As Universal's Halloween Horror Nights Debuts A Quiet Place Haunted House, Here Are 6 Franchises We'd Still Love to See

Every year, Universal Halloween Horror Nights finds a way to balance the old and the new, using both original concepts and well-known intellectual properties (IP) to inspire new scares – and 2024 is no different.

As return franchises including Treacherous, Ghostbusters and Universal Monsters continue to define the HHN canon, Peaceful place also entered the fray as the latest horror franchise to gain its own home in both Orlando and Hollywood locations of the annual spooky event, which has drawn more and more fanfare each year since its inception in 1991. Peaceful place it also marks the first HHN house to include American Sign Language.

As someone who has attended the Orlando event almost every year since 2002, I’ve seen a range of IPs explored in haunted houses and scare zones, including Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, SAW, The Purge and Child’s play. HHN even used hit one-offs like A cabin in the forest and bug juice, and television series such as American Horror Story and The Haunting of Hill House.

But, of course, there is more to discover. Read on to see our top six picks for more movie franchises we’d love to see at Halloween Horror Nights in the coming years, after the 33rd event officially opens in Orlando on Friday, August 30.

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Tim Curry; Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise in Stephen King’s ‘It’ adaptations.

Warner Bros. / Courtesy of the Everett Collection; New Line Cinema/Entertainment Pictures

Stephen King IT

While HHN has its own canonical clown in Jack — an “icon” that debuted in 2000 and returned a few years after that — Stephen King’s Pennywise It it also transcends generations, thanks to the chilling portrayals of Tim Curry in the 1990 television miniseries and Bill Skarsgård in the more recent feature films, released in two parts in 2017 and 2019.

The event also proved that there’s no problem taking a beloved horror franchise and blending the old with the new. Last year, Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count haunted house opened with a nod to the original Child’s play film trilogy and 1998 Bride of Chucky before the full leap into the present day Chucky A TV series that boasts something for every fan.

And since HHN also leaned into the campy 80s movie Killer clowns from outer space more than once, it seems there’s still room for more clowning in the circus.

Tony Todd in ‘Candyman’ (1992). Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Are Halloween Horror Nights Kid Friendly? What to know about a PG-13 event at Universal Orlando

Candyman

HHN is no stranger to devilish dessert — in fact, a synopsis of one of this year’s haunted houses, The main candy factoryreads: “You’re invited to be a chaperone on a field trip to a candy factory. But this sweet tour turns bad when the free samples turn the kids into candy-coated assassins wielding pointy candies.”

As a huge fan of the original 1992 film and the 2021 sequel directed by Nia DaCosta, I’ve been waiting Candyman haunted house for a long time. With a total of four moves in the franchise, there’s plenty to draw on in both visuals (hook! bees!) and sounds, the latter even with just the bone-chilling voice of villain Tony Todd.

Plus, honey bee sting cake with fake blood? Golden menu.

Devon Sawa in ‘Final Destination’ (2000).

Photo by Moviestore/Shutterstock

Final destination

Another multi-part franchise with fresher and funnier kills around every corner, there’s so much to do in Final destination films, starting with the original 2000 film starring Devon Sawa (who is also now the main cast of Chuckyaccidentally).

There are some kills that look a little different from a haunted house, like the first plane crash sequence and the terrifying logging truck. But being fried in a tanning bed or exploding on a grill? The makeup department would have a field day.

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Neve Campbell and Rose McGowan in ‘Scream’ (1996).

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Scream

Scream is the franchise that most shocks me has yet to enter the realm of HHN in terms of a haunted house. Yes, the 2011 Hollywood event did Scream Scare Zone and movies were briefly included in the Orlando house in 2006 All Nite Die-In: Take 2but considering Scream has lasted almost 28 years, six (almost seven) movies and a TV series, Ghostface deserves a special home at this point.

There have been many HHN haunted houses over the years that have embraced and escaped — or sometimes, mixed it up, a la Michael Myers — with the story of a masked killer. And some of the best rooms are the ones with masked people all around you, where you can’t tell who’s real and who’s not (I’m looking at you, pig mask room in 2009 SAW house).

And speaking of her character Sidney Prescott, who first appeared in 1996 ScreamNeve Campbell told PEOPLE in June amid news that she was rejoining the franchise that her Last Girl protagonist is “so strong” and has “inspired a lot of people.”

“I meet a lot of fans who say that her strength has helped them through difficult times, and that means more to some people than I could ever imagine,” she added.

Heather Donahue entered The Blair Witch Project (1999).

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The Blair Witch Project

Twenty-five years ago, The Blair Witch Project he drove a (damn, snotty) stake into the ground of found-footage, defining the horror subgenre in a way it hadn’t before. Since then, several filmmakers have imitated it with varying degrees of success, but nothing quite like the original — thanks in large part to its ingenious marketing campaign (namely, the big question: “Did this really happen?”) before the Internet became the behemoth it is. was now.

Aside from the magical coolness factor lost in the forest, The Blair Witch Project it seems like it would be an easy practical lift given the many sequels and similar houses in recent years that HHN has done brilliantly. For example, there was an original from 2023 YETI: Campground Killswhich was the closest thing to an actual camping expedition gone wrong.

Real fears in The Blair Witch Project yet they come from his most subtle moments. All Universal really needs to do is have a guy in a flannel shirt and beanie standing quietly facing away in the corner, and any older millennial will be happy he waited in line for an hour.

From L: MaXXXine (2024); Midsommar (2019); Talk to me (2022).

A24(3)

A24

A24 isn’t a franchise per se, but rather a studio that has released a slew of horror offerings in recent years that rival Blumhouse’s more frequent HHN films. This year the latter even has its own Scare Zone named Enter Blumhousewith characters from strange, Black phone, Cleaning, Happy death day — and of course, M3GAN herself.

While it’s certainly not as full of “iconic” villains as Blumhouse’s films tend to be, A24 is hugely popular with horror fans and has turned out fantastic, with original stories and memorable characters in films like Midsommar (2019), Talk to me (2022) and Mia Goth at the helm X trilogy, and the last part is this year’s MaXXXine.

And given that many A24 films, including the ones mentioned above, are directed by women — just like this year’s coastal one Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines haunted house — it couldn’t hurt HHN to lean even more heavily on the feminine of fear.

Tickets for Halloween Horror Nights 33 at Universal Orlando Resort, which runs select nights through November 3, are on sale now at universalorlando.com/hhn.

Those looking to attend on the West Coast can purchase tickets at universalstudioshollywood.com/hhn for the sister event starting September 5th, which will also run on select nights through November 3rd.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education