What To Expect From The Friday The 13th And Jason Universe Houses At Halloween Horror Nights

This year sees the return of Friday The 13th and Jason Voorhees to Universal Studio's annual scare fest event Halloween Horror Nights. Both Hollywood and Orlando have partnered with Horror Inc. and the Thirteen Hole group for houses that use distinctive storytelling treatments for Friday the 13th's 45th anniversary. This fall, fans can visit either Universal Studios Orlando or Hollywood. Each venue and will feature a different experience encountering our masked Crystal Lake psychopath. 

The Hollywood Reporter recently broke down what we can expect to see and experience as fans as explained by the creative directors from each Universal location.

John Murdy, creative director of the Hollywood location, explains what you will see at his house:

Hollywood's storyline is partly inspired by tourists who flock to the real-life summer camp that served as the original film's setting, alongside urban explorers - who visit abandoned and derelict locations - and dark tourists, who travel to places associated with death and tragedy. Guests will arrive in the present day, where they'll join a group of content creators working with the fictional company Death Tours, who "made the terrible mistake of breaking into Camp Crystal Lake," says Murdy. "They're making videos, and you're going to see snippets of their videos as you go along." Drawing material from the first eight films, attendees will see iconic franchise locations like the shack in the woods, the cabins, the graveyard, and barn, alongside appearances from the young Jason who drowned, sackhead Jason, Jason in the hockey mask as well as the "sixth and seventh film's version of that, where he's just a rotting corpse with maggots," says Murdy.

Mike Aiello, creative director of the Orlando location, discusses what fans will see in Florida:

In Orlando, you'll see similar locations, and it's also set at the camp, but "we're really playing off the new vision that the Jason Universe has for Jason, that version of the character Greg Nicotero designed," says Aiello. That is the entire front half of the experience, which Aiello notes expands on the idea that Jason can be anywhere at any time. "He is relentless. We wanted this to be violent and unyielding, to be the idea that Jason Voorhees appears as a force that is unbelievable. As soon as he's there, you're around a corner, and there he is again." It's a very claustrophobic experience that exploits Jason's size and scale as you're moving through the house.

If the first half is intense, the second half will be brutal, Sauls and Aiello tease, noting that HHN-goers will walk through an oversized Jason hockey mask before they face down a gauntlet of Jasons from across eight films. "Imagine a quick, cut, living montage of every visage of Jason," says Aiello. "I believe that back half is going to be some of the most intense scares we've had."

It is exciting to know that Hollywood's location will be an exploration of the first eight films as a nostalgic tour of the beginnings of the franchise. For those of our readers who attend this year, enjoy visiting Crystal Lake and the Jason Universe!