Halloween Horror Nights 32

Hello my spooky friends! This year we decided to go to Universal Studios Orlando Halloween Horror Nights 32 on opening weekend, and let me tell you it was an experience. We usually make our trip to Florida during the second to third week of the event but wanted to try something new this year. My one take away from it was I would prefer not to do opening weekend again. From the weather, to not enough actives to pull in crowds aside from houses and lines for food feeling like they were as long as the house lines it was a lot to take in, so let’s dive right into our time in Orlando.

We knew that it was going to be busy and crowded and it was but I think there were a few things that added to the craziness that was opening weekend. Friday around 4:30pm we were waiting to make our way to a stay n scream holding area when a terrible storm hit the area. Not only was is a downpour the lightning was intense and the winds were getting up to 40mph. We saw videos of the umbrellas over the food stand registers being blown away, in the place we were waiting the furniture was being blown all over the place as well. They were struggling to get the park cleared for the event because this storm lasted an hour and people didn’t want to run in the rain or our in the lightning and I couldn’t blame them. This storm obviously made getting HHN started difficult and it was just downhill from there. We didn’t have express this night but we were able to get into two houses and then we just walked around the park. There weren’t scareactors out in the scarezones at that time because of all the rain, we were going to try some of the different food but that was short lived. There were not enough food booths this year, this caused all the lines to be super long. I heard that some people were waiting 45 mins to get a corndog from of the booths. We just decided call it an early night and left around 8pm. On our way out though we did stop in The Dead Coconut Club (some pictures of the decor below) to checkout the theming before heading to the hotel to rest up in hopes that Saturday would be a better night.

Saturday the weather was nicer, no rain just your typical Florida heat and humidity. The line to get into the New York stay n scream was ridiculously long so we choose the Richter’s area instead. Once we were let out we backtracked to Stranger Things 4 and used our express passes before the wait time got too crazy. We had heard that a good amount of the wait times on Friday night with express pass were longer and not really accurate. You should be waiting half of the time of the standby line but it seemed that wasn’t the case for Friday night. I will say though the longest we waited in express was about 35 minutes for The Last of Us, but that wasn’t terrible at all. We ended up doing all the houses Saturday except Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count because it wasn’t high on our list and its express line did seemed backed up every time we walked by. Again we weren’t able to try any of the food from the food booths because the lines were just way too long. We did go to the Peacock bar but that was a disaster. The way in was the same as the way out, they had 4 bars and the lines were getting to be a mess because of the location they couldn’t stretch very far, it was very confusing. We ordered two and the person got the order wrong, when I tried to have them fix it they said they couldn’t sell me two drinks, even though I had just been charged for two drinks and handed two drinks. We finally got it figured out and immediately left the area it was so disorganized. We called it a night at midnight and made our way back to the hotel.

Sunday we were able to get into the New York stay n scream area and got a table at Finnegan’s to have a few drinks and some food while we waited to them to clear the park. I really wanted to try Left Behind Ravioli from The Last of Us food booth, but every time the line was super long. So Sunday after we got done at Finnegan’s we headed to Sting Alley to wait for the booth to open to try and beat the crowd when they let us out of the holding area. We were told that the booth would open at 7pm but while we were standing there at 6pm a manager came over and they moved the barricades over and opened the booth up for people in the stay n scream area. I was first in line and was very excited to be able to try them, I was nervous though because they had a truffle cream on them and I am not a fan of truffles. Surprisingly they didn’t have a strong truffle taste to them and for being $10 you did get a lot of raviolis, I thought it was a good dish. After the food we started doing houses, we started with Stranger Things 4 and then did Chucky just to get it out of the way and then did all the back houses before making our way back to the front. We finished the last house around 11pm and decide to head back to the hotel since we would be driving back home the next morning and wanted to be able to get as much rest as possible.

We had fun at the event but some of the negatives this year I feel were the shows, food and the scarezones. They only had the Nightmare Fuel show this year, they lagoon show didn’t happen that would help to eat up some of the crowds. Yes they had the Deathereaters out but many people would walk in and see them then leave. It wasn’t something that would hold people for 30 minutes or more like the lagoon show would. Next food as I mentioned earlier there were not enough food booths so the lines for the ones that they did have were long and most people didn’t want to stand in them. The little street across from were the Tribute Store is in New York was lined with them last year and this year there was just one booth there and two on the street beside that area. Waiting for food took up a good chunk of your time if you didn’t get in the line early so I feel like a lot of people would skip them so that they could just get in line for the houses. The houses this year were great but the scarezones just seemed to be lacking.In past years I have loved to just sit in them and watch people get scared but this year I didn’t have that feeling. There also weren’t big moments in the zones and many of them felt empty weather it be not a lot of scareactors or props, they just felt like they were all missing something. Again we understood that it was opening weekend and somethings needed to be ironed out but in my opinion having less food booths and only the one show put a damper on the event.

We enjoyed all the houses except Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count, it just didn’t have a good flow to it. Bloodmoon Dark Offerings which I thought wasn’t going to be good was one of my favorites! The scares were alright (the scareactors were amazing) but it wasn’t a scary house. It was however a beautiful house, all the different vantage points and the depth of the house was really cool. The Last of Us was a good the sets were cool and all the Clickers and Bloaters were scary. There were a lot a double and triple scares in the houses this year which was amazing. The Tribute Store was really cool and I was happy to see it back in its original location in the New York area. The concept was a comic shop and it was like you stepped into the pages of the comics themselves.

The creative team and all the team members that make the event happened are amazing. Everyone will find their groove as the event goes on and I can’t wait to see videos from later in the event. Overall we had a great weekend and look forward to next years event, we’ll just be going later in the season next time.

Halloween Horror Nights 32 Preview

Welcome back ghouls & ghoulets! It’s been a while I know, I really dropped the ball with keeping up with posts. We were able to squeeze in a quick trip last year but it was a bit of a rough year if I’m being honest. But we’re not going to bring you down that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to be happy, haunted and spooky! This year Halloween Horror Nights seems to really be leaning into the lore of the entire event. We had teaser videos talking about “the signs are hidden in plan sight,” you can check that video out here. Universal Studios Orlando Florida Halloween Horror Nights 32 is right around the corner, so let’s dive right in and talk all things haunted houses, scarezones, food and merchandise.

Yesterday Universal Orlando dropped all of the houses and scarezones on us at one time, with the exception of 3 of the houses which had found out before yesterdays massive announcement. Let’s talk about the 3 houses we already knew about. Before HHN31 even ended last year we were hit with our first announcement, on October 31^st the last night of the even HHN announced that the fowl mouth, murderous doll Chucky would have his own house at the event. You can have a look at the announcement video here. Now Chucky has had some kind of representation at the event the past few years. HHN28 had the Revenge of Chucky scarezone, demented toys and Good Guy employees roamed around the zone while Chuck was stuck in a Good Guys box and would insult guests brave enough to step up and talk with him. HHN30 and HHN31 there was a photo op set up where guests could stand in a Good Guys box and a silhouette of Chucky with a knife would appear behind them. But HHN32 Chucky will have his own house and it will follow the SYFY television series. We haven’t watched the series but I’m excited to see how the house turns out. The house will be called Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count, from the sounds of it guests must try and survive and not become another casualty of Chukys Kill Count.

On June 15^th HHN announced that The Last of Us was announced and like last year we were introduced to a Scream Squad if you will. We are introduced to Jordan, Drew and Sofia, they are on a video chat together. Jordan is at home playing The Last of Us, Drew is walking outside and Sofia appears to be at school. They are talking about the video mentioned earlier talking about the lore and conspiracy theories of HHN, you can see the announcement video here. Now this version will be based on the video game (which we haven’t played) but from what I have heard from those that have played the game and watched the HBO series that they are very close. We watched the tv series and we loved it and I am can’t wait to see how this translates into a house, the noises that the Clickers make send shivers down my spine and I know that they are going to be terrifying.

On July 13th Stranger Things 4 was announced, sticking with the video chat this one is from Sofia’s point of view. As she is chatting with Jordan and Drew when she hears the chime of a grandfather clock, or as Stranger Things fans know it is the sound when Vecna is about to take his next victim. This house will take guests through season 4 of Stranger Things, can you and your scream squad escape Vecna’s curse? I am excited for this house, season 4 was one of the darkest, scariest and emotional of the seasons. I can’t wait to see which scenes the creative team picked to bring to life! I already have all my outfits picked out, you might say I have a slight obsession with Stranger Things.

On July 28th before the massive announcement we were give the last video from our Scream Squad, Drew is outside running when he comes across a very creepy looking doll. When he picks it up images flash before his eyes, check out the video here. Now I will say I am surprised by this announcement because this movie doesn’t come out until after the event starts. The Exorcist: Believer from Blumhouse, now this movie doesn’t come out until October, Friday the 13th to be exact. This will be like a immersive trailer for the movie. I am not excited for this one, the original Exorcist terrified my as a kid and I still haven’t seen it to this day. I can already say that this will be the scariest house at the event for me.

For the rest of the houses we didn’t get any video but we did get some imagery and descriptions of each one. Lets start with Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins, now if you aren’t super familiar with HHN Lore Dr. Oddfellow is the guy who ran the circus Jack the Clown worked and he was ultimately the one who imprisoned Jack in the Jack ‘n the box. Dr. Oddfellow will serve as this years Icon and he has a hand in all the houses and scarezones this year which is cool to have an interwoven storyline with everything.

Next up my most anticipated house of the event Universal Monsters: Unmasked. They knock it out of the park every year with the Classic Monster houses, they are always so beautifully eerie. We are getting 4 monsters who don’t always get shown a lot of love, guests will be transported to Paris where they will not only explore what is above ground but what is below in the catacombs as well. We will come face to face with The Phantom of the Opera, The Invisible Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde!

Now if you have been a fan of the parks and rides then you will be excited for this next house, Dueling Dragons Choose Thy Fate. Dueling Dragons used to be a ride at Islands of Adventures but was closed and replaced with Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure. While attempting to take Merlyn’s spell book, two warlocks are turned into dragons and you the guest is stuck in the middle of these two dueling dragons. The cool things about this house is it seems that there will be two different paths to choose from in the house, which is another callback to the ride where guests could choose between fire or ice as their dragon of choice.

Next we have Yeti Campground Kills, set in the 1950s you and your squad find an old campground that has been taken over by Yeti and you must try and make it to the ranger tower and to safety. This is the 3rd time we have seen yeti at the event so I am interested to see what this installment has in store for us.

The next house is The Darkest Deal Universals take on the Crossroads deal of a Blues player who sold his soul. The story will follow Pinestraw Spruce who sells his soul for fame to the Collector. I am excited for this house I know of the Crossroads myth and I am excited to see Universals take on this story.

The last house is Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings, you and your scream squad stumble into a village of moon-worshippers during the blood moon. During this time the worshippers take it upon themselves to track drown any who do not follow the blood moon, can you make it out before they get you?

Now time for the scarezones, this year they are Dr. Oddfellow’s Collection of Horror, Dark Zodiac, Jungle of Doom: Expedition HorrorVamp ’69: Summer of Blood and Shipyard 32: Horros Unhinged. As I mentioned before Dr. Oddfellow has his hands in everything this year he is the reason for all the creatures guest will encounter in all the scarezones. You can read more about them below. I am excited to see how they are all connected and I am excited to get another variation of the Vamp scarezone. The last one we got was Vamp ’85 and the theming and music was great, I am very much looking forward to this Woodstock type of Vamp scarezone located in the New York area of the park. Dark Zodiac will be located in the Hollywood area of the park and I am very interested in seeing the Zodiacs brought to life. Jungle of Doom will be located in the Central Park area of the park and this is the perfect spot for it, with the overhang of trees and the closeness of the area it’s sure to be one where the scareactors can blend in and scare guests. Shipyard 32 will be located in the San Fransisco area of the park and usually when they do anything with a ship or the water they turn out beautifully so I can’t wait to see what this scarezone holds. Lastly Dr. Oddfellows Collection of Horror will great guest as soon as they come through the gates, in the main drag of the park guests will have to make their way through whatever Dr. Oddfellow has planned for them.

If you want to learn more and go a little deeper into the houses, scarezones and the overall event I recommend to listen to the Discover Universal podcast, they have a 3 part series on the overall reveal of the event where they talk to members of the creative team. And it also appears that they may do what they did last year which was release short episodes that touch on the original houses and scarezones of the event which help layout the story for guest. The first one is already up and it is about Dr. Oddfellow, if you would also like to learn more about Dr. Oddfellow I suggest checking out Christoper Ripley’s Halloween Horror Nights Unofficial: The Story & Guide. These books not only go over HHN from the very beginning but he also talks about the different characters over the years and their backstories as well, you kind find all his books here.

Other things we learned about the event is that the Tribute Store will be moving back to the New York section of the park and will be called Tribute of Terror and be themed to a NYC comic book shop. The Red Coconut Club in City Walk will once again be transformed into the Dead Coconut Club but with a new menu and theming, below are some picture from last years Dead Coconut Club.

Again Cabana Bay Swizzle Stick lounge will be turned into a themed bar feature Lil Boo and the Pumpkin Lord guests 21 and older can try different themed adult beverages. Again this year any Universal Resort guest with their valid room key will be able to experience Chucky’s Twisted Playground. Open Daily from 2pm-10pm at Cabana Bay Resort guests can pose will different photo ops in an immersive experience based on the Chucky tv series. A new thing added this year is the Universal Monsters Gallery of Legends, guests can take part in a photo hunt for 7 different Universal Monsters at 7 different Universal Orlando Resort lobbies. Also the Endless Summer Resort will also have a Spooky Sunset Lounge where guests 21 and older can try themed Halloween drinks. Nightmare Fuel will be back with a show in the old Fear Factor stage, there is a rumor that there will be a Death Eater show in Diagon Alley but nothing has been released about that at this time. We are also still waiting to hear if there will be a lagoon show as well.

There is going to be so much to see and do at this years event and I can’t wait to experience it all! If you haven’t already you can buy your tickets for the event here all ticket packages including multi-night, single night, tours and express passes are on sale. We can’t wait to be back in the fog!

Halloween Horror Nights 31: Never Go Alone.

It’s that time again, Universal Orlando Resorts Halloween Horror Nights is near! I can already smell the fog & hear the people screaming. The event runs from September 2^nd to October 31^st, if you still needs tickets you can get them here. You can also grab your Express Passes, Multi-night tickers, Tours & Scareactor dinning, that’s right it’s back this year!

HHN31 tagline is “Never Go Alone”, now some people are annoyed that they are reusing this tagline. If I’m honest I felt like last year’s tagline was “30 Years 30 Fears”, truly it doesn’t matter but some people like to have something to complain about. Like last year when dropping the houses HHN made teasers trailers. With each teaser we got a movie character, the first we’re introduced to is “The Snacker”. While leaving the movies the Snacker is attacked when the Mummy, Dracula & the Wolfman tear through the movie posters outside the theater. On May 17^th Universals Monsters: Legends Collide was announced, you can watch the trailer here. Guests will be caught in the middle of a fight between the 3 monsters as they fight over the magical amulet that can break their curses.

The second house announcement we got came on June 8^th, and we are introduced to “The Skeptic. While at home watching a scary movie the power goes out and we see The Shape in the hallway. But this isn’t any shape it’s The Shape, Michael Myers the Boogeyman. You can check out the teaser for the house here, now to my surprise it isn’t based off the new Blumhouse movies but the original ’78 version. I was hoping that we might see the 2018 version of the movie at the event but with them going back to where it all started means that we won’t have to walkthrough the terribly awful Halloween Kills movie. If I would have had to hear “Halloween dies tonight” every time I went through a house, I would have lost it. In the years that we have gone we have only experience one other Halloween house and that was at HHN28 when they did Halloween 4the Return of Michael Myers. I will say that was a fun house, not the scariest but it was enjoyable. I feel like this will be comparable to Texas Chainsaw Massacre at last year’s event, was it a super scary house no but it was fun and felt like you had stepped into the movie. You can never go wrong with a classic and I can’t wait to step foot into the Myers house.

The third house announcement came on June 23^rd and is a 2 for one house, gracing the event with its presents again, The Horrors of Blumhouse. This year featuring Freaky and The Black Phone. Following the same format as the others we are introduced to “The Cringe Couple”. While walking through a parking garage a couple is chased by The Butcher from Freaky, they try to get into an elevator but when the doors open The Graber from The Black phone is waiting for them. I am trying not to judge too soon but I find this an odd pairing, I wish they would have let either of these titles stand-alone but regardless I will hold off until we actually get to experience it.

On Friday July 22^nd we got another teaser GIF of a girl in a bathroom taking a selfie (you can see it here) , We would have to wait until July 26^th to get the house announcement. But before we got the house announcement, they dropped multi-night tickets for the event as well as Scareactors Dinning to the website. Now I will say I was very surprised to see Scareactor Dinning come back, mostly because the restaurant that they used to have it at The Monsters Café was closed a couple months back. This year it will be held at Louie’s Italian Restaurant which is located in the New York area of the park. You can find the multi-night tickets as well as the Scareactor Dinning experience here.

If you are not familiar with the Scareactors Dinning Experience, it is an add on ticket, you must have a ticket for that night of HHN as well. Guests will enjoy a themed dinner buffet while Scareactors running around and interacting with guests while they eat. You can take photos with them as well as get a digital download of a photo taken while there. Tickets are $54.99+ tax, we have never done it but I have seen videos and it looks like a good time.

Now to the house, we are introduced to “The Selfie Queen”. We knew this house was coming, a few months back The Weekend tweeted about YouTube pulling one of his videos and he much said that it wasn’t too much for HHN. The Weekend: After Hours Nightmare will be the last house that is shared on both coasts. Even though I am not well versed in The Weekends work from what I have seen and from the teaser they dropped I do feel like this house will be very creepy. If you would like to read about the concept of the house you can do so here. This article from Entertainment Weekly dropped right before the trailer, it almost seems like they had to announce the house because of this article being posted but I’m not mad about it. And if you are like me and not as well versed on The Weekend this YouTube video is a compilation is the storyline of the house.

As mentioned all four of the previous mentioned houses will be at Universal Orlando as well as Universal Hollywood. I look forward to seeing the walkthrough videos because even though both coasts share these houses, they won’t be identical, which is nice because there are some people who will go to both events. Moving forward the houses we talk about will only be at HHN Universal Orlando.

This year the Original Concept houses outnumber the Intellectual Property (IP) houses. On August 16^thHHN dropped another video, this one longer than the four previous videos. It had the four people we previously mentioned and then it introduced the rest of the “Scream Squad”. We see a group of friends attending HHN but they are all slowly separated and run into a character from one of the houses or scarezones, you can check it out here. Let’s take a closer look at the 6 OG houses.

The first one is at the top of my list, Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake. Guests will enter a New England fishing village and come face to face with undead fishermen. This house got the Trick ‘r Treatment, going from a scarezone to a house. At HHN26 Dead Man’s Wharf was a scarezone in the San Francisco area of the park. Snowy or water houses are usually really pretty and you can guarantee that this house will be blasting the A/C, which is a nice break from those hot Florida nights.

Spirit of the Coven is set in a 1920s speakeasy, I am interested to see how this house turns out. In the description they describe the witches as flappers and that is a new take on witches for me. Now this next house already makes my skin crawl and we haven’t even seen anything from it yet. Bugs Eatin Alive”, bugs why did it have to be bugs! The description of the house is a bit confusing to; guests will be “touring a 1950s house of the future”. I don’t really know that means but I doubt I’ll be able to focus on that detail too much as we are walking through it. Universal released a podcast talking with some of the creative team behind HHN and while they were describing this house I was screaming “nope, don’t like that” repeatedly in my car as I listened. You can find the podcast where ever you listen, it’s the Discover Universal Podcast and it is an official podcast from Universal Orlando.

Our next original house is Fiesta De Chupacabras, if you are unfamiliar with the Chupacabra it is a cryptid that drinks the blood of animals, it translates to goat sucker. Depending on where you are located the description varies, according to the HHN description guest are visiting a Latin American village were a fiesta is being held to celebrate the chupacabras. According to the internet in Latin America it is described as a reptilian alien like creature. Can you escape the fiesta before the chupacabras get you?

Hellblock Horrors is our next house, the description of this house makes me think of the scene in Cabin in The Woods where Dana and Marty see all the different monsters in their holding cells. Guests enter a prison holding “savage inmates and monstrous creatures”. Will you get out before they break free of their cells? The last original house is Descendants of Destruction. While traveling through the subway of New York, mutated creatures have taken up residence and they are looking for their next meal and it may just be you and your scream squad if you’re not careful.

This is a strong year for originals and I am very excited for them! Many of my favorite houses have been the originals; Slaughter Sinema, Carnival Graveyard, Dead Waters, Wicked Growth just to name a few. The creative team has a lot more free range when it comes to the originals so I can’t wait to see what they’ve come up with.

On to the scarezones, again these are all original concepts. Sometimes the scarezones are based on Ips but not this year. Going counterclockwise around the park because I want to save the best for last in my opinion (as of right now, this might change after the event). Up first to the right if the Today Show Café in the Hollywood Blvd section we have Graveyard Deadly Unrest. Tread lightly as you make your way through Nettlewood Cemetery, spirits of those laid to rest awaken on All Hallows Eve. Can you make it out or will you be trapped for all eternity?

Guests will then come upon Scarecrow: Cursed Soil, this scarezone is a continuation from a house that was at HHN21 Scarecrow the Reaping. Located in the Central Park area of the park, make your way through an abandoned farm where scarecrows have come to life and looking to harvest any who they come across. I am excited to see this scarezone in person, usually this is one of the pretty areas when it comes to scarezone. Continuing around the park to the San Francisco area, we have Conjure the Dark. A sorceress is conjuring creatures from the dark dimension to feed on unlucky guests.

In the New York area Sweet Revenge, arriving at The Bicentennial Hometown Fall Halloween Festival Parade, sponsored by the candy company Major Sweets. Think of this as a horror Willy Wonka, candy from Major Sweets has started to turn the children of the town into killers. Listening to the Discover Universal Podcast the creative team says that they reached out to the company that makes the Universal Mardi Gras floats, throughout the scarezone will be parade floats from the Halloween Festival Parade.

The final scarezone is located in the Plaza od the Stars at the front of the park and its Horrors of Halloween. Like Scarecrow: Cursed Soil this scarezone is also based off of a house, Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin. The Pumpkin Lord has returned! This character from last year was amazing, he is Halloween. The Pumpkin Lord is summoning terrifying creatures to terrorize unsuspecting guests. The carved pumpkin from the façade of last year’s house are back along with fan favorite Lil Boo! Lil Boo became an unofficial icon last year and Universal heard the people and how much they loved this little pumpkin that they brought him back and put him on some the merch for the event.

This brings us to the shows, the Nightmare Fuel team is back with a new show. Located in the old Fear Factor stage, this show is full of pyro, dancing and aerial work. We enjoyed last years show it was different than anything we had previously seen. It is also a nice break from all the walking you will be doing around the event. The second show is the lagoon show. This year it’s Ghoulish! A Halloween Tale. The description says it’s a ghost tale. Using fog, fountains and laser effects the show is projected onto a water screen over the Universal Lagoon. Usually, the show is about 10-15 minutes long, you will have to stand compared to the other show but I still say check it out. We’ve enjoyed the past shows the past 2 years and look forward to checking this one out. It seems like this year it will be more of a story whereas the Marathon of Mayhem shows mostly showed scenes from the IPs that were at the event that year.

The last two things to mention are the Cabana Bay themed bar and the merch. Like last year when Cabana Bay turned the Swizzle Lounge into the Icons bar and had the Jack’d Up Experience that are once again going to offer a spooky good time. This year they are offering Universal Monsters Gallery of Legends. There will be a Universal Monsters themed photo gallery experience, Universal Monsters Gallery of Legends. Now this part is exclusive to Universal Orlando Hotel guests (you will have to show a Universal Resort hotel key). But anyone can check out the Swizzle Lounge, last year they had themed decorations and specialty cocktail drinks. This will be open daily from 5pm-12am. I say if you have a chance and can check it out, I highly recommend it, we had a nice time to hanging out at the bar and trying the different drinks. If you are staying at one of the Universal Orlando Resorts, head up stairs and next to the Galaxy Bowling there is an immersive photo ops set up. This will be open daily from 2pm-10pm but again you must be staying at one of the resorts and be able to show a room key. The merch this year is great! It has a vintage Halloween feel. If you don’t want to wait to get your merch you can find some of it on the Universal website. You might have to keep checking because it does sell out, but don’t fret you can contact customer services and if you provide the skew number and size, they can ship it to you if it is in the park. If you are in the parks, you kind find it at the 5 and Dime at Universal and The All Hallows Eve Boutique in Islands of Adventure. The HHN Tribute store should be opening up any day now and there will a good selection there as well.

All and all I’m very excited for the event, I love the traditional Halloween feel. I especially love the original concepts! Don’t get me wrong I like the IPs but I can’t wait to see what the creative team has cooked up this year. We look forward to this event each year and we’re so close I can practically smell the fog. Keep an eye on our social media channels, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok.

Credit for all the pictures used for the Houses and Scarezone goes to Universal Orlando Resort. Cover photo by me.

Fun Quick Trip to Our Favorite Place!

Hello! I know it has been a looong time since I have put out a blog, and I always say it won’t happen again but here we are. You know how it is work, life but that is not what you are here to read about. Let’s dive into the meat and potatoes! It had been 6 months since we had been to Universal Orlando for Halloween Horror Nights. We figured we have the annual passes might as well use them! We had a long weekend from work and decided to head down for Mardi Gras and to check out Jurassic World VelociCoaster since we hadn’t been on it yet.with So we packed our bags and headed down to Florida.

We got to Aventura (this was our first time staying there) around 12:30am-1am. I will say that the hotel is very nice, very modern. I mean they even have a little robot that will deliver things to your room. I will say though that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the room. Sadly I forgot to take a photo of ours but will describe it. Now I will start off saying the room was very nice and we were only there for a short time so it worked. But if we were staying for a week or longer I wouldn’t want to be in that room. You walked in and there was a sleeper couch, 1 king bed and the bathroom. The thing that put me off was the bed was very close to the window, there was no room for a bedside time on the one side of the bed. You either and to crab walk along the window or awkwardly crawl across the bed to get to the one side.

Also not a big deal but of the hotels we have stayed out the shampoo and conditioner that is in the room did not feel like it really did the job. I know that most hotel products seem that way but this is the first time that I was sad I didn’t bring my own travel size toiletries. Things I did like about the room, I did like that there was an iPad that controlled the lights, tv and you could order room service through it. That is the first time I have ever experienced something like that in a hotel room. Also another nice feature was Bar Bistro 17, the cocktails were great, there was a nice breeze and the view was really nice. The perfect place to unwind after a day at the parks with some food, drinks and a sunset.

Since we had gotten in to late Friday we didn’t get up as early as we had plan too to get early entry. We started walking to the park around 7am and ran into a bit of a line for the hotel security checkpoint beside Margaritaville. By the time we got through that Hagrid’s was already at a 180 minute wait and that was just a bit too much for us. We wondered around Islands for a bit and then headed to All Hallows’ Eve Boutique.

I must say that I really like that they have continued to make it, a smaller version of the tribute store. The theming is great and it always smells good in there with the candles that they sell. After spending sometime in the store we made our way to Jurassic Park, when we got to the VelociCoaster it was only a 65 minute wait. We decided that that wasn’t an unreasonable amount of time and we didn’t have much else to do until more of the park opened up so why not. I will say that we only waited about 30 minutes, I was really surprised how fast the line seemed to move. That was great for me cause I was very nervous about riding it and thought I might sike myself out if we waited too long. We ended up in the 2nd row and let me tell you what, I was terrified lol. Don’t get me wrong it was a fun ride but it was scary, I am embarrassed to say that I screamed the whole time.

After the thrilling ride we stopped into the Hog’s Head and grabbed a quick pint. By this time more of the parks had opened and we made our way over to Universal to checkout the food and drink options at the Mardi Gras booths. It was the 2nd to last weekend of the event while we were there. I will say that I will take that into consideration but I felt like compared to when we went in 2020 there wasn’t as much offered. Again it could have been because it was so late in the event compared to when we went 2 years ago on the opening day of the event. I missed all the booths that they had in the courtyard across from Jimmy Fallon Race Through New York. It felt like a party in that area the last time while this time there was just 2 booths.

Our first stop was Brazil and we grabbed an order of the Chicken Coxing and Beef Rissole as well as theStrawberry Caipirinha and Pineapple Caipirinha Punches. Everything was really good, the items were a bit heavy for a hot Florida day but were very enjoyable. We also tried the Tomato Basil Arancini in the New York area, the Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche, Conch Fritters, along with the Cape Guayaba and Goombay Smash in the San Francisco area. The shrimp and avocado ceviche was so light and refreshing, it was definitely high on the list of items we tried. I wish we would of had more time because we truly didn’t try enough of the items, but like I said being so late in the event somethings seems sparse.

The parade as always was a lot of fun, we like to stand in the alley way behind the Starbucks there is a good amount of space (if you don’t want to be right on the curb) and it is a good place to get a lot of beads.

We did also check out the Tribute Store, I love that they are doing them more for the different events. This time the store was themed to a Mardi Gras float factory. They had little Easter eggs to HHN and to the Holiday Event, eagle eye park goers could find HHN Bear as well as Earl the Squirrel. We didn’t try any of the treats from this one but they all looked so good. I will say though compared to how much they have at HHN and during the Holiday Tribute Store there weren’t as many treats or as merchandise it seemed to me.

We also got to checkout the Limited Time Universal Studios Monsters: A Tribute to The Creatures of The Night (phew that was a mouth full). Since The Mummy ride is under refurbishment until later this summer they transformed the gift shop to the ride into a Universal Studios Monster store. They had statues of the Classic Monsters as well as Monster merchandise. I love that the Classic Monsters seem to be coming back to the park and getting love, I can’t wait to see what they do for them when Epic Universe opens. Fingers crossed we will get a bigger and permanent version of this store when the new park opens.

On Saturday we again missed early entry so we took our time getting ready, again we ran into a bit of a line at the security check point but it wasn’t as long as the day before. This was more of our relax and see where the day takes us. We played around of Mini Golf at the Hollywood Drive-in. Then we head to the Lone Palm Airport Bar to grab some drinks with our favorite bartender Joe. Joe is the best, he has great stories. We also got to see a photo album that he keeps behind the bar, it’s a lot of pictures from the different Jimmy Buffett concerts. The next time you’re at City Walk stop by and see if Joe is working, you won’t be disappointed. Have some great drinks and listen to great stories, Joe even told us the story behind the airplane that sits behind the bar. I know there is plaque that tells the story but trust me it’s better to hear it from Joe (it’s blurry what Joe is in the background of the photo below). We wondered around the parks a bit, finally got on Hagrid’s, we spent about an hour in line, but then called it an early night to go back to the hotel. Even though we were only there for 2 days it was still a really fun trip.

With Mardi Gras ending the next big event is Halloween Horror Nights. Now as of the writing of this besides a the tagline “Never Go Alone”, single night tickets, R.I.P. Tour tickets and Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tickets (all of which you can find here) we haven’t had any other announcements. There have been 2 speculation maps released from Horror Night Nightmares, you can check out the 2.0 version of the map here. Won’t get too much into here but I will say if the majority of this map stayed I wouldn’t be upset about it, I think it is a pretty decent lineup. Hopefully we will get more announcements soon, when we do we will be sure to have a post about them and what are thoughts are.

Until next time!

Some other pictures from the trip

HHN29: Maximum Screamage!

Another year, another awesome HHN in the books! I feel like our time there truly flew by but our 4 nights there were so much fun. This year I finally went through all 10 houses and I even went in front for 3 of them. Granted they weren’t the scariest houses but it’s a start! Our total house count for the event was 34: (in the order of how they appear on the map)

A) Ghostbusters – 4
B) Yeti: Terror of The Yukon – 3
C) US – 2
D) Stranger Things – 4
E) House of 1000 Corpses – 4
F) Depths of Fear – 3
G) Nightingales: Blood Pit – 3
H) Universal Monsters – 4
I) Graveyard Games – 4
J) Killer Klowns From Outer Space – 3

It should be noted that we did a normal Express Pass (get into every house, show and rides that are open once) and then we did an Unlimited Express Pass (get into every house, show and rides that are open as many times during operation). The Unlimited was only like an extra $30 and I think the night we got it we did 17 walkthroughs of the houses. I would suggests it if you have the extra money. We will touch more on each of the houses later on, along with scarezones and the shows. For now lets talk about the overall event.

Imagines from the Tribute Store & the Universal Store

Even though this year was great and no matter what I always have a good time, I must say that I liked last year’s event more. To me I think it had to do with the fact that the whole event didn’t seem to mesh or flow. Both this year and last they had the 80’s theme, but it seemed more cohesive last year. To me the only thing that fit into the theme was the merchandise. No matter though I still had a blast and was very sad when our time there came to an end. I loved that there were two shows this year, it really helped to break everything up and was a nice way to kill time waiting for the crowds to die down.

Let us move on to the houses! I am going to go through them in the order that they appear on the map and will give my overall ranking after. First up was Ghostbusters; this house was one of the ones I went in the front. I loved this house it stayed true to the original movie, which I really liked. Defiantly not one of the scary ones but it did have a few good scares towards the end of the house. One of the biggest highlights of the house was one of the Venkman’s would give out high fives after they had defeated the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Next up Yeti: Terror of the Yukon; now this was one of the houses I was most looking forward to because I was such a fan of the Swamp Yeti last year. It wasn’t a bad house, it had some good scares but it was just okay. The frozen/winter effect that they had throughout the house was amazing though. It was also FREEZING in the house and every so often you would turn a corner and be blasted with a cold gust of wind. The third house on the map was Jordan Peele’s US. I was on the fence about this house when it was announced and I went in with an opened mind but it was just EH. It was like you had stepped into the movie but the house only had two decent scares. As you can see from the run through counts it wasn’t high on our list.

Stranger Things, this house was good but the I liked last years house more. To no surprise the wait time for this house was usually 110+ minutes. The standby line had 3 different carts, one being a food truck for people to get food and drinks from. We defiantly got some dirty looks from the standby people as we went through the express pass line. I always felt like that scene in Wayne’s World when they are going backstage and showing thier passes. But hey I don’t want to waste 2 hours just for one house, there is a lot to do at the event and even though we were there for 4 nights I still didn’t want to spend a good chunk of my night waiting in that line. This was another one of the houses that I went in front for. I must say I don’t think we ever really got a good run through for this house though, it always seemed like our timing was off or there was a cast change happening somewhere in the house.

Fifth house on the map; House of 1000 Corpses, oh boy was this house a doozy. Our first run through of the house there wasn’t a conga line and I went through with my eyes closed. This in my opinion was the scarcest house; it was a very loud house and I also felt like it was one of the tighter houses. I didn’t feel like I had much space between me and the scareactors, which really added to the scariness of the house. Also Dr. Satan and his enforcer were terrifying!

Moving on to the back of the park to Depths of Fear, now when we started seeing walkthroughs videos the “creatures” in the house looked ridiculous. The heads looked too big and seemed cumbersome. Well I’m here to tell you, they looked just as ridiculous in person. I’m not sure if it’s because we only had one good run through but this house didn’t do it for me. You could always see the “creatures” coming so they weren’t super scary, really only the infected people were scary and the 2 hand puppets that looked like sea snakes. Our last run though was really good but I think the previous runs had soured the house for me.

Next up the second scariest house at the event in my opinion, Nightingales: Blood Pit. The façade for this house was amazing (actually all the façades this year were really great). I will say that the Nightingales did look a bit like evil turkeys but they were still pretty scary. They looked different than the first time they had been at the event for HHN21, but I fund out that is because these one’s had evolved to be more human like the ones from HHN21. The gladiator theme was really cool and it was like you were walking in the tunnels beneath the coliseum.

We’re in the home stretch now I promise! This next house was my FAVORITE house this year, Universal Monsters. It was an amazing house and I loved how it flowed nicely from scene to scene. The scareactors in this house really gave it their all I felt, the would lean out really far and put their hands in your face. There was a Frankenstein’s Monster that would follow you through the lab and while you were watching him the Bride of Frankenstein would come out and scream right in your face. The best was in one of the rooms they had filled it with fog and you knew that there was a Wolfman in there. But during one of the run throughs Dracula decided to show up as well, so you got a double scare. I also loved that in the Hunchback’s section there were times where he would be swing from a rope. I could go on and on about this house, but I will move on.

The ninth house on the map was Graveyard Games, now our first run through of this house wasn’t great but the ones that followed made up for it. I defiantly rank this one up there as one of the scarier houses of the event. It has two things that I hate in a “haunted house”. Children, the sounds of giggling are the worst and rooms with dummies next to real people so you can’t tell which one is going to move. And this house combined both of those things in one scene. Also in one of the scenes during one of our last times through the house we got stopped and a scareactor came out crawling towards us. I HATE THINGS THAT CRAWL IN SCARY MOVIES OR HOUSE!! Thankfully we only experienced that scare once lol. I must say though had I not seen videos from media events I wouldn’t have gotten the story that went along with the house.

Okay we’ve made it to the last house, Killer Klowns From Outer Space. This is the final house that I was in the front for. I really liked this house, it smelled nice and it felt like I had stepped foot onto the Klowns spaceship. Not a scary house unless you don’t like clowns but it isn’t really supposed to be scary. It’s a cheesy 80’s B horror movie. I loved that there were guest activated triggers and a giant Klownzilla! It was good to see Shorty and the gang again.

Here is my house rankings:

Here are my house rankings:

Universal Monsters
Ghostbusters
Graveyard Games
House of 1000 Corpses
Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Nightingales: Blood Pit
Yeti: Terror of The Yukon
Stranger Things
Depths of Fear
US

Now lets briefly touch on the scarezones but I’m not going to get too detailed though. I was very underwhelmed by the zones this year, with the exception of Vanity Ball and Anarch-cade. It never felt like there was anything happening in Zombieland Double Tape, Vikings Undead was super dark so you couldn’t actually see what was going on. Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe was always SUPER crowded and was mostly photo-ops and dudes looking at the girls dancing on the stages. Vanity Ball was like a giant party, I loved that there was a runway in the street. There was always something going on in this zone. Last year we loved hanging out in the scarezones but this year we hardly spent much time in them.

This year they decided to go back to two shows; I loved how different they were from each other. Lets start with Academy of Villains. This years show was AMAZING, we saw it twice and I could honestly see it 10 more times. The theme of the show, the music, just everything was on point. The show was called Altered States and was like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and was set in Victorian England. The solo sections of the show were awesome and they even did a section with shadows on screens. This group never disappoints and I truly can’t wait to see what they bring to the table next year.

The second show Marathon of Mayhem took place in the lagoon area and was a laser light water show. I really enjoyed it, it took music and images from Ghostbusters, Stranger Things, Universal Monsters and Killer Klowns. I will say the best viewing for this show is center and higher up. We stood off to the side the first time we saw it and we defiantly didn’t get the whole experience that first time. I hope they bring it back but I must say I don’t think it would be something I would watch every night.

This year when it came to food tents I feel like there were hardly any. There were two tents that made up the StarCourt Mall. There was also a tent for the Twisted Taters in the back next to were they sell the Pizza Fires. We tried the pot stickers which weren’t bad, but nothing to write home about. I also tried the mini pumpkin donuts with green icing on a bed of Oreos and they were really good. They were surprisingly light and the pumpkin wasn’t too overpowering. This was the first year that we tried the pizza fries and the twisted taters. Love the pizza fires and sad we hadn’t tried them sooner! Now for the Twisted Tater, I wasn’t the biggest fan but I don’t think I got a good tater. It felt and tasted like it had been sitting under the heat lamp for a bit and I chose to get garlic parmesan as my seasoning and that wasn’t the best choice on my part. I think I will give them one more shot next year and go for a different flavor and also ask them to go light on the seasoning, they defiantly put a lot on the one I got. Also while we were eating our Pizza Fries we saw a camera crew and it was Tess from Delish who does the Iconic Eats for their YouTube Channel. I completely fan girled cause I love those videos and I can’t wait to watch the HHN episode.

Mini Pumpkin Donuts with green icing on a bed of oreos

The drinks at this years event were actually really good, they weren’t too overly sweat. There were four different themed cocktails Vampire’s Cures, Saturn, Blood Pit and Twilight. We really enjoyed Blood Pit it was very fruity and didn’t taste like there as alcohol in it (dangerous!). The only one that gave me a slight stomachache was Saturn but it was still good. I was very happy that they went back to the normal round cups instead of the split square cups and twisty straws. You could also pick your cup this year which was a nice touch as well. They had Universal Monsters, Ghostbusters, Killer Klowns, Maximum Screamage and an arcade game. Naturally we got the Ghostbusters and Universal Monsters!

Overall this years event was really good, like I said even though I preferred last years better I still had a fantastic time. I loved that they made the Tribute Store bigger this year and that they had three different themed rooms. I really liked the merchandise, we picked up an Academy of Villains long sleeve shirt, a Frankenstein’s Monster & Jaws Blankets, an Ghostbusters Hoodie (that can be turned into a bag), a Bride of Frankenstein Pin and a little Gizmo! I truly cannot wait to see what they bring to the table for HHN30. I wish we could go back one more time, I can’t believe that there are only 4 days left of the event. It really flew by this year I feel. If you made it this far thanks for sticking with me! I will be doing a review on the mini backpack that I took for the first time this year so be on the lookout for that.

ScareZones, Shows and House Rankings!

We’re 21 days away from Opening Scaremonies and we’ve been bombarded with announcements recently. Let me tell you what it’s been AMAZING!! All the houses have been announced (you can read about them here). We also have all the scarezones and shows, which I’ll cover in this post. I’ll also touch on how Dan and I rank the houses. We are still waiting on food and merchandise to be announced but I fell like that is right around the corner.

Let’s dive right into the scarezones shall we! When guests enter the park they will experience Anarch-cade,this scarezone will be themed after an 80’s arcade. T’m actually very interested to see how this turns out, it will be cool to see all the vintage arcade games.

As guest continue through the park towards the Mummy ride they will step foot into the United States of Zombieland. Zombieland : Double Tap will showcase scenes from the first movie and the sequel which hits theaters on October 18^th. Make sure you remember the rules for survival and keep your eyes peeled for twinkies.

Will be located in front of The Revenge of the Mummy

Will be located in San Fransisco (near Fast & the Furious)

If you’re lucky enough to escape Zombieland : Double Tap you will enter into a different Zombie land, Rob Zombie that is. Welcome to Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe, this may be a pretty PG-13 or mature scarezone. I feel like it’s going to be if you walked into a Rob Zombie music video. If you’re not familiar with Rob Zombies work I suggest you check out the album the scarezone is named after and his movies. Just so you have an idea as to what you’ll be walking into.

Once you’ve made your way to the Central Park section of Universal prepare to come face to face with the undead, Vikings Undead that is! I’m a little skeptical about this scarezone, the idea seems awesome but it’s located in one of the smaller sections. It will still be scary and well done but I just don’t know to what scale. This location usually does have the prettiest scarezones so we will just have to wait and see.

Will be located in the streets of Hollywood

As you leave the undead you will head into the last scarezone (or second scarezone depending on how you maneuver through the park). Located in the streets of Hollywood is the Vanity Ball. I’m picturing the Met Gala meets Nip Tuck/Botched. When I saw this on the speculation map it had the name holder Plastic Surgery and I wasn’t thrilled about it. But after reading the description of the Halloween Horror Nightswebsite I feel a little better about it. I think we’ll see scareactors walking around with surgical equipment coming out of their skin and possibly body parts replaced with enhanced or non-body parts (picture people from the Capital in Hunger Games). This scarezone will defiantly be an interesting sight.

Image Courtesy of AOV Instagram https://www.instagram.com/academyofvillains/

Along with the scarezones, the Academy of Villains show was announced, as well as a never before seen show. AOV will be returning to the Fear Factor Live Show Stage with a brand new show titled Altered States. It seems like it is going to be a battle of man against himself. The websitesays “Man’s true nature is dragged out into the dark, gothic streets of anarchy”. You can expect high energy, high intensity, good music, lasers and amazing dancing. Along with AOV we’re getting a never before lagoon show for HHN. The show is called Halloween Marathon of Mayhem; I am SUPER EXCITED FOR THIS!!!! Using water, lights and music scenes from Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, Universal Monsters and Killer Klowns From Outer Spacewill be projected onto the lagoon. As the water dances be prepared to be memorized by these icon movie and show scenes. The show will run only on HHN event nighrs at 10pm, 11pm and 12am. You can find more information about it on the Universal App.

There is a lot to look forward to this year and I can only imagine what HHN30 is going to be! As you know (or may not if you’re new to the blog) we have a podcast called Theme Park Corner: Halloween Corner Nights, you can stream it on SoundCloud and Spotify. In our last episode Dan and I ranked the houses, I’ll leave our lists below. We would love to know how you rank the houses, leave a comment here, on our Instagramor on our Twitter.

DAN	EDEN
1. Classic Monsters	1. Classic Monsters
2. Killer Klowns From Outer Space	2. Yeti: Terror of the Yukon
3. House of 1000 Corpses	3. Killer Klowns From Outer Space
4. Stranger Things	4. Stranger Things
5. Yeti: Terror of the Yukon	5. Graveyard Games
6. Depths of Fear	6. Ghostbusters
7. Ghostbusters	7. Depths of Fear
8. Graveyard Games	8. House of 1000 Corpses
9. US	9. Us
10. Nightingale: Blood Pit	10. Nightingale: Blood Pit

Halloween Horror Nights 29

Welcome back! This blog post is going to cover the buildup to HHN 29, I will keep adding to it as more and more announcements roll in. As of today we have FIVE house announcements, no scarezones and no show announcements (yet) but Academy of Villains will most likely be back this year, and no food or merchandise announcements, but those typically come in the final weeks leading up to the event.

As of today we are 66 days out from the opening Scareremonies and I couldn’t be more excited! Tickets for the event are on sale and can be purchased online here, I would definitely suggest getting them online since you can save around $53 on single-night tickets and $10 on multi-night tickets compared to gate prices. You can also add any tours, express passes and Scareactor Dinning Experiences when you book online as well. You also have the option of booking not only your HHN tickets but park and hotel together as well.

Enough of the boring stuff let’s get into the fun stuff! HHN 29 will begin on September 6^th and run through November 2^nd that is a whopping 42 nights! So far there have been 5 houses announced, 3 of them are original concept houses while the other 2 are intellectual properties or IP’s for short.

The first announcement we got for the event came back on March 27^thand it came was no surprise. This was probably the most popular house at last year’s event, Stranger Things. The wait time last year for this house quickly rose to three hours and it stayed around that long the majority of the night. For this year’s house we know that it is mainly going to focus on season two, but we have been told there will be a scene from season three as well. Now I have a theory as for why they decided to do part of season three this year. Next year will be the 30^thyear of the event and for this milestone they don’t want to have the focus be on an IP like Stranger Things. If you would like to see the announcement video for the house you can check it out here!

Nightingale Blood Pit: Announced 4/13/19

Our second announcement came on April 13^thfor the first original concept house called Nightingales: Blood Pit. Guests will arrive in Ancient Rome during a draught, and the emperor has declared that the gladiator games will continue until the rains return. With all the bloodshed and death the terrifying nightingales have come to feed on the dead and dying. According to the HHN website this isn’t the first time the nightingales have plagued HHN, but it’ll feature a much different story this time around!

Our third announcement came on April 29^thwe got the house I am most looking forward to, Universal Monsters. They did this house last year in Hollywood accompanied with music by Slash. Guests will come face-to-face with Dracula, the Wolfman, Dr. Frankenstein’s Monster, Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Mummy, and possibly even more. Universal is putting in the effort to rejuvenate the hype around it’s classic monsters. Not only have they added some new things to the Monsters Café the past couple years, but they recently redid the store attached to the former Terminator show with a ton of old school memorabilia aimed at its classic monster universe. I usually like to watch the walkthrough videos of the houses before I go, but I am going to see how long I can hold out and not watch this one.

On May 5^thwe got our next announcement and it was another original concept house called Depths of Fear. This house mixes one’s fear of water, what lies beneath the surface, and the unknown creatures that lurk there. The website also states that guests will come in contact with creatures called mouthbrooders. If you want to check out more of the description of the house you can do so right here!

The most recent announcement actually came on June 24th and it is another original concept, Terror of the Yukon. I am really excited for this house as well! Guests will see the return of the yeti for this house. Now at last year’s event guests experienced the Swamp Yeti, this time you will travel to the Yukon to get a glimpse of these dangerous creatures in a much colder environment. Anytime there is a snow element to a house it is beautifully terrifying, I look forward to experiencing this frozen tundra. This will definitely be a nice house to go through to help escape the Florida heat.

So far the speculation map that is floating around has been pretty accurate. If you would like to check it out for yourself you can find ithere. There have also been some leaks from HHN Hollywood that pretty much confirms that Ghostbusters will be at the event and it will most likely come to Orlando as well. I am not too sure how this house will play out. HHN does houses all the time that aren’t scary but I just don’t see how this house will work.

With the 4^th of July this week they will be taking a break from announcements. The good thing is now that Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorcycle Adventure has opened and the Endless Summer Resort is also open there is nothing standing in our way! You best believe that in the weeks to come we will be flooded with announcements. I can’t wait to be back in the fog, having some shark attacks at Finnegan’s and feeling the energy that is Horror Nights.

UPDATES:

Alright everyone we finally got an update! With the event 48 days away it’s about darn time. On July 17th it was finally confirmed that Ghostbusters will be making an appearance at both Hollywood and Orlando. Now this comes as no surprise, as mentioned before there was a few leaks on Hollywoods end that showed casting for this house. I personally don’t know how I feel about this house but to do look forward to seeing the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man in all his glory. According to the website this house will follow the original 1984 movie and only that movie (thank goodness), I love Kristen Wiig and those ladies but that movie was a stinker. Guests will get to experience some of the best sets of the movie and also the best spirits, phantoms and specters. I also feel like the merchandise for this houses will be pretty awesome since this is the 35th anniversary of the movie. If you would like to see the promo video put out for the house you can check it out here! Announcements should be rolling in pretty regularly now with the event right around the corner, keep a look out for more updates to come.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space: Announced 7/25/19

July 25th we got another house update, the house is based on the ridiculous 1988 film Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Now I had never seen this movie until last year, Dan and I watched it because it was a scarezone at HHN28. It is outlandish but funny and a cult classic also this was my favorite scarezone last year. These Klowns have descended on earth and wrap humans into cotton candy cocoons and suck out their brains will silly straws. Along with this announcement we got another hype video, which you can check out here! Now next weekend is Midsummer Scream, which is a halloween convention held in Long Beach California. Last year we got an announcement for the event and also concept art for the Stranger Things house. I don’t believe that Orlando creative is going to be there this year so if there is an announcement it will most likely only relate too HHN Hollywood. With the event 6 weeks out announcements will be flying in, we have 7 of the 10 house. Hopefully we’ll get a scarezone announcement soon and information on the show.

Okay guys we are a month away from opening scaremonies and we got another announcement today (August 7th)!! Now this really isn’t too big of a surprise but Jordan Peele’s Us will be haunting guests nightmares in both Hollywood and Orlando. Now when I first heard the rumor for this house I wasn’t too excited, and I’m still a little unsure how to feel about it. The movie was really good but I’m a little worried with how it will translate to a house. But I will defiantly go through it and keep an open mind about it. I can say though it will be terrifying and the soundtrack is going to really make this house. HHN released a promo video for the house and you can see it here. Guests will go through the Wilson family beach house, Santa Cruz Pier and the underground tunnels where the Tethered live.

Also I am proud to announce that The Halloween Corner now has a podcast under its belt. You can check out the first to episodes on our SoundCloud Halloween Corner Nights. Not only is there a podcast we also have a Twitter and an Instagram account. Make sure to give us a follow so that you can stay up to date on all things HHN.

We finally have all our houses!!! Sorry I’m a little behind in updating the blog but I’ve been busy helping to get our podcast off the ground and setting up all the social media for it. But here we are our last two houses, we got an original house called Graveyard Games and the not so surprising IP house House of 1000 Corpses. I will breakdown each of the houses below!

On August 8th the original house Graveyard Games was announced, and I am very interested in this house. This house has been in the works since 2017 when the Universal staff went on a trip across the pond to visit the historic Highgate Cemetery. The stories around this graveyard sound like something out of a movie and are said to have inspired the movie Dracula A.D. 1972. Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s it was said that a group had cornered and staked a vampire through the heart in the graveyard. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves, talk about overcrowding. When reading about this house on the site guests will venture into the Ascension Parish Cemetery were you can expect to run in with ghosts as you navigate your way through the cemetery. There is also an interactive aspect to this house, while you are waiting in line you can open your Facebook Messenger app to the Halloween Horror Nights page where you can talk with local teens and storytellers of the town. You can learn more about the legend that plague this town and the cemetery. Nice way to kill sometime when the wait times skyrocket.

House of 1000 Corpses: Announced 8/14/19

The last house to be announced was no surprise since it had been speculated pretty hard since the first house was announced. Guests will get the chance to experience Rob Zombies 2003 House of 1000 Corpses. Now I had not season this movie until a few days ago, to prepare for its announcement. Now if you have never seen this movie let me just say HOLY CRAP it is bizarre, gross, and all around weird. As we were watching it I knew immediately this would be the house that I went through holding on to Dan and looking at the floor. With that being said I also could see how it could shine as a house, there is so much that the creative team can work with. I will also say that this will most likely be the grosses, horror house of the event. Be prepared to bring a change of underpants!

We have also been given all the Scarezones and Academy of Villains show, I will cover that in a new blog post so be on the look out!