A huge perk of living in Pasadena is the proximity to Universal Studios Hollywood. As a native Floridian who has visited Orlando’s Universal Studios countless times growing up, I was super excited when my friends suggested to go to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) in October. Surprisingly, I had never been to HHN before, and I honestly had no idea what to expect. Here’s a look into my favorite parts of the night, from haunted houses to fun rides to random jump scares throughout the park!
Haunted Houses + Experiences
The first jumpscare (Scare score: 4/10)
As soon as my two friends and I entered park at 7 pm, we immediately saw a bunch of scare actors running around with chainsaws. We had no idea that there would be scary elements to HHN outside of the haunted houses, so we had to be on guard the whole night. By midnight, we were so tired that even the smallest sound or movement scared us.
Stranger Things 5 Haunted House (Scare score: 5/10)
The first haunted house we went to was based on Stranger Things season 5, the popular Netflix TV show! Though this wasn’t as scary as I expected, it was so cool to see all the elements of the show recreated in real life. We saw scare actors dressed as Vecna, Eleven, Will, and so many other characters. I only screamed once in this house towards the end of the experience, when one of the characters jumped out from behind a door and scared me.
Terror Tram with Art the Clown (Scare score: 7.5/10)
The Terror Tram was an experience where all of us were loaded onto trams and taken into another area of the park to walk through a haunted house/maze. The scary elements were based on Art the Clown, a character from the Terrifier movies. Every time I thought the maze was over, the crowd was led into another area with more scare actors. My friends were squeezing my hands so tight and dragging me through the maze. I was honestly terrified during some parts of this experience, especially when some of the scare actors suddenly appeared next to us.
Sinners Haunted House (Scare score: 8/10)
We waited in line for the Sinners haunted house (based on the movie) for over an hour, but it was so worth it. The house was set up exactly like the movie (which my friend and I watched earlier in the week to prepare for HHN), and there were so many actors dressed up as the film’s iconic vampires. The only reason I’m giving this experience such a high scare score was for one jump scare where a levitating scare actor bungee-jumped and reached out to scare me, with his hand less than two inches away from my face. I screamed so loud (very embarrasing but much needed).
Thrill Rides
The Mummy
In addition to the haunted houses, we also wanted to go on some rides! We went on the iconic Mummy ride, which takes you on a rollercoaster in the dark and even has a section where you go backwards at a high speed. I’ve been on this ride in Orlando before, but it was my first time on it in Universal Hollywood.
Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge
In Nintendo World, we also went on the Mario Kart ride! Here, we all had headsets where we simulated playing Mario Kart while simultaneously being on a rollercoaster. It was a fun experience!
Although I had no idea what to expect, I really enjoyed Halloween Horror Nights. I will definitely be going back next year to see what the new haunted houses will be!
