We are down to the final week until Halloween Horror Nights 31, and we couldn’t be more excited! Since the first speculation map dropped way back in April, we have been bringing you thoughts on the event. Now here are our final thoughts, as you get ready for the big event to start this week! Buckle up for this very long article, and thanks for reading!
Before we dig into all the mazes, and scare zones, here is a brief recap of the event first, and also the final speculation map which is mostly dead on to the final announcements courtesy of our friends Horror Night Nightmares
What type of event is Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) you ask? It is an event aimed at teens and up. I wouldn’t suggest young ones to visit this event as the crowd can be a bit rough. There are plenty of alcohol being served and graphic scenes from horror movies being played out in the park. The event happens on select evenings during September and October which is the Halloween season for Universal, unlike Disney which starts in August.
Halloween Horror Nights 2022 Dates
Here are the dates for Halloween Horror Nights 2022 at Universal Studios Florida:
- Sept. 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30
- Oct. 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31
One note as of this writing, next Sunday, September 4th is already sold out which is an indication of the crowd levels to expect this year. Let’s hope Universal brings out all of the stops to keep up with the demand.
Intellectual Property (IP) Mazes
Well, we have come a long way in terms of rumors from The Last of Us, to Stranger Things, but alas we have the final list of IP mazes for Halloween Horror Nights 31 and our thoughts on all of them. Lock your doors, bolt your windows and turn off the lights. Grab some popcorn, put on your favorite Halloween movie, and get ready for the blood fest!
Universal Monsters: Legends Collide!
Tagline: It’s The Wolfman vs. Dracula, vs. The Mummy.
First up is the typical Universal Monsters maze of the year. From the official site, “If you thought one Universal Monster was scary, how about three? Better summon your scream squad, ‘cause you’re about to get caught in the middle of an epic battle between The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy, together for the first time ever. Their mission: To find the amulet that will break their curse. And they’ll destroy anyone who gets in their way.”
We do love some Universal Monsters; however, our favorites are Frankenstein’s Monster and the Bride. They were featured last year though, but we will miss them dearly this year.
We are generally excited about this maze as it will more than likely have scenes where you walk between two legendary Monsters fighting each other. Those hallways scare scenes are always quite fun. Think Aliens vs Predator, or Freddy vs Jason! You walk between the scareactors and they try to grab you. We expect some great set designs here as well in the theme of crypts which is always fun.
Halloween 1978
Tagline: His Beginning is Your End.
“Gather your friends and visit Haddonfield, Illinois, where Michael Myers is about to don his mask and embark on his first brutal spree. Silent. Merciless. Relentless. He’s the embodiment of pure evil. You don’t want to go alone as you go back to where it all began. This year, step into the original 1978 horror classic, Halloween.”
To say we’re excited about this maze announcement is an understatement, but I know there are others who will disagree. Michael Myers has been to Halloween Horror Nights many times over the years and in different versions. We still get excited when he makes an appearance at the yearly event.
From the promo video, they are taking it back to the original movie from 1978, which of course is the best. That John Carpenter music, and vibe completely make the movie. The Shape, as Michael is often referred to, is just so creepy it all work so well together. We cannot wait to come face to face with the hedge master Michael!
The Horrors of Blumhouse
Tagline: Twice the Screams Twice the Terror.
“Step inside a new double-feature of Blumhouse horror. Your scream squad will find yourselves trapped between a frantic teen and the ruthless serial killer she’s swapped bodies with in Freaky. Then, you’ll try to make a desperate escape from the dark basement of The Grabber before you become his latest victim in the terrifying The Black Phone.”
Typically, we are not fans of putting two properties into one house. The previous Blumhouse mash up mazes have featured many different movie properties, and let’s face it they haven’t always lined up with each other. Sinister was squeezed in with Happy Death Day, and The Purge for instance.
So how will these two work together you ask? Well, I for one hope that they start with “Freaky”, and end with “The Black Phone”. “The Black Phone” does a great job at building suspense with a good ending arch that really will fit into a Halloween Horror Nights maze, whereas “Freaky” is more of a “Happy Death Day” vibe, meaning it is a bit more silly than fearful with some clever and cheesy slasher scenes. This one will have to wait and see for us.
The Weekend: After Hours Nightmare
Tagline: It’s Music to Your Fears
“Prepare to enter the macabre mind of The Weeknd in this haunted house as he stalks your squad through the surreal nightmare of his After Hours music. A slasher carving a smile at an otherworldly rave. Bandaged maniacs performing extreme plastic surgery. A grotesque mannequin masquerade. His nightmare is now yours.”
This maze has been hit with a lot of hate for no reason in our opinion. If you go through and watch the Weeknd videos from his After Hours album you can see how this could translate into Halloween Horror Nights maze easily.
Being fans of The Weeknd, we of course can’t wait to see “Blinding Lights” in real life, and hope that we can make it out live! It should be interesting to see all of the bandaged scareactors wandering around, so save your tears and just go through the maze already and enjoy it!
Halloween Horror Nights Universal Original Mazes
Now we will move on to the non-IP mazes. This means each one of these is created from the talented minds of the Universal Creative team.
Spirits of the Coven is first on the list. “A coven of beautiful flapper witches will lure you into their 1920s speakeasy, reveal their haggish true form and turn your scream squad into a witch’s brew. They’ll be cackling; you’ll be screaming.”
Tagline: They’re Bewitchingly Terrifying.
This maze sounds like it will have an awesome set design for us. Being fans of speakeasy types of cocktail bars, we hope they play up that theme in the front of the maze, and then of course when you go in the back you are at the mercy of witches!!!! Last year, Unearthed had tones of noir, and we suspect this maze will take its place.
Bugs Eaten Alive
Tagline: These Bugs Are Out To Exterminate You!
“While touring a 1950s home of the future, you’ll be surrounded by the slime of bugs everywhere as hordes of many-legged terrors descend upon you and your scream squad. You’ll be dropping like flies.”
Who loves bugs? Not us, and I have a feeling that is what is the driving force behind this maze. Lots of conversations about this house have taken place online, and it is a good 50% split among people who actually want to go through this maze. I even heard they will have real bugs inside it! Ok maybe not, but don’t be shocked if some of the natural inhabitants of Central Florida don’t hitch a ride with you while you are in there. As for us, we cannot wait to see what they got crawling in here!
Fiesta De Chupacabra
Tagline: Listen to Your Abuela and Beware the CHUCACABRAS!!!!
“Visit a Latin American village where the legend of the creature Chupacabras is celebrated with a colorful fiesta. And the streets are lined with the crimson blood of tourists like you and your amigos.”
This one is border not original as the Chupacabra (who doesn’t love saying Chupacabra) is an urban legend, however, the set design for this one should be very colorful based on the description. Also sounds like if you were celebrating the season you may have come face to face with the Chupacabra, and didn’t ……survive!
Hellblock Horror
Tagline: As These Monsters Escape Their Prison, There’s no Escape for You.
Enter a prison whose savage inmates are monstrous creatures. If they break free from their cells, it’s a death sentence for everyone.
With the most basic description of the bunch, we put this at the bottom of our list for excitement. While we love Halloween Horror Nights in general there are at least one or two duds a year. We have this one picked as our least favorite coming out of the gate as it reminds us of The Walking Dead mazes of years past. Check back with us when we review all of these mazes and find out where it lands on our rankings.
Dead Man’s Pier: Winters Wake
Tagline: You’re Dead in the Water.
“In a New England fishing village, undead fishermen emerge from the waves to seek their revenge. You and your scream squad may have escaped their hooks in the scare zone. Now they’ll reel you in and drag you under.”
Perhaps it is the fact we live in Central Florida, but anything winter related always gets us excited here. This takes me back to the year they had “The Thing” maze which was a really great experience. I am very hopeful they pull some of those chilling effects from that maze and let’s face it during Halloween Horror Nights we could use a very cool maze here in Central Florida!
Descendants of Destruction
Tagline: Deeper, Darker, Deadlier.
“Careful not to leave any of your scream squad behind as you descend the subway tunnels of a deserted New York. Lurking in the dark are hungry mutants looking to feast on the last remnants of humanity.”
Yep, you guessed it coming in second to last on our excitement list is this one. It sounds very blah to us, but nonetheless of course we are going through it. Come back for our review article to see if we went deeper, darker, and got more deadlier or something.
Overall Halloween Horror Nights mazes thoughts
Before we move on to the scare zones, let’s talk about the 10 mazes one last time. Below you will find our rankings based on preference at this point as we haven’t been through any of them as of yet. We are generally excited for all of the mazes with only two of them sounding very generic right off the bat.
Rankings from favorite to least favorite. By no means do we think we are the final say on this list, but this is what we are excited about. Feel free to yell at us in the comments!
- Halloween
- Legends Collide
- The Weeknd
- Dead Man’s Pier
- Spirits of the Coven
- Bugs Eaten Alive
- Blumhouse
- Fiesta De Chucacabra
- Descendants of Destruction
- Hellblock Horror
Halloween Horror Nights 31 Scare Zones
During Halloween Horror Nights you have to maneuver through the park to get to the mazes, and as you do, you are met with themed areas heavy with fog. In these mostly well-themed areas are more scareactors. This year we are getting 5 of them, and below we dive into them, and two of them has us very excited!
Horrors of Halloween
“The Pumpkin Lord, the spirit of Halloween, has taken over this year’s event, summoning hordes of fiendish creatures. Terror has taken root.”
This one has us excited already as it appears this is the icon for the year. The Pumpkin Lord was last seen in Wicked Growth last year. Now he has escaped to the streets of Universal Studios and more than likely brought his friend Lil Boo.
This scare zone sets the tone for a nice practical old-school Halloween. We expect lots of pumpkins which are already mostly placed at this point in the park, and also lots of cool gross looking pumpkin dudes following you through the fog!
Scarecrow: Cursed Soul
“At an abandoned farm, scarecrows have risen from the crust of the earth to hunt you and seek revenge. They’ll harvest your screams.”
Nothing screams Halloween like an abandoned farm. This scare zone will be nothing short of amazing in our opinion. There was a maze themed to this in years past that was awesome. Expect lots of hay, and creepy tall and short scarecrows blocking your path as you try to get to your next maze and of course lots of FOG!
Sweet Revenge
“The sweets from Major Sweets’ candy company have turned children into crazed killers. This Halloween’s all trick, no treat, and total mayhem.”
Halloween needs candy, and this scare zone has the after-effect of too much. We are hoping for a lot of smells in this area, and how cool would it be if they sold themed candy in the area? We shall see if that happens, but we expect run-of-the-mill creepy kids running through this area, and awkwardly following you for an awkward amount of time, and you guessed it with lots of FOG!
Graveyard: Deadly Unrest
“On All Hallow’s Eve, a dark storm descends upon a cemetery and awakens long-dead spirits. No one living can escape them”
A graveyard in the middle of the street is the setting for this scare zone. Normally a graveyard scene would be a welcome addition to Halloween Horror Nights, but the placement here is a bit odd. We are lukewarm on this one, but we do expect a lot of thunder and lightning with strobe lights and, yep, FOG!!
Conjure the Dark
“On the first All Hallow’s Eve, an evil sorceress called forth monstrosities from dark dimensions. Now your blood will fuel them.”
This scare zone is a mystery to us, so we will all be surprised together. We predict this to be the dud of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be great either. Check back with us for a full review of each of these as the season progresses. We do expect lots of effects to help this one out, and of course the FOG!!!
Halloween Horror Nights 31 Final Preview Thoughts
There you have it our official preview article for Halloween Horror Nights 31. I hope you are still with us, and as excited to get into the fright season. Universal Studios puts on a great event yearly, and we have no doubt that this one will be awesome! We didn’t touch on the two shows, or any of the food that they offer, but will bring you updates during the season.
While the major icon Jack the clown is nowhere to be seen so far we feel the Pumpkin Lord will be more than enough to carry the event. Traditional Halloween decorations is at the heart of this year’s event which already has a creepy vibe all on its own.
Alright, it is time for us to get ready for Halloween Horror Nights, but we will leave you with these tips. Arrive early if you don’t buy the Express Pass, and avoid Friday & Saturday. The lines become a lot shorter the closer to closing time you get. See you in the fog, and the biggest tip, DON’T GO ALONE!!!!!