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Halloween Horror Nights building with spooky stuff
Halloween Horror Nights building with spooky stuff
Original photo by Bellanee Plaza
Life > Experiences

MY EXPERIENCE AT THE 32ND YEAR OF HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UCF chapter.

Do you feel that? I think it’s spooky season!

There’s so much to do for this bootiful Halloween season, but in Orlando, we get Halloween Horror Nights. This year is the 32nd year that HHN has been in Orlando. I have been to HHN before, but I haven’t been back since the pandemic. I got to experience all the screams and scares.

Halloween Horror Nights sign with houses listed
Original photo by Bellanee Plaza

Hiding in the darkness are 10 absolutely terrifying haunted houses: Stranger Things 4, The Exorcist: Believer, The Last of Us, Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count, Universal Monsters: Unmasked, Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins, Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate, YETI: Campground Kills, The Darkest Deal and Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings. Each house had a different level of spookiness. I loved that all the themes had so much detail.

The last of us house at Halloween Horror Nights
Original photo by Bellanee Plaza

Each time that I visit HHN, I always watch their shows. This year the show is called Nightmare Fuel Revenge Dream. My jaw was on the ground for the whole show, the performers were out of this world. There was dancers, aerialist, magicians, and fire dancers. This show sparked my family and my attention with the musical beats of metal rock and electronica.

Each scare zone has its own personality, but I had so much fun in the Vamp ’69: Summer of Blood scare zone. It wasn’t scary to me so once they had 60’s music playing I was dancing past all the vampires. I almost didn’t want to leave the scare zone because I was enjoying the music so much.

Posters at Halloween Horror Nights
Original photo by Bellanee Plaza

Prepare to be terrified when M3GAN comes out. It’s not just one, there are 6 of them. I wasn’t expecting them to come out because there was no set schedule for their dance routine. It was so much fun to watch them perform as all the guests came to watch. They were definitely creepy to look at and I didn’t want to stay around them for too long.  

At HHN, the only thing scarier than the houses is the wait times. If you don’t have a fast pass, then you’re going to be just like me and be stuck in long wait times. Some would take a bit longer than the wait time originally said and others would move by faster. I think it just really depends on how busy the park is.

House line for Halloween Horror Nights
Original photo by Bellanee Plaza

I will say that the humidity was not it. I needed to have my portable fan with me while waiting in line because it was just too hot. I remember there being drink carts in line to grab water or soda from previous years but this year I didn’t notice that. I do feel like the drink carts were needed in the lines because after waiting over 30 minutes for a house, people get thirsty. I really needed water at some points, but I had to wait until I was walking around the park to buy one.

Halloween Horror Nights is always a fangtastic time, make sure to come with some friends and family for only the best scares. Stay all night at the park for the best experience so you don’t miss a single monster. Casper can’t help you in HHN.

Bellanee Plaza is a senior studying at the University of Central Florida with a major in journalism and a minor in film. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of The Charge, UCF's student newspaper. Bella is originally from Miami and is half-Colombian, half-Puerto Rican. She has been apart of Her Campus UCF for 2 years with experience in writing and marketing.