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A Vamp '55 Helmet Labeled 'for Kenneth' Now Sits Inside an HHN 35 House, Universal's Tribute to a Late Team Member
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A Vamp '55 Helmet Labeled 'for Kenneth' Now Sits Inside an HHN 35 House, Universal's Tribute to a Late Team Member

Michael Travels
·
Published

If you walk through H.R. Bloodengutz Presents at Halloween Horror Nights 35 this fall, look for a gold football helmet sitting on top of an old TV. It was placed there in memory of a team member.

Universal Orlando has added a tribute to Kenneth Leeming, a team member who died in early September, WDW News Today reported on Tuesday, September 22. The helmet carries the Vamp '55 logo and the words "for Kenneth."

The main stage of the Midnight Horror Show set inside the H.R. Bloodengutz haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights 35.

The main stage of the Midnight Horror Show set inside H.R. Bloodengutz Presents. Image credit: Universal Orlando Resort.

Why a Vamp '55 helmet

According to WDWNT, Leeming joined Universal in 2015, working as a scareactor in that year's Insidious house. The following year he performed as a Vampire Football Player in the Vamp '55 scare zone. WDWNT reports he died after a lightning strike as he was heading home from work.

The setting has meaning as well. H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular! sits where the Insidious house stood in 2015, according to WDWNT, so the tribute is in the spot where he started at Universal.

A gold football helmet reading Vamp 55 for Kenneth sits on top of a wood-cabinet console TV with rabbit ear antennas, a clock radio and vintage Halloween cutouts on the wall behind it

The Vamp '55 helmet on top of a TV inside the house. Photo via WDW News Today.

What his friend said

Kyle Fleming, who co-hosted the podcast Big Dumb Stuff with Leeming, shared a post on Instagram that WDWNT quoted in its report. "Kenneth was so excited for this 35th year of HHN, and it's very cool to know that he is there in spirit every night," Fleming wrote. "We love you Kenneth, and we miss you every day, and now you are in the fog with us."

Fleming credited Mike Aiello, Ramon Paradoa and others with making the tribute possible. Paradoa is the show director of H.R. Bloodengutz Presents, according to the Universal Orlando blog.

WDWNT's report does not include a statement from Universal.

Close-up of a gold football helmet with a black facemask, printed with a script Vamp logo, a block-numeral 55 and the words for Kenneth below it

A closer look at the helmet. Photo via WDW News Today.

If you are going: Halloween Horror Nights 35 runs on select nights at Universal Studios Florida through November 1.

Sources

Image credits: Main stage image by Universal Orlando Resort. Helmet photos via WDW News Today.

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Universal Studios Florida Halloween Horror Nights 35

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