| Halloween Horror Nights Orlando attraction | |
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| Psycho: Through the Mind of Norman Bates | |
| Attraction type | Haunted House |
| Event | Halloween Horror Nights IX |
| Park | Universal Studios Florida |
| Area | Production Central |
| Year | 1999 |
| Housed in | Soundstage 22 |
| Based on | Psycho (1960) |
| Preceded by | The Psycho Path Maze (1994) |
| Followed by | Psycho Path: The Return of Norman Bates (2006) |
Psycho: Through the Mind of Norman Bates was one of the five haunted houses that were featured during Halloween Horror Nights IX: Last Gasp. It was located in Soundstage 22 along with Insanity. This house was based on the film Psycho, but focused mainly on the imagination of Norman Bates.
History and Location[]
Like the previous year, Universal decided to put two haunted houses in Soundstage 22 for Halloween Horror Nights IX. Soundstage 22 is one of the smaller soundstage facilities designed to be used as filming locations for movies and television shows.
Psycho: Through the Mind of Norman Bates was located inside this soundstage, along with Insanity. The house was loosely based on the remake of Psycho (which came out that same year) and would be set inside Norman Bates' mind as he spends his time confined in Fairvayle Sanitarium.
This house would mark the return of a Psycho house, which hadn't appeared at the event since the 1993 and 1994 haunted houses titled, The Psycho Path Maze.
The house would get a prequel in 2006 called Psycho Path: The Return of Norman Bates. That house would focus on Norman Bates before the events of the Psycho films, and would also feature many scenes set inside Norman Bates' mind.
Concept Art of "Psycho" house for Halloween Horror Nights 1999
Collection of house concept art.
Description[]
Experience the chillingly violent images that torment Norman's soul. For heavens sake, DON'T GO IN THE SHOWER!
Experience[]
(Information gathered from the video on the right)
The walkthrough started in the sparsely-decorated reception for the Fairvayle Sanitarium, consisting of a receptionist sitting by the computer at her desk next to filing cabinet and a noticeboard. The line for the Insanity haunted house also went through this room, though it would go through a different exit of this room. From there, they would go through various corridors until eventually entering a darkened tunnel with lights shining in through holes in the spinning walls, giving the impression of rotating starlight. They proceeded to a corridor meant to look like the inside of Norman's brain filled with fleshlike tentacles and containing a zombie-like monster that would jump at the guests, screaming. From there, guests would walk in a complete darkness through a room with black plastic strips hanging down from the ceiling.
The next room, known as "Sharp Memories" in the concept art, was filled with many oversized, spinning, and reflective knives (mirrors) hanging down from the ceiling. The knives reflected strobe lights in different directions. Behind one of these, a man in a full black body suit with a knife, possibly Norman himself, would appear to scare the guests, giving the impression of a black, knife-wielding silhouette blocking the light. After that, guests would enter a room called "The Victim's Corridor".
Next was a room called "Mother's Closet", with long racks covered in copies of Norman's Mother dress, with rocking chairs and more dresses floating in the air. Zombiefied versions of Norman's Mother emerged from among the dresses to threaten the guests with knives. Beyond that was a room featuring around 2000 illuminated eyeballs (ping pong balls) staring at the guests with same type of bodysuit-wearing scareactor as in "Sharp Memories", this time covered in eyeballs (ping pong balls).
After going through "The Carnage Room", guests would enter a corridor with a shower curtain obscuring the knife-wielding Norman on one side and a waterfall on the other. The Norma zombies returned in this room, jumping out with knives from behind the waterfall. The final room was foggy and filled with large, bloodsoaked shower curtains with Marion Crane's corpse on the floor. This room contained a mix of all the kinds of scareactors previously seen in the house jumping out from behind hidden walls and shower curtains.
There was also reportedly a bungee scare in this house in which a scareactor would attack guests from above only to get pulled back by a bungee cord and disappear.
Settings[]
- Fairvayle Sanitarium
- Holding Cell
- Vortex Corridors
- Norman Bate's mind
- Knife Room
- Victim's Room
- Eyeball Chamber
- Mother's Closet
- Carnage Room
- The Shower Scene
Scareactors[]
- Receptionist
- Inmate
- Mind Victims x 4
- Knife Attackers x 4
- Victims x 2
- Eyeball Body x 4
- Carnage Bodies x 2
- Norman Bates x Various
- Norman Bates' Mother x Various
Pictures[]
Website Pictures[]
Video[]
Soundtrack[]
Trivia[]
- This would be the first known time the Revolving Tunnel was used in a haunted house. It would later be used in many different haunted houses in the event's future, the next time being in Anxiety in 3-D during Halloween Horror Nights X.
| Halloween Horror Nights IX |
|---|
| Characters: The Mummy (Event Icon) • Norman Bates |
| Haunted Houses: Doomsday • Insanity • The Mummy • Psycho: Through the Mind of Norman Bates • Universal's Creature Features in 3-D |
| Scarezones: Midway of the Bizarre |
| Shows: Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure VIII • Festival of the Dead Parade • Deadly D'Illusions • Tricks or Treats: Dead Man's Party |