Halloween Horror Nights 2025 (USH) - Speculation & Rumors

[Jerroddragon]

Your commitment to that 13-hour flight every year is commendable lol.

I just did a three hour flight.....I dont know if I would want to deal with that for HHN, lol

 

[rageofthegods]

You know what's a scare-zone they should bring back for a maze? Mask-A-Raid. That zone was *fun*.

 

[chris.g]

I also dont think anyone should be ashamed of being a fan of this year's lineup in particular. Stand by it! I'll even be the first to admit I'm just a grumpy old 27 y/o man longing for the atmosphere of yesterday when the reality is HHN had much less to offer then than it does now.

I WILL complain about upcharging early entry. Capitalize on everything I guess.

 

[DTH]

Yeah guys, you're a fan of whatever you're a fan of. Enjoy. Nobody should be yucking anyone's yum. Different strokes. There's subjective and objective. For example, as much as I looooaaaathe Terrifer, I have no doubt in my mind that it absolutely is ripe for a maze. Heck, I might even enjoy it when the time comes. But those excited for it and those not excited for it are allowed to have a voice in equal measure. And once everyone who has gone through, those who loved it and those who hated it are still allowed to have a voice. That's the fun of it all. This board would get boring pretty quick if we all just agreed with each other -- it already is an echo chamber in a lot of ways, so the differences when we do have them should be in good fun.

 

[saint.piss]

I also dont think anyone should be ashamed of being a fan of this year's lineup in particular. Stand by it! I'll even be the first to admit I'm just a grumpy old 27 y/o man longing for the atmosphere of yesterday when the reality is HHN had much less to offer then than it does now.

I WILL complain about uncharging early entry. Capitalize on everything I guess.

Damn you're only 3 years older than me lol. I thought you were in your 30s-40s for some reason

 

[Viator]

As a 26 year old who is open to seeing what makes sense as a result of not having HHN be a "fixture" for consistent back to back years; I think I like the direction Hollywood is taking post pandemic--but it needs to dial it up in intensity if they keep to the "Dark Ride" format that they seem to like having.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

I swear, it used to be like the whole park felt like a scare zone, fog everywhere, and just had an overall bite that the event doesn't capture anymore. The edge that I fell in love with has been sanded off.

This has as much to do with desensitization than anything else. Repeat exposure to literally anything will decrease stimuli over time. Someone coming to the event for the first time might get this exact impression simply because it's their first time.

It really does come down to "Has the thing changed or have I changed?" In a lot of case (most cases, I'd argue), it's us who's changed, not the thing. And it's not something we do intentionally. Familiarity breeds contempt. I definitely think that's what's happening here.

 

[highdefrex]

I WILL complain about uncharging early entry. Capitalize on everything I guess.

The Express lines piss me off, but the early entry charge these past few years actually offends me.

 

[Spookies n' Stuff]

Well sorry to hear some are not excited but.....I can tell you just for the little we have I'm much more excited for this event then the last few years

Fallout, FNAF and Jason....cool I'm already in

I'll be honest and say I zero interest in the WWE house but maybe it will be fun

Honestly exactly how I'm feeling, and thats coming from someone who's gone since 2013 and felt that 2022-2024 have been something of a return to form for the event lol.
I can get people feeling a little disenfranchised by the lack of overall event cohesion epecially when it comes to scarezone budgets being on the backfoot for like nearly 10 years now, but idk, I think it could be, and has been in the past, a lot worse.

I WILL complain about uncharging early entry. Capitalize on everything I guess.

Also 100% same, no year has passed since they made that decision where I haven't grumbled aboud paid early entry at least once a trip. It's bizarre that we somehow went from a free system that would make maybe the one headliner an hour wait at opening and everything else would be dead, to a paid system that somehow makes it so every maze except for like two of them are over an hour wait at opening.

 

[DTH]

This has as much to do with desensitization than anything else. Repeat exposure to literally anything will decrease stimuli over time. Someone coming to the event for the first time might get this exact impression simply because it's their first time.

It really does come down to "Has the thing changed or have I changed?" In a lot of case (most cases, I'd argue), it's us who's changed, not the thing. And it's not something we do intentionally. Familiarity breeds contempt. I definitely think that's what's happening here.

This is not a valid argument simply because the event literally has changed. It definitely used to feel more rock n roll in terms of how edgy it was. Heck, quite literally, I remember a time when dubstep wasn't even at HHN. Sadly, I bet more than half of this forum never got to see a Bill & Ted show. Or see the go-go dancers. Or go through the House of Horrors. Keep in mind, a lot of us still go to other haunts and have been going for decades and love them just as much or hated them (I went to Fright Fest ONCE 20 years and I don't think I would EVER go again based on how bad it was and how bad the videos make it still look). It's also reasonable that haunts go through up periods and down periods. I've been going to KSF for 25 years and I think it's currently in an up period that rivals how good it used to be in the early 2000s, especially with the return of The Hanging (especially now that I can SIT for it) and the maze quality they've been pushing out as of late.

Do SOME people change and no longer like HHN or these events? Absolutely. But that's not going to be the case, dare I say, in most cases. People age out of going to clubs/bars, but to compare this fairly, concerts are still popular with all ages depending on which band is playing.

 

[Clive]

This is not a valid argument simply because the event literally has changed. It definitely used to feel more rock n roll in terms of how edgy it was. Heck, quite literally, I remember a time when dubstep wasn't even at HHN. Sadly, I bet more than half of this forum never got to see a Bill & Ted show. Or see the go-go dancers. Or go through the House of Horrors. Keep in mind, a lot of us still go to other haunts and have been going for decades and love them just as much or hated them (I went to Fright Fest ONCE 20 years and I don't think I would EVER go again based on how bad it was and how bad the videos make it still look). It's also reasonable that haunts go through up periods and down periods. I've been going to KSF for 25 years and I think it's currently in an up period that rivals how good it used to be in the early 2000s, especially with the return of The Hanging (especially now that I can SIT for it) and the maze quality they've been pushing out as of late.

Do SOME people change and no longer like HHN or these events? Absolutely. But that's not going to be the case, dare I say, in most cases. People age out of going to clubs/bars, but to compare this fairly, concerts are still popular with all ages depending on which band is playing.

I mean, two things can be true, right? The event was demonstrably edgier in certain areas in its early years post-relaunch. However, that came with other caveats. Look up the older Insidious masks versus the ones they use today, for example. The build, costuming, makeup, and effects quality has gotten exponentially better, and you have far more offerings with fewer repeats than you did in 2006-2010 or so.

 

[Jerroddragon]

This is not a valid argument simply because the event literally has changed. It definitely used to feel more rock n roll in terms of how edgy it was. Heck, quite literally, I remember a time when dubstep wasn't even at HHN. Sadly, I bet more than half of this forum never got to see a Bill & Ted show. Or see the go-go dancers. Or go through the House of Horrors. Keep in mind, a lot of us still go to other haunts and have been going for decades and love them just as much or hated them (I went to Fright Fest ONCE 20 years and I don't think I would EVER go again based on how bad it was and how bad the videos make it still look). It's also reasonable that haunts go through up periods and down periods. I've been going to KSF for 25 years and I think it's currently in an up period that rivals how good it used to be in the early 2000s, especially with the return of The Hanging (especially now that I can SIT for it) and the maze quality they've been pushing out as of late.

Do SOME people change and no longer like HHN or these events? Absolutely. But that's not going to be the case, dare I say, in most cases. People age out of going to clubs/bars, but to compare this fairly, concerts are still popular with all ages depending on which band is playing.

I'll be honest the Go Go dancers were never needed and were weird we ever had them

Bill and Ted is what I miss the most from the old days, it just felt like a fun way to cap the year off and heck I'd take even just a rock version of the show where we get new songs highlighted from the past year

But I'll be honest HHN is a better event now then...the difference for sure is I've changed and also I've done like 50 events like this since I started to go....20ish years ago. But we have much more to do most years then before and only thing that could be worst now is staffing at certain times but even last year which I think was a "weaker" year I just had a blast and went like 10+ times

I'll have to go to scary farm and see if its really that much better but I did like Scary farm back in the day but to me it never felt as intense as HHN, like when I went last time they have a giant squid in a house it was fun but I loved it but for sure wasn't scarier then HHN (in my opinion)



(this is not at DTH but more to myself) But I hope I never get old....I love the old IPs but also do love the new ones....Black Phone 2 looks really good to me and different enough from the first film and would not mind seeing it return at next years event or this one if its based on the new film.

 

[viking_wizard_eyes]

This is not a valid argument simply because the event literally has changed. It definitely used to feel more rock n roll in terms of how edgy it was. Heck, quite literally, I remember a time when dubstep wasn't even at HHN.

It is a valid argument. First of all, multiple things can be true at once. And secondly, you think you're looking at this objectively, but you're not. That's impossible. Obviously change is inevitable, but rock and roll is edgy to you. For some people, rock and roll is corny, and dubstep has an edgier sound. The point with this particular argument is -- HHN has edgy music. It's not like the soundtrack is ABBA and John Denver...

Do SOME people change and no longer like HHN or these events? Absolutely. But that's not going to be the case, dare I say, in most cases. People age out of going to clubs/bars, but to compare this fairly, concerts are still popular with all ages depending on which band is playing.

This is a terrible analogy, man. People enjoy going to concerts because it's a different artist each time. Each concert is a novel experience. Even if you see the same artist often, there's a different setlist or different stage setup or different opening acts or whatever else. There's a unique aspect of some kind. (Dead Heads and Phish fans are the exception here lol.) HHN is strives for novelty year over year, but ultimately, it's kinda the same event each time. This was true even back in these supposed "glory days" days of Bill & Ted and go-go dancers, and it's true for every theme park haunt, especially KSF.

Look, I'm not trying to be a know-it-all but it's proven science that repeat exposure to something decreases stimuli. It's not out of the realm of possibility that folks don't find HHN as enjoyable as they used to simply because they've been going since 2007. They might not even realize they're bored of it, and then when you add in a stubborn "get off my lawn" nostalgic perspective, all off a sudden you're the Principal Skinner meme. Just kinda the way it goes!

 

[rageofthegods]

As a 26 year old who is open to seeing what makes sense as a result of not having HHN be a "fixture" for consistent back to back years; I think I like the direction Hollywood is taking post pandemic--but it needs to dial it up in intensity if they keep to the "Dark Ride" format that they seem to like having.

Kinda the key for me. I really love the idea of the dark ride format and it's resulted in some awe-inspiring, innovative stuff, but these big lumbering things need to actually scare!

 

[Viator]

Kinda the key for me. I really love the idea of the dark ride format and it's resulted in some awe-inspiring, innovative stuff, but these big lumbering things need to actually scare!

I think the fact they've embraced the dark ride formula as a method that Hollywood shines with is great. In contrast to Orlando going on size and scale, Hollywood taking a crack of the "Technological" side of what makes HHN tick is a fantastic idea.

They just need to dial up the intensity and make it somewhat "scary" alongside it being incredibly impressive to see what the mechanical teams come up with.