Remember the magic you used to feel on Halloween? The sense of excitement to go out trick or treating? The spooky but fun dread that maybe there really was something lurking behind the tree in the neighbor’s yard – that wasn’t the neighbor’s cat? Dark rooms, zombie flicks on TV, things that go bump in the night?
Well you can experience it again, albeit with a fairly substantial price tag, at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights. Not just any old haunted attraction, this one features movie-quality recreations of set pieces from frighteningly famous franchises like Halloween and The Walking Dead.
Great sets, fantastic animatronic figures, eerie lighting, and of course, what really makes the event take off, the “scareactors,” some 500 talented performers stalking, scaring, and jumping out at guests, gruesomely attacking each other, and each creating an astonishingly well-choreographed live performance on average once every six seconds.
So is it worth it to “haunt” Universal Studios after dark? Absolutely. From the kitschy 3D horror humor based on the film This is the End to the longest and arguably scariest maze this year, The Walking Dead Wolves Not Far, to the supernatural Insidious Return to the Further, these live performance scares are worth every penny. Also not to be missed: this year’s Terror Tram offering based on The Purge films takes over the back lot, and in a break from all the horror, a live stage show starring the hip hop energy and special effects of Jabbawockeez. Of course there’s scare zones scattered throughout the park – from the evil elves of Dark Christmas to the giant bugs of Exterminatorz you’ll get your screams on. Strolling through the recreation of Homer Simpson’s Springfield or jumping on the Jurassic Park ride are also somehow a lot more fun after dark, when you know just outside the rides’ perimeters lurks – a shadowy menacing monster or two.
This was our third year experiencing Halloween Horror Nights, and it’s an absolutely horrific delight. Go early – early admission allows guests into the park an hour before HHN officially opens and access to several lower lot mazes before the lines get too deep. And stay late – don’t rush the scares. Savor the midnight magic.
- Genie Davis; all photos Jack Burke (copyright Jack Burke)