According to sites Orlando Informer and HHNUnofficial, there’s a strong possibility that Danny will come play with us when Halloween Horror Nights rolls into town. The Stanley Kubrick classic, The Shining, based (loosely) on the Stephen King masterpiece is supposedly coming to the annual Halloween event this September.
Photo courtesy of HHNUnofficial https://hhnunofficial.com/2017/05/02/shining-announcement-leaked/
According to the two sites, an email went out from Universal Orlando’s official travel agent site to affiliated agents about the horror favorite coming to Halloween Horror Nights this fall. The email apparently linked to a website, and has been since removed, however, it’s likely we can expect to see an announcement about it very soon.
The rumor has been floating around for quite some time, and it’s possible that this was a mistake. As we always say, unless Universal themselves announce it, it’s just a rumor. But what a fun rumor it is.
This is actually a big year for The Shining. The film was released in 1980, but the book was released three years earlier. In 1977 Stephen King published The Shining, his third book. It was his first hardback bestseller, and cemented him in the genre. The book celebrates 40 years this year. While Horror Nights will likely adapt the movie version of the story for the maze, it’s still a great way to celebrate the amazing terror that this story has brought. Both the book and the film do an amazing job of creating tons of questions, and a sense of dread, building up to amazing (but different) finales. If it wasn’t for the book, we wouldn’t have the film, and we wouldn’t be scared to death when we walk into a hotel.
Both the movie and the book has been cited as one of the most horrifying stories of all time.
On top of all of that, Stephen King is getting tons of attention this year in other forms. In August we will finally walk with the Gunslinger as the Dark Tower will find it’s way to screens. On September 17th, the IT remake will float into theaters. The Dark Tower is being made by Warner Brothers, while IT is being made by New Line (a division of Warner Brothers Entertainment). The original Shining film was also made by Warner Brothers, who also has an amazing partnership with Universal Theme Parks on such attractions like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
A prequel has been announced, called The Overlook Hotel. The film was announced in 2014, but is still in development. It will tell the story of how the damn hotel became entrenched in evil. In 2016, it was announced that The Shining Sequel, Dr. Sleep will also be adapted for the big screen. That book was published in 2013, and tells the story of a grown up Danny Torrance who deals with alcoholism and seeing ghosts. The book is fantastic and is Stephen King at his most captivating. Warner Brothers is producing all of these films, so if they are successful, it’s very likely that we could see some of them also adapted into mazes at Halloween Horror Nights in the future.
Still, if this rumor ends up being true, would you be up for a run through The Overlook Hotel? I just want to know how they’re going to pull off that elevator scene!
Again, this is just a rumor at this point, and is not official.
Stay tuned for more from Halloween Horror Nights, and be sure to get social with us on Facebook and follow along with us on Twitter @BehindThrills for the latest updates!
For our latest theme park videos please be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube!
For more information about HHN, including tickets, visit the official website by clicking here!
