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On Halloween horror nights, wizards, dinosaurs, and superheroes may all be found at the Universal Orlando Resort. It’s commonly known that this is the location where members of numerous fandoms go to celebrate their shared interests all year long. The most passionate and loyal of all the fans, though, may not show up until the summer humidity dissipates and the first breath of fog fills Universal Studios Florida.
Halloween Horror Nights, or HHN for short, has amassed a well-deserved fan base over the years, along with all that comes with it: theories, specific message boards, cosplaying, fan art, etc. Like most properties, there are two ways to interact with the event: you can enjoy yourself and accept everything as it is, or you can delve into the specifics and really immerse yourself.
I’m a relative novice to the thrills and chills this event has to offer as a freshly converted scaredy cat. But if there’s one thing about me that I’m certain of, it’s that I enjoy plunging headfirst into a fascinating new environment, so I’m going ahead and committing. I only had to take a few steps into my first HHN haunted house to understand how much thought had gone into every part of the event, from set design to storytelling.
What follows is the outcome of my personal investigation into HHN lore; all I’ve learned about its mythology, including a thorough list of symbols and responses to queries like “What’s the deal with Carey, Ohio?” Enjoy! (If you dare)
A Brief History of Halloween Horror Nights
![halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Halloween-Horror-Nights-USF-1.jpg)
Fright Nights, a Halloween celebration at Universal Studios Florida, made its premiere in 1991. Universal Pictures, on the other hand, captivated audiences with legendary Monster movies like Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Bride of Frankenstein, and many others during the golden age of cinema, which predates the studio’s legacy in the horror genre by decades. Given this legendary film legacy, it should come as no surprise that Universal Monsters remain an important and beloved part of Halloween Horror Nights year after year.
The experience was formally titled Halloween Horror Nights in 1992, and it started to take place every year after that. What was once a three-night haunting has grown over time to take place on a number of particular nights between September and October. While the majority of the event has taken place at Universal Studios Florida, there was a brief period from 2002 to 2005 when Universal’s Islands of Adventure joined in the festivities.
The main theme and the group of characters that live in the park are changed annually. The different haunted houses that either take you through an original story or one from your favorite movies and television series are always the main draws. However, there are dramatic fright zones, live performances, and delicious food outside, so there is never a dull moment and there is always a myriad of details to take in.
Many of Halloween Horror Nights’ most memorable stories were written by Lora Sauls, Senior Manager of Creative Development and Show Direction at Universal Orlando. “Over the years, we have witnessed HHN turn into a tradition for so many individuals, both domestically and internationally. Additionally, I have seen it develop into a milestone for teenagers. She says that she enjoys seeing attendees on the first night of the celebration each year: “So many of us were in tears at the beginning of HHN in 2021 because we were returning and witnessing so many admirers who wanted to be back with us,” Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the complete event could not be held in 2020; nevertheless, in 2021
Check out the Complete Guide to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort for tips and details on all this cherished event has to offer. Anyone embarking on their first HHN must first read this.
Speaking the Language
Being an insider in the HHN fan community requires learning a whole new vocabulary, as is the case with all communities. I’m here to clarify that, so…
Houses
There are a few haunted houses at each event, each with elaborate sets and scary actors waiting to make you jump out of your skin. They are frequently referred to simply as “houses.”
Icons
There have been numerous occasions over the years where a central figurehead unleashes mayhem on daring attendees. The “icon” is a character that most frequently originates from Universal Orlando, where the character’s intriguingly twisted personality and backstory are created.
Scare Zones
![halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Feature-Image-HHN-Lore-1.jpg)
How do you go between homes? Frequently, you must pass through a “scare zone,” or a themed outdoor space, which is also populated by scare actors.
IP
The phrase “intellectual property” refers to content that is based on already-released films, television programs, or franchises. In other words, if you’re curious about a specific property or scary area because you just watched the newest blockbuster, that’s IP.
Original Content
“Original content” refers to a house or fear zone that is entirely exclusive to Universal Orlando Resort, based on a narrative that was developed just for the event by our Entertainment team and not drawn from visual media.
Scareactors
“Scareactors” refers to the many actors who bring to life each evil figure you see during the event.
Boo Holes
Once you’ve visited enough homes, you’ll begin to see tiny nooks and hiding places that appear to have been created deliberately to conceal the fright actors who are poised to jump out at you. They are referred to as “boo holes.”
SIF
To make your experience fully tangible and keep you from being alarmed by impending fright, houses frequently have themed monofilament and fabrics hanging from the ceiling. “Stuff in Face” or “SIF” is a jocular term for this.
Referencing Past Events
In order to recall the intricacies of their favorites, fans frequently use abbreviations to refer to former years’ events, thus if you overhear people discussing “HHN25” or “HHN27,” that is what they are talking about.
Original Halloween Horror Nights Icons
Icons are essential to the fan experience, so if we’re going to speak lore, this is unquestionably where we should start. Most people have a favorite icon, and they frequently return to restart their particular reigns of terror. For instance, “HHN Icons: Captured,” a whole house with rooms dedicated to prior icons as part of HHN30’s celebration of the event’s 30th anniversary, is what initially piqued my curiosity in learning more about the made-up history of HHN.
Jack the Clown
![Close up Jack The Clown halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Jack-The-Clown.jpg)
Also known as Jack Schmidt, The Ringmaster
The first original icon and presumably the most durable was Jack, a villainous clown from a carnival. In the late 1800s, he was born in Shady Brook Rest Home and Sanitarium. Later, he joined Dr. Oddfellow’s Carnival of Thrills. He frequently entertained guests in the Southern United States as a carnival entertainer. But as audience members started going missing, it was obvious that something horrible was hiding behind his fake smile.
Jack recounted his acts to Dr. Oddfellow, who was also eluding incarceration after a strange circus accident claimed the lives of several patrons, in a misguided effort to obtain assistance in avoiding the authorities. Oddfellow was angry that Jack had drawn attention, not because he was sympathetic to a fellow criminal. Prior to killing the clown, he discovered the locations of his victims’ remains, which he later added to the carnival’s House of Horrors.
Years later, in the fall of 1980, a documentary team discovered the abandoned House of Horrors in a junkyard in Louisiana. They forced open the doors and discovered a sizable wooden box bearing the initials J-A-C-K. When the workers cautiously turned a crank on the box’s side, Jack’s decomposing body startled them all. The bodies of Jack and his thirteen victims unexpectedly vanished in a bizarre accident while being transported to a coroner’s office for inquiry, and the documentary team was later discovered dead.
The House of Horrors sold Jack’s box and other props to Universal Orlando Resort in 2000. A member of the Universal Team sought to verify the rumor that Jack was seeking retribution against Dr. Oddfellow and would reward anyone who set him free. When this test was successful, Jack’s new rule over Halloween Horror Nights officially began.
Events featured: HHNX, HHNXI, HHNXIV, HHNXV, HHN16, HHNXVII, HHNXX, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Jacked Up (show)
- PsychoScareapy: Maximum Madness (house)
- Jack’s Carnival of Carnage (show)
- Jack Presents 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem (house)
- The Carnage Returns (show)
The Caretaker
Also known as Dr. Albert Caine
Dr. Albert Caine, who trained as a highly regarded surgeon, showed a curiosity about the inner workings of the human body that went beyond treating patients. He was more interested in what happens to the physical form after death than in living bodies. So it was only logical that he ended up managing Shady Oaks Cemetery in Carey, Ohio, and turning his Victorian home into a morgue.
When experimenting on the dead wasn’t enough to tickle his fancy, Caine would prey on the poor by appearing to invite them to his estate for assistance and cozy accommodation. To test the human mind’s capacity for dread before it succumbs to death, Caine would proceed to cut them up in his operating room while they were awake, performing amputations, dissections, and organ removals without anesthetic.
It was presumed that he and his family were among the burned remains after a police inquiry revealed that a mob had set his mansion on fire. That is until individuals who had been last seen in the area started to vanish and a secret tunnel system was uncovered beneath the estate, raising the issue of whether Caine is still alive.
Events featured: HHNXII, HHN13, HHNXIV, HHN16, HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- HHNXII Opening Scaremonies (show)
- ScreamHouse (house)
- ScreamHouse Revisited (house)
- The Arrival (show)
The Director
Also known as Paulo Ravinski
Paulo Ravinski is a disturbed filmmaker who is obsessed with showing human pain and won’t hold back while capturing it in his “art.” It was evident when he initially started out that many people disagreed with this categorization. His movie, The Widow’s Eye, so infuriated his own nation that he was forced to immigrate to America.
Paulo believed he would finally gain the attention he deserves when he was hired by Universal Orlando Resort in 2003 to direct and shoot a movie at Islands of Adventure. He took over an abandoned drive-in theater where he could entice new “actors” to star in his “slasher piece” and turned the entire park into a living movie.
Events featured: HHN13, HHN16, HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Infestation (show)
- All Nite Die-In (house)
- All Nite Die-In: Take 2 (house)
The Usher
![halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/The-Usher-HHN-683x1024.jpg)
Also known as Julian Browning
Julian Browning, an usher at the well-known Universal Palace Theater, grew to appreciate all movies, but in particular horror films. He didn’t enjoy the boisterous and disruptive customers, which ultimately led to his demise.
Events featured: HHNXIX, HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- HHNXIX Main Gate (show)
- Silver Screams (house)
- ICONS: HHN (scare zone)
The Storyteller
Also known as Elsa Strict
Elsa Strict, a woman with a few secrets, is best known for being the guardian of the legend of Terra Cruentus, a place ruled by the pernicious Terra Queen. When Elsa retaliated against a malevolent winged creature that had visited her as a kid, she acquired its evil. She frequently wandered the streets of Universal Studios Florida during HHNXV, sharing her bizarre stories.
A gigantic, knotty Gorewood tree, according to legend, stands in the middle of Terra Cruentus. It is said to have grown from a single seed on an old battlefield, fed by a combination of rare metals in the soil and the decay of human bones. Even now, in order to maintain its roots, human blood must be obtained through a nightly rite overseen by the Terra Queen and with a sacred dagger known as the Terra Throne Blade.
Events featured: HHNXV, HHN16, HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Where Evil Hides (house)
- HHN Icons: Captured (house)
Chance
Chance would object to being referred to as Jack the Clown’s sidekick, despite being his right-hand lady. She is bubbly, animated, and prone to making puns until something triggers her irrational behavior. In a moment of ferocious wrath, she can swiftly become manic. You simply have to pray that she won’t be holding a knife at the time.
Events featured: HHNXVII, HHNXX, HHN26, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Jack’s Carnival of Carnage (show)
- The Carnage Returns (show)
- A Chance in Hell (scare zone)
- Lunatic’s Playground 3D: You Won’t Stand a Chance (house)
Lady Luck
Lady Luck, a shape-shifting siren, seduces all kinds of risk-takers by first appearing to be a beautiful and alluring woman. The more one bets, though, the more her face morphs and her actual nature is shown. The primary character of each house in HHN21 was presented with a decision by Lady Luck, which had devastating consequences.
Events featured: HHN21, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Your Luck Has Run Out (scare zone)
- HHN Icons: Captured (house)
Fear
Also known as Adaru the Demon of Fear
It was discovered in 2010 that Adaru, a manifestation of the very concept of Fear, had been controlling all previous Halloween Horror Nights mayhem from inside a disused lantern in the Universal Orlando Art & Design Department. He was eventually freed in an incident involving Legendary Truth members putting together a cursed puzzle, and then he took over a Team Member to demand that everyone attend the event so he could feed on their frights.
A new age of darkness was soon heralded by Fear, who spoke via five historical figures as his five heralds: Jack the Clown (Chaos), The Caretaker (Death), The Director (Sacrifice), The Storyteller (Legend), and The Usher (Vengeance).
After the incident, the lantern’s light faded, and Fear is now caged once more, but she is still able to direct Universal Orlando to create a wide range of terrifying attractions for the yearly celebration.
Events featured: HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Fear Revealed (scare zone)
- HHN Icons: Captured (house)
Which one of these spooky monsters is Lora Sauls’ favorite? She has no option. “They’re all different people,” she says. However, she has some memories that make her love a few of them even more.
She took part in the opening scene for HHNXII, a staged event that occurs outside the park at the start of the night and frequently features that year’s icon. The Caretaker unlocked the gates after tearing out the heart of a “non-believer,” and Lora (dressed as a tourist) was taken inside while yelling in the direction of the oncoming crowd of onlookers.
Additionally, she choreographed “Jacked Up” for Jack the Clown’s debut as an icon during HHNX. She explains, “These times hold a particular place in my heart.”
Recurring Characters
Beyond the main characters of each event, Halloween Horror Nights have a large cast of original characters who have appeared repeatedly over the years. Here are a few of the most popular choices:
Pumpkin Lord
Events featured: HHN30, HHN31
Fan favorite appearances:
- Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin (house)
Boris Shuster
Boris Shuster, a vintage film noir sleuth, first became involved in HHN legend during HHNXVII when he hired freelance photographer Charlie McPherson to track down a man who his wife suspected of having an affair. McPherson scheduled an appointment with the deranged psychiatrist Dr. Mary Agana soon after disclosing this man, then she vanished. Shuster found McPherson was murdered as a result of Mary’s severe therapy techniques while investigating his disappearance. Mary was to meet with Shuster so he could confront her. Mary was later discovered dead, raising questions about whether Shuster was indeed responsible. But after being exonerated of all accusations, he founded The Collective, which is based in New Jersey’s Legendary Truth Mansion.
In the New York section of Universal Studios Florida, which is open all year round, window dressing features Shuster’s name and some of the places he frequents.
Events featured: HHNXVII, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth (house)
Legendary Truth: The Collective
Legendary Truth is a paranormal research organization that was first connected to the incident during HHNXVIII and is currently led by Dr. Calvin Thorncastle. Legendary Truth was initially established by Boris Shuster. Fans had the opportunity to join the team and assist in gathering and analyzing information regarding the disappearance of Dr. Mary Agana during an event that encompassed both online and offline activities.
Since then, The Collective has been connected to a variety of different events. They researched the Legions of Horror and their control over the shock zones of HHN22 and unknowingly contributed to the release of Fear from his lantern during HHNXX. The reintroduction of unique Legendary Truth: The Collective events at Universal Studios Florida during the final weekends of HHN24 and HHN25 allowed Collective members to learn more about the organization’s background as a whole and uncover connections to the publication of Jack the Clown.
Events featured: HHNXVIII, HHN23, HHN24, HHN25, HHN26, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Reflections of Fear (house)
- Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate (house)
- The Repository (immersive experience)
- Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth (house)
Terra Queen
![halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Terra-Queen-HHN30.jpg)
The Terra Queen, who is the ruler of Terra Cruentus and the subject of The Storyteller’s tales, preside over sacrifices to the Gorewood tree with the assistance of several demon biker henchmen. Each death yields blood, which is occasionally used to make “Bloodberry Wine,” which is distributed to her supporters in addition to being utilized to maintain the land. She sacrifices herself on Halloween Horror Nights’ final night to finish the recurrent “Season of the Queen,” and it’s said that she comes back every 15 years.
Events featured: HHNXV, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- The Terra Throne (show)
- Gorewood Forest (scare zone)
Eddie
Also known as Eddie Schmidt, Edgar Schmidt
Eddie, Jack the Clown’s sibling, was also conceived at Shady Brook Rest Home and Sanitarium but was left behind when his brother left to join Dr. Oddfellow. He ultimately raised a family in a trailer park, where he was burned and scarred by a fire that some youths started while pulling a prank on him. He likes to use his chainsaw to terrorize people through his many businesses, which include a murder-for-hire firm that targets wealthy clients and a funhouse game show.
Events featured: HHNXIV, HHN16, HHNXX, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Horror Nights Nightmares (house)
- Lights Camera Hacktion: Eddie’s Revenge (scare zone)
Cindy Caine
Also known as Sindy
Cindy, The Caretaker’s adopted daughter, was abandoned after her parents passed away and ended up in an orphanage. She was unable to get along with her peers, and her explosive personality finally got the best of her when she set the building on fire, killing everyone within save herself. When she sought a new place to live, the homicidal Dr. Albert Caine turned out to be the ideal choice.
Events featured: HHN13, HHN16, HHNXIX, HHNXX, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- The Orfanage: Ashes to Ashes (house)
- Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland (house)
Body Collectors
Also known as The Gentlemen
The Body Collectors are pictured most frequently in black suits and have tall statures with light gray skin, smooth bald heads, and wide, eerie smiles. They are servants of the Terra Queen. They were known to harvest human blood, organs, and body parts in Terra Cruentus. They also collect diseased bodies from Victorian-era London and even patients from Shadybrook Rest Home and Sanitarium, demonstrating their reach beyond the realm.
Events featured: HHNXV, HHN16, HHNXVIII, HHNXX, HHN25
Fan favorite appearances:
- Body Collectors (house)
- Body Collectors: Collections of the Past (house)
- Streets of Blood (scare zone)
- Body Collectors: Recollections (house)
Samuel Meetz and Meaty Meetz
![Meetz Meats at Halloween Horror Nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Meetz-Meats-at-Halloween-Horror-Nights.jpg)
Sam Meetz, the hospitable and kind proprietor of the most well-liked meat processing plant in Carey, Ohio, acquired Meetz Meats from his father, who made a hasty choice during the Great Depression. He started killing the town’s vagrants and lawbreakers instead of pigs to save money, believing that his acts helped keep the town clean. Sam has continued the profitable practice to this day, feeding the town’s ravenous residents while keeping them in the dark.
Sam and his staff dress up as Meaty Meetz, the factory mascot, a smiling, portly redhead with an ominous presence while searching for new meat.
Events featured: HHN19, HHN30, HHN31
Fan favorite appearances:
- Leave it to Cleaver (house)
- Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland (house)
The Legions of Horror
The Legions of Horror, which were first introduced as a park-wide fear zone at HHN22, were commanded by the enigmatic Iniquitous. These mystical entities had lain dormant beneath the Universal Studios Florida concrete until they were unintentionally discovered by renovators. Strengoits (vampires), Cerebins (beasts), Baccanoids (warriors), Maschorians (prisoners), Morphans (traditionalists), and Krezans were among the six Legions (Zombies). They eventually became the main subject of Legendary Truth: The collective’s years-long research.
Events featured: HHN22, HHN23, HHN24, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- The Legions of Horror (park-wide scare zone)
- Case Files Unearthed: Legendary Truth (house)
H.R. Bloodengutz
Also known as Lawrence “Larry” Kurtzberg
Former Broadway performer Larry Kurtzberg began missing the stage after retiring to live a quiet life as a taxidermist. When he eventually called a talent agency, Lady Luck in disguise answered the phone and offered him the role of H.R. Bloodengutz on a horror show.
With Bloodengutz as presenter, the program immediately rose to prominence as one of the most-watched variety shows of the 1970s. However, things deteriorated when Kurtzberg began to experience violent mood swings. As the show’s content grew increasingly upsetting, its popularity started to decline. Kurtzberg kidnapped and killed the producer in order to avoid cancellation, earning him a life sentence.
Events featured: HHN21, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror (house)
- Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland (house)
Dogs of War (Havoc Super Soldiers)
The Dogs of War are highly skilled killing machines that were created when The Shadow Creek Enterprise was tasked with developing a select group of superhuman troops. The “Havoc” project was a success because to genetic engineering and scientific testing on willing test subjects. Success, however, came at the expense of the volunteers’ mental health. The troops became savage and overran the facility where they were developed. They later escaped from a military convoy that was being used to move their ranks.
Events featured: HHNXX, HHNXXIII, HHN25, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Havoc: Dogs of War (house)
- Havoc: Derailed (house)
- Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem (house)
Bone
Bone, a tall, skeletal reaper, is in charge of the Festival of the Deadliest and is frequently seen quietly promoting the occasion while wielding a gigantic scythe.
Events featured: HHN27, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Festival of the Deadliest (scare zone)
- 30 Years 30 Fears (scare zone)
Treaks and Foons
Treaks and Foons, cartoon-like creatures with a perpetual grins, made their debut during HHNXII at Islands of Adventure’s Toon Lagoon region to the accompaniment of ominous circus music. Since they aren’t known to really kill anyone, they are a little less dangerous than many of their scare zone rivals. Even yet, their grotesque, exaggerated faces are unnerving.
Events featured: HHNXII, HHN13, HHNXIV, HHNXVII, HHNXX, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Treks and Foons (scare zone)
- Disorientorium (house)
- Lights Camera Hacktion: Eddie’s Revenge (scare zone)
The Rat Lady
Since HHN’s first year, a woman known as The Rat Lady has been wheeled through the streets of the event while lying inside a glass-walled coffin among dozens of crawling rats.
Events featured: Fright Nights – HHN22, HHN25
Fan favorite appearances:
- Dungeon of Terror: Retold (house)
- Cirque Du Freak (scare zone)
- ICONS: HHN (scare zone)
Lil’ Boo
![halloween horror nights](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Lil-Boo.jpg)
Lil’ Boo is an unofficial character that sprang to fame during HHN30 when a fan saw a tiny, wide-eyed pumpkin residing among the foyer decorations for a home dubbed “The Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin.” A new celebrity was created when the official Universal Orlando Resort Twitter account responded with its name. Lil’ Boo served as the inspiration for homemade t-shirts, fan art, and selfies all through the fall of 2021. This favorite may appear to be a recent invention, but it actually has roots in a scare zone from HHN27 that was also decorated with countless carved pumpkins.
Events featured: HHN27, HHN30, HHN31
Fan favorite appearances:
- Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin (house)
Significant Locations
As you may have already observed, certain significant places recur frequently in the tales presented throughout the homes and fear zones of Halloween Horror Nights. After all, every fandom requires a symbolic home. This leads me to…
Carey, Ohio
Carey, where Lora Sauls grew up, is a real community in Wyandot County. The Caretaker’s violent past was first created in the fictional Carey, Ohio, which was inspired by reality: “In the early 2000s, my crew and I were sitting around the lunch table talking about how we needed a town to put one of our characters in. They were so taken with the description of the small village I grew up in that it stuck. That year, TJ Mannarino and I approached the nearby Carey newspaper and they collaborated with us to produce some assets for our HHN experience. TJ is also a member of the Entertainment team.
Since then, figures like The Director, The Usher, Legendary Truth, Cindy Caine, and H.R. Bloodengutz have used it to help explain their lives and origins. In “Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland” on HHN30, the town also appears as one of the more regular locations for houses and scare zones, finally getting top billing.
When we started connecting our imaginary Carey town too so many of our products, Lora says, “At first it was just for fun and I didn’t think much about it. But as we became more humbled and proud of my connection to the HHN Carey history.”
Events featured: HHXII, HHN13, HHNXIV, HHN16, HHNXVIII, HHNXIX, HHNXX, HHN21, HHN22, HHN23, HHN25, HHN26, HHN27, HHN28, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Screamhouse (house)
- All Nite Die-In (house)
- Leave it to Cleaver (house)
- H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror (house)
- Slaughter Sinema (house)
- Welcome to SCarey: Horror in the Heartland (house)
Carae, France
Carae is an entirely fictitious international sister city where some old gothic horror-themed homes formerly stood.
Events featured: HHNXX, HHN22
Fan favorite appearances:
- Catacombs: Black Death Rising (house)
- Gothic (house)
Shady Oaks Cemetery & Funeral Home
Shady Oaks is the name of the funeral home that The Caretaker established in his Victorian mansion, which is located in Carey’s Willamette Valley neighborhood. It served as a means of generating income and of obtaining subjects for experiments.
Events featured: HHNXII, HHN13, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Screamhouse (house)
- Screamhouse: Revisited (house)
- HHN Icons: Captured (house)
Shadybrook Rest Home and Sanitarium
Shadybrook Hospital, known for its inmate riots, has housed many well-known HHN characters. Not only were Jack and Eddie Schmidt born here, but Chance also worked briefly. It is also alleged that Floyd Mercer committed suicide there in an effort to elude Lady Luck and that Dr. Mary Agana utilized patients from the hospital to “treat” one of her own.
Events featured: HHN13, HHN16, HHN25, HHN26, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- PsychoScareapy (house)
- PsychoScareapy: Maximum Madness (house)
- Body Collectors: Recollections (house)
Terra Cruentus
The Terra Queen rules over Terra Cruentus, a land that is very literally bloodthirsty and is kept alive by her nightly ritual sacrifices. The Gorewood Forest, Terra Gate, Terror Mines, Iron Bone Gorge, and Demon Cantina are some of the notable locations inside.
Events featured: HHNXV, HHN30
Fan favorite appearances:
- Terra Throne (show)
- Terror Mines (house)
- Gorewood Forest (scare zone)
The Legendary Truth Mansion
Legendary Truth: The Collective’s headquarters are allegedly in Wyandot County. On every floor, which includes offices, libraries, and vaults, there are mysteries to be solved. In an online game promoting the event that year, participants may virtually tour the estate.
Events featured: HHNXX, HHN25
Fan favorite appearances:
- Legendary Truth: The Wyandot Estate (house)
- Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem (house)
Put Your Newfound Knowledge to Use
![HHN Lore Scareactor](https://blog.discoveruniversal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HHN-Lore-Scareactor-1.jpg)
You’re well on your way to becoming the go-to person in your friend group even if this is simply the tip of the iceberg in terms of the enormous amount of information that goes into the origin stories of each troublemaker, ghost, and haunt.
Let me be the first to formally welcome you to the fandom with those words. In the mist, saw you.
WARNING: THIS EVENT MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN, AND CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 13 ARE NOT ADVISED TO ATTEND. NO COSMETICS OR MASKS PERMITTED.