Reviewing Halloween Horror Nights 2023

Image Courtesy: Universal Studios Hollywood

Halloween Horror Nights serves as a love letter to Halloween, bringing popular films such as The Exorcist and The Last of Us to life. It is an annual celebration held by Universal Studios, where the theme park is shut down and filled with haunted houses, decorations, and professional “scarers,” -- actors that are waiting to scare you when you least expect it.

I had the privilege of visiting this year, and at first, nothing seemed too surprising. It’s just Universal with a couple of “spooky” decorations. You can still look around and see countless rollercoasters and Universal-themed stores, which takes away from the illusion that you are immersed in a land full of all things supernatural.

Sure, the lights are dimmed. Yeah, the smoke machines are masking the scenery around you, but it’s nothing crazy. You see the “scarers” for the first time, and it’s nothing more than a person with some face paint.  You realize nothing about the event is remotely scary, and honestly feel a bit underwhelmed.

But after some time walking around, the smoke starts blurring your vision and you can only see about a foot in front of you. The random person walking next to you turns and looks you dead in the eye, revealing themselves to be a zombie with blood dripping down their face.  You scream and turn away, only to find a man with an actual chainsaw standing right behind you. Now the chainsaw is missing its chain that makes it work, but that thought seldom stops your heart from racing when someone starts chasing after you with one.

The only reason the zombies were unrecognizable was because of their ability to blend in so easily. Most of them were wearing shorts and a T-shirt, so it was hard to notice them at first glance. And then it clicks that the “underwhelming” scarers aren’t just parkgoers in bad costumes; In reality, they are actors attempting to blend in with the unsuspecting tourists.

This discovery instilled a sense of paranoia that everyone was secretly a monster in disguise. I started to overanalyze everyone around me, scouring for clues that they were actually a scarer. And then thought, “Okay, maybe I am a little scared right now. “

Image Courtesy: Universal

This feeling subsided once I stood in the long line for the haunted houses since there were no scarers or decorations there. I was surrounded by typical Universal scenery again. I went back to my original thought that this experience was nothing more than Universal with a couple of bells and whistles for Halloween. But once I neared the houses, my feelings changed yet again.

Right before entering a house, you were forced into a single file line, which struck me with a sense of panic. Shoving through a narrow hallway with a bunch of sweaty strangers and listening to groups of people screaming ahead of us did not calm me down. I walked into my first house, Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count, filled with anxiety because I wasn’t sure what to expect. But once I looked around, that anxiety faded into utter awe. I was completely captivated by how much detail went into the scenery. The red, blue, and yellow color schemes perfectly captured the movie. However, the jump scares in the house felt a bit repetitive, as scarers kept popping out every time you turned around a corner. Every couple of seconds, I was greeted by a Chucky doll popping out at me and a loud banging noise, with each doll looking like a carbon copy of the last. By the end of the house, I knew exactly what to expect, and started to giggle at the repetitive decorations rather than tense up in terror.

Image Courtesy: Los Angeles Daily News

This ended up being a common theme throughout all four of the 10 houses I saw. Each time, I became fascinated by the amount of detail that was put into making the houses feel surreal; my preoccupation with the décor muted the attempts of the actors to get even a shiver out of me. Unfortunately for them, my endearment toward the houses’ designs made me anticipate exactly when they were planning on jumping out at me.

I wanted a break from going through the houses, as walking through them started to feel a bit mechanical. I decided to focus my attention on the roller coasters that were still open. I went looking to find a screen that projected the wait times and found every single ride was between 20 and 35 minutes, which thrilled me, as wait times at Universal are often upwards of an hour apiece. Pairing the usual park experience of going on rides such as the “Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket” and the “Revenge of the Mummy” made the event much more entertaining.

However, after exploring a couple of houses and going on some rides, I found myself very tired. The entire night, I was drenched in sweat from the 90-degree weather and walking for hours without a break in between. I soon reached a point where I wanted nothing more than to go home, shower, and be in the comfort of my bed.

While exiting the park, I began reflecting on my experience. The scarers did not impress me much, but I truly enjoyed the vivid scenery within the houses and was thrilled that I could experience them. It also helped to be able to go on all the Universal rides with little to no wait time. I would definitely go again but probably would not get anything more than a single-day pass, since it is easy to get the idea in just a single night. It was certainly a night full of fear and fright, and I will always remember it.

Strike Out,

Writer: Zara Khan

Editor: Isabel Wilder

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