As Halloween season attracts to a detailed, and plenty of are getting in our final frights at haunts, Horror Nights Orlando has some parting presents to maintain the spirit going previous Halloween. Uncover Common is launching its first narrative collection, Halloween Horror Nights: Haunted Tales, a podcast of spooky and creepily atmospheric anthology expands on the backstories from this yr’s homes and scare zones.
Right here’s what Michelle Westfall (Sr. Content material Strategist for Podcasts and Video at Common Orlando Resort) and Charles Gray (Sr. Present Director, Leisure Inventive Improvement at Common Orlando Resort) shared in regards to the enterprise and way more. Contemplating NBC Common having quite a few franchises becoming a member of Meta together with Horror Nights, it’s undoubtedly trying good for hang-out followers.
Sabina Graves, io9: I had the chance to go attend Halloween Horror Nights throughout opening. And earlier than that, I used to be holding monitor the kind of content material that goes up on for the podcast on social media after I got here throughout the Horror Nights anthology. I’m curious how that collaboration into increasing the theme park hang-out universe right into a narrative podcast got here to be?
Michelle Westfall: Nice query! The anthology collection truly got here from an thought I had like some time again the place I used to be like, “It will be actually cool to know somewhat extra in regards to the tales [behind the houses].” I had family and friends who had come to the homes with me and can be like, “That was a very cool home, however what was the story?” You realize, perhaps they didn’t do a lot analysis into it. So I believed, what if we type of took that and informed the story in audio with sound results and music and actually type of put you within the temper of Halloween horror nights. In order that’s type of the place that concept stemmed from. Charles truly helped me with a full reveal of Halloween Horror Nights [on the pod] and from there we thought, “Okay, what if we did a collection the place, you realize, each week now we have a brand new home that we reveal and we inform the tales [behind them]?”
So I reached out to Lora Sauls in leisure. I used to be like, “Would you be curious about perhaps doing one thing like this on the podcast and type of inform the story, take it nevertheless means you need to take it?” And naturally, she was like, “That sounds actually nice!” So we thought to check a pair homes this yr to see how they carry out on the podcast. Are folks speaking about them? So we selected 4 homes and one scare zone that their [Horror Nights] group type of divided it up. And as you in all probability heard, everybody learn a distinct home, we did “Useless Mans Pier: Winter’s Wake,” “Bugs Eaten Alive,” “Fiesta De Chupacabras” and “Spirits of the Coven” for the homes. After which we thought let’s do a scare zone [Sweet Revenge] as nicely, which is cool as a result of it tied into the Tribute retailer’s story.
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io9: Was it very easy to translate these home pitch mythologies into podcast type?
Charles Gray: For homes, now we have to really pressure ourselves to take away bits of the story, each expertise together with every scene of the home, the streets, must be like a Polaroid image. It’s bought to be such as you bought to get it in a single take. So for us creating it, now we have a little bit of a backstory however then now we have to see what we’re going to disclose so we don’t confuse folks. So this gave us an awesome alternative to essentially say the issues we needed to say or simply add these additional layers again in. After which I feel for individuals who expertise these tales, it actually provides a fuller basis and may add to type of emotional collaboration. Coming collectively and becoming a member of us on the journey, having that ammunition on the very starting after which seeing issues revealed is extra impactful—particularly the characters or the explanation why folks do the issues they do. So, yeah, it’s a whole lot of enjoyable. Rwo years in the past, we wrote some tales too for lots of the stuff after which so to have the ability to learn them was like a campfire story…you realize, sitting across the campfire, telling your ghost tales.
Westfall: I used to be seeing on Twitter that some folks have been like, “I’m listening to it in my automotive on my technique to Halloween Horror Nights.” And a few folks have been like, “We’re sitting in keep and scream and listening to an episode earlier than going to go do Useless Man’s Pier.” After listening to all of the episodes, I walked by Useless Man’s Pier and I used to be like,” I don’t know that I’d have actually understood the violin had I not listened to that episode.”
io9: Proper! I listened to that episode for work earlier than going and defined it a lot! Added a complete new layer to the expertise for my favourite home of the yr.
Westfall: Precisely and perhaps you went by the home after which after you went by the home, you have been like, “Oh, I need to be taught extra about it” so you may play that episode. That’s type of what we have been considering too.
Gray: And it’s not likely spoilers as a result of a whole lot of the stuff we’re simply going deeper within the character or what occurred simply earlier than the inciting occasion, you realize? You see an IP or a film or tv present that you just’re acquainted you’ve got that [background] coming in. However I’ll say that now we have particularly in our authentic tales world constructing right here for individuals who come yr after yr. We’re creating these tales and layering them on. Typically issues have connections to different zones or from previous years we don’t repeat, however we do hyperlink a whole lot of occasions. And a whole lot of occasions it’s very delicate. Typically we’re like, we don’t care if folks get it or not. In the event that they do? Wonderful. If not? Okay. So to have folks see the chance to see these connections, hyperlinks additionally inside these tales is is an enormous boon.
io9: So I began going to Halloween Horror Nights East pretty lately, so I’ve by no means actually skilled a whole lot of the icons like The Director and Jack the Clown. And my favourite maze final yr was the The Icons Maze, as a result of I bought to lastly get the cliff notes of those completely different characters that I had had huant pals fill me in on. With this kind of factor are you considering to proceed a few of these tales with the HHN icons by this medium or will it proceed as prolonged guides to the homes of the yr? I liked that the Fiesta de Chupacabras story had each an English and Spanish model!
Gray: We’ve got tended to have the icons in some form or type solely throughout anniversary years, a whole lot of occasions as a touchstone for individuals who visited earlier than. Once more, I’m not saying that’s going to occur sooner or later, however that’s been what’s occurred previously. And also you get on social media, you get on the weblog and we are able to truly see what individuals are very curious about, what they’re latching onto.
Westfall: That’s one thing we began to plan for subsequent yr to see, okay, what does the yr seem like? These did fairly nicely [with these houses], I’ve seen lots of people obtain them very well, so I believed, is there one other place we are able to do it? It suits Halloween very nicely. In order that’s one thing that we’re hoping to do subsequent yr, I feel there may very well be a spot for storytelling in these types .
Take a look at Uncover Common for journey guides and extra Tales of Halloween on Youtube and wherever you get your podcasts.
Need extra io9 information? Take a look at when to anticipate the newest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s subsequent for the DC Universe on movie and TV, and the whole lot you should learn about Home of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Energy.
