Halloween Horror Nights

If you live in either Florida or California, then you know one thing is for sure ... NOBODY does Halloween like Universal Studios. Each year the ante is upped in terms of attractions for the annual Halloween Horror Nights event, and 2012 is no different.

Live in the Los Angeles area and looking for a fun way to ring in Halloween? Besides getting drunk and puking in your costume? Well, Dread Central has hit up the majority of this year's haunts, and we offer this handy little weekend guide to all things spooky!

Who says we never show you any love? Who says we don’t point you in the right direction to meet your favorite celebrities? Well, try this one on for size: We’ve got all the info you need to meet Steve Gonsalves and Dave Tango. That’s right; Syfy’s “Ghost Hunters,” the modern day version of Venkman, Stantz and Spengler. The duo will be holding a Q&A and autograph session at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 21, and you know they’ve got some stories to tell.

As creative director for Universal Studios and Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights' producer, John Murdy knows a thing or two about giving a good scare. Since 2006 he's been concocting some of the most immersive and thrilling haunted attractions in the country, with this year's crop of frights continuing his Legacy of Fear. 2011 not only marks the return of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses in 3D maze but also celebrates several new mazes this year including Hostel: Hunting Season, The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall (which takes over the House of Horrors each night), Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas and The Thing: Assimilation.

Oh, Halloween Horror Nights. How we love you. Every year Universal Studios and creative director John Murdy bring together some of the best filmmakers, FX artists and production designers in Hollywood to create the most authentic horror movie experience you’ll have in the flesh. Ever since my first trip to the grand opening ceremony in 2006, it’s remained the most anticipated night of the year, and its creators have consistently topped themselves every time. After watching Corey Feldman cheerfully ham it up at the annual Eyegore Awards (coverage here and here), we wasted no time hitting the fog-drenched park to check out the sights, sounds and smells of Horror Nights 2011, which boasted more mazes and scare zones than ever before.

In our further coverage of the 2011 Eyegore Awards held this past Friday, September 23rd, at the Globe Theater at Universal Studios in Hollywood, California (see our report of the award ceremony itself here, courtesy of our own Heather Wixson), this writer hit the event as well and brought back some ocular candy from the carpet as well as interviews with a few of the night’s principals from the same.

This past Friday night, September 23rd, the Halloween season officially kicked off in style with the 2011 Eyegore Awards held at the Globe Theater at Universal Studios in Hollywood as part of the opening night of Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. Hosted by genre veteran and previous Eyegore winner Corey Feldman (who was joined on stage by a wisecracking zombie scarecrow), many of horror's biggest names came out to celebrate our favorite time of year and pay homage to several of the genre's biggest contributors and newcomers alike.

When it comes to haunted houses, I'm like a crack fiend who can't get enough so it should come as no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights. I've been coming out to Horror Nights for the past four years, even before I made the move to California, because when it comes to the "fright business," no one can beat the efforts of HHN Creative Director John Murdy and his entire team that collaborates year-round in order to put on the best haunts that money can buy every Halloween season.

It's that time of year again. No, not back to school time or the start of the NFL season. I can't argue that both of those events do bring a smile to my face, but I'm talking about something rooted much deeper in the darkness. I'm talking about the announcement of the Eyegore Award winners!

Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Eli Roth. A ton of scary exhibits and mazes. Basically a cornucopia of Halloween badness. That is Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights. We've been all over the coverage here at Dread Central and now we give you another little shred of info: Universal is practicing before the big event starts.

Next to getting loaded at costume parties, the best part of Halloween is the haunted attractions, and Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has long been king of the mountain. Every year creative director John Murdy and his team have consistently topped themselves, and their 2011 park boasts a record number of mazes: The Thing: Assimilation, Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, Hostel: Hunting Season, The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall, the Mexican folklore themed La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas, and the grand return of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses.

Step right up, step right up. Come one and all to the most gruesome show on Earth. Often imitated, but never duplicated, the one-of-a-kind Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights tickets are on sale now and a myriad of malevolent mazes await any traveler who dares to enter. Mwah-ha-ha.

Halloween is quickly approaching, and with it all our favorite amusement parks are pulling out all the stops to be as creepy and frightening as possible. Now Universal Orlando has thrown their hat into the ring with the return of their Halloween Horror Nights 21, and I've got to tell you, Lady Luck has never looked so…bad. Just downright nasty.

We told you a few days ago about the fiendish folks over at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights digging deep into Mexican folklore as the inspiration for their newest maze, La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas (Village of Lost Souls). And now we have some exclusive first-look concept art you won't find anywhere else!

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood has already enlisted the devious minds of Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Eli Roth to design horror-themed mazes for this year's festivities. They’ve now dug deep into Mexican folklore for the inspiration for their newest maze, La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas (Village of Lost Souls).