Fast Facts:
Started in 1991 at the Universal Studios Florida Park
600 actors start rehearsals by early autumn.
Roughly 300 actors work in mazes/houses and 300 actors work in the streets
30,000 to 40,000 people in the park during the event
Attraction Throughput: 2,500 per hour
21 days of operation, 6-8 hours of operation each night
www.halloweenhorrornights.com
Universal Orlando® Resort
1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Orlando, Florida 32819-7610
General Information: (407) 363-8000>

As night descends, the safe daytime environment of Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure morphs into a threatening evening filled with heart stopping scares, blood chilling thrills and fearsome fun. Venture with us, now, into the Islands of Fear 2003 and experience the fear of your lifetime!

“For 13 millennia…13 centuries…and 13 years, a supernatural force of unspeakable horror has been waiting to be unleashed into the world. The time is here…the time is now!”

This is the theme statement that the Universal Orlando Development Team used as an impetus to create the 2003 offering of Halloween Horror Nights 13.

Take a Tour
Crossing the bridge from the shopping and dining bustle of Universal’s City Walk, you are accosted by a gathering of “naysayers.” A priest, a bag lady, a crazed lunatic and other characters haunt this area, all hawking the same heartfelt warning: “Turn back now! Unspeakable evil awaits you in the Islands!” Your curiosity heightened and your knees slightly weakened, you proceed to the ticket booths to gain entry into the transformed park.

A pair of towering, elongated, deathly pale creatures on either side of a low bridge stand as sentinels at the entry portal. Their mouths crudely sewn shut, they silently gesture with long bony fingers for you to enter under the bridge. You enter into the glowing deep red smoky atmosphere of the Islands of Fear. Filled with anticipation mixed with dread, you move into the unknown. Cyclonic winds and a misty rain swirl around you as unknown creatures lurk about.

Ominous tribal drumming becomes louder as you make your way through the foggy street, under a second bridge and into a primitive town square surrounded by crudely constructed wooden stages. Your towering hosts, the slithery incubus and the two scantily clad female succubae, greet you, their voices coming from the very depths of the netherworld (voice modulators). Flaming torches light the stages as hooded drummers pound out a rhythmic and pulsating beat. At the end of the pathway, a massive steel plated skull erupts spasmodically with flame. The number “13” is carved plainly into the skull’s forehead. Three female victims under the spell of the beat and the hypnotic gaze of the skull are chained to stone pillars, oblivious to the spectators around them. Their bodies undulating to the drums, they dance as though driven by an otherworldly power. Here a choice must be made. Do you go left or right? Darting in and out of the melee, from unexpected areas, the Darkness creature guards; part man, part ram and all monster, hasten your decision as they startle you on your way to the islands of evil…

The streets areas are alive with actors who are costumed and themed to the area in which they are working. The streets are the connective tissue to the mazes and are constantly manned with actors out to scare and terrify. Special effects, special lighting (in most areas of the park, the normal lighting is turned off or dimmed and the areas re-lit by the design team to heighten the mood), and special soundtracks are created for the streets to heighten the illusion of the theme.

Moving towards what was the Marvel Super Hero Island, a green glowing toxic haze fills the air. A precariously parked tanker truck gets your immediate attention. Damaged from an explosion inside the tank, green toxic foam now erupts haphazardly. Piles of metal drums are scattered through the streets and block your path. An oversized drum belches green toxic foam through a melted hole and into the streets, and green waste gasses randomly spurt into the air from unexpected places.

Beware the inhabitants of this city! They travel and attack in packs. Their clothing is torn and tattered, and their faces and hands are in the process of melting away from the chemical spills. Suddenly soldiers dressed in white combat suits step out of the shadows. Their eyes covered by goggles, their faces indiscernible, these outer-space looking “militia” appear from nowhere and blast disinfectant at anything moving.

The Hulk roller coaster, Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall, Storm Force and Spiderman: The Ride are all operating, but you came to see the Haunts. So on you press toward the first attraction.

Themed Shows
As with the more normal operations of the Islands of Adventure, shows are an important part of Halloween Horror Nights. Not only entertaining for the crowds of patrons, a show takes a large number of patrons off of the pathways and out of queue lines, making the park feel less packed than it really is.

An annual show at Horror Nights is The Adventures of Bill and Ted in the ‘Toon Circus amphitheater. With the capability of time travel via a phone booth, this year these teenage heroes find themselves in a quest for “The Reality Remote Control,” a gadget that can change the course of history and, therefore, the world. Their search brings them into contact with some of the most celebrated pop stars, movie icons and political figures of today. The immersive 20-minute foray of satire, parody, stunts, music and dance is a Halloween Horror Nights tradition!

A Casting Call from “The Director,” the marketing icon for Halloween Horror Nights XIII, is a stage show located in front of The Enchanted Oak eatery. The Director is a gaunt, angular individual who has a penchant for all things horrifying. However, his association with horror is strictly in the movie genre. At the Casting Call, The Director puts unwitting “stars” in an audition situation with their co-stars. The co-stars could be poisonous scorpions, tarantulas, roaches, snakes or rats.

The aspirant actor is seated in a chair that looks every bit like an electric chair. Their eyes are covered with a pair of goggles. Earplugs are inserted into their ears, their arms and legs are strapped to the chair, and a clear acrylic box made from Perspex is securely fastened around their head. The creatures are inserted into the box from the top and have free range to roam over the face of the anxious participant. All the while, the Director is barking directions and motivation for the scene. Video monitors show in extreme close up the reactions of the tortured would-be actor. If he/she screams, they have lost their chance of a starring role in The Director’s next film!

The fogged streets of ‘Toon Lagoon are lighted with large strobe lights. Triangular shaped columns, five feet wide at the base and eight feet tall are staggered along the street. These obelisks, covered in a white and black “op art” pattern, twist from side to side or up and down. The columns camouflage actors pressed against them wearing costumes that match the pattern. Hidden until it is too late, these characters dart out from what appears to be solid wall, with duck calls and other types of eerie noisemakers. Startled patrons scream and laugh, almost at the same time.

The Ship of Screams
The first haunted maze is located in the queue area of what is normally Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barge Ride. The theme of the maze is a haunted ship called the S.S. Friday. Launched on Friday the 13th of January 1913, this cruise liner was once very popular from the turn of the century until the 1960’s when the S.S. Friday was found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean, a ghost ship with not a soul on board. Claimed and towed to port and permanently moored at dockside, the vessel has become a tourist attraction for the macabre and curious. Rumors of ghostly apparitions, hauntings and unnatural happenings kept people away for a time, but it is now Halloween 2003, and the ship is once again doing a “killer” tourist business. Now is the perfect time to go on board and find out for yourself if there is any truth to the rumors. Beware! The ship is showing signs of age and decay and may be sinking. There is no electricity on board and the decks and corridors are dark as pitch. You take your life in your own hands when you board the S.S. Friday.

The first thing you will notice about this attraction is the attention to detail throughout. A ship from 1913 is recreated with sets and costumes all fitting the period. The first ghostly materializations are of long lost souls appearing behind mirrors on a stairway into the ship. A charred engine room is home to grimy and dead sailors who pop out as you pass the machinery. Animated elevator doors try to close on dead bodies in the opening, smashing the dearly departed with each attempt and return. Suddenly an actor charges from one of the other doors. A young girl in one of the ship’s staterooms calls to passers-by, “Help me!,” only to attack them as they draw near. What started out as a few small leaks at the beginning of the tour progresses to rupturing bulkheads spewing forth gallons of water before you escape back into the dark safety of the amusement park.

3D Funhouse
Unharmed physically and only slightly damp, you flee for your life from ‘Toon Lagoon toward Jurassic Park. A signpost ahead reads Funhouse of Fear. An arrow points you off the beaten path, and away from the deserted darkness seen through the burning torches that frame the Jurassic Park gates. Occasional fingers of light from moving searchlights filter through the darkness, but only momentarily. It may be wise to avoid discovering what creatures await in the darkness and instead enter the queue for the Funhouse of Fear.

The Lizard Man, a human being tattooed from head to toe in green scales, mesmerizes waiting patrons with amazing one-of-a-kind freakish feats. Numerous pierced body parts, threaded implants on his forehead, a forked tongue and teeth filed into sharp points both frighten and amaze the unnerved crowd.

Approaching the entrance of a circus tent, you are handed ChromaDepth 3D glasses as you slip under the flap into a carnival of terror. This dark and unexpected fun fair of chills is a three dimensional nightmare of sight gags and terror. Mirrored hallways along darkened corridors trick the eye and the mind. Reflections of a maniacal clown appear in mirrors on the wall, but are they really mirrors? In the next room, the boldly patterned walls blow in the breeze and actors dressed like the patterns on the walls pop out to frighten and delight the patrons.

You cannot trust your eyes or your senses, as nothing is what it seems to be in this funhouse of illusion, distortion and fear. Disembodied heads float lazily in space, and suddenly lunge right at you! This mind-boggling journey is filled with crazed clowns of mayhem and evil, while brightly glowing cloth billows in the UV lighting.

The Jungle of Doom
Exiting from the mind-bending reach of the Funhouse clowns, you find yourself in Jurassic Park, the place you tried to avoid earlier. Now, your only way out is through this overgrown jungle filled with unspeakable beasts. Primitive lookout posts of bamboo scaffolding tower above the along the twisting paths. Guardian half beast, half man creatures have commandeered the towers and signal to gangs of man/beast minions to attack you from the dark jungle undergrowth. Shrubbery comes to life (Stilt walkers concealed in clinging vine costumes) and lunges at the crowds, as erratic flame bursts erupt from the undergrowth. Sweeping searchlights bring focus to your precarious position in this overgrown jungle.

To break from the surrounding tension you boldly decide to enter the next haunted maze. Located in The Triceratops Encounter area of the park, but approached through Camp Jurassic, is The Jungle of Doom. The Triceratops, a life-sized animation of the prehistoric beast, is included in the tour as an experiment gone wrong. The meandering path of this outdoor maze is pitch black and passes through heavy jungle undergrowth, rock caves and cascading waterfalls. The insistent beat of tribal drums grows closer as you are stopped, dead in your tracks, by a primitive ceremonial archway of skeletal remains. The skeletons are silent reminders of unspeakable tortures ahead; fires flickering from torches light the deadly scene of a burial ground. Suddenly, a burst of flame erupts from directly overhead.

The panic of this area is heightened by unseen actors blasting guests with AirZookas, a hand held diaphragm that sends puffs of air from some distance. Entering these ruins, you find corpses wrapped up in linen. The death of these poor patrons must have been recent, as they still drip body fluids from over your head. Moving back into the undergrowth, actors fly out of the recesses of the jungle on bungee harnesses, with loud taped roars erupting as they startle guests. Zombie creatures stalk you as you try to escape the jungle of doom.

While in Jurassic Park, you can check out Jurassic Park: The Ride, open for a one-of-a- kind prehistoric fright-filled experience. Grab a poncho, because you may get wet!

Psycho Scareapy
Located in an unknown part of the property (actually the lower level of the Discovery Center), is a shocking find. It seems an abandoned insane asylum has been discovered and on this October night, it’s open for tours. Eerie calmness surrounds the broken statuary and cobbling façade of the Shady Brook Rest Home entrance. The haunting melody of the theme from A Summer Place is heard emanating from the building’s antique music system. Long abandoned, the recording is in repeat mode and is playing softly over and over again. The occasional prerecorded messages announced over the loud speakers provide the false feeling that all is under control, but something is not quite right. As you enter the asylum’s reception area, you notice too late that there are no orderlies, and the inmates are now running the asylum. Anyone who does not look or behave like they do is in for one terrifying experience. As you enter the inmates’ living quarters, the cat and mouse games really begin.

The narrow corridors create a claustrophobic feeling of confinement that the long time inhabitants experienced. Less of a “maze” than the other walkthroughs, this experience is as close to walking through the halls of an institution as any of us would like to be. Cartoons play on the “boob tube” in the inmates’ television room. Some static figures are seated in a couch that works as a handrail, separating patron from actor. It is hard for the patrons to resist the misdirection of the cartoons and soon you are staring at the screen. An inmate then pops out from behind you and just as your attention is turned away from the television, one of the “static” figures attacks from the other side. Feeling like a ping-pong ball, you enter the sleeping area for the asylum residents. Mattresses hung from the ceiling create obstacles for you to navigate and great hiding places for the numerous actors in the room.

Once you are chased out of the mattress room, you are first overwhelmed by the stench of the dirty toilet area you have just entered. The actors pop in and out of the toilet stalls, and you have to dart out the exit door past the last nasty toilet, which sprays water at you as you hurry from the scene.

Fire and Ice
Back in Jurassic Park you hurry the few hundred feet or so across a bridge. A hypnotic white light of broken patterns emanates from the statue of a gryphon drawing you into The Lost Continent. Snow flurries fall from above as you enter a rock canyon. The rocks move in this canyon (stilt-walkers in rock costumes) and seem to be hurling themselves at you!

You move quickly into an open square near the entrance for The Dueling Dragons roller coaster. The queue of this ride is a nightmare experience itself, and the rumor is that during this time of night the pathway is home to a couple of decaying demons that interact with unsuspecting riders.

Green and blue laser light creates a ceiling overhead as you pass through the laser grids to exit the square at Lost Continent. Flurries of snow fall around you. Here, on a small rough-hewn stage, is The Ice Queen. Her scepter shoots cold blasts of CO2 as she herds you towards her albino Vikingesque warriors waiting in the shadows. Moving quickly away from these threatening warriors, you enter an area of fire where charred Orc-like creatures skulk in the darkness, awaiting the command from their leader, The Fire Demon. The rooftops randomly spurt fire, and the Fire Demon directs his warriors with a scepter spewing a column of flame.

To escape the threat, you duck inside the archeological dig Poseidon’s Fury. All is not right at the site as a battle rages between good and evil. Amazing special water effects, projections and pyrotechnics of this live show make this a must-see attraction even in October.

The Die-In
Near Poseidon’s Fury is the entrance to Sound Stage 20. The building, actually located on the Universal Studios back lot, houses two of the event’s haunted mazes.

A sign over the entrance to the next Haunted Attraction on our tour reads, The All Night Drive-In, (with the letters ’r’ and ‘v’ in the word ‘Drive’ burned out and indistinguishable). The external queue line sets up the premise that you are entering a deserted drive-in theater. Upon entering the building, a dilapidated projection booth/concession stand is plain to see, but there is not a soul in sight. Rusted speaker poles stand in neat rows. The paint is chipping away in neglect, but the speakers seem to be working. These crackling sentinels are the first signs of the nefarious goings-on, playing a collection of recognizable sound tracks from horror movies from the drive-in’s past. A tattered projection screen is still alive with horror images flashing on the screen as the fabric flutters in the breeze; it’s a window into the drive-in’s infamy, as only horror movies and The Director’s own one-of-a-kind slasher films were shown here. Did film images spring from the screen and become realities? So it is rumored! You are about to find out as you enter through the screen and into some of horror’s most fearful outtakes!

The attraction is a series of scenes from famous horror movies. The pristine look of the sets is a contrast to the other mazes that make up the event. Each scene uses multiple actors dressed alike, and by working together, the signature character of each scene appears suddenly and then disappears only to quickly reappear in a different location, just like in the movies!

You escape the drive-in and enter a desolate, dark, foggy and lonely Seuss Landing. Only the periodic bark of a distant dog and the wailing wind prevail here. The Seuss family will not allow the area to be altered for the event; however, the One Fish, Two Fish, The Carouseussel and The Cat in The Hat rides are open for a less nerve-racking Halloween treat!

Screamhouse Revisited
Near the One Fish, Two Fish ride is the entry to the second haunted maze in Sound Stage 20. This classic themed Haunted House was the signature attraction last year, and returns with a vengeance in 2003. While the theme and façade are the same as in 2002, the entire attraction, including floor plan and room designs, are new! This gothic, partially burned down Victorian Manor beckons you, once again, to discover the secrets of her depraved past, and the Caretaker, last year’s host character for Halloween Horror Nights, seems to be around every corner.

Apparitions of a bygone era await you within. The whispering voices of the long forgotten warn you to stay away as you enter the dilapidated home. A room lit by candles, filled with dead flower arrangements and a coffin suggests a funeral was interrupted in this parlor many years ago. Suddenly the lights go out, and when they come back on the Caretaker has appeared out of nowhere.

Many parts of the attraction are open to the darkness above; after all, this building had a large fire at one time. Lighting for these open areas seems to be through gray gels, or from the muddy wash of other rooms. Indistinct shapes within the shadows are visible only with the sudden and haphazard lightning strike from an unbelievably bright programmed strobe. The height of the soundstage is used to great effect, so much more interesting then the more common “walls stop at 8 feet” style of attraction. In the Gardener’s Greenhouse, one cannot help but look up at the frames of broken glass 16' above you. A lightning strike reveals that you are not alone in the room.

Entering the woodshed of the property, the shadow of a man behind the walls is seen through windows. As he enters the shed, the farm equipment and tools within the room erupt in whirring life. Embalmed creatures, decaying and gory corpses and ghosts await you around every corner on your journey through this house of horror. The only way out is through a derelict graveyard of monumental mausoleums and desecrated graves. Have you entered the netherworld by some terrible mistake? In a way, you have!

The Development Team
The success of Knott’s Scary Farm in California and the crowds that Terror on Church Street in Orlando was generating in October started the team thinking that a Halloween Event at the Park could be profitable. As a result, Halloween Horror Nights was created in 1991.

The Universal Orlando group brainstorming the Halloween experience is a relatively small one. A total of seven dreamers are saddled with the dream job of devising, developing and creating the entire Halloween Horror Nights event. Each visionary brings his/her own strengths to the concept process, and in turn, shares the concocted dreams or nightmares with other team members in their individual groups. These groups encompass Technical Design, Direction, and Art & Design, which includes scenic design, costuming and prosthetic design. Under the direction of T.J. Mannarino, Director of Art & Design, and Adrian LePeltier, Director of Show Development, these individuals join forces to develop the cutting edge visual and emotional stimulant that the Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights guest has come to expect.

A year-round effort, the creative process for Halloween Horror Nights starts early in January, with full-blown design and construction drawings completed by late spring. Production of the mazes starts by mid summer, and evaluations of the project continue through December.

Universal Orlando’s event is not without its challenges. The huge numbers of people attending the event must be accommodated, which pushes the throughput of the Haunted Attractions to numbers most haunters can only dream of. At the same time, it provides a frightening or at least enjoyable experience for attendees. Anywhere from 30 to 40 thousand guests are in the park every evening of the event and stay there from six to eight hours. Each of the Haunted Attractions must be able to operate at 2,500 guests per hour. The Islands of Adventure is still open days in October to the non-Horror Night guests, and all of the Halloween event pieces must either blend in with the park during the day, or be moved out of sight for normal operations.

Each guest has his/her own personal view of what horror or Halloween Horror Nights should be, and is running their own movie experience of Halloween in their head. In a horror film, when the unspeakable happens, the victim is alone or in a very small group. They are unable to take control of the situation that is affecting them. This is the same situation that each guest has in his/her mind that enters Halloween Horror Nights.

There is safety in numbers, and the more people there are in a set, the harder it is to create fear. It is this individual experience of fear that the Horror Nights designers are challenged with creating. The park is filled with people and guests that know they are safe. “We have to take that feeling of safety away from the guest and concentrate on scaring the individual,” explains Adrian LePeltier, Director of Show Development for both of the Florida parks. “Distraction, disorientation, misdirection, camouflage and ‘startle’ are the tools we use.” Each tool is packaged to suit the environment and the theme.

Universal Orlando’s intent is to entertain each guest as though the event was individualized and customized for him or her. Many guests enjoy watching others react to fear. They laugh out loud in anticipation of the scare, watch the impact of the scare on the misguided individual and are grateful that they were not on the receiving end!

Universal Orlando approaches each portion of the event as though it were its own movie. 2003 was the thirteenth year of Halloween Horror Nights, and each of the six houses had 13 horrifying scenes. Each scene in each of the houses is a movie experience unto itself, with the design of the room, the set detail, the props, the paintwork, the special effects, the placement of the distraction and the placement of the scare all choreographed into the experience. An overall soundtrack for each house is custom created as well as a particular soundtrack or sound effect for each of the rooms, to help intensify the scare in the room.

The design of the mazes has to comply with the needs of handicapped guests. Inspections by Universal Orlando’s Safety Department are to ensure that the safety of the guests is in consideration at all times during and after the completion of the design. The City of Orlando inspection verifies that all City codes are being met satisfactorily and there is no liability.

Like any business, there is a predetermined budget associated with the Halloween Horror Nights event. Contrary to popular belief, Universal Orlando does not have an unlimited budget at their disposal, and the ride division of the company is separate from the entertainment division, which is in charge of pulling off the Halloween event. “We are in the ‘business’ of ‘Show Business,’ states Adrian, “Both words bear equal weight; Show and Business.” At the same time, the expectation of the Horror Nights guest is for a movie quality offering, and this aspect is constantly in the minds of the development team. However, the Entertainment group is challenged with sticking to a budget, and the development of the project only moves forward when balancing both budget and costs.

While the scale may be different, Universal Orlando faces the same challenges as other Haunted Attractions. Budgeting, throughput, and guest satisfaction are the preeminent considerations. “Perhaps the biggest challenge we face at Universal is the promise to our guests that this event will be completely new, completely different and bigger every year,” explains T.J. Mannarino, Director of Art & Design for both of the Universal parks. There is so much to experience at Halloween Horror Nights that a single visit is never enough to experience all that the event has to offer.

“It has been said that if you find a job you like, you’ll never work again,” explains Adrian. “For those of us fortunate enough to be on the Halloween Horror Nights development team, we haven’t worked in years.”

Rick Spencer is the creative manager for show development at Universal Orlando.