Universal Studios is hosting their 33rd annual Halloween Horror Nights, which is taking place early from August 30th through November 3rd. This year’s HHN hosts ten houses, the most notable of them being Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Insidious, and A Quiet Place.
The overall quality of houses this year is exceptional to say the least. Universal implements animatronic set pieces and new tech for a good portion of their houses, outshining last year’s heavy reliance on puppets and scare actors. In one of the houses, a scare actor even utilizes a large catapult mechanism, literally launching themselves at you. Others like A Quiet Place and Slaughter Sinema use large animatronics and puppets to frighten attendees.
The most terrifying of houses is easily Insidious, however the most impressive is A Quiet Place– simply in terms of quality and immersion. Ghostbusters was excellent too, but I found it a bit lackluster in scare factor, but it made up for that with its intricate sets. The most disappointing house however would be Triplets of Terror, which was relatively cheesy so if you don’t have enough time to do all the houses, I’d avoid that one. Other houses I enjoyed were Slaughter Sinema and Major Sweet’s Candy Factory.
Despite the positives, this year’s HHN came with its setbacks. Scare zones really only offer the bare minimum, with one scare zone having been directly recycled from last year. The main scare zone is medieval fair themed, and really nothing all too special. That doesn’t mean they won’t catch you off guard every now and then though. Food this year was actually well themed, the most comical of which being the wooden board eclair, an eclair stylized to a wooden board with a bloody nail protruding from the center. A stomach-turning reference to one of A Quiet Place’s main characters, who steps on an upright nail alerting a nearby death angel.
Overall, this year’s Halloween Horror Nights was memorable, with Universal Studios pushing the boundaries of what makes a great haunted house. Food is on par for theme park food, but often includes funny twists or themes. It’s an entertaining, exhilarating experience which I cannot recommend enough, especially with friends.
