We lack specific knowledge of when the idea of celebrating “Halfway to Halloween” began in the United States. For Universal Orlando Resort fans, the halfway mark to Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) makes something better to celebrate. Since it is halfway to Halloween Horror Nights now, what do we know about the 2023 event in Orlando?

In fairness, Universal Orlando Resort has not officially announced any dates for Halloween Horror Nights 2023. Nevertheless, based on previous years, the anticipated first night of Halloween Horror Nights should be September 1. If so, March 1 marks halfway to Halloween Horror Nights, correct? Of course, any excuse to talk about Halloween Horror Nights will do.

Speculation Season for Halfway to Halloween Horror Nights

Speculation season started earlier this year. Sites began putting out their speculation maps for the 2023 Halloween Horror Nights as early as January. The speculation maps appear to arrive earlier and earlier each year. Horror Night Nightmares remains the reigning king of predicting the houses, scare zones, and anything else associated with Halloween Horror Nights. The fans of Halloween Horror Nights soak up any information about the event.

Chucky

When Halloween Horror Nights 2022 ended, Universal Orlando Resort immediately announced that Chucky would be part of the 2023 event. An announcement happened back then that Chucky invited you to play at his Halloween Horror Nights houses at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. With that announcement, we know for sure the identity of the first of the expected ten houses at Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando. Universal announced that this house would draw inspiration from the SYFY channel “Chucky” series of the same name. We expect season two to be the key influence for the 2023 Chucky house.

So, the good news is that we know exactly what one of the 2023 Halloween Horror Nights houses will be. However, that leaves nine other houses for speculation season to ponder.

Things We Feel Very Confident About Regarding Halloween Horror Nights

At the time of writing, we do not have exact dates for Halloween Horror Nights for 2023. Despite a few hoax job listings for the event that suggested dates in Orlando, an official announcement on the nightly schedule for HHN has yet to be produced. However, based on previous years, we expect a team member preview night in very late August and opening night for the public to be Friday, Sept. 1. The chances of Halloween Horror Nights starting earlier look unlikely.

Also, based on historical patterns of the Halloween Horror Nights schedule, when Oct. 31 falls on a Tuesday, the event might run through the first weekend of November. Usually, Halloween Horror Nights take off Monday and Tuesday. Though unsubstantiated rumors hypothesized that HHN would happen every night in October, no HHN events on Monday and Tuesday make the usual pattern. However, with Halloween night being on a Tuesday this year, we expect HHN on Oct. 30 and 31. When this has happened before, the Friday and Saturday following Halloween in November have been the season’s final Halloween Horror Nights evenings.

Ticket Prices

Based on inflation, a more extended HHN season this year, and a few other rumors, the multi-night tickets will increase in price more than usual for this year. Halloween Horror Night fans should prepare their bank accounts for the price increase.  In fairness, this price increase will not look like the price of after-hours Halloween parties over at the Mickey Mouse club. Still, fans should get ready for this.

Like it or not, some aspects of Halloween Horror Nights have become more predictable than in previous years. However, that only takes away a little of the excitement and anticipation. At this point, Halloween Horror Nights fans should be confident that a few intellectual properties will be a part of the 2023 event in Orlando and probably Hollywood, also.

Horrors of Blumhouse

Like last year, evidence points to another Blumhouse-themed Halloween Horror Nights house. The Blumhouse partnership with Halloween Horror Nights blossomed into an entertaining house last year with “Freaky” and “Black Phone.” Based on a Redditt “Ask Me Anything,” the character from the movie “M3GAN” indicated she would be attending Halloween Horror Nights. With the film “Insidious” also being released by Blumhouse Productions, the chances of another split house using those two Blumhouse properties happening this year are very high.

Universal Classic Monsters

In recent years, a Halloween Horror Nights house based on the Universal Classic Monsters has happened yearly. Well, at least yearly over the last few years. Last year, we got a “Universal Monsters Legend Collide” house, for example. With the highly rumored Universal Classic Monsters’ land coming to Universal’s Epic Universe, any opportunity to promote the monsters makes sense.

Currently, informed speculation indicates that Dracula and Phantom of the Opera will be featured in the 2023 Universal Classic Monster house. However, that combination makes understanding how this house’s backstory will work challenging. We doubt those two exact monsters are starring in this year’s HHN house. Yet, a Universal Classic Monster house of some type looks like a guarantee for 2023.

Things We Suspect Will Be a Part of Halloween Horror Nights

If you believe the rumors from last year, the Hellblock Horror house replaced a prominent intellectual property that needed to be removed Following the breadcrumbs, the HBO Max show “The Last of Us,” originally scheduled to be released in 2022, got moved to an early 2023 release. If “The Last of Us” was that alleged intellectual property replaced with Hellblock Horror, then logic dictates that “The Last of Us” will appear as a Halloween Horror Nights house this year. Of course, nothing official or concrete can move this rumor to the very confident area yet.

Other Halloween Horror Nights House Speculation

Beyond that, the speculation experts, Horror Night Nightmares, offered some clues with their first speculation map. We have a reference to Banshees and Krampus. This speculation map provided clues about a former HHN house, Slaughter Cinema, and Japanese monsters. The anchor symbol on their speculation map caused people to wonder if Dead Man’s Pier will earn a sequel in 2023. The guitar symbol made fans wonder if a significant intellectual property would be experienced at Halloween Horror Nights 2023.

Halloween Horror Nights fans need to remember that these are called speculation maps for a reason. Informed sources have insight into the plan for Halloween Horror Nights. Still, these speculation maps change often for various reasons. Also, these speculation maps historically never include all the correct HHN houses early on. Reading too much into the speculation leads to false conclusions for HHN fans.

Krampus

However, the Krampus speculation is likely true since Universal Orlando taunted us with Krampus during Christmas. Universal Orlando Resort may have left us an enormous clue about the plans to build this house over the winter holidays. In Islands of Adventure, the All Hallows Eve Boutique converted to the All Hallows Eve Krampus Boutique for the 2022 winter holiday season. An enormous amount of “Easter Eggs” for Krampus appeared in that merchandise location. We even got a Krampus figure set up within this merchandise location. The appearance of that Krampus during the winter holiday season also might offer some clues as to the style of the Krampus within the house for HHN.

More Monday and Tuesday Nights for Halloween Horror Nights

Returning to the nights that Halloween Horror Nights will happen for 2023, some evidence points to the usual Monday and Tuesday nights not used for HHN being used some this year. Besides the expected Oct. 30 and 31 nights, evidence points to some Monday and Tuesday nights being open for HHN. However, significant logistical obstacles, such as staffing, stand in the way of that plan. If this happens, expect the price of multi-night tickets to increase even more than expected, as mentioned earlier.

One Last Halloween Horror Nights Rumor

At time of writing, this rumor lacks solid sourcing. However, on the day before this article was scheduled to be published, I kept receiving messages asking if this rumor was true. Very likely, after this publishes, I will find out this rumor had no connection to fact.

Despite that, logic indicates that Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando needs more of something. Whether that would be more shows, more space, or another house, this very popular event feels very congested on most nights. With less space to use this year to just move around with KidZone under reimagining, ideally something should be added to the Orlando event.

Once again, this qualifies as less than a rumor if that is possible. However, the saying where there is smoke there is fire might apply to this. Still, I am hearing that this year might involve 11 Halloween Horror Night house. I could give you some of the speculated original properties heard along with this rumor, but people are just guessing at this point.  Universal Orlando Resort may simply have an idea for an additional show to draw crowds away from the houses and food queues. Everyone, including me, will have to wait and see about this wild rumor. As we have learned as HHN fans, things change with this event quickly and often in ways that Universal Orlando Resort did not intend.

What do you think about the current speculation? Which of these rumored Halloween Horror Nights houses do you most want to see? Let us know in the comments below.