Event Report: Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Successfully Kicks Off the 2017 Haunt Season in Los Angeles

On Friday, September 15th, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood opened to a sold-out crowd, who were terrorized by seven different mazes, three intense scare zone areas, and the Terror Tram that features four of the biggest icons of modern horror history. John Murdy, Chris Williams, and their teams always put together a phenomenal experience for haunt enthusiasts in Los Angeles, but HHN 2017 ended up being one of my favorite times I’ve ever had being scared while roaming around Universal’s world famous theme park.

Our evening started on the Lower Lot, as I’ve always found that’s the most efficient way to make it through Halloween Horror Nights: start at the bottom and then work your way back to the main level. We started off with two of the mazes I had an opportunity to check out in an early preview—Insidious: Beyond the Further and The Shining (which you can read about HERE)—and it was really fun to see them both in action, especially The Shining, which I still totally geeked out on from the beginning to the very end, where we finally bid adieu to those tortured souls from the Overlook Hotel.

Next up, we fought our way through the Toxic Tunnel, where we were greeted by a variety of mutant ghouls who had suffered the effects of being exposed to toxic gas, and had been transformed into gooey, gruesome creatures that Toxie himself would be proud to call his pals. That uphill walk is usually my least favorite part of HHN, but these guys were great at keeping the crowds moving and on their toes.

Once we hit the larger Lower Lot area, that’s when we had a chance to check out the terror-filled trio of mazes, including American Horror Story: Roanoke, Ash vs Evil Dead, and SAW: The Games of Jigsaw. My personal favorite was the SAW maze, just because it felt like a great refresher leading up to the new movie this October, and I will never get tired of seeing Billy roll into a room on his tricycle or hearing that iconic score that has made the Saw films so memorable for over a decade now. AvED was also a lot of fun, as we entered through Ash’s trailer and made our way through several key set pieces from the STARZ series, including the summoning of Ruby’s children, Pablo’s face being consumed by the cover of the Necronomicon, Ash’s childhood home, and the return of Henrietta.

While I wouldn’t say it was a bad maze by any means, AHS: Roanoke didn’t do a whole lot for me, just because I don’t watch AHS, so a lot of the more fan-minded references were completely lost on me. It was fun, but not super memorable for me. Oh, and before we even had a chance to step foot in any of those mazes, you have to make your way through another Scare Zone, Urban Inferno, where a bunch of super-buff minions and demons from Hell were waiting to scare the pants off of all those who dared to enter the area.

After we finished tearing it up in the Lower Lot attractions, we headed back upstairs to check out the last three of the walk-through mazes—The Horrors of Blumhouse, Titans of Terror, and the year-round Walking Dead installation—as well as cap off the night on the Terror Tram, which was hosted by Chucky and featured all three of the icons from the Titans of Terror haunt: Freddy, Jason, and Leatherface. Universal’s upstairs area also hosted HHN’s last scare zone, which featured a brilliant collection of demented trick-or-treaters and classic monsters.

The Horrors of Blumhouse ended up being the biggest surprise of HHN 2017 for me, just because I wasn’t sure how well the three properties featured in the maze (The Purge, Sinister, and the upcoming Happy Death Day) would be able to come together with any kind of fluidity. But Murdy clearly knew what he was doing, because the maze’s variety really gave the haunt a fun air of unexpectedness, especially HDD, since that film isn’t out for a few weeks, and the scare actors playing Bughuul deserve a raise because they scared the crap out of me several times.

Titans of Terror also ended up being another unexpected shock-filled treat, as the overall vibe was to feature these three iconic villains, but do it in some unusual ways, like Jason’s Freddy vs. Jason-themed bedroom, which was like a dream come true for horror fans (I probably spent way too long in this room in particular because there were so many cool things to look at—kudos Team HHN!). Oh, and if seeing three of the biggest genre characters brought to life wasn’t enough, Bill Moseley’s Chop-Top is also featured heavily during the Texas Chain Saw rooms, and seeing his TCM 2 character always leaves me with a goofy grin on my face.

The Terror Tram was a good way to wrap up HHN 2017, although there were some crowding issues during various phases of the hike you go on through Universal’s Backlot. At one point, we even stood waiting for almost 10 minutes to get into this very small walk-through scene featuring characters from TCSM, and there were parts that felt very disorganized. That being said, seeing various incarnations of Freddy Kruger donning real-world outfits was a gag that never got old (Pilot Freddy and Surgeon Freddy were two of my favorites), and it felt like this year’s Terror Tram featured more scare actors than ever.

As a whole, HHN 2017 was a successful and entertaining marriage of new and old horror properties, and for anyone living in the Los Angeles area (or planning to visit sometime before Halloween), I cannot recommend checking out Horror Nights enough. The event comes with a somewhat hefty price tag attached to it (especially if you get the VIP Pass, which is the only way to make sure you get to check out everything HHN has to offer), but the level that Murdy, Williams, and everyone behind HHN is working at is unparalleled, and for fans, it’s something you need to experience for yourself.

For those interested in learning more about Universal Studio’s Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood, click HERE.