Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios is held September 6th to November 2nd. This event consists of multiple haunted houses & many “scare zones” where people with either chainsaws or horrifying zombie makeup jump out and scare you. I have been to Halloween Horror Nights Orlando four times over the past twelve years that I have lived in South Florida. With that being said, here is my honest opinion on horror nights:
*DISCLAIMER* I have only been to the Halloween Horror Nights located in Orlando, Florida, so I cannot speak on the other Universal locations that host their own version of Halloween Horror Nights. From what I have been told, they are usually different so I can only give my opinion on the Orlando version.
Usually you are placed upon a scare zone right when you walk into the park. Depending on the theme of that year’s horror nights, it can range from scary zombies to robots. This year, you are placed in to some sort of neon video game arcade. People with purge masks walk around and basically jump in front of you or scare you from behind when you’re least expecting it.
This year’s Halloween Horror Nights has ten haunted houses: Stranger Things, Us, Monsters, Ghostbusters, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, House of 100 Corpses, Depths of Fears, Graveyard Games, Nightingales Blood Pit, and Yeti. Out of the 3 I was able to do (lines were crazzzzy long, plus it was pouring and I had straightened my hair), I would say that Us was my favorite. Okay, I will be honest, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from what I was told by my friends that have seen it, the haunted house was spot on from the movies. The people that jumped out at you and the creepy music (you know which one I am talking about) just made it even more scarier.
My biggest con of Halloween Horror Nights this year was that nothing was on the level of where I would scream in fear. Yeah, I am not a jumpy person & really do not care for horror flicks, but I can be scared to the point where I jump. Not ONCE was I jumping out of my shoes from fear. Also, if you haven’t been to horror nights, you are usually waiting in a +1 hour line and you are brought into the haunted house in a line, so you can see where everything that jumps out at you before you even get to that point in the house. I would suggest that Horror Nights only brings a group of people in the house at a time so nothing is given away. I feel as though the same material and props are recycled every year. Every time I have went to Horror Nights, there was always a scare zone with zombies and chainsaws. I think its time that Universal switch up some things and make it more exciting for the Halloween lovers like me.
I would rate this year’s Horror Nights a 7/10. Yes I will be back, but until they change up the material somewhat, I will be just sticking to my cheesy horror films on Netflix