This is part two of our behind-the-scenes preview of Halloween Horror Nights 2024! Here, we’ll take a look at Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, but if you missed part one where we previewed A Quiet Place, you can also check out that article here. Again, be warned that there will be spoilers ahead!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire transports guests back into the heart of New York City for another ghostbusting adventure just like the 2024 film of the same name, though also includes some throwbacks to some of the classic “Ghostbusters” films. In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family joins forces with the original Ghostbusters, who now operate their own top-secret research lab to take their ability to store and study the ghosts they capture to a new level. After the discovery of an ancient relic that sets free the vengeful spirit of Garraka, who yearns to freeze the world to death, both new and original Ghostbusters must work together to save the world from a new Ice Age.
Guests enter a detailed facade designed to look just like Ray’s Occult Books from the films, but before they step inside, they will first get the chance to witness a preshow. An animated figure of the taxi-driver ghost will be relaxing inside the taxicab on one side of the bookstore, while on the other, the infamous Slimer will periodically pop out from inside of a hot dog cart with plenty of hot dogs stuffed in his mouth in typical Slimer fashion. Meanwhile, in the background, guests will hear Ray Stanz – famously played by Dan Aykroyd – talking about the history of the death chill to set up the premise of the story for guests who may not have seen the film.
Upon entering through the front door of Ray’s Occult Books, guests will find themselves in a close replica of the interior of the store from the film, including hundreds of unique prop antiquities lining the countertop, bookshelves, and walls in the store’s iconic chaotic fashion.
John Murdy noted that fans with a keen eye may notice that some of the props visible in this opening scene were previously seen in films such as The Mummy, The Skeleton Key, Van Helsing, and more; all previously left behind by productions and acquired by the Halloween Horror Nights props team over the years.
Alongside the abundance of antiquities in the shop are numerous animated Mini-Pufts causing trouble in their typical violently silly style just like in the film – made possible by placing 5 tiny servo motors inside of each animated figure in a way “kind of like what is used for high-end model trains” according to Murdy.
While the Mini-Pufts are initially the most eye-catching effect in the opening scene of this house, guests will quickly realize that while most of the bookshelves are three-dimensional, one printed wall of what at-first appear to be real bookshelves disguises a scrim effect that will appear and disappear. In the moments when the scrim is properly illuminated by show lighting, it will reveal the secret room featured in the new film that contains all the Firemaster armor and once held the infamous Orb of Garraka that initiates the events of the plot.
“From there, we have to take you back 100 years…”
As noted in its trailer, the film opens with a prologue that initially takes viewers back to New York City in 1904 – the day that the New York Fire Department arrived at The Manhattan Adventurers Society to find a room filled with people frozen to death in the middle of July. Similarly, guests find themselves leaving Ray’s Occult Books to witness this unusual occurrence for themselves before being transported back to the present-day where the remainder of the plot – and the house – takes place.
As the house begins its return to the present, fans may notice a throwback to the scene in Ghostbusters II where the sewers were filled with unusual pink slime. It was noted that since the creative team was unable to fit this iconic scene in the first Ghostbusters house featured at Halloween Horror Nights 2019, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire would finally give them the opportunity to bring it to life at the event.
Additional references to other “Ghostbusters” films will continue to attack guests through the transition back to the present, including the miner ghost from Ghostbusters: Afterlife, before the massive sewer dragon from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire at last returns the house to the main events of the film.
Without detailing too many other specific scenes, fans will get the chance to walk through the Ghostbusters’ new research lab – overrun by more Mini-Pufts, including a handful chasing each other on a turn table – and pass by the lab’s aquarium tanks filled with familiar angry ghosts escaping, including the Scoleri Brothers from Ghostbusters 2, the library ghost and the Terror Dog from the original film, and the vengeful Garakka from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire that is behind it all.
A massive replica of the frosty Ghostbusters’ firehouse headquarters from the film will surely impress fans midway through the house, reaching all the way to the very top of the H-Lot tent and continuing inside with a recreation of one of the most memorable scenes of the film involving the iconic ECTO-1 – which we were unfortunately unable to photograph at the time – and some of the original returning Ghostbusters cast.
When asked about how the more comedy-heavy tone of the “Ghostbusters” films fits into Halloween Horror Nights, a question that periodically arose when Ghostbusters was previously featured at the event, Murdy explained:
“We’ve accepted that these types of houses are comedy-horror and it’s just a different flavor. When you look at how we curate the whole lineup, we try to put a lot of variety into it [“since horror as a genre, particularly over the past 10-20 years with the advent of streaming, is really expansive now”]. So Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire is the comedy house, Insidious: The Further is the paranormal horror house, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface is hardcore gore, The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy is more surreal and trippy, and so on…”
If the positively received Ghostbusters house at Halloween Horror Nights 2019 is any indication of how well the franchise fits in at the event, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire will be sure to appeal to both fans and casual guests alike with its uniquely humorous tone amidst its spooky visuals and impressive sets that make it yet another enticing offering this year.
We want to sincerely thank Universal Studios Hollywood again for inviting us out for this behind-the-scenes preview of A Quiet Place and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire at this year’s event, which runs from Thursday, September 5, through Sunday, November 3.
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