Inspiration

The "Haunted House Greeter" character was inspired by Jack Skellington, from the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas. In this movie, Jack is the well-liked party planner of Halloweentown who is best known for his legendary Halloween parties. After years of successful parties, he grows tired of the hum-drum nature of them and wants to find new inspiration for greater celebrations. He happens upon Christmastown, where he learns of the existence of Christmas, and instructs a few of Halloweentown's residents to kidnap Santa Claus in an attempt to bring Christmas to Halloweentown. Despite the plan eventually backfiring, Jack felt reinvigorated and eager to top all of the previous parties he had thrown.

Song: Jack's Lament

Jack Skellington was selected, because he embodied the brand of Halloween that the group wanted to showcase. The visitors expected for the Halloween maze are supposed to be of a young age (under 12), so all maze installments are to be Halloween-themed without being overly intimidating. This design constraint was especially true for the maze greeter, because it would be the first installment of the maze that visitors would see. Skellington is a friendly, recognizable character whose presence would be reassuring to younger audiences. It was practically a no-brainer choosing to make Jack Skellington a core element of the Haunted House Greeter.

The team took the theme of Jack and extended it further, factoring three well-known manifestations of "Jack" into the greeter. The first is Jack Skellington, whose body is positioned behind the pedestal holding the box. The second is the Jack-in-the-Box, whose box rests on the pedestal. The third is a Jack O' Lantern fashioned to look like Jack Skellington's head, which is housed within the box.