Halloween Horror Nights

The ticket sales were much higher than Universal had expected. With the success of Fright Nights, it was clear to Universal they had something and could tap into a market that their rival Disney. Disney didn’t already capitalize on. The event will return to Universal Studios Florida in 1992 but with the name change Halloween Horror Nights due in part of copyright issues. While the Dungeon of Terror maze would return for the event. A new house would be created one based on the movie The People Under the Stairs making its debut in soundstage 23.

The movie which was written and directed by Wes Craven was released a year before and was a prize box-office success. Another addition to the event would Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. The show which is based off the 1989 movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

Satirize pop culture of the year with Bill and Ted has two protagonists fighting villains who steal their phone boot for their own schemes. The 1992 event would run for five nights instead of three and was again a major success. Florida wouldn’t be the only park to have a Halloween event that year. Doing part of the success of Florida’s Fright Nights. Universal Studios Hollywood would host their own Halloween Horror Nights. But unlike Florida the Hollywood event wasn’t a huge success due to a competition from another local and more established Halloween event and that would be Knott’s Scary Farm.

Universal Studios Hollywood would not host another Halloween Horror Nights until 1997. In 1993, the event would once again return this time expanding the seven nights instead of just five due to the reopening of the Jaws attraction. The haunted house maze The Slaughter House was moved from the Jaws queue an Enmity Tanana sermons facade in the New York area. The people under the stairs house would return to soundstage 23 and a new house the Psychopath maze. It would take place in the Bates Motel set to help build on the success of the 1992 event. Universal would spend ten million dollars on marketing the 1993 event. The event would go on to draw an estimated 100,000 guest that year. Most of them being locals and it became clear that Halloween Horror Nights was quickly becoming an event people wanted to attend. Universal kept the momentum going in 1994 with Halloween Horror Nights for which saw the return of a newly designed of the Dungeon of Terror. Now located inside the Earthquake Overflow queue. Along with two new houses The Boneyard located within the Boneyard attraction and Hell’s Kitchen located in the Nar Summons facade.

This year’s event would also mark the first time the event would feature of a scare zone. A specific outdoor area that features costumed characters that fit a specific theme with the intent of scaring people who walk through the area. The scare zone named horror would was located on Hollywood Boulevard and featured the chainsaw drill team who has appeared at almost every Halloween Horror Nights event in Orlando. This year would also mark the first use of the term scare actors. As well as the first official ghoul school for actors participating in the event. For Halloween Horror Nights 5, the event expanded to 12 nights and was marketed all across the United States through both television and radio coverage. Universal would also offer gory getaway travel packages by partnering with local hotels. This year would also introduce the idea of the event being themed around a character. For this year it would be the Crypt Keeper from Tales from the Crypt. For those who don’t know who is the Crypt Keeper is. He was the host of the HBO horror anthology television series Tales from the Crypt. In which he would use tons of cheesy puns and terrible one-liners to introduce each episode’s story.

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