Halloween is having a moment, and Universal is here for it.
Today, Comcast announced it will split into two companies, one focused on connectivity and one focused on entertainment. The entertainment company, NBCUniversal, will be a focused media and entertainment company “anchored by its growing theme parks division.” I agree with Wall Street, which rewarded Comcast with its best day in over a decade, that this is an excellent move. As it turns out, there was no real synergy between connectivity and entertainment. Both sides suffered under the same shared multiple, and now each can be valued appropriately.
What does this have to do with Halloween, you ask? Well, Comcast has made horror and Halloween a central part of its brand, with HHN expanding nights at both Orlando and Hollywood, the year-round Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas, and the upcoming Horror Unleashed Chicago. Inside Comcast, those revenue lines were buried in a “Content & Experiences” grouping. Inside a focused NBCUniversal, Halloween becomes a story the CEO must tell investors who are now buying the company specifically for its entertainment narrative. That likely means more park-level disclosure and a higher bar for what HHN and UHU must deliver, because the numbers are about to become much more visible.
That stance dovetails with everything else Universal announced this week, all of it centered on horror.
Halloween Horror Nights Orlando revealed the rest of its five original house slate for the 35th anniversary: Invasion: Alien Abduction, the event’s first alien abduction house, Cybergoria, a dystopian cyborg house its creator calls “fully integrated and kind of alive,” and Madlands: Caged Cannibals, which Lora Sauls described as one of the bloodiest and most aggressive houses of the year.
Those join the previously announced Jack & Oddfellow and H.R. Bloodengutz, plus IP houses Sinners and Stranger Things 5.
Meanwhile, in Las Vegas, a Resident Evil takeover soft-launched at Universal Horror Unleashed, turning the common areas into Raccoon City with live actors, roaming zombies, and an Umbrella Corporation Cafe. It’s included with general admission, which means it’s accessible even on the $30 Fraidy Cat ticket, exactly the kind of rotating, locals-friendly programming UHU laid out at Monsterpalooza.
Then, picking up from the Spirit Halloween story, Michaels dropped its largest Halloween collection ever, six décor lines built entirely around nostalgia. The heavy retail investment is a good sign for us and indicates that retailers expect spending to continue.
However, the investment in nostalgia could signal that sentiment is still low. People tend to get nostalgic about the times they remember as better and simpler, so a retail giant betting this hard on throwback aesthetics could be reading a consumer who is still going to spend but isn’t happy about it. Think about that when you’re considering themed-zone direction, scareactor styling, or the marketing language that resonates with the retail-primed shopper.
Also this week: Green Tagged digs into when to change a theme park and when not to (Disneyland’s Pirates backlash, the Enchanted Parks dining-plan cut, and Disney World’s stretched holiday season), House of Horror Haunted Carnival moves to Tropical Park in Miami for its 25th year, IAAPA Expo opened registration with Haunting Grounds moving to the West Building, and there’s now a dark ride management sim coming to Steam. Here’s what you need to know this week.
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