Last Thursday, Universal Studios Hollywood celebrated the terrifyingly exciting opening of Halloween Horror Nights with new haunted houses, returning fan favorites, and an all-new dining pass. We were there to get a first look at opening night and try it all.
HHN is easily one of Universal Studios’ most anticipated events of the year. We explored all eight haunted houses, the Terror Tram, and the Chainsaw Man show within the Upper Lot’s DreamWorks Theatre. We also had the opportunity to utilize the Dining Pass, new to the event’s offerings and serving up themed entrees, snacks, desserts, and beverages.
This Year’s Haunted Houses
FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S
Five Nights at Freddy’s new entry this year was a clear fan favorite, with lines reaching an extraordinarily high wait time of 240 minutes over the course of the night. Walking through, it was clear why. The use of animatronics was on-par with Universal Studios’ reputation as a leader in entertaining guests with high-quality animatronic characters (developed by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop). We saw this earlier this summer at Epic Universe, so it was no surprise that immediately upon walking into the Five Nights At Freddy’s house, I was greeted by Freddy Fazbear himself, performing onstage with some of the cleanest and realistic movements I’ve encountered. While Universal Orlando also boasts a Five Nights at Freddy’s house this year, the Hollywood location unfortunately doesn’t feature the additional characters performing alongside Freddy onstage. Luckily, we do still get to experience them throughout other sections of the house. In terms of scare factor, this house is a bit on the tamer side. Fans of the film will see many Easter eggs and enjoy the setting’s realism provided on a large, lifelike scale.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 3.5/5
JASON UN1V3RSE
Jason Un1v3rse was possibly one of the scariest houses of the night. With unsuspecting jump scares popping up at almost every corner, this unrelentingly frightening house is yet another popular one that saw long wait times throughout the night. Fans of Friday the 13th can expect nods to almost all of the various Jason film iterations over the last 40 years. This house is Number 1 on my list, and I would most definitely go through it multiple times again. The queue for Jason Un1v3rse stretched across the newly constructed pavement behind Revenge of the Mummy. While not quite boasting the highest wait times of the night, it teetered around 120-180 minutes for several hours. I recommend prioritizing this one very early or later in the event as crowds thin.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 5/5
WWE PRESENTS: THE HORRORS OF THE WYATT SICKS
This was one house that I knew least about going in. To get a better understanding prior to the event, I watched the Bray Wyatt documentary on Peacock, Bray Wyatt: Becoming Immortal, about the rise of the Bray Wyatt and the Rotunda family through the WWE. Their legendary time with the organization brought forth a unique brand that embraced horror through storytelling in a way that hadn’t been done before. Fans of the WWE will see this greatly reflected throughout the house, with sets reminiscent of some of the Wyatt’s more iconic wrestling storylines. Beware — this house is one that features a very pungent room, so might not be advisable for those with sensory sensitivities.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 3.5/5
SCARECROW: MUSIC BY SLASH
Scarecrow: Music by Slash is one of the quicker houses to complete (I did so in 3.5 minutes), but was in no way short on scares. The highlight of this house was the incorporation of music by the rockstar Slash throughout the experience. The pulsating beats actually worked incredibly well in tandem with the different rooms, filled with hidden scarecrows. While we’ve seen different iterations of Scarecrow-themed houses before, this one does not disappoint and luckily had manageable wait times for most of the night.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 3.75/5
TERRIFIER
Terrifier would prove to be the most popular attraction of the night, hitting a 240-minute wait time 15 minutes into the official 7:00pm opening of the park. While it was eligible for Early Access guests at 5:30pm, the wait for it ballooned quickly and remained high for most of the night. This house had some of the most film-based Easter eggs I’ve experienced. The gore level was unmatched and the jump scares were truly terrifying. Easily the scariest and most immersive house of the event, fans of the Terrifier film franchise are sure to enjoy this one. Sensitive noses beware — this is another house with a terrifyingly pungent bathroom set towards the end of the house.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 5/5
FALLOUT
Probably the tamest house of the event, Fallout proved to be another maze dedicated more to its respective on-screen iteration than its video game origins. While I’ve seen the show and enjoyed experiencing this house’s use of the vault & desolate landscape, it didn’t have as many jump scares, and the ones that were present were a bit predictable. Still a fun house overall, this one is fun to recreate the experience of being on popular sets from the series in real life.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 2.5/5
POLTERGEIST
While I had gone into this house with tempered expectations, I was pleasantly surprised with the level immersion in each room and the cohesive storyline throughout. This house was scary in both what was depicted and what your mind registers in each set. Regardless of which Poltergeist film adaptation you may have seen, this was another house that faithfully relied upon the story of its inspiration and delivered some truly chilling frights. This one maintained some of the lowest wait times of the night, with the general admission queue staying under 40 minutes for the majority of the time.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 4/5
MONSTRUOS 3: THE GHOSTS OF LATIN AMERICA
This is the 3rd iteration of this original property by Universal, and it has become a devoted favorite of Hollywood HHN fans over the years. With its original plot developed by John Murdy and the Universal Creative team, it is delightfully spooky with its chilling portrayals of ghosts and haunts in a cemetery setting. It also features gory visuals and a chilling atmospheric soundtrack, almost making you want to rush out. While intended to be the end of a trilogy, I’m hopeful that the Universal Creative team continue bringing back new versions of this house in the years to come.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 4.5/5
TERROR TRAM: ENTER THE BLUMHOUSE
Reminiscent of last year’s Terror Tram, this year took us through several properties from Blumhouse, including M3GAN and Black Phone 2. This walking path was filled with costumed scare actors, jumping out and/or chasing us down the Bates Motel and War of the Worlds sets. While fun to experience as a chilling change of pace from the haunted houses, this year’s overall feel didn’t differentiate too much from last year. I did enjoy the M3GAN photo-opp with the bloody Hollywood sign backdrop, followed by the Norman Bates photo-opp in front of the Bates house.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 3/5
CHAINSAW MAN: THE CHAOS 4-D
Chainsaw Man: The Chaos 4-D was shown in the DreamWorks Theatre on the Upper Lot. This anime originated at Universal Studios Japan, and is being showcased here in Hollywood in its original format. Subtitles are provided and this 11-minute show features characters in pursuit of the Halloween Horror Nights antagonist and his zombies.
The N.O.C. Scare-O-Meter: 1.5/5
The Halloween Horror Nights Dining Pass
A brand new addition to HHN this year is the dining pass. For the set price of $65 (tax not included), you can enjoy two entrées, along with four snacks, desserts, or beverages. I was pleasantly surprised that a good amount of items from each food vendor were eligible with dining pass usage. You will find a “DP” logo next to the eligible items on the menus at the event. Using my dining pass during the event, I was able to dig into some tasty themed treats.
Sunflower Glasses (Terrifier) 4/5
These 11 cookies with lemon and raspberry filling were surprisingly delicious. Not overly sweet, the shortbread cookies were light and flavorful, and the filling was the perfect amount.
Jason S’More (Jason Un1v3rse BBQ) 2.5/5
The Jason s’more is similar to last year‘s Mini Stay Puft S’more. It was fairly standard with a graham cracker, topped with a layer of chocolate candy bar and a Jason mask-shaped marshmallow.
Roasted Radroach Legs (Fallout) 3.5/5
This was another relatively standard food item. Found at the Hollywood and Dine restaurant that now has the Fallout “Filly Foodstuffs” overlay, you will receive two barbecue chicken wings with a side of french fries. I will say that the barbecue wings are flavorful and cooked well, while the fries are typically always good at this location.
Loaded Cram Fries (Fallout) 5/5
This item was definitely the hit of the night. These loaded fries are topped with chunks of chili-glazed spam and garnishments. Packed with flavor, the serving size was generous and can easily be shared between two people.
Quantum Fizz (Fallout) 3.5/5
The Quantum Fizz is a fun and visually appealing drink. I did find it to be a bit on the sweet side, but I expected that going in. It features blue raspberry soda with a sour blue raspberry rim.
SLASH’s Snakepit (Slash Bar) 3.5/5
This was another pretty sweet beverage (raspberry ginger soda), but the added snake gummy candy was a fun touch. The overall environment of SLASH Bar (located above Jurassic Cafe in the Lower Lot) was well decorated and provided a nice tie-in to the theme of the Scarecrow: Music by Slash haunted house.
Overall, I feel this was one of Halloween Horror Nights’ best years. It provided the perfect mix of brand new houses with original or returning intellectual properties. This year felt as though the Universal team made great efforts to pay tribute to not only what they think would perform well, but also to what would bring fans the most joy and scares.
You can purchase from the many different ticket offerings (along with the dining pass) on the official HHN website.
