Halloween Horror Nights: The Future Of Intellectual Properties

As time goes on, Universal tick off more and more of the classic and popular horror franchises that most fans want to see at Halloween Horror Nights. So much so, that there is little new material for them to work with, at least in the terms of truly iconic classic horror films. This has, in my opinion, become clear with Universals repetition of certain franchises, such as ‘Halloween’ which is having a third house based off of ‘Halloween 4’ this year.

Perhaps, this suggests Universal know they are onto a good thing with including houses based off of such popular franchises like Halloween. However, I think it shows that they are unable to get a wealth of new intellectual properties to work with. Despite this being true, I do believe Universal still have a fair amount of untouched material to sink their teeth into. This can be seen in the recent years, as the event gets more popular and Universal are able to finally, after many years of trying, get properties such as ‘The Exorcist’ , ‘The Shining’ and even this year with ‘Poltergeist’.

Cult classics

This year particularly, we’ve seen Universal introduce a more obscure and cult classic in the form of ‘Killer Klowns’. This may mean that as Universal tick off the true masters of horror, they fall back on the less popular fan favourites. As a massive fan of many cult classics, this new technique would work perfectly on me, but may not have the same reach as such iconic slashers ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’. Thankfully, Universal do not seem completely driven by what will draw in the crowds, but more what will make a good event. The sequel houses I mentioned earlier may be their way to combat this, keeping the main stream happy whilst also giving something to the cult horror fans and returning guests who have already enjoyed their years with Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees

In addition to this, the introduction of less popular, but more current horror films, in the form of mash up houses such as ‘BlumHouse’ appears to be another new way of featuring IPs at the event. This is allowing Horror Nights to feature modern IPs that may not attract masses of guests alone, but when combined will have a better effect on attendance.

This combination of modern horror and classic sequels may be a new formula for Halloween Horror Nights as they use up original classics but still want to use the iconic characters and popular properties at their event. Following this years 80s theme, it is possible to assume that this format may be repeated, as with the consistent use of icons in years past. Perhaps we will see a 90s theme or 70s theme.

Netflix and HHN

With The collaboration of Netflix and HHN on this year’s Stranger Things house, it is likely to believe that we will see this partnership again in the future. Perhaps we will finally see Scream featured at the event in the form of a house based off the Netflix TV show or even the original film since Netflix now hold the rights to this.

The negative impacts of Disney and Warner Bros

It is also important to remember that with the merging of Disney and Fox or the new Warner Brothers Halloween event in Hollywood, their maybe less intellectual properties that Universal can have access to. Their new partnerships with Netflix and Blum may be able to combat this, otherwise we may see a change in the ratio of IPs and Originals. As long as Universal manage to bring a few popular IPs to the event each year, I don’t see this being an issue as originals are usually the fan favourites anyway.

If you’re a fan of Halloween Horror Nights then please check out our article ranking the houses at Halloween Horror Nights 29. 

For more information about Halloween Horror Nights then be sure to check out the events official website.