Event Report – Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2016

Dread Central Staff |

Sep 21, 2016

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has been a long-standing tradition for us, and its popularity has grown steadily in recent years. For 2016, creative director John Murdy and his crew have assembled one of its best lineups, and this year’s opening night festivities were pretty much the horror equivalent of Woodstock.

The park has once again rolled out the industry’s top talents to create scare zones around every corner (with Blumhouse’s The Purge being at the forefront), and one can hardly walk a foot without a masked-and-neon-covered lunatic leaping from the fog to give you a good jolt.

Let’s break down the mazes, shall we?

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This year’s Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield maze ranks among the best Universal has ever done – if not the best. Visitors are treated to a walkthrough of the first two original installments… starting with Tommy Doyle’s house. Every little detail has been lovingly recreated from The Thing from Another World playing on the living room television to the blood-drenched hospital room where Lance Guest lays unconscious. Every iconic scene is given its due, including Loomis shooting Michael off the balcony (“six times!“) and Myers drowning the unfortunate nurse in the hot tub. There are even some Halloween III easter eggs scattered about for the more savvy fans. But the highlight is walking through a giant maze version of main title’s signature jack-o-lantern, complete with pumpkin spice smells. This is without a doubt the best Halloween maze to date.

Photo by David Sprague

After the debacle that was Trick ‘r Treat‘s release, it warms my heart to see Michael Dougherty get his due with a full-fledged Krampus maze. As with his first film, this surprise hit from last year deserves iconic status, and it certainly gets its due here. The snow-ravaged living rooms sport all the horrors from the film: an animatronic jack-in-the-box swallows up an actress, a kid is yanked up the chimney, and the kitchen features the homicidal gingerbread men. It’s easily one of the best mazes in the park. (Pro Tip: Mention the code word “gingerbread” to the frozen mailman at the door.)

Photo by David Sprague

After years of getting separate mazes, Horror Night’s two biggest titans finally get paired together in the Freddy vs. Jason maze – which takes place inside the halls of the “Craven Industries” steel mill (we miss you, Wes). Attendees are greeted by murdered little kids, and the attraction’s best moments see you assaulted from both sides by Freddy and Jason. The final shot of the film also becomes one of the park’s best gags, with Jason brandishing the head of Freddy, whose headless body springs to life and attacks visitors. This was a really fun time.

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Photo by Kevork Djansezian/WireImage

The most popular attraction of the night is The Exorcist, which is also the biggest mixed bag of the night. The iconic house has been recreated on the backlot, complete with a mannequin of Max von Sydow looking up at the window. Since the film itself doesn’t exactly have a variety of locations to draw on, the majority of the maze consists of repeating the bedroom over and and over again, each one with a different moment from the film. That said, it’s undeniably cool to see an animatronic Reagan spin, levitate, and spew liquid on guests, while objects clatter around in the room and priests scream “The power of Christ compels you!” (we even joined in). Also props to Murdy and team for including the spider-walk sequence at the beginning of the maze.

Photo by David Sprague

Rounding out the event are mazes for “American Horror Story” and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (the original, thank God). “AHS” sports some interesting set design culled from the show’s colorful set-pieces, but seemed a little too scattershot for this writer (“Murder House” and “Freak Show” are really the only seasons featured… completely ignoring “Asylum,” which practically begs for its own maze).

Photo by David Sprague

Chain Saw is mostly a repeat of rooms from previous years, but just like the family’s BBQ, it remains good ol’ fashioned comfort food. Walking into the dinner sequence, where all the family members help Grandpa with his hammer swings, never, ever gets old.

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All in all, this year’s event was lovingly put together with no expense spared. That said, the stellar lineup also speaks to a much bigger issue with the park: Attendance at Horror Nights has gotten so ridiculously huge that wait times are at an all-time high. Front of the line passes are a must if one hopes to see more than a single maze in a night. Even with one, prepare for some hefty wait times as line-jumpers have to wait a good twenty to thirty minutes per maze (the regular lines were as high as 2-1/2 hours). One thing is certain: Horror Nights has grown so popular that crowd-control is starting to become a huge issue… and with Harry Potter pushing most of the mazes onto the back lot, it’s time for the event to expand and possibly add more mazes if it hopes to avoid getting crushed under the weight of the masses.

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights is currently running now through the end of October, and tickets can be purchased at the official website.

For more information about “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios, visit HalloweenHorrorNights.com. Join the “Halloween Horror Nights” conversation using #UniversalHHN on Facebook at Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood and Instagram; Halloween Horror Nights on Twitter and Periscope @HorrorNights. Add username “HorrorNights” on Snapchat for nightly live content, and watch the terror come to life on the Halloween Horror Nights YouTube Page.