 Who is Li’l Boo?

Allow me to explain…

This li’l friend-shaped anxious punkin is Li’l Boo!

I sculpted a few foam pumpkins at a scenic shop back in 2017 for that year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. They were all placed in the scare zone themed to the hit film Trick ‘r Treat (2007), and were a huge photographic success.

Cut to 2021, and Li’l Boo was relocated to his new home: a haunted house named “The Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin,” and HHN twitter took a massive liking to his very concerned, anxious li’l face after a fan named Connor (@TheConnorWeb on twitter) posted a picture of himself with Li’l Boo during the employee preview night. This is when the official HHN twitter account named him “lil’ boo.”

This is the impressive entrance façade for

The Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin

a haunted house featured in Halloween Horror Nights 30 at Universal Orlando Resort. Can you spot where Li’l Boo is?

Image from HHN Maniacs, via the Halloween Horror Nights Wiki.

Since then, folks started posting their own selfies with the li’l guy all across twitter. I guess his anxious face was definitely super relatable after the whirlwind of a year that was 2020 (and, truthfully, 2021 as well).

And it didn’t stop there — fans of Li’l Boo have…

created a twitter handle for him (@HHNLilBoo)
made pins and shirts and illustrations (here’s a link to my friend SonderQuest’s compilation post about him)
made an animation (by Jordan A. Hill)
made a whole song (by Ben Grant)
even featured me in a whole podcast episode (by ParkStop, run by Alicia Stella, cohosting with Ian K.)

He’s also been featured on the official Universal Orlando twitter page.
Not just once, not twice, but thrice. Wait, make that four times.

This, as you may imagine, caused me to enter a state of panic and extreme euphoria every single time.

But it wasn’t enough to keep me paralyzed…
As you may have seen in my shop, I was definitely busy myself!

… emulating Hallowe’en postcards of yore!

Cover of my Hallowe’en Stencils printable set so that folks could carve Li’l Boo and his siblings

And, to really cement my love for this li’l guy, I even made a diorama and self-published a short story!

These were both hugely passion projects, and I am extremely honored to state both that the diorama indeed sold, and the illustrated short story received 90 preorders!

So, as you can tell, Li’l Boo means a whole awful lot to me. My own art from years prior has inspired art once again, not only from other talented artists, but also within myself once again. I could not have asked for a better response to something I created.

Moving forward, my plans for Boo have extended into some fun holiday products, and hopefully I can help Universal Orlando design some fun Li’l Boo merchandise for next year! I know it’s a huge dream to have for someone like myself, but I feel like I definitely have the skills for it, and I am confident I have the passion! Fingers crossed.

- Emory A.