What a difference a month makes.  Yes, it’s been about three and a half weeks since we delivered a Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights Tracker and we are terribly sorry for the oversight.  Yes, there has been breaking news with the announcement of American Horror Story maze, the JABBAWOKEEZ returning and, of course, Eli Roth’s Terror Tram featuring Koodles the Clown. We have covered it in the individual announcements, but we have been remiss. We are back, fresh off of the three day weekend that is Labor Day, looking ahead to the wonderful promise that Halloween offers. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our time.  Welcome to the countdown.  Let’s dive into the latest progress at Universal, shall we?

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 You gotta love the local color at Universal Studios Hollywood. Does anyone even know what Woody Woodpecker is anymore?  That dude was hysterical.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Blood Brothers

The unofficial sequel to the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Blood Brothers intends to fill in the gap between the first film and TCM2. Here we arrive at the Texas BBQ joint as they are celebrating ChopTop’s arrival home from the Vietnam war. Nestled in the queue of Waterworld, this maze was moved into this area after the Scare Zones became one long experience and the space in the French Courtyard was needed.  Add to that the possible long lines for The Walking Dead on HHN nights and, well, there was no way that a maze would work in the old spot.  Soooooo it got moved here.

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The Exorcist

Moving down to the lower lot, we see the progress on The Exorcist.  For this writer, personally, I am eager to see what Creative Director John Murdy has in his head after years of pursuing the property. Assuming that Murdy had been coming up with sketches, designs, ideas, over the 11 years he had wanted to do the attraction, we asked him how much of his musings made it into the maze that will finally come to fruition. “Honestly, I had nothing!” Murdy laughed. “We finally got the property this year and I suddenly realized that, oh my god, how do we do this?” Noting that the film really took place in the home and then the bedroom, it broke many of the rules Murdy often used in choosing a property to adapt.

“When I met with Chris (Williams), I pulled up the Banned Exorcist Trailer on YouTube.” Murdy said, “It starts off all normal, with the car pulling up to the Georgetown house, then it starts flashing Pzuzu’s face, Regan’s face, all crazy. It really captures the feel I wanted for the maze.”

Below is the trailer.

Murdy continued on the @HorrorNights twitter…

 

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Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield

hhn26-hell-comes-to-haddonfield-michael-myers-halloweenHalloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield is a literal adaptation of the film Halloween 2 which picks up moments after the first film ends.  We arrive at the Doyle home as Dr. Loomis has shot Micheal Myers in the heart “6 times!”.  The front of the maze is the two story home and we enter the crime scene. Exiting the home we wander the alley behind the house and make out way to the hospital where Laurie Strode is recovering from the attack.

Of course, if you know the film, you know that the kills in this movie are far more outlandish. Needles in eyes, water scaldings, hammers cleaved into skulls, this will be a bloodier maze than last year.

Murdy said on twitter…

 

 

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Krampus

We recently got to take a look inside the Krampus maze with Murdy and a few other guests. We really thing that this maze is going to be a hell of a lot of fun. There is something about the look of the film, along with the dichotomy of holiday cheer and horror that is absolutely perfect. We will bring you a full story tomorrow on a look inside the Krapmus maze. But for now, we offer Murdy’s tweets over the past three weeks.

 

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Freddy Vs. Jason

Arriving at Freddy Vs. Jason we see the beautiful façade of the abandoned boiler maker factory. Clearly visible from the Tram Tour, the building is emblazoned with a not-so-subtle tribute to Freddy Krueger creator, Wes Craven, who recently passed away. Below are Murdy’s Tweets.

 

 

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American Horror Story

Yesterday we ran our tour through the amazing new American Horror Story maze. Of course, three weeks ago we had no real idea what was coming. Murdy tweeted the following in anticipation of the announcement.

Then it came. They announced America Horror Story on both coasts.

AHS at USH-HHN 2016

 

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Scare Zone The Purge Election Year

The park made it past Labor Day and with that, the beginning of installation of the sprawling scare zone that is The Purge.

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As signs in the park warn visitors of impending scary decor, the props wait patiently in the backlot, for the right moment to be installed.

 

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Terror Tram

On August 25th, Halloween Horror Nights made their final annoucnemtn by revealing the original concept for the Terror Tram.  Of course. Murdy had fun with fans on twitter along the way.

 

Then Universal made their announcement here.

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The all-new, original concept for the “Terror Tram” experience will tell the sordid tale of former Angeleno resident Harold Kappowitz whose alter ego “Koodles the Clown” went from cheerful circus performer, to the lovable star of his own children’s network television show…before he was overcome by his genuine “killer instincts.”

A series of short form content, produced by Crypt TV in conjunction Universal Studios Hollywood, aired on the digital horror network to tease the story of “Hollywood Harry” and create momentum for the announcement reveal of “Eli Roth Presents Terror Tram.”
We are BIG fans of Crypt TV here at HorrorBuzz. They are  a digital studio that creates original genre content guided by its motto #WEIRDISGOOD aimed at uniting fans and creating a movement that redefines what the future of horror content means to millennials. Since their 2015 launch, Crypt TV has become the fastest growing leader in digital scares with 20 million video views per month. Crypt TV was co-founded by Jack Davis and Eli Roth and has a strategic partnership with Blumhouse Productions.

Riding the regular Studio Tour we see new poles going up in the parking lot of the Bates Motel. While overall familiar, it seems that the route will be altered slightly according to the @HorrorNights feed.

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Near the War of the Worlds set, we see the grinning mouth of a clown, set to devour guests who are dumb enough to enter.

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We are officially excited for the Terror Tram. But DAMMIT! Clowns? Really?

 

 

JABBAWOKEEZ

Universal also used the past three weeks to announce the return of the hit show from last year, Jabbawockeez.  A tame, inoffensive dance show, Jabbawockeez entertained crowds enough to be asked to mount a new show, including the first female member of the celebrated dance ensemble.

How did such an amazing line up of properties come to be? Murdy explained via Twitter…

 

It’s wild to think that they had things dialed in way back in November of 2015 for the 2016 year.  But that is how it works.  As Murdy says, “It never stops.” HHN is a year round effort that ends up yielding huge results.

It is at this stage in the game that the Universal team works through the final stages of production….

Tickets

Below are a few revelations about tickets and dates.  There will be the Early Arrival feature happening on select nights this year. So the advice is to get there early whenever you go.

 

Q and A

Of course Murdy spent some time over the past few weeks handling an epic Q&A session with the fans.

A Trip to the Boneyard

We also recently got a preview of what is tom come as Murdy posted pictures from his recent trip to Boneyard FX.


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Tickets to this year’s event are available for purchase at www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/Hollywood, including the Frequent Fear Pass which allows guests to visit multiple times throughout the event.

And thus we close out this edition of the HHNTracker. All mazes have been announced, the show, the Terror Tram, and we are now getting peeks inside the mazes.  Check back tomorrow for our further interview with Murdy and a look inside the Krampus maze.

 

See you in the fog!

About the Author

Norman Gidney is a nearly lifelong horror fan. Beginning his love for the scare at the age of 5 by watching John Carpenter's Halloween, he set out on a quest to share his passion for all things spooky with the rest of the world.