Credit: UniversalCould a popular anime IP be hitting Universal Orlando this Halloween season?
Even though the Easter Bunny is barely out the door, fans of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights have shifted into full gear. Late spring is usually when Universal starts to make announcements about their annual Halloween event, and the rumor mill is spinning faster and faster as fans wait for official updates.
We’ve been riding out the news of Chucky as HHN 32’s first house, which was officially announced all the way back in November 2022. Since then, rumors have come and gone, including the inclusion of IPs like HBO’s The Last of Us, M3gan, Insidious, Stranger Things, and even a feature from metal bands like Metallica or Iron Maiden. We’ve also seen several options for original concept houses, including those based on previous scare zones like Lair of the Banshees and Sweet Revenge, as well as houses revolving around clowns and giant monsters.
One of the most popular HHN speculation accounts, Hallowed Out Horror, released a brand new speculation map last week with quite a few surprises that throw everything we thought we knew about the event out the window. Of course, these are all just rumors, and we won’t have any confirmation until Universal speaks up, but as the event gets closer, the speculation maps tend to get more and more accurate.
A few things are unsurprising; obviously, Chucky’s inclusion, as well as the Universal Classic Monsters, although this map shows an emphasis on the Phantom of the Opera. The mushroom behind “The Game IP” seems to continue to hint at a The Last of Us house (or Universal’s about to do a very scary take on Super Mario Bros.). “The Exorcist” could refer to the classic 1973 film, which has been the subject of multiple houses before, or it could be referring to the yet untitled Blumhouse sequel set to be released later this year. “Mystery Metal IP” could refer to a house based around Iron Maiden or Metallica, although some fans have pointed to the horror metal band Ice Nine Kills instead.
So what’s new? There are a few new original concepts here, including Blood Moon Ritual, Lair of the Dragons, Swamp Devil, and Odd Carnival. Some of these are loosely related to old theories, as both Lair of the Dragons and Swamp Devil could point back to Lair of the Banshees, and Odd Carnival could have started as an It (2017) rumor.
One of the biggest surprises, though, is the “Headline IP”. Eagle-eyed Twitter users noticed that if you turn up the brightness, there is a hidden symbol behind the words, and the symbol is the logo for the extremely popular anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. The show (and the manga it’s based on) follow teenage Tanjiro Kamado, who strives to become a Demon Slayer after his family was slaughtered and his younger sister, Nezuko, turned into a demon.
This would definitely be a slightly out-of-left-field pick for Halloween Horror Nights, but the show does contain several horror elements, so it wouldn’t be completely out of place. What do you think of this new house rumor?