Earlier this winter, Universal Hollywood sent out their annual survey asking which themes we would like to see at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights. Once again, Scare Zone took good note of all the themes in the survey, and we’re ready to begin our speculation of what we can expect to see this year. Last year, we successfully guessed a few of the themes, and with the help of our Haunt Stalkers we were able to reveal the other themes before they were publicly confirmed. This year, the survey not only asked about movies, TV shows, and video games, but it also included questions about film directors and musicians. This makes sense, as last year we got Eli Roth, Rob Zombie, and Alice Cooper titled mazes.

John Murdy tweeted that he actually started HHN design this wee,k and he has already made progress on the design of maze #1 for HHN 2012! So, before more time passes, here’s our exclusive analysis of the survey and what we believe to be strong possibilities for 2012 HHN Hollywood themes. Take a look for yourself, vote, and leave comments letting us know which themes you’d like to see come to life. Once again, we’ll keep track of everyone’s votes and see if we can guess the mazes before they’re officially announced.

Terror Tram

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The survey began with specific questions about last year’s Terror Tram: A Scream 4 Your Life. Questions about the tram seemed to indicate that some changes to (or even elimination of) the terror tram are being considered. Questions included:

  • Should the tram be replaced by a seventh maze?
  • Should the tram go to a different part of the backlot?

For most people we know, the tram is a low point of the haunt. In 2011, the Scream theme definitely did not shine through. The open nature of the areas and long “conga line” of guests also prevent scares from being effective. The Psycho House/Bates Motel and War of the Worlds sets are cool to see up close, but they’ve been doing the same path for years now, and it’s no longer surprising (and certainly not scary). In addition, noise complaints from residents in the surrounding hills limit the possibilities of expanding or improving the terror tram experience. However, the terror tram is a great “people eater,” and in an already overcrowded haunt, shuttling thousands of people per hour down to the lower lot alleviates a lot of the gridlock from the maze areas. If they eliminate the tram from HHN altogether, we hope they put some serious thought into alternative crowd-control strategies—outside of stuffing guests into the line for the new Transformers ride.

Scare Zones

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Some questions were aimed at gauging guests’ opinions about scare zones in general. One question asked, “How many scare zones did you attend?” with an option of “10 or more” for an answer. This is interesting, as there were only 5 scare zones at HHN last year. Another question asked, “How did you know when you had entered a scare zone?” From these questions, it seems that guests are having trouble recognizing not only where a particular scare zone begins and ends but also the difference between the zones. For example, is there much difference between Klownz and Freakz? And is knowing the difference really important to most guests? Probably not. Maybe it’s time for HHN to consider a new approach to scare zones: one that has the zones flow naturally into one another and tell a coherent story, eliminating the need to have separate “zones.” Just a thought.

Mazes

Movie Themes

  • 28 Days Later – 28 Months Later is in development for 2013
  • Alien/Aliens – The loosely based prequel, Prometheus, comes out this summer, but we feel that it’s unlikely we’ll see an Alien maze
  • An American Werewolf in London
  • Amityville Horror
  • Dawn of the Dead – A sequel titled Army of the Dead is currently in development at Universal for 2012
  • Evil Dead/Army of Darkness – This is owned by Universal, and we know John is big on this series, but the remake isn’t slated until 2013, so we may have to wait another year
  • The Exorcist – John has said he’d love to do a maze based on this movie, but he’s had trouble securing the rights in the past
  • Freddy vs. Jason
  • From Dusk Till Dawn
  • Hatchet – A third sequel is in development and slated for release later this year
  • Hellraiser
  • The Hills Have Eyes
  • Insidious 
  • Jeepers Creepers – The long rumored third part isn’t slated to come out until 2013
  • Killer Klowns from Outer Space
  • Lords of Salem – Rob Zombie is directing the 2012 remake, so this is STRONG possibility
  • Paranormal Activity – Like clockwork, another movie is coming out this year, we’re just not sure how these movies translate into a worthy maze
  • Poltergeist – Remake slated for 2013
  • Psycho – A classic Universal property that John loves, but we’ve had our fill of Norman appearances on the Terror Tram
  • Resident Evil – Another 3D sequel is coming out this year
  • Silent Hill – A 3D sequel is coming out this year
  • Stephen King Films (IT, The Shining, etc.)
  • Trick ‘r Treat – This was highly requested by fans and on Murdy’s shortlist in 2011, but the hype probably has worn out by now
  • Universal Studios Classic Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.) – We know John is fascinated by them and the House of Horrors will always need an overlay
  • Zombieland

Previous HHN Movie Themes 

  • Child’s Play (Chucky): Noooooooooo – Chucky is not scary!
  • Friday the 13th (Jason Voorhees) – Jason never stops returning, but it’s a been a while since he’s been in theaters
  • Halloween (Michael Myers) – Halloween 3D is coming out this October, so this could be a strong contender
  • House of 1000 Corpses – Rob Zombie may be back, but Captain Spaulding’s Murder Ride should have taken its last run in ’11
  • Hostel – We hope hunting season is over
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy Krueger) – Freddy’s still asleep
  • Saw – Please, no more predictable games
  • Scream – Scary Movie 5 may be a better option
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Another possibility as the 3D sequel is coming out this October
  • The Wolfman – We believe a lunar eclipse will keep Wolfy away this year

TV Shows

  • American Horror Story
  • True Blood
  • The Walking Dead

Video Games

  • Biohazard – Evil
  • Left 4 Dead

Myths and Legends

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  • **La Llorona – We though that this was a great maze last year and knowing HHN’s history of bringing back mazes, we
    think this could (should) return this year

Film Directors/Producers/Writers

  • Robert Rodriguez
  • Trey Parker – WTF? They’re doing South Park the maze? Probably just asked to survey the demo or for possible Bill & Ted’s show themes
  • Tobe Hooper – currently directing Djinn, 2012 release
  • Stephen King
  • Guillermo Del Toro
  • John Carpenter
  • John Landis
  • Tim Burton – currently working on Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie, 2012 releases
  • Wes Craven
  • George Romero
  • Quentin Tarantino
The following directors’ names were also in the survey, and they have worked with HHN in the past:
  • Eli Roth – producing a remake of Fun House in 3D, release date unknown
  • Clive Barker
  • Rob Zombie – directing Lords of Salem, coming out this year

Music Artists

  • Ozzy Osbourne
  • Lady GagaHHA_2011__4700
  • Marilyn Manson
  • Alice Cooper – We’re 50/50 whether or not Alice’s maze will return this year 
  • Rob Zombie
  • Slipknot
  • KISS – Could work since Gene Simmons’s hair is scary

Now we want to hear from all of you, our Haunt Stalkers. Share your guesses and votes about which mazes you want to see at HHN Hollywood in 2012!

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21 COMMENTS

  1. I would love to see the following mazes:
    Amytville Horror
    Halloween
    The Exorcist
    Resident Evil
    The Hills Have Eyes
    Poltergeist
    I believe these mazes would be a total success since they are all crowd pleaser movies.

    • I kinda wish they didn’t do so much movie themed houses and create there own stories and themes like Universal Orlando has so many mazes and only a few are movie based and same with overall themes and iconic characters they should create there own or bring an urban legend to life I kinda want to see may be a slender man scare zone or maze I think that would be creepy and not everyone knows of this urban legend (google it). When I do the survey I am disappointed that they have a long list of movie themes instead of them asking what people are most scared of or what haunted them in there child hood. I thought the La Llorona maze was brilliant and not everyone knew the story so this was new ground for people and they were brought into this foreign world (literally) and it set the mood and made it all that much better. I think the maximum number of movie themed HOUSES should be two or three and the Terror Tram (maybe) and a maybe two scare zones could be movie based then the rest they could come up with on there own or bring new legends and new stories two Halloween Horror Nights. I love all the ideas HHN Orlando have especially the stories they tell with there characters and I loved the fact they brought bloody marry to life and they did a hell of a job too. I also think the personification of fear was an amazing idea but could have been pulled off a lot better. I do really like the Lords of Salem idea not only because I love Rob Zombie but because he really knows how to scare people and leave them horrified and it will be better than having the 3d house of 1000 corpses again because lets face it, it was really awesome and I know people liked it but two times in a row seems like they were being lazy or thinking of money over quality and customers.

  2. I say Insidious is a strong contender this year. Movie did great in the box office and now has a huge fan base. not to mention insidious 2 was just given a go for preproduction. heres buy list

    Insidious
    Lords of Salem
    Halloween
    Texas Chainsaw Massacre
    Hellrasier
    Evil Dead
    terror tram – original concept would be nice this year

  3. Not my preferred choices, but I think this is what they’ll go with.

    Halloween 3D
    Evil Dead
    Texas Chainsaw 3D
    Lords of Salem
    La Llorona
    Alice Cooper’s Nightmare
    Classic monsters overlay on House of Horrors

    We’ll get a 7th maze but no Terror Tram – The new Transformers ride will be their “people eater”, just stuff the thousands of people in that line.

  4. WHY NOT HAVE ALL OF THE MOST SCARIEST AND CREEPIEST MAZES AND MONSTERS THAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID OF? WHY NOT ASK THE PUBLIC TO SEE WHAT THEY DONT LIKE AND AMP OF HHN THIS YEAR TO THAT OR SOMTHING TOTALY DIFFERET?

  7. My favorites are:
    Jeepers Creepers
    Paranormal Activity
    Army of the Dead
    Stephen King – The Shining
    The Exorcist
    Walking Dead
    Lords of Salem
    Left 4 Dead

  8. The Exorcist, The Exorcist, The Exorcist, The Exorcist! I know universal doesn’t own these rights but damn a exorcist maze in the right hands can be a great time!!!!!!

  9. I think you guys should add Michael Myers house this year. He is my favorite and I know TONS of people that would LOVE to see him there this year:-)

  11. Please, no more Friday the 13th, that was the weekest maze of all the mazes in its overrun existance at HHN. Anyone who has been going to HHN in the last decade knows this. No more over-done fanchises. The new line-up last year was great, as the old line-up got incredibly stale. While I would love to see La Llorona return, it would be awsome to see more horror folklore exhibited. Superstitious tales are absolutely terrifying, and the power these stories have over people becomes quite apparent in their ability to remain prolific in cultures over centuries and multiple generations. La Llorona encompassed so much of that power to terrify people, and I know it doesn’t stand alone, there are so many more to tell. I really just hope the HHN team took note of the strongest mazes last year, and manages to keep at least a 50% fresh line-up every year, because those few years of consecutive maze repeats left me questioning my love for the event as a whole. Thank goodness they got a grip on it just in time, because last year was amazing.

  12. i like the idea of newer scarezones that would bring back true terror like past years with really good scares and no cheap repeats again. the opening ceremony would be a news reporter anncouning the end of the world is near or the preacher from welcome to hell opens the event plus he joins the rank of being this year’s hollywood’s hallloween horror night’s icon and he will bring serveral new terrors upon us all. unless it the director or jack the clown being reintroduced or a completly orginal theme for both events for orlando and hollywood.

  13. hill have eyes is supernatural based, insidious is about a haunted house, jeepers creepers is supernatrual based, killer klowns from outer space is about alien clowns, poltergist is about ghosts, psycho is about a serial killer, resident evil is zombie based, silent hill is supernatrual or ghost, trick r treat is a series of short films in one single movie, it is about an evil trickster or clown, shining is about a crazy guy or supernatural, dracula and frankenstien are classics but in 2010 they had a vampire themed house of horrors next would be frankenstein well doctor victor frankenstein is trying to recreate old horror movie characters and reanimating all the classic and more modern horror icons to life and frankenstein’s monster goes insane and kills his former master kind of like in 2009’s orlando event with the usher, or other apperances.

  14. zombieland is about a zombie outbreak, chucky is about a posssessed doll, friday the 13th is about jason voorhees who is a psycho camp counselor or cook, halloween the movie is about micheal myers he is a psychotic serial killer who likes halloween and horror movies a lot, house of a thousand corpses is about a abondaned roadside attraction where the circus freaks have gone crazy insane, hostel is about an eastern european hostel where it is turned into a hunting ground where people are tortured and killed , then later body parts are sold to the rich, famous,and insane people, nightmare on elm street is about freedy kruger who was killed by fire and got many severe burns but a demon went to live in him as its host and this denom causes nightmares that can actually kill those who go to sleep.

  15. saw is about a guy called jigsaw killer real name is john kramer and he loves playing sadistic games involving traps and other forms of torture, scream is about a serial killer who is called ghost face and each of the many ghostfaces attack many victims but especially a female named sidney. texas chainsaw massacre is about a killer butcher named leatherface he was born with a rare skin condition leaving him without an facial tissues, or muscles in the facial part of his head, and he kills people and later wears their skins like a mask, wolfman is about a man who is cursed to turn into a werewolf and terrorize his loved ones and others, american horror story is about many horror related subjects, true blood is about vampires, walking dead is about zombie outbreaks around the united states and around the world, biohazard evil is about toxic mutants, left for dead is about zombies, la llorona is about a ghost story of the weeping woman a ghost who wants to find her missing children who drowned in colonial mexico.

  16. How about Fantastic Voyage (1966) all the different Scenes that were really creepy…..Imagine: Going thru the Lungs or getting caught up in the Anti-Bodies and then there’s the Heart,Ear, as in the movie. In other words all the Bodies
    Defenses Coming at you since you are the “Invading Organism” Just a Thought, Happy Dreams!!

  17. “John” DOES make a good suggestion they really should make up theyre own mazes and bringing up legends!!! :D But they really shuld keep a Terror Tram and also the Alice Cooper maze it was AWSOME!! :)

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