Halloween Horror Nights – Los Angeles and Orlando, USA, and
Universal Studios Parks Japan and Singapore.
A bloody legacy : the start of the horror empire
Created under the name Universal Studios Fright Nights, they made their grand debut
over three days in October 1991 with a single haunted house called “The Dungeon of Terror.”
Renamed Halloween Horror Nights in 1992, they now span over a 30-day event running from late August to early November every year (except in 2020 due to the pandemic).
Choose your nightmare
The themes of the scares change from year to year and are divided into several visiting options:
Scare zones : as you may have guessed from the name, these are areas of the park with
costumed actors walking (or running) around to scare you.
They can include several themes in a single year and are often located between two attractions and at the park entrance. Chainsaws may or may not be involved.
Maze : these are enclosed areas with scenes from movies, TV shows, or music videos.
The sets are fixed, but actors are hidden there to jump scare you when you walk past them.
Epileptics should be careful in the mazes, as many of them use strobe lights!
Depending of occupancy, the scares are spoiled by the previous entries walking ahead.
Shows : Focused on American nostalgia, these were often Bill & Ted shows and their Halloween adventures.
They are usually shows for all ages, with a humorous element. Please note, they are in English only.
They can be fun, but as a foreigner without context, it kinda broke the spooky ambiance.
They have since been replaced by Nightmare Fuel.
The Terror Tram (only in Los Angeles) : The tram follows the usual daytime tour route through the studios, but includes the current year’s theme in the sets and actors.
It then stops and becomes a walking tour to facilitate the scares for participants.
It’s a fun little twist on a well known ride.
The high price of mainstream success
I could say a million things about this event, which is definitely worth a visit for Halloween fans,
but I’ll try to keep this short. I went in 2011 only.
Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of feedback that kind of destroyed the overall quality of the experience.
Universal Studios tends to oversell these events, thus overcrowding the mazes.
They offer the option to purchase VIP packages, which often sell out fast, therefore creating a line for the VIPs as well.
Without it though, your chances of doing more than one maze a night disappear completly.
Back in 2011, I did the Hostel one, and could have gone on 2 more without VIP.
A friend only did 3 with VIP a few years back.
Halloween horror nights have become such a mainstream statement that sadly, they turned into the Disneyland of horror. Scares become scarce when the parks are too full to be able to interact with the actors.
Once in a lifetime (or every year?)
It’s still a must-do once in your life though, just for the amazing scenographies, art and acting.
Besides, where else would you see a dude jumping out of a pile of fake bowels ?
Please don’t answer that.
For both our safety.
But you get the idea.
So go get chased by a lunatic clown wielding a chainsaw and get your own feedback to give to the world.
Head’s up though : admittance is pricey. And if you’re there because you truly love horror?
Well, it’s going to be even pricier.
The themed food is fun, the shops are filled with stuff to bring home, and to quote Hostel :
“you could spend all your money… in there.”
As you can see, 2011 tech wasn’t ready for the chaos of the night.
