Every fall, hundreds of thousands of individuals visit Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood for the highly anticipated Halloween Horror Nights (HHN). For two months, people celebrate the spooky season to its fullest with numerous haunted houses, scare zones, themed food, and park hours that extend into the early morning.
This year, there’s a new element to Horror Nights. As most everyone knows, Taylor Swift has been at the center of the music world this past summer with The Eras Tour. The fans at this tour are a spectacle to behold; if you’re not showing up hours ahead of time for merch lines and dressing as your favorite era with friendship bracelets up your arms, then you’re doing it wrong. While the first U.S. leg ended in early August, the fun didn’t stop there. Swifties began crafting bracelets to trade at Halloween Horror Nights, and soon thereafter, everyone was joining in on the excitement.
This recent friendship bracelet trend originated from a lyric in Swift’s newest non-rerecorded album, Midnights. On track five, “You’re On Your Own Kid,” the lyrics read, “So make the friendship bracelets, take the moment and taste it.” Shortly after the song’s release, Swifties took to social media and began making bracelets to trade once the Eras Tour commenced. These bracelets usually include lyrics, song titles, insanely long acronyms, or funny sayings. Since then, bracelet making has skyrocketed and become popularized across concerts alike. Over the summer, fans of Louis Tomlinson, the Jonas Brothers, and more largely participated in trading. I can imagine we’ll see more of this next year on Olivia Rodrigo’s GUTS Tour.
The participation seen at Halloween Horror Nights expands the joy of trading beyond concerts and brings Swifties and other people together. All age groups are participating, and if you’re not a fan of Taylor Swift, no worries; most people tend to be crafting Halloween-related bracelets, with specificity to the haunted houses showcased this year. The most popular houses include Stranger Things, The Last of Us, Chucky, and The Exorcist.
Fans of Stranger Things are all over this trend, making bracelets with their favorite sayings like “Hellfire Club,” “Chrissy, wake up!” and the iconic, “You are like Papa!” If you’re an annual visitor like me, classic Halloween Horror Nights ideas are a must. Some examples include “Never Go Alone” and “Mel’s Die In,” in lieu of Mel’s Drive-In. For the pop culture girlies, you could sport a “Scream Queen,” “Final Girl,” “HHN Barbie,” or “Ghoulie Pop” bracelet. If you’re going for a combination of both spooky and Swift, “In My HHN Era” is perfect. As for my personal favorites, we have “Ghoul Summer” after the hit single “Cruel Summer” and “Shriek Now” inspired by Swift’s third studio album, Speak Now.
All in all, this trend is an excellent way to bring people with similar interests together. Not only do you get to enjoy crafting with friends and family, but you’ll also walk away with different bracelets and be able to enjoy everyone’s creativity. In my opinion, there’s something so special about understanding specific niches and bonding with strangers over them. And if you don’t encounter others to trade with, many people on TikTok have reported giving bracelets to employees, because who doesn’t love making another person’s day better?
As someone who regrets not making bracelets for the Eras Tour, I will most definitely make both Halloween and Taylor-related bracelets for my visit to Orlando. The possibilities are endless, so buy that bracelet kit from Amazon and start getting creative.
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