower and more of a party atmosphere.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

and the conversation was on how stranger things and walking dead changed the event and the audience, but at least the music for the walking dead still felt horror ( when all the scarezones were walking dead)
back then it still felt eerie. I know everyone got sick of walking dead, but at least it still had a scary, horror element. the zombies were scary, the atmosphere around walking dead was still horror.
maybe walking dead made hhn too popular, but it never changed the atmosphere of the event like stranger things did.

Walking Dead made the event more popular, but didn't make such an impact on the event's tone. HHN 29 was great and fit well, but I think they've been trying to emulate that sort of horror-adjacent experience for a while now, and hasn't really done well yet.

Now you have 500 people crammed 10 wide in a zone. Scareactors have to keep moving at all times and just go for little startle scares because there's no where to hide, pick out a target, and do a targeted scare. Plus if they stop moving for 5 seconds, there's a line of people wanting selfies with them. You're not worried about boo holes any more because in the unlikely event that someone is hiding in one in Central Park, there will be 10 people trying to take pictures of them when they're "cornered" removing all surprise. Even the passerby "boos" don't work that much any more as you're too busy trying to avoid @$$holes taking selfie videos of themselves walking through the zones and not looking where they're going. The soundtrack of the zones is music that you can barely hear over the talk of 500 people telling their friends about how their experiences at the event are better than everybody else's.

But I will admit, the industrial music was a tiny step down from the spooky stuff. And the techno/dance stuff is 100 steps lower and more of a party atmosphere.

Credit where credit is due, Universal did a fantastic job last year at making sure guests were moving through zones instead of blocking them up (was well done at Central Park and they did their best at Blumhouse).

 

[Casper Gutman]

Credit where credit is due, Universal did a fantastic job last year at making sure guests were moving through zones instead of blocking them up (was well done at Central Park and they did their best at Blumhouse).

It helped that the zones, especially Blumhouse at the worst choke point, were extraordinarily uninteresting - with the exception of New York, which is never too much of a problem.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Maybe it cemented HHN as a hotspot for younger guests, but I don't believe Stranger Things was the start of it by a long shot. It's ancient history by today's standards, but I honestly remember there being a ton of energy about American Horror Story back during 26 and 27 among my friends, and at that point we were all firmly in the demographic that people would describe as "the Stranger Things crowd" haha.

TV shows often have a short cultural shelflife compared to other media, but it's crazy how quickly the cultural energy around AHS died. I haven't heard anyone bring it up in years, not even on here, and we still bring up Pumpkinhead or Dark Night of the Scarecrow from time to time.

 

[theuberguberman]

HHN29 was my first year, so I can't contribute as much to the conversation about the change in vibes, but I dream of the year they bring back something remotely like 29. The cohesive theme across the event was fantastic. I haven't been impressed by many scarezones since then. And as much as everyone is hating on the more techno music, I still listen to 29's playlist throughout the year because I loved it.
I also feel like 29 is the only year I've been where it really felt like the event started the second we walked in the gates.
Other years have had stronger houses than 29, but man, the overall park vibe that year was some good stuff!

 

[SeventyOne]

Plus if they stop moving for 5 seconds, there's a line of people wanting selfies with them. You're not worried about boo holes any more because in the unlikely event that someone is hiding in one in Central Park, there will be 10 people trying to take pictures of them when they're "cornered" removing all surprise. Even the passerby "boos" don't work that much any more as you're too busy trying to avoid @$$holes taking selfie videos of themselves walking through the zones and not looking where they're going. The soundtrack of the zones is music that you can barely hear over the talk of 500 people telling their friends about how their experiences at the event are better than everybody else's.
.

All excellent points in your post, but absolutely the intertwined explosion in social media/cell phone cameras changed the event more than any single IP. We're still riding that wave out.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

HHN 29 was great and fit well, but I think they've been trying to emulate that sort of horror-adjacent experience for a while now, and hasn't really done well yet.

HHN29 was my first year, so I can't contribute as much to the conversation about the change in vibes, but I dream of the year they bring back something remotely like 29. The cohesive theme across the event was fantastic. I haven't been impressed by many scarezones since then. And as much as everyone is hating on the more techno music, I still listen to 29's playlist throughout the year because I loved it.
I also feel like 29 is the only year I've been where it really felt like the event started the second we walked in the gates.
Other years have had stronger houses than 29, but man, the overall park vibe that year was some good stuff!

HHN29 is my favorite I've attended - and I'm not sure it will be beaten. The theme/vibe was palpable through the entire park, and the lineup really fit well into the theme for the most part. Marathon of Mayhem is my favorite thing I've done at HHN, period. The music was fantastic (I still listen to the soundtrack at least once a week). The only downer for that year for me was the zones. They were fine, but not my favorite zone lineup.

If I could be transported back to any HHN year for one night - it would no doubt be 29.

Where I'm going with is - the event doesn't need an icon to be fantastic. If they can pick a theme and spread that through the entire park, it can be outstanding.

 

[theuberguberman]

The only downer for that year for me was the zones. They were fine, but not my favorite zone lineup.

Oh man, nothing has topped 29's zones for me. I don't feel any zone since then has topped Vanity Ball especially. I had some of the best scareactor interactions in there, plus just watching the little show was a great time.
I'm a sucker for neon lights, so Anarcade was just aesthetically beautiful imo.
And my husband and I both think the vikings scarezone has been the best in Central Park (I wish we were able to go for some of the past years from what I've heard with that zone location specifically though).
Zombieland was ok.
The Rob Zombie zone was the only one we didn't like that year.
(I do get that most of the zones that year were just my personal vibe, so I can see why some people weren't into it)

Where I'm going with is - the event doesn't need an icon to be fantastic. If they can pick a theme and spread that through the entire park, it can be outstanding.

I'm in the very tiny minority that doesn't particularly like icons. BUT I also started going to the event after the big icon years, so they don't hold any special place in my heart like they do for everyone else. The "biggest" icon I've had since I started going has been Oddfellow. I liked his character design and the interactions at the front of the park in 32, but I didn't care for the rest of the zones and I felt he wasn't clearly represented in most of them enough to feel like he was a huge deal.
It seems like previous years with icons made them into a bigger thing and maybe I need to experience a year like that before I can know for sure I wouldn't want an icon, but I can't help but personally hope for a theme rather than an icon.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Oh man, nothing has topped 29's zones for me. I don't feel any zone since then has topped Vanity Ball especially. I had some of the best scareactor interactions in there, plus just watching the little show was a great time.
I'm a sucker for neon lights, so Anarcade was just aesthetically beautiful imo.
And my husband and I both think the vikings scarezone has been the best in Central Park (I wish we were able to go for some of the past years from what I've heard with that zone location specifically though).
Zombieland was ok.
The Rob Zombie zone was the only one we didn't like that year.
(I do get that most of the zones that year were just my personal vibe, so I can see why some people weren't into it)

I'm in the very tiny minority that doesn't particularly like icons. BUT I also started going to the event after the big icon years, so they don't hold any special place in my heart like they do for everyone else. The "biggest" icon I've had since I started going has been Oddfellow. I liked his character design and the interactions at the front of the park in 32, but I didn't care for the rest of the zones and I felt he wasn't clearly represented in most of them enough to feel like he was a huge deal.
It seems like previous years with icons made them into a bigger thing and maybe I need to experience a year like that before I can know for sure I wouldn't want an icon, but I can't help but personally hope for a theme rather than an icon.

My favorite Central Park zone has been Twisted Tradition (28's zones are my favorite zone lineup)

Since I've been attending, the icons have been Chance, Bone (I guess he counts?), Pumpkin King, Oddfellow and Sinister/Surreal.

Oddfellow was definitely the most well-integrated out of all of them. The theme of 31's event was perfectly integrated throughout the park imo, but Pumpkin King's presence wasn't really felt anywhere outside of his zone.

 

[ssirin88]

They're gonna get even younger if FNAF actually happens this year.

Wait until they add Bluey next year.

 

[Lucky Planet]

Maybe it cemented HHN as a hotspot for younger guests, but I don't believe Stranger Things was the start of it by a long shot. It's ancient history by today's standards, but I honestly remember there being a ton of energy about American Horror Story back during 26 and 27 among my friends, and at that point we were all firmly in the demographic that people would describe as "the Stranger Things crowd" haha.

TV shows often have a short cultural shelflife compared to other media, but it's crazy how quickly the cultural energy around AHS died. I haven't heard anyone bring it up in years, not even on here, and we still bring up Pumpkinhead or Dark Night of the Scarecrow from time to time.

it didn't help that they made that weird election season and kinda killed the horror from their show with that
it's not just that people forgot about it, it's that it got really bad. and then that other spin off with the new ahs show also was pretty bad from what I heard.
she was a big deal for hhn, and it had long lines, but that election season really turned off a lot of people.

HHN29 was my first year, so I can't contribute as much to the conversation about the change in vibes, but I dream of the year they bring back something remotely like 29. The cohesive theme across the event was fantastic. I haven't been impressed by many scarezones since then. And as much as everyone is hating on the more techno music, I still listen to 29's playlist throughout the year because I loved it.
I also feel like 29 is the only year I've been where it really felt like the event started the second we walked in the gates.
Other years have had stronger houses than 29, but man, the overall park vibe that year was some good stuff!

the music from hhn 29 can be fun to hear on your playlists but it's been like 5 years that universal keeps trying to turn hhn into more of a citywalk vibe. we had some metal in the mix as well, yeah, but that horror vibe is kinda just gone from the park

I also really love hhn29 and loved the houses a lot and I really loved the rob zombie zone.
I do feel like 2019 was the best year of this era,
it has the best lagoon show, I do agree.
but nothing was ever the same after 2019, not just because of the closing of 2020,
we didn't know how good we had it