Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights Kicked off tonight with the shrill sounds of gleeful screams in the air, followed shortly after by the buzz of chainsaws, the snarl of monsters, and the faint bass of pop music coming from the lower lot. With a collection of three scare zones, a live show, Death Eaters in Hogsmeade, and a total of eight haunted houses (they aren’t mazes anymore), this is easily one of Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights’ strongest showing in years. Helmed by creative director John Murdy, longtime creative partner and production designer Chris Williams, and an army of talented actors, designers, makeup artists, and staff, Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights rises from the ashes of the past few years to engage, entertain, and terrify. Halloween Horror Nights is running select nights now through Oct 31 at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Jabbawockeez
The celebrated hip-hop dance troupe Jabbawockeez returns to offer crowd-pleasing entertainment. With their impressive dance moves and rousing music, Jabbawockeez is a great show and a phenomenal place to rest your feet after traversing the scares in the park. That’s not to mention the tech behind the show that sports gag-worthy lighting and a sound system that will mix your innards. This crew is talented and worth a look.
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
For the first time ever, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Hollywood is getting into the Halloween spirit by “welcoming” Death Eaters into Hogsmeade. Fiercely loyal followers of Voldemort, the Death Eaters hide in the back alleys of Hogsmeade waiting to strike out against Muggles and Mudbloods (that’s us) in the interest of the dark lord and his supremacy. We are so excited to see the scarier elements of the Harry Potter franchise finally land in the states and we want more.
SCARE ZONES
Scare Zones are those little themed areas of the event that hewn in on a particular theme in an open space, allowing guests to breeze through or stay a while. This year Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood has three separate scare zones designed to terrify.
El Pueblo del Terror
Situated in the Universal Plaza and bleeding down Paris Street is El Pueblo del Terror. Playing with the themes of Dia De Los Muertos, the afterlife, and Latino-inspired lore, this area is teaming with bright colors, music, and mystical monsters. The set pieces here were the most beautiful of the three zones and worthy of a bit of consideration.
Sideshow Slaughterhouse
Under the iconic flame tower at the front of the park is Sideshow Slaughterhouse. Here a collection of garden variety freaks and circus thugs work the crowd in search of fear. This is the hardest working collection of actors on the roster as they do not stop moving from the time gates open until the chase out at the end of the night. Great work here.
Clownsawz
The first scare zone that guests encounter is the self-descriptive Clownsawz. Yes. It’s clowns and chainsaws. Embracing the entrance corridor at the front of the park, Clownsawz is, essentially, a marauding band of psychotic clowns wielding the shrill tool known as the chainsaw. Another standout, the talent in this section was savage and nuanced in their relentless attention to the arriving guests.
HAUNTED HOUSES
This year, Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights features a total of eight haunted houses. Two are retreads, two are based on new IPs, and the other four are original houses. Here’s the kicker; there isn’t a dud in the mix. Yes, some are better than others. Yes, there is also the random nature of haunted attractions to consider. Yet, even with the rather average offerings, they still manage to entertain.
The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare *
Situated behind Transformers: The Ride in Stage 29 is The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare. To explain, The Weeknd is a pop star whose synth-pop is tinged with a nasty dark side. Fair enough, but what is he doing at a Halloween event? Plenty in fact. Amidst the horrors of plastic surgery, fan obsession, and strangely enough, frogs, we have a fully realized descent into melodic insanity.
If you have read our take on the Orlando version of this house, this review might come as a surprise. Yet this is the perfect example of what two different creative forces can do with the same material.
We enter a bloodied vinyl of After Hours in order to dive into The Weeknd’s mind and explore. The idea works and it works better than it has any right to. The frothy soundscape of a deceptively dark artist is mined for horrors ranging from internal insecurities to slavish devotion to outward appearance painting The Weeknd as a slave to the machine as it were. This was a DO NOT MISS for us.
Halloween
John Carpenter’s original 1978 classic film is again brought to life to the delight of franchise purists. Ignoring the recent entries into the popular series, this Halloween house leans into the night Michael returned to his childhood home, set up camp, and began terrorizing his fellow townsfolk again. This is an almost beat-for-beat return to The Life and Crimes of Michael Myers that appeared at the event in 2015. Let’s be clear, the framework is there and it works. We have Micahel returning, creating his home, then heading out to wreak general havoc. In 2015 the execution was nothing short of terrifying. in 2022, it’s just a solid return.
Thankfully the production exceeds expectations with a full-size façade leading to an equally impressive interior set. Young Michael stands atop a decrepit staircase as we enter and we venture further into the nightmare. After getting resettled in his abandoned childhood home, Michael sets off to kill and maim, as one does. All the hits are here. Bob the Ghost, the Judith Myers bed, and of course Laurie Strode.
It might have been that we hit the house of an off moment but the experience was lacking. Still, HALLOWEEN serves as an homage to one of the greatest horror films of all time without teaching us why it reigns supreme.
The Horrors of Blumhouse
Returning to the HHN roster is Blumhouse films and THE HORRORS OF BLUMHOUSE. This year the experience highlights the films Freaky and The Black Phone. There are some wonderful moments in The Horrors Of Blumhouse, but it never rises above expectation. This is one of the middlin’ houses that is a solid walkthrough, bordering on must-do.
Universal Monsters: Legends Collide
Universal wisely continues to utilize its classic library, this time pitting Dracula, The Wolfman, and The Mummy against each other in a fight to the death in Universal Monsters: Legends Collide. As the experience begins, we are arriving at a 1940’s shipping warehouse. A sinister collector has absconded with a magical amulet stolen from a recent Egyptian excavation that is the key to the armies of the undead. Meanwhile, Larry Talbot (The Wolfman) is searching for this same artifact in hopes that it will end his lycanthropic curse. Dracula is also on the scene with Renfield in hopes of capturing the amulet for himself. Lucky us, we are in the middle of it all.
This house is another beautiful example of the lush storytelling that Murdy is capable of when given the chance. It is clear that there is a deep affection for these three monsters and every square inch of this slender footprint behind the Revenge of the Mummy coaster is used to build a rich and terrifying world. Slash returns to offer an original score that again, compliments the grandiose story with a hard edge.
Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Everyone loves Killer Klowns from Outer Space. This oddball 80’s cult classic has found new life over the past few years and risen in popularity to find a new audience for its mix of over-the-top goofy horror. This house is nearly identical to the version that we saw here in 2019 and shares the same strengths and weaknesses.
We enter the brightly colored circus tent to find we are in the Killer Klowns mothership. Easily one of our favorite sections of the house, we wander angular corridors swirling with pink and yellow support beams. The evil Klowns are eager to begin their invasion of the small town of Crescent Bay and we head out into the sleep berg to witness their carnage.
This house is a lot of fun, featuring the glorious production design and creature suits inspired by the film. Too, the film’s whacky sense of humor and mischief is translated perfectly. The only real downside is the last portion of the house that seems to forget about sets in favor of boo-boxes and dark hallways. It works, for sure, but a new grand finale could have really sent this one into the stratosphere.
La Llorona: The Weeping Woman *
Another DO NOT MISS is the glorious return of La Llorona: The Weeping Woman to Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights. The original concept maze first appeared in 2011 shocking visitors with its dark, gritty look at the legend. This version, situated in the Paris courtyard has gotten even darker if you can believe it, and it is easily one of the best houses at the event.
To explain, La Llorona was a woman who drowned her three children in order to win the love of a man. After her lover rejected her she drowned herself and wanders the earth as a cursed soul looking for her children to steal as her own. We enter a dilapidated church on a stormy night where the funeral for three children is being held. Weeping and thunder echo in the air along with a palpable sorrow. Soon enough La Llorona comes searching for her kids, and may just take you too.
Here production designer Chris Williams flexes his talents, taking us through a variety of scenes. Starting with the aforementioned church, we tour the countryside, and at one point cross a bridge over a pond where children are floating face down. Very dark stuff here. Then we transition to the real fear that still lives today as the titular monster attacks children more kids in scenes of bloody mayhem. At every turn, La Llorona is there to lunge from a dark corner and steal you away as one of her own.
Easily one of the best houses of the night, La Llorona: The Weeping Woman is another DO NOT MISS.
Scarecrow: The Reaping
Inspired by the scare zones and house from Universal Orlando is the original concept house Scarecrow: The Reaping. It’s a dark night in a dustbowl farm and mother nature has had it with being ravaged. Wraith comes from the earth, as vines overtake a farmhouse and its inhabitants, and the scarecrows that once held watch over the fields are out for blood.
We LOVE seeing original houses gaining more of a presence in Universal Hollywood. This fully realized nightmare is a phenomenal example of rich storytelling and production. We were also taken by the inventive scarecrow costumes, not to mention the relentless talent that fully utilized their scareas. Well done.
Universal Horror Hotel *
At one point Murdy explained that this was easily one of the longest treatments for a haunted house that he has ever written. It shows too as the Universal Horror Hotel tells a dark tale of madness in the golden era of Hollywood. Pulling inspiration from the likes of Allister Crowley, the Hotel Cecil, and secret societies, we are told the tale of serial killer and hotel owner Maxi Deville. His 1920’s era hotel under the Hollywood sign has been plagued by scandal and controversy. We arrive at the present-day hotel that has become a hotspot for haunted tourism with Deville’s ghost promising a vengeful return.
We enter the house and it is immediately we are transported to the tight confines of an art-deco hotel that has seen better days. We wander the halls and occasional rooms witnessing the echos of past events and new tourists living their own nightmares. Of course, all is revealed as we discover the true source of Deville’s madness and attempt to escape his clutches.
This is another Do Not Miss for its expansive story, rich detailed sets, and spectacular scares.
Terror Tram
Great news! The Terror Tram is good this year! Utilizing the creepy original character Hollywood Harry as its icon, we follow the familiar pretense as we get onto the world-famous studio tour only to have it hijacked by the murderous clown. He is having a Halloween party on the backlot and we are invited. We disembark the tram and come face to face with Harry and his bloodthirsty band of partiers who have made a home for themselves and the Bates Motel.
From there we wander up the paved path to the front of the Psycho house where those who are interested can pose with Norman himself. The path continues off to the right of the Psycho House through an alleyway crawling with killer black cats. From there, we find ourselves in the usual plane crash disaster zone with more of Harry’s friends.
The fun doesn’t stop after we leave Harry’s party though. Right up the way, we tread through the chaotic Jupiter’s Claim set from Jordan Peele’s NOPE. Here it seems the Peele-verse has exploded with the employees of Jupiter’s Claim being overrun by the Tethered from US. We even caught a reference to Get Out. Keep an eye out for one of the Tethered with a teacup.
Yes, Terror Tram still suffers from the usual problems, mainly the same format, the familiar location, and the same “uh-oh” moments where we have to get off the tram into chaos. But they have really tried this year to change things up with the expanded route and the use of the original character Hollywood Harry along with the spectacular Jupiter’s Claim set. It could also be said that crowd control and the pacing were on point as we never ended up clumped or bottlenecked into a tight passage. Everything flowed well when we visited.
Overall, this is a great year for the Terror Tram and we are overjoyed that we haven’t been purged again.
TICKETS
Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights is a world-class Halloween experience. With that comes a premium price. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spend wisely. Below is a breakdown of the available tickets, what they get you, and the prices.
Halloween Horror Nights General Admission – $72 – $102
This is the General Admission that just gets you in the gate on any given night. This is honestly not the best choice as most nights are crowded and you will be limited to what you can get to see in one night.
Halloween Horror Nights Universal Express – $199 – $309 *
This ticket gets you in the front gate and one-time front-of-the-line access to each of the houses and attractions. If you have one night, and you want to see everything, this is the option to choose. It’s also a good idea to look into Sundays and Thursdays as they are usually the least expensive.
Halloween Horror Nights Universal Express Unlimited – $239 – $349
This ticket will get you into the gate and offers unlimited front-of-the-line. While unlimited Express Pass might seem like a necessity, you simply may not have the time to do things more than once. Unless you are one of those people that needs to go through houses several times to soak in the details, and you can move quickly around the park, we say skip this option.
Halloween Horror Nights After 2 PM Day/Night – $112 – $152
Another General Admission option, this ticket gets you into the park for a few hours of regular operation before Halloween Horror Nights starts. This would essentially afford you the chance to check out things like The Secret Life of Pets, Minion Mayhem, Kung Fu Panda, and the regular Studio Tour. The other attractions are available during HHN. This is not the best ticket if you are trying to see everything and are pressed for time.
Halloween Horror Nights After 2 PM Day/Night Universal Express – $239 – $369 *
If you want to see everything that Universal Studios Hollywood/Halloween Horror Nights has to offer in one day and night this is your ticket. Front-of-the-line access during the day and nighttime operations. Of course, if you are looking to save some money, go on an off night.
Halloween Horror Nights Frequent Fear Pass – $199
This is the best option for locals or long vacationers. You get access to 27 nights of HHN allowing you the luxury of coming and going whenever. There is also a premium option for this ticket price at $329 that has no blackout days, but unless you are willing to pay for front of the line too, some of the more crowded nights are best avoided anyway.
The haunt season has officially begun in southern California with the arrival of Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights. 2022 has turned out to be one of the strongest years in recent memory for this event with its consistent mix of haunted houses, scare zones and attractions. Murdy and his team have risen to the occasion delivering a devious mix of original ideas, old favorites, and a noticeable effort to push for new ideas. We would love to see more original houses in the future and look forward to returning this year for more scares.
See you in the fog!
