The weather outside may not suggest Autumn is upon us, but we have, indeed, reached the part of the year where days start getting shorter. More darkness means more things that go bump in the night.
Universal Studios Hollywood has pioneered celebrating the arrival of Halloween season, an event that has people tingling with anticipation.
“I’m ready to be scared,” says Nikki Hahn, one of the stars of the upcoming Peacock series Hysteria.
“I feel as though it just puts you in a movie, so you feel as though you really are living a scary story,” says British television presenter Scarlette Douglas. “So, I'm up for all of that.”
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Well, then, y’all came to the right place.
Halloween Horror Nights is back. The annual ode to scary movies is chock-full of monsters and jump-scares galore. Eight haunted houses and four scare zones based on cinematic favorites like "A Quiet Place" and "Ghostbusters" join forces with tales from Latin-American Folklore and original concepts (yes, there will be zombies).
The iconic Studio Tour even turns into a back lot Terror Tram. This year it was taken over by Blumhouse, the new authority in horror with hits like "The Black Phone", "Paranormal Activity", and the latest "Halloween" trilogy. Blumhouse co-founder Jason Blum gets his ideas from a very dark place.
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“Yeah, I have a I have a sick, twisted mind. I don't know what to tell you,” says Blum.
Even horror film icons get excited about Halloween Horror Nights.
“I've gone through this, probably a dozen times, so I love it,” says Bill Moseley, who played Chop Shop in the cult classic, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. “I love (HHN director) John Murdy. I always love to see what he's cooked up for another great Halloween horror Nights.”
Moseley knows what he’s talking about. He’s done … well, he’s not even he’s sure how many horror films.
“Probably 70 or 80, maybe. Maybe more. I don’t know,” says Moseley.
Interestingly, he wasn’t sure about entering the horror genre until he got some advice from a fellow actor.
“I said, you know, I don't know about horror movies. I don't know if I want to get typecast. And he turned to me, and he said, you'd be lucky to be typecast. And I laughed for three years after that. So, I'm very happy to be typecast,” says Moseley.
One role hanging with Leatherface opened a whole new world for him. Thanks to the success of his Texas Chainsaw turn he was asked to emcee a horror film awards show that led to a certain celebrity encounter.
“I came dressed as Chop Shop and one of the award recipients was Rob Zombie. He freaked out and he said, oh my God, and a month later, he offered me the part of Otis Driftwood in his movie House of a Thousand Corpses. So, all of that is part of the great Universal experience.”
One of the houses at HHN 2024 is an ode to the "Texas Chainsaw" franchise so Bill got to be haunted by himself. With all their experience in the monstrous macabre, does anything scare the people who make the scary movies anymore?
“Maybe not on set, but certainly … you know, when I look at news headlines, a lot of it scares me,” says Moseley with a nervous chuckle.
“True crime scares me,” says Blum. “Like, watching things. You know, we did this show, 'Worst Ex Ever', or 'Worst Roommate Ever'. That stuff’s scary to me.”
To learn more about Halloween Horror Nights 2024 or to get tickets, click here.
