The culmination of two decades

Long before Universal’s 20th year of Horror Nights commenced, a viral marketing campaign began. Truly unsettling videos began leaking of a figure in the shadows whose deep, guttural voice (more like a collection of voices all speaking together) would utter mysterious nonsequitor thoughts: “It is the twentieth cycle.” “I wait no longer.” “I demand more.” “I am getting closer.” “Face me.”

An intricate puzzle on the event’s official website was unlocked one element at a time. Those who finished the puzzle’s most complex demands were rewarded with a video. “To you,” Jack smiled darkly, “I’m just a clown. But to him... I’m so much more.” Would Jack return as the event’s icon?

No. One by one, the icons past reappeared to explain that all along, they’d stood for something greater. All along, even decades ago, the icons of the event had been part of a much larger puzzle. Jack embodies Chaos. The Caretaker is Death. The Director symbolizes Sacrifice. The Storyteller is truly Legend. And the Usher is living, breathing Vengeance. These five elements, they argue together, are fear; all horror stories are rooted in one of those five concepts.

And indeed, Halloween Horror Nights XX was represented by Fear himself, a towering winged creature with Roman numerals burned into his arms and a dark, twisted bramble growing across his body. The attentive will note that all five icons have the same thorny bramble growing across their faces, as well. With their work to pave the way done, the past icons can return under the rule of their true master, and indeed, Fear stood at the entrance of the event under a pair of massive steel X’s that formed the gates into his domain.

Critics lauded each and every maze and scarezone at the year’s event, each more detailed than the last. Fear’s voice (now recognizable as a combination of the previous five icons’) spoke often that “This is not about the past. This is about the future.”

That remained true with Halloween Horror Nights 21, overseen by the icon Lady Luck, who would transform from vixen to predator with the spin of a Las Vegas style roulette wheel to match the event’s Blackjack 21 theme. Interestingly, each house and scarezone shared one common theme. And no, it wasn’t luck. It was choice. Different paths and behaviors would determine your outcome in mazes with shifting walls and mis-directional signs. In some philosophical way, perhaps the event was asking if luck exists at all or if it's choice that determines all outcomes?

The present

2012's  Halloween Horror Nights 22 dropped the icon once again in favor of mazes based on Silent Hill, Alice Cooper, Universal’s classic monsters, and AMC’s The Walking Dead. The park dropped scarezones as well, opting for what it called “Street Experiences,” where roving hordes of warriors, bikers, and vampires would roam the park so that no place was safe. The experience was coolly received and written off by many as a cop-out since these Street Experiences meant Universal didn’t have to invest in the detailed scarezones people had grown to expect. What’s more, the different warring hordes were prone to stopping for much too long or being hard to find.

2013’s Halloween Horror Nights 23 didn’t look too much different on the surface, which worried fans. It was another year of mostly movie-themed houses (The Cabin the Woods, Evil Dead, Resident Evil, and The Walking Dead, and An American Werewolf in London with a few original concept houses, as well), no event icon, and an unusual idea. The park would have scarezones, but none so distinctly defined; they’d all be themed to The Walking Dead, with different famous locations from that series represented (like a farm, a survivor’s camp, and downtown Atlanta).

But how would a whole park themed to the Walking Dead mix with houses based on other, very different horror franchises? It turns out, very well. The new scarezone concept was strong, detailed and well executed, and the houses were all even more meticulously detailed than they had been before. Somehow, despite sounding an awful lot like Halloween Horror Nights 22, 23 was a hit. You can read our own house-by-house review of Halloween Horror Nights 23.

For 2014, Universal has reversed its strategy somewhat. Halloween Horror Nights 24 is a bit of a departure from last year’s event, bringing back individual scare zones, and featuring more houses based on original properties. However, if you are into film and TV tie-ins, this year’s event features houses and scare-zones based on The Walking Dead,Halloween, The Purge, Alien vs. Predator, Face-Off (Syfy’s reality show) and Dracula Untold.

So far, early reviews have praised the return to separate scare zones, and stand out houses (so far) seem to be original houses Giggle and Gore as well as Roanoke: Cannibal Colony. On the tie –in side, popular consensus seems to be that the Alien vs. Predator and Walking Dead houses are among the best in the event’s history.

Conclusion

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is the most respected Halloween event in the world. It’s beloved by its fans with numerous websites dedicated to it, and visitors flock from around the world to visit the event (or at least find high definition, night-vision videos of its haunted houses on YouTube). The event remains strong precisely because it continues to grow and try new things, switching parks, icons, themes, and atmospheres each year instead of relying on the same thing over and over again. Without a doubt, Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights will remain an industry leader for as long as they continue to produce such a high quality event.

Two questions remain: which do you prefer, years where your favorite movies come to life, or years when Universal builds original mythologies through viral build-up? And the biggest question: what’s next? For their part, Universal’s team probably already has a pretty solid idea. We just won’t hear a peep for another year.