10 Things You Didn't Know About Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights

5. Eddie: The Lost Icon

For 2001's Halloween Horror Nights the plan was to introduce a new icon, Eddie, but then the world changed forever and so did their plans.

Eddie Sawyer (or Schmidt as he later became) was intended to be a guy who was obsessed with horror movies, particularly slasher movies. Eddie would design his own horror maze and invite locals to come and try it out. One year a group of teens set fire to Eddie's trailer park maze with Eddie inside. Disfigured from the fire, Eddie became more obsessed with the world of horror and decided to take over Halloween Horror Nights along with his chainsaw.

J Michael Roddy was Universal Orlando's Manager of Show Development and Senior Show Director in 2001 spoke to the Scarezone podcast about how even they were ready to run with Eddie, the team decided that following the 9/11 terror attacks the icon needed to be changed. In fact if you watch closely at the trailer for the event it does appear to be Eddie plunging through the window with a chainsaw, rather than Jack.

Unlike the supernatural Jack the Clown, Eddie was a very real human threat with his chainsaw in tow. The team at Universal wanted to give the world an escape from what was going on outside the theme park walls. It was decided to go back to Jack who Roddy described as being much less blood thirsty than he has been the previous year.

Other aspects of the event were changed such as the names of some of the scarezones and also any graphic violence or gore were removed. Roddy also removed George W Bush as the villain in the Bill & Ted Show.

Eddie would appear at other events but his Icon status has never returned.