REVIEW: UNIVERSAL’s HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS

SEPTEMBER 21, 2023

review: universal’s halloween horror nights

During this century we have seen Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) become a staple of the Southern California haunt scene. Along with inspiring people to start their own home-based attractions, HHN provides seasonal entertainment and employs thousands of local creatives. Yet, through the years, we have seen a continuous decline in the audience's experience. What should be an enjoyable night out for scares has instead become an intense, endless quest through swarms of aggravated crowds who are confused while trying to make sense of HHN's lack of proper management. The event's slow moving lines - which during our visit hit the three hour mark - seem intentionally designed to create a frustrating experience that can only be alleviated by purchasing expensive, upgraded express passes.

For most of the past decade, it has been a tradition for attendees to show up early for the soft gate openings. This allowed for a reasonable early crowd dispersal where people could visit two mazes early in the lower lot. However, during our visit last week, we found out this is no longer the case. As thousands showed up this year, with the early gate expectations, an announcer informed the crowd that they are now charging for a 5:30 pm early entry, but assured the growing masses that they would still be allowed early into the park at 6:30 pm. When that time came and the gates began to open, people started running towards the lower lot - only to be stopped suddenly by a handful of young employees. We found this situation worrisome and began to interview the few employees there, who seemed confused and stressed. These employees informed us that they weren’t told what was going on and that the disorganization was due to their managers “making things up as they go, with no real clear direction”.

Once we were on the lower lot we immediately noticed that there was a massive lack of signage to make clear what direction each maze was located in. For example, on the lower lot we observed dozens of employees being asked, “Where is 'The Last of Us'? The sign says 'Transformers' but there are no 'The Last of Us' signs down there?!” It was difficult watching employees trying to maintain their sanity while being bombarded with the same reasonable questions from customers over and over again.

Like most Halloween events, everyone was there for the mazes. We actually loved "Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America”, with its tight turns and incredible builds. The maze’s theme brought to life monsters from Mexican folklore with a really impressive and massive animatronic build of La Lechuza - an owl witch - who was devouring the body parts of her latest victim. The maze was beautifully built and perfectly paced, making it one of our favorite mazes ever at HHN. We also loved the return of 2019’s “Holidays in Hell” - a maze that features an amazing collection of vignettes that deliver a horrific take on U.S. holidays.

We can’t say everything else was as good. Some of the IP mazes this year were, at their best, okay. In the past we have pointed out that Universal seems to invest a lot of their seasonal budget into licensing film IPs with usually lukewarm results. While something like The Exorcist or The Last of Us should be good mazes, they weren’t. The constant prop recycling year after year has become distracting (e.g. The Last of Us using the same forest scene that was used for the previous mazes of Stranger Things and Walking Dead) and comes across as more of a cost-saving measure than a creative choice.

While the chaos of attending this event can be alleviated for those fortunate enough to be able to get RIP or express passes, it is important to point out that most people cannot afford these options. In the past we have enjoyed the more exclusive experiences, however, for our reviews, we always choose General Admission to give a more realistic review. We have to point out the obvious: HHN was intentionally designed to lure people in with affordable general admission tickets only to try and exploit their frustration with the crowds and endless lines to upsell an expensive express ticket that they otherwise wouldn’t have purchased.

If we are being honest with you, this event wasn’t good and it’s not the fault of the true talent that does exist at HHN. This is an event filled with incredible scare actors, make-up artists, costumers, and creatives who work extremely hard and we REALLY HOPE they are being paid properly for their skills. And while we remain disappointed overall, we do hope that someday the real talent will take this event over from Murdy and the higher-ups who continually stifle the true potential of HHN.

To conclude, what really puts the horror in Halloween Horror Nights isn’t their chainsaw-wielding monsters chasing you while dubstep loudly blasts from the distance, but rather the event’s frightening lack of organization, planning, and crowd control. As greed still remains at the core of Universal’s motivation for hosting this event, it is up to their undervalued staff and overwhelmed attendees to pick up the pieces and make the most out of a very stressful evening.

VC

September 21, 2023

Hauntsofla.com

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