Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is the one event every year that I really look forward to. I wait anxiously for tickets to go on sale, and when they do, I am one of the first to grab a front of the line pass. Last year I waited until Halloween night to go, but this year, I decided I needed to get in there on opening night for some fun and screams!
This year, the mazes felt re-vamped and fresh. Last year they debuted Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses 3D (which made a return because it is awesome), along with A Nightmare on Elm Street (remake), Friday the 13th (remake), Saw, and Vampyre (which was less then stellar). Last year was probably the weakest year to date in the maze department, but boy did that change this year!
This year's line-up included The Thing: Assimilation, Hostel: Hunting Season, Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses 3D, The Wolf Man: Curse of Talbot Hall, La Llorna: Villa De Almas Perdidas, Alice Cooper’s: Welcome to my Nightmare!, the Scream-themed terror tram titled Scream 4 Your Life, and the returning show Bill and Ted’s Halloween Adventure which is a lot of fun! Other rides available at Universal Studios include The Simpsons Ride (not decorated or changed for Halloween), Jurassic Park - In The Dark, and Revenge of The Mummy - The Ride. What did I think of the changes and scare zones? Continue reading to find out about my experience.
After arriving at the park with my Fiancée , I discovered that the "Front Of The Line" pass had changed from the previous years. Instead of allowing us to go through each attraction as many times as we wanted, we were only allowed to go through each attraction once. So to be able to go through my beloved mazes as many times as I pleased, I upgraded our tickets to a VIP pass, which I will give some details about.
With the VIP pass (a whopping $98 per ticket extra payment), you get a special VIP tour of the studio back lot area, where you get to see King Kong 3D and Jaws at night (which was awesome). You are also dropped off at a certain sections with a flash light, as the tour guide (my guy was awesome and named Kevin) tells you stories of hauntings and ghosts. There is a particular building where he speaks of someone falling from a balcony and passing away, and orbs have been seen in that particular area when photos have been taken. I took a picture here and I did come up with an orb in the top left corner. I am not usually one to say orbs are ghosts and spirits, but on this occasion, I am a believer.
Another perk of the VIP experience is the "Vampire Lounge" where food and drink is given to the guests. The food was pretty decent and you are allowed two alcohol beverages for free and unlimited water and soda, which is nice. I would have preferred it to be in the middle of the park instead of in the back near Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses for easier accessibility, but it was nice either way.
So would I suggest the VIP tour? Yes and no. I enjoyed the back lot tour at night, but it was only in a very secluded region and we didn’t even get to go where they shot the original horror movies like The Wolf Man and Hunchback of Notre Dame. If they would add that, then yes I would say it is worth it because that is horror movie history!
Now, time for what you were waiting for... the mazes themselves! I will go in order of what I went through, starting with The Wolf Man: The Curse of Talbot Hall. I was not able to get a lot of pictures of this maze, but trust me, it was a lot of fun. This house is usually the set for House Of Horrors, a haunted attraction you can visit any time at Universal Studios with actors who jump out and scare you. For this maze, they had Wolf Man a plenty in every nook and cranny of the house. Also, they had him in different forms of his transformation, which is awesome. I am a fan of the new version of The Wolf Man along with the classic, and I thought this should have been a maze last year with the release of the film, so I am happy they finally paid some tribute to their furry creation.
Next, was the maze I was looking forward to the most, The Thing: Assimilation! This maze is based off of the prequel that is being released next month, and boy was it fun! There are alien creatures coming from walls, windows, underneath tables and it truly is a blast. You start off in the ice block room and work your way through the harsh terrain and building where "The Thing" is picking off the crew one by one. I remember laughing a few times during this maze and plenty of people were screaming and jumping, which is always a positive sign! Definitely a favorite of mine! Please enjoy the pictures of the maze that I was able to take for all of you loyal readers.
The next maze we encountered was the House of 1000 Corpses 3D maze. I had went through this maze last year and it still holds up a year later. We start off at Captain Spaulding’s gas station (don’t forget your free chicken!) and make our way to the house where death is in full display. The 3D glasses gives this maze a trippy feel to it as blood seems to be coming at you and the scare actors seem to be more grotesque and freaky then they truly are if you remove the glasses. You finish the maze with Dr. Satan performing surgery on one of his victims, as you just barely get out of there alive!
Next up was La Llorna: Villa De Almas Perdidas. I personally did not know the urban legend of this particular maze, and I believe that was the reason I did not particularly care for this maze. This is about a woman who married a rich individual and had his two children. However, the man left her so she decided to drown her two children and then herself. When she tried to get into heaven, they denied her access, so now she walks the earth for eternity. Don’t get me wrong, I am sure people enjoy this maze because they know the legend, but it just wasn’t for me. For most of the maze I found myself bored and not frightened in the least, and the same goes for my fiancée. The ending however, was really cool with a girl being eaten by some sort of creature; unfortunately I was not able to get a photo of that for you all. All in all, this was my least favorite of the mazes, but again, someone may disagree.
The next maze we ventured into was Hostel: Hunting Season by Eli Roth! This is a favorite film of mine and this maze did not disappoint! You walk into the maze and are instantly inside the factory where you can pick your weapon and prepare to slice and dice your victim, for a price of course. Throughout the maze you see grotesque scenes from the movie, like the girl having her head split open and her brain being shown to everyone! The individual slicing pieces off of his victims legs and eating them, and the coolest one of all, a guy in a giant meat grinder being turned into Krusty Burgers (Simpsons reference). This is truly a freaky and fun maze, and I did not see too many people disappointed with it, and even a few were screaming and crying during this maze when the “Hunters” came after them with their weapons of death and torture!
The final maze was Alice Coopers: Welcome to my Nightmare! Let me explain something off the bat, I am not a fan of Alice Cooper’s music. I love rock music, but he is not someone I have listened to. However, that did not stop me from enjoying this maze! If you are afraid of spiders, snakes and just crazy stuff, then you will enjoy this maze too. I am personally terrified of snakes, and spiders, and there were plenty to go around. I heard plenty of people speaking about how this was their favorite maze of the night, and I do not blame them. From the outside, to the interior, it is screaming at you how awesome it truly is, and this is one that I wish I had done more then once. However, even for the "Front of the Line" and VIP pass holders, this was a long line and by the end of the night, I was spent.
Besides the scare zones, there was only one other piece of Halloween Horror Nights to adventure into, and that was the Terror Tram aka Scream 4 Your Life! The Terror Tram has been a favorite of mine since I started going to Halloween Horror Nights due to the fact, you are dropped off at Whoville and you get to walk up to the Bates Motel and the Bates Mansion with Mother in the window. For the past few years it has been the place where Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy and Chucky have roamed free on the back lot, but this year, they are filming Stab 8, the spoof slasher series seen in the Scream films. I did enjoy once again walking up to the Motel and the Mansion, but the Scream 4 Your Life was lame. There were too many ghost faces trying to jump out and scare you, and it just did not work. The airplane crash scene is another fun place to go to during this area, and it was draped in dead bodies, zombies and death like the previous years, and I enjoyed that part of the walk as well. I really hope they do not bring Scream back next year and instead do something else, because it was by far the weakest part of Halloween Horror Nights for me.
Finally, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Show is a must see for anyone who comes to the park. The show changes every year and always seems to get better and better. With the foul language and non-politically correct jokes, it is a fun show to sit down and relax through when you feel yourself getting tired and in need of a laugh. This year it was Bill and Ted trying to help Seal Team 6 Hunt down Osama Bin Laden as knock off super heroes like Captain Canada and Captain Mexican try to thwart the evil nature of Osama Bin Laden and his collection of villains. It sounds cheesy and wrong, and it truly is, but definitely worth a viewing when at the park.
So, if you can make it to Hollywood for Halloween Horror Nights I suggest you do so, and pay for the Front of the Line pass. Most attractions and rides had wait times of over an hour, but the scare zones are free to walk through as many times as you want! There are ravenous Klownz with Chain saws (who will chase you if you run), Zombieville which is always a fleshy good time, Freakz where well, there are Freakz everywhere, The Reapers who are demonic creatures with chainsaws looking to bring pain and fear to all those that get in their way.
Halloween Horror Nights truly is the best-haunted attraction in Los Angeles, and if you get the opportunity, please stop by and enjoy yourself. It is the one place you can jump, scream and run away from chainsaw wielding psychos without actually having to fear death and mutilation. I hope you all have a great and safe Halloween, and sweet nightmares everyone!
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