Fright Nights

Halloween Horror Nights Orlando event
Fright Nights
Slogan	Dying for a good Halloween party?
Year	1991
Icon's	The classic Universal Monsters Beetlejuice
Icon attraction	Dungeon of Terrir Beetlejuice show at Bates motel
Number of haunted houses	1
Number of scarezones	N/A
Preceded by	Event established
Followed by	Halloween Horror Nights II

Fright Nights (marketed as Universal Studios Fright Nights) was the original Halloween Horror Nights event held in Orlando. The event had classic Universal Monsters serve as the first ever Icons, and asked, "Dying for a Good Halloween Party?". The event, which was held for three nights in October 1991, featured one haunted house and twenty shows. The event would advertise itself as having over 35 different monsters.

Dates & Times

Event Nights

October 25-26 & 31 1991

Event Times

All nights ran from 6:00 PM to 12:00 AM.

Ticket Prices

Single Admission (Advanced Purchase): $12.95 + tax.

Single Admission: &15.95 + tax

Single Night Admission (October 31st at special ticket kiosks): $7.95 + tax

Storyline

Deciding to enact his will to gather fear From the hearts of many, Adaru the Sumerian God possessed the workers at Universal to helm a Halloween event. Through his lantern, Adaru resurrected Beetlejuice and the Classic Monsters to helm Fright Nights.

Event Icons

Beetlejuice and the Universal Classic Monsters were the first Event Icons ever.

Attractions

Haunted House

• The Dungeon of Terror (JAWS Queue): Travel through a roadside haunt of gore and terror.

Shows

• Beetlejuice Dead in Concert! Featuring the Ghostbusters! (New York Library)
• Chainsaw Massacre (Outside Sting Alley)
• Dr. Death (Metropolis Tribune)
• The Human Pincushion (Gramercy Park)
• Magical Mania (Delancey Street)
• Madame Kuszel: Gypsy Fortune Teller (Delancey Street)
• Cobra Woman (Outside Delancey Street)
• Dragon Breath (New York)
• Starshower (Mel's Drive-In Stage)
• Paul Revere & the Raiders (Mel's Drive-In Stage)
• Thunderdome (Hollywood)
• Monster Mardi Gras Costume Contest (Hollywood)
• Prince Dragon (Amity)
• Iron Belly (San Francisco)
• Dr. Frankenstein's Theater Featuring Mistress of the Night, Frankenstein and Dracula (Beetlejuice Stage)
• The Human Impaler (San Francisco)
• The Gravediggers (World Expo)
• The Pendragons (Animal Actor's Stage)
• Universal Science Band (World Expo)
• Beetlejuice Graveyard Tours (Bates Motel)

Other Attractions

• The Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera (Production Central)
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies (Production Central)
• Ghostbusters Spooktacular (New York)
• Kongfrontation (New York)
• Dracula's Tavern Sing-A-Long (Finnegan's Bar and Grill)
• Earthquake: The Big One (San Francisco)
• The Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show (Amity)
• Back to the Future: The Ride (World Expo)
• E.T. Adventure (World Expo)
• The Gory Gruesome and Grotesque Horror Make-Up Show (Hollywood)
• The Hollywood Hi-Tones (Mel's Drive-In)
• Dynamite Nights Stunt Spectacular (Studio Lagoon)

Articles

REIGN OF TERROR

St. Petersburg Times - Friday, October 25, 1991

Author: STEVE PERSALL

Abbott and Costello met the Mummy and the Wolfman in a Universal Studios movie. Even Ma and Pa Kettle were menaced by monsters during their box office glory days for the studio.

This weekend and on Halloween night, Universal Studios theme park visitors will be face-to-face with a monstrous menagerie of classic movie ghouls during a special event known as Fright Nights.

The scary schedule includes a tour through the most ambitious haunted house ever created the Dungeon of Terror. Housed in the former Jaws pavilion, the dungeon is an excursion into the history and horrors of Universal's film legacy.

The creator of this highly touted attraction is Universal Studios theme park technical director Tim Sepielli. As the final touches were being added, Sepielli described what his crew has done with an unusual shopping list that included at least 50 gallons of fake blood, miles of cobwebs, authentic coffins and fake body parts.

Part of the attraction is a dark maze with slimy, bloodied walls where monsters jump out and a six-foot spider wraps visitors in its web. There is a homicidal maniac who breaks out of an asylum to terrorize the masses in one area. There also is an electric chair where you get to pull the switch.

Sepielli sounded like a proud father as he described his favorite fright in the Dungeon of Terror:

"When you walk down one corridor, you're walking on plexiglass," Sepielli said. "It lights up and there's a crypt under your feet with a girl banging and clawing at the plexiglass. It's filled with live rats that crawl all over her body. Of course, the trick is that we smear peanut butter on her so the rats really nibble on her. That's a lot of fun."

Six weeks of preparation went into the gruesome haunted house effects. But some visitors may not last the estimated 12-minute touring time.

"A lot of times it takes much less because people are literally running to get away from these monsters," Sepielli said.

Horror spills out into the streets of the Universal Studios attraction where dozens of monsters including the Fly, the Phantom of the Opera and the Creature from the Black Lagoon stroll and greet visitors.

"We'll have all of those characters as well as mutants, zombies and incidental dead people," makeup artist Mike Davey said with a macabre chuckle. "We're turning the whole park into a giant haunted house."

Davey said there was no effort made to tone down the gory details for families who attend.

"No, not at all," Davey said. "There are going to be some pretty gruesome characters. There's not many special effects as far as people getting legs or heads cut off, although you'll see some people with various body parts cut off through makeup."

Adding to the Fright Night fun will be The Pendragons and their bizarre magic shows every hour. Frightening freaks and sideshow geeks like the Elastic Lady, Cobra Woman and the Human Pin Cushion will perform their stunts in the streets.

A recurring character at the park, Beetlejuice, will host his Graveyard Revue, a one-man act that is being called "the greatest show unearthed."

Sixties rock 'n' roll stars Paul Revere and the Raiders will appear in in a Monster Mash Bash at Battery Park.

Horror film buffs can view digitally remastered prints of the original Dracula and Frankenstein films in the Big Scream Theater. These exclusive screenings are a worthwhile tribute to the studio's horror heritage.

Website Pictures

A picture of the Fright Nights archive drawer on the Halloween Horror Nights: Sweet 16 website. All images from the Halloween Horror Nights: Sweet 16 website page until said otherwise.

A picture of the Fright Nights archive registry that appeared on the Halloween Horror Nights: Sweet 16 Website.

Concept art for The Dungeon of Terror.

A picture of the facade for The Dungeon of Terror.

A picture of The Rat Lady that appeared in The Dungeon of Terror house.

The map for Fright Nights.

Fright Nights Drawer with Storyteller's "Notes".

Fright Nights archive registry with The Storyteller's notes.

Fright Nights map with The Storyteller's notes.

The rest of the images are from the Halloween Horror Nights: Twenty Years of Fear website.

Website Videos

1991 Fright Nights at Universal Studios Florida - the first Halloween Horror Nights

From the Halloween Horror Nights: Sweet 16 website and the Halloween Horror Nights: Twenty Years of Fear website.

Pictures

A picture of some of the scareactors that appeared at Fright Nights.

Image from Attractions Magazine's Fright Nights video.

Image from Attractions Magazine's Fright Nights video.

Merchandise and Collectables

Trivia

• Due to legal issues with the Lugosi family, Universal could not use Bela Lugosi's likeness as Dracula for the Fright Nights logo.
• A performer called "The Elastic Lady" can be seen on an article. It is unknown if she actually appeared at the event.

HHNCrypt.com