Springfield and HHN (Treehouse of Horror?)

[Skip]

You wouldn't visit this particular "scare"zone to be terrified. There's plenty of that already.

Just because that's the way HHN has been in the past, doesn't mean that's the way it has to be going forward. It doesn't need to be outright horrifying to be HHN appropriate. If its a highly-themed, walk-thru Halloween experience with a fair share of jumps and spooks, it would be a welcome addition to the park by many guests.

...Noooooope. Universal is having enough trouble keeping eight houses and the usual amount of zones in the mix, they're not going to waste a slot on some Simpsons experiment. People come to Halloween Horror Nights to get scared. (The shows are the one exception since there really isn't a way to make a show truly "scary.") The Simpsons isn't scary at all. HHN is an intense event intended for a teenage-to-adult audience - it's not for families, there's no audience for this besides Simpsons fans (who can get their fill during the day).

They have no reason to redefine their winning formula (recent over-reliance on horror film/TV properties notwithstanding) when it's selling out the park and remains one of their biggest money makers after Potter. Disney has the family-friendly attractions you want to see.

 

[JT3000]

You wouldn't visit this particular "scare"zone to be terrified. There's plenty of that already.

You don't get it. There's "plenty of that" because "that" is what HHN is all about. Legit horror is what people are there to see, not silly Simpsons scenarios. There is simply no audience for this sort of thing at HHN. You dodged my question earlier about having gone to the event, but I think it's pretty obvious at this point that you have not.

Just because that's the way HHN has been in the past, doesn't mean that's the way it has to be going forward.

Yes, it does have to be that way. That way is HHN. Serious horror and scaring people is HHN. It's what actual fans of the event want and expect. What we don't want is Universal wasting part of the event's too-small budget on this sort of thing. They didn't even start doing "comedy" houses until fairly recently, and those are still a far cry from anything involving cartoon characters.

This is like asking Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party to add bloody, chainsaw-wielding maniacs. Think about that. You can't expect them to change the entire character of an event just to accommodate an IP that doesn't fit. The square won't fit in the circle's hole because it isn't supposed to. I am indeed thinking inside the box, and that box exists for good reason.

The Penn and Teller house last year was hardly horrifying and was very much tongue in cheek.

It also sucked. They need to chill with the attempted comedy, because they're starting to go overboard in corny Knott's fashion. I thought Leave it to Cleaver had the perfect balance between horror and comedy, but it's been downhill since then.

 

[Skip]

You don't get it. There's "plenty of that" because "that" is what HHN is all about. Legit horror is what people are there to see, not silly Simpsons scenarios. There is simply no audience for this sort of thing at HHN. You dodged my question earlier about having gone to the event, but I think it's pretty obvious at this point that you have not.



Yes, it does have to be that way. That way is HHN. Serious horror and scaring people is HHN. It's what actual fans of the event want and expect. What we don't want is Universal wasting part of the event's too-small budget on this sort of thing. They didn't even start doing "comedy" houses until fairly recently, and those are still a far cry from anything involving cartoon characters.

This is like asking Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party to add bloody, chainsaw-wielding maniacs. Think about that. You can't expect them to change the entire character of an event just to accommodate an IP that doesn't fit. The square won't fit in the circle's hole because it isn't supposed to. I am indeed thinking inside the box, and that box exists for good reason.



It also sucked. They need to chill with the attempted comedy, because they're starting to go overboard in corny Knott's fashion.

Quoting for truth, excellent post. I'd especially like to echo your points on the comedy houses - Penn & Teller wasn't very good. There was barely any real comedy to begin with, and what was there felt forced. Bloodengutz was clever, but in general I think they need to stop trying to include a comedy house every year because it's clear it only works every once in a while.

 

[71jason]

I mean, it's black comedy. You can't do that with yellow Simpsons characters. (And I really doubt Matt Groening would want it to happen, anyway.)

Groening was semi-famous for his alternative weekly comic strip "Life in Hell" years before he created the Simpsons. It was bleak, black comedy, albeit told with cute rabbit cartoon characters. Not sure how much control he has over the characters any more, but a funny/scary send-up of haunted house event tropes sounds right up his alley. Would probably be more New'kd Vegas than Leave It to Cleaver, but I could see him letting his creations be somewhat frightening.

FWIW, same rumor as SGT623 posted in OU (I was at the bar with him), a source with a stong track record said no Treehouse of Horror this year, but the idea has been tossed around for next year. I'm sure there are creative and legal hurdles to over come, but apparently someone in Design likes the concept.

 

[71jason]

Quoting for truth, excellent post. I'd especially like to echo your points on the comedy houses - Penn & Teller wasn't very good. There was barely any real comedy to begin with, and what was there felt forced. Bloodengutz was clever, but in general I think they need to stop trying to include a comedy house every year because it's clear it only works every once in a while.

BTW, with you on Penn & Teller, but it was a weak year for houses overall. Bloodengutz is in my top 5 of all time. Psychoscarapy: Home for the Holidays and Scary Tales III would probably make my top dozen. Leave It to Beaver was strong. Zombiegeddon was a mixed bag, but still better than that other zombie maze in the Disaster queue last year. That's four excellent houses, one mediocre, and one stinker--I think that's a better track record than "every once in a while."