It is official – spooky season is upon us, and the best way to celebrate is by taking a trip to Orlando, Florida and experiencing Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights.
Halloween Horror Nights is a Halloween event that has happened annually since 1991, when it was first entitled Fright Nights. The name Fright Nights only lasted one year and was then named Halloween Horror Nights. It began as only a 3-night event, but now has evolved to an over 30-night event.
This year, Universal has created a whole new slew of nightmarish events, including 10 new haunted houses. Houses include one centered around the freakish mind of The Weeknd entitled “The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare”, along with another house centered around the original movie “Halloween” starring Michael Myers. Other houses include Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake, Universal Monsters: Legends Collide, Spirits of the Coven, The Horrors of Blumhouse, and more.
In addition to the 10 houses, there are 5 scare-zones and two shows for goers to enjoy. The event takes more than 14 months to prepare each year, meaning the creative minds behind the event must start the next year’s event planning before the current event even begins. The event is geared towards adults only, with no events in Universal Studios for children once the sun goes down.
Over Fall break, I travelled to Florida to experience the event for myself. After a 10-hour car ride, I was more than ready to explore the park and Halloween Horror Nights for the first time. The event began at 6 p.m. and lasted until 2 a.m., which was still not enough time to experience the event in its entirety due to the mass amounts of people attending.
The event I enjoyed the most was the haunted house entitled “Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake.” The house was a beautiful winter landscape located in a fisherman’s town in New England. The characters in the house are undead fisherman with intriguing costumes. The house was particularly creative in the aspect of the cold temperatures in the building and even rain at certain times bring the entire house to life, making the attendees really feel like they were in New England.
Overall, this event is a unique one that any Halloween or horror fiend should attend at least once in their lives. Halloween Horror Nights changes annually, meaning each year provides new horrors, screams and scenes for everyone to enjoy.
