It’s been an unusual season for Halloween Horror Nights so far this year, to put it mildly, with the continued fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting what would have traditionally been the event’s “announcement season.” But, hey, we’re still getting an HHN outing this year, unlike last, and having all of the scare zones be revealed all at once isn’t actually anything new – it’s been the standard operating procedure for at least the past few years.
So, what can we expect for the grand 30th celebration of Horror Nights? Five zones total, with three falling in the intellectual-property camp and the other two being original entries. Here’s everything to know:
30 Years 30 Fears (Avenue of the Stars, Production Central) – this little scare zone tends to operate more as a photo-op than an area filled with frights, mostly due to its location right at the front of Universal Studios Florida, and it seems like 2021 will be no different. But the theming for this year definitely sounds promising, celebrating the big anniversary; look for lots of candles and a big neon Halloween Horror Nights sign to mark the occasion.
Gorewood Forest (Central Park) – in another big reference to HHN’s past mythology, the Terra Queen is returning from her inaugural 2005 showing (just as the mythology foretold she would, 15 years later!). The land of Terra Cruentus is returning, as is the continuous Rituale de Blud, which the queen presides over in order to keep up the harvest of the sweet blood berries.
Crypt TV (San Francisco) – if you’re not familiar with Crypt TV, you now will be. Officially launched in April 2015, and with Eli Roth as a co-founder and Jason Blum as a backer, the company produces short horror videos, primarily for mobile devices, with the goal of creating its own Monsters Universe. Now, guests will be able to make their way past these scary denizens on the streets of the San Francisco backlot.
Seek and Destroy (New York) – The Controller (an alien overlord) is in search of a fuel source – conveniently, he can make fuel from humans. Nowhere is safe, and you’d better move!
Lights, Camera, Hacktion: Eddie’s Revenge (Hollywood) – a studio is in the process of filming a movie about Halloween Horror Nights. On the hot set, HHN Icon Eddie Schmidt and his chainsaw deliver a sequel to the 2009 scare zone of the same name and crash the production. In the process, he brings with him other HHN characters to wreak havoc and chaos.
This roster of scare zones will join Beetlejuice, The Haunting of Hill House, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Universal Monsters: Bride of Frankenstein Lives! at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, which runs for a record-breaking 42 select nights, from Friday, September 3 to Saturday, October 31.
Find out everything you ever wanted to know about HHN – plus more! – in our insider’s guide. And then discuss it all with 150,000+ other Universal die-hard fans in our Orlando Informer Community on Facebook.
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