Among the familiar faces seen at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights will be Jack the Clown. He’ll be featured in a haunted house and with a revealing backstory during the Universal Studios event, which launches Friday.
Jack’s been around HHN since 2000, said Lora Sauls, assistant director of entertainment creative development and show direction at Universal Orlando. He has been in demand since the first mention, she said.
“We didn’t actually have him in the event the first weekend. He was in the event in a show, but in a very different form, in the show called ‘Jacked Up,’” Sauls said. “Then our fans were like, ‘Where’s Jack? Where’s Jack?’ So the second weekend of that event, Jack appeared, and, of course, became a fan favorite.”
This year’s Horror Nights includes a house named Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control, described on Universal’s website as a “showdown decades in the making.” The duo has had an intense relationship, and Dr. Oddfellow is responsible for giving Jack his demonic power. It’s complicated and involves — it must be said — Jack in a box.
The characters’ backstories were determined 26 years ago, Sauls said, and elements have been selectively splattered through houses since then.
Dr. Oddfellow has a longtime connection with Jack, and the duo will be featured in the 35th edition of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, which begins Friday. (Courtesy Universal Orlando)
“Our fans have been asking for a Jack versus Oddfellow for as long as we can remember,” Sauls said. “Those who knew the lore really wanted that versus story. And we were like, you know, there’s something more to that. We don’t just want to see them after each other. We need them to come after us.”
Halloween Horror Nights is an after-hours, separately ticketed event at the theme park. Among its features are 10 darkened, haunted walk-through mazes that present horrific stories with gore, faux blood, special effects, and scare actors to deliver jump scares. This year marks the 35th edition of HHN in Orlando.
“Doctor Oddfellow and Jack have always been in a story together, but this year their story intertwines,” Sauls said. “Their power is more powerful together. It’s not a friendship story. It’s not a versus story. They are coming after us because our fear, our screams are all going to ignite this new infernal carnival of nightmares that they together have built.”
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Some of their tension could be rooted in different styles of wreaking havoc.
Oddfellow “wants everyone to know he’s in control. He’s a snake-oil salesman, so he’s bringing people in so he can then take their souls. Where Jack is just chaotically killing, and he, Dr. Oddfellow, does not like that,” Sauls said.
“So you see the moment where Oddfellow then attacks Jack, then puts him in the box. … So you’re going to see Jack go into the box. The unique story we’re telling is: Where did Jack go when he went into the box?”
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