Universal Studios continues the scares at Halloween Horror Nights

Dante Gonsalves/Contributing Writer

The month where spooky is the name of the game has finally arrived. At this year’s Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando’s Universal Studios, the annual event is celebrating 27 years as a horror destination.

There is a total of nine horror houses, five scare zones and two Halloween themed-shows this year.

Four of the houses are original concepts developed by Universal’s creative team, led by Charles Gray, the show director for entertainment creative behind Horror Nights.

Out of the originals, The Hive provides the most thrilling experience that immediately mirrors off classic 1980’s vampire films, like “The Lost Boys” and “Fright Night.” The set design of the house was impressive, giving off a post-apocalyptic design, yet implementing the use of dark blue lighting to make guests feel they’re cave exploring inside a house while Nosferatu-like creatures try to attack.

“The originals are a lot of fun because it’s our own stories,” said Gray. “We have to make sure it fits within the different ideas that we get. If we have something like ‘Insidious,’ we’re not going to do a ghost story.”

The five remaining houses are sure to delight fans of both horror films and television shows. One of the most memorable houses of the night was “American Horror Story,” taking its victims through three seasons of the popular show. The execution of the house was fascinating to experience since three separate stories were taking place in one area.

Fans of the show will immediately spot the horrors of Asylum by entering Briarcliff, where the song “Dominique” by the Singing Nun is eerily playing while patients run free in the recreation room. Guests will have to evade the serial killer Bloody Face, the experiments of Dr. Arden and the clutches of a possessed nun.

Coven takes visitors to New Orleans to meet the Grand Supreme and the descendants of the Salem witches. From there, guests will be pitted in the conflict between the Salem witches and Marie Laveau’s band of voodoo worshippers.

Guests finally end up in the mystery behind Roanoke, where they will learn to survive a group of murderous colonial ghosts and encounter the cannibalistic Polk family. In the middle of this chaos, Piggy Man pays a visit and chases the most vulnerable victims wearing the severed head of a pig.

My most anticipated house to visit at Horror Nights, overall, was “The Shining”.

In response to choosing “The Shining” as a house, Gray said, “I think it’s important to have a classic as one of those nine that, again, we’re trying to reach to everybody… Maybe your mom and dad were like ‘Yeah, I remember that, let’s go!’”

As a fan of the film, I was ecstatic to be welcomed as a guest at the Overlook Hotel while being threatened by the danger of Jack Torrance and his axe. Guests enter through a snowy hedge maze to descend into the haunted hotel. This house was the most impressive in terms of set design since it recreated the most memorable scenes from the film, like the elevator at the hotel spewing blood out and Jack peaking his head through a broken door screaming “Here’s Johnny!”

Visitors will be experiencing more REDRUM than they would anticipate, encountering the likes of dead twin girls and more.

On the streets of Universal, “The Purge” scare zone was the most realistic since it not only scared guests, but also went beyond expectations by kidnapping bystanders and holding rallies to encourage guests to participate in the mayhem of legal murder.

To recover from screaming and running, two live shows are offered to guests at the park. The most entertaining of the two was Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure. This comedic performance pits the two titular dudes against 2017’s trending pop culture moments. The two explore everything from Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl stadium drop, Melissa McCarthy’s impersonation of Sean Spicer, and much more.

If you’d prefer to scream on a ride, the majority of Universal’s rides are open during Horror Nights.

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights is open on select nights from the rest of October to Nov. 4. Make sure to check it out and get your spook on.