By Rafael Corral-Cumplido

Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights

Courtesy of Benjamin Pichardo

Halloween is one of the most anticipated holidays of the year and one of the season’s most widely known events is Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. With tickets selling for as high as $400, we decided to see if this “home of horror” is really worth all the hype.

From September to the beginning of November, Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles hosts a special horror themed, nighttime event called Halloween Horror Nights. The event is well known for its haunted houses and mazes, “scare zones,” where monsters and actors lurk around the park pathways waiting to frighten guests, and themed food and drinks.

My friends and I went on Saturday, October 25th, whereas The Rambler’s co-Editor-in-Chief, Aaron Sanchez, and Social Media Manager, Benjamin Pichardo, went on Sunday, October 26th.

Despite the one-day difference, my ticket cost $107, while Sanchez and Pichardo’s tickets were $89. Ticket prices vary depending on the day you go, how far in advance you buy your tickets, and which ticket package you choose.

Atmosphere

The ambience of the event is lively, as the “scare zones” offer interactive experiences with actors and a chance to be scared without waiting in a line.

For instance, when my friends and I first entered the park, we were immediately met by the sounds of chainsaws and pyrotechnics. One of the actors came up and pretended to hit me with an axe – in other words, he “pump-faked” me.

Similarly, while sitting down to catch their breath, Sanchez and Pichardo were ambushed by a group of clowns. Some of the clowns were on stilts, while others carried weapons.

Although Sanchez was spooked by the clowns, he also found the “scare zone” to be a bit underwhelming. Sanchez stated that “There was a lot of empty space where you could just walk around and collect yourself instead of them jumping out and scaring you.”

Mazes and Haunted Houses

One of the best parts of Horror Nights is the fact that you can step into the worlds of some of your favorite horror video games and movies.

For example, the Fallout maze was based on the post-apocalyptic videogame series that my friends and I are all fans of, so we had high expectations.

As soon as we entered the first room, I was a little on edge because there were fake dead bodies on the ground. In the end, however, I did not really get that scared.

There were at least eight rooms throughout the maze, and each one had a different aesthetic. One was a desert, another was a forest, and the last one was a convenience store with ghouls from the game inside open-door freezers.

While the maze was cool because of my familiarity with the videogame, overall, I found it a bit lackluster. On a scale of 1-10, I would rank the Fallout maze a 3. Unless you're a fan of the game it is just an okay experience.

Another popular maze at the park was The Terrifier, based on the movie of the same name starring the infamous Art the Clown, and it was one of the best parts of the night for Pichardo and Sanchez.

Pichardo said, “The Terrifier was fun and really gory. You get wet, you get scared. It’s more of an experience than just being jumpscared. For example, in the Jason maze, I mainly got jumpscared, but in the Terrifier I got scared, I got wet, I saw a bunch of different things like dead bodies and a girl being cut in half.”

Sanchez described The Terrifier as “a sensory experience” and recalled Art staring into his soul and scaring him.

While there are other rides and experiences, such as the 4D Simpsons Ride that includes interactive theater seats, the haunted houses and mazes were the main stars of the night.

Food and Drinks

There was a cafe where they sold the food from the game Five Nights at Freddy’s, and we got a cupcake to share. The cupcake was pretty good as it wasn't too sweet or bland, but there was a strong strawberry jam in the middle of it which I didn't like.

We also got drinks inspired by the game Fallout. My friend and I got a pack of “RadAway”, which is an IV bag filled with a murky liquid. The drink was flavored with pineapple and had some spice. My other friend got a "Quantum Fizz” which was blue sprite with sugar and blue grenadine on the rim.

While theme parks are usually known for high prices, Pichardo and Sanchez were still surprised to see that a regular bottle of water cost a steep $7. The expensive prices of food and drinks were a downside of the event, especially because the theme park prohibits outside food and beverages.

Final Thoughts

If I were to rank the experience of Halloween Horror Nights on a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7/10 because I didn't get scared that much.

Pichardo rated the experiences as a 9/10 with “one point taken off because the lines were too long.” However, he also noted, “The wait times were usually off because The Terrifier line said 180 minutes, but it really only took like 40 minutes.”

Sanchez also rated his experience as a 9/10: “It was really good and I would want to say 10, but the [expensive] prices of the food, [inaccurate] wait times, and lack of actors this year” weakened the experience.

All in all, we can confirm that yes– Halloween Horror Nights is worth the hype. We would definitely recommend it to anyone who's looking for some spooky fun!