We are less than four weeks away until Halloween Horror Nights 32, and we couldn’t be more excited! Since the first speculation map dropped in February, we have been bringing you thoughts on the event. Here are our final thoughts as you prepare for the big event to start on September 1st! 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. Just remember this is not an official map even though all mazes and scarezones are confirmed.
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 is 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, October, and even November!
Halloween Horror Nights 2023 Dates
Here are the dates for Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Florida:
- Sept. 1–3, 6–10, 13–17, 20–24, 27–30
- Oct. 1, 4–8, 11–15, 18–22, 25–29, 31
- Nov. 1–4
Halloween Horror Nights Intellectual Property (IP) Mazes
Well, we have come a long way in terms of rumors from The Last of Us to Stranger Things, which were confirmed for this year, but alas, we have the final list of IP mazes for Halloween Horror Nights 32 and our thoughts on all of them. Lock your doors, bolt your windows, and turn off the lights. Grab the popcorn, put on your favorite Halloween movie, or RSVLTS shirt and prepare for the blood fest!
Let’s come out of the gate with the maze we are most hyped for, The Last of Us. To say we are a fan of this game is an understatement. From a storytelling perspective, TLOU is one of our favorite games of all time. The potential of scare inside this maze is endless from clickers, roamers, and bloaters!
From Universal’s website, “You and your squad will encounter the haunting and overgrown world of Naughty Dog’s video game in a brand-new, terrifying way, as you make your way through an abandoned Pittsburgh. Join Joel and Ellie, and don’t make a sound if you want to survive Clickers, Hunters and more. No matter what, keep finding something to fight for.”
Right on the heels of TLOU for hype level is Stranger Things! These two mazes are worth the price of admission for us already. As discussed in our rumor article, this has been suspected since last year’s event, but here it is for this year’s. Season four offered us fans Vecna, Eddie playing guitar to Master of Puppets, and Max floating. All of which should be incorporated into the walkthrough maze, or we will riot!! Ok maybe not, but I will shake my finger in disgust every time we go through the maze, or something!
From Universal’s website, ” You must band together with your squad if you want to resist Vecna’s gruesome curse. Take on the scariest season of Stranger Things yet. Like Eleven, now’s your chance to stop him once and for all as you have the ultimate showdown in Vecna’s blood-red mindscape. Every ending has a beginning.”
A main staple of HHN is the inclusion of the Universal Monsters, and this year is no different. However, the Monsters chosen are not your usual suspects. From Universal, “Descend into the Paris Catacombs, where you and your squad will face a new horde of Monsters: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Invisible Man.” Last year we slept on the Universal Monsters maze when it was announced, and by the end of the event, it became our favorite. Let’s see how it ranks this year.
Entering the creepy factor is The Exorcist Believer. In support of the new film coming out, we are again entering the Exorcist world. HHN had the Exorcist a couple of years back, and the maze was based on the original movie, which was amazing, and also creepy! We expect that level of immersion with this newer version of the maze, however expect some of the same old tricks from the original Exorcist maze.
From Universal’s site, “Angela. Katherine. Two missing girls have been found with no memory of what happened to them. But wherever they went, the ultimate evil has returned with them. Witness a chilling chain of events as you enter the most terrifying scenes from the new Blumhouse film.”
This is our lowest-ranking maze of the season for IP mazes, but let’s see if Chucky can persuade us to enjoy his maze. Universal describes this maze, “Chucky, the serial killer doll, is back for a new gorefest! He’s hijacked his own haunted house with all kinds of bloody hijinks. You and your friends must try to survive his ultimate kill count.”
Halloween Horror Nights Universal Original Mazes
Now we will move on to the non-IP mazes. This means the talented minds of the Universal Creative team create each of these. We won’t offer commentary on the first four pictured below, but we will include the Universal descriptions of each and concentrate on one of their original mazes in its section.
Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings
In a Colonial-era village, moon-worshippers witness a blood moon at their fall festival. They take it as a sign to hunt down any non-followers, including you and your scream squad.
The Darkest Deal
Blues musician Pine straw Spruce will have to face the music after meeting with The Collector and trading his soul for musical glory. You and your squad learn the terrible price of fame.
Yeti Campground Kills, Yeti or Not, Here They Come
You and your friends are about to venture into a 1950s campground overrun by huge, menacing yetis who rip apart anyone who gets in their way. You must flee to the ranger tower to escape.
Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate No Matter Who You Choose, You Lose
Two warlocks of great power were turned into dragons after trying to take Merlyn’s spell book. Now you and your friends are caught in their epic battle. You must choose a path and a victor.
Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origin
Here we see one of the most anticipated mazes of the season. Dr. Oddfellow has deep routes in Halloween Horror Nights lore. Dr. Oddfellow created one of the HHNs most iconic monsters, Jack the Clown. Jack Schmidt is an icon HHN brings out to scare folks for significant anniversaries, and now we get to explore his maker. From Universal’s website, “You won’t be able to resist going inside Dr. Oddfellow’s menacing menagerie of twisted oddities. But the price for you and your friends is steep: the cost of your souls to feed his immortal power.”
Something unique for this year is each scare zone is connected to a story. Dr. Oddfellow will be featured in each scare zone adding to his lore. Also unique is the Dr. Oddfellow Maze and scare zones span different time periods of Dr. Oddfellow. Starting from time time before he became immortal!
Conclusion and Final Thoughts on Halloween Horror Nights 32
There you have it, our official preview article for Halloween Horror Nights 32. 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 do not doubt this one will be awesome! We didn’t touch on Nightmare Fuel (returning show) or any food they offer, but we will bring you updates during the season.
Something we did last year is rank the houses before the season, and then rank them after the season is over. From most excited to least here they are.
- The Last of Us
- Stranger Things
- Dr. Oddfellow Twisted Origins
- Universal Monsters Unmasked
- Yeti Campground Kills
- The Exorcist Believer
- The Darkest Deal
- Dueling Dragons Choose Thy Fate
- Chucky Ultimate Kill Count
- Blood Moon Dark Offerings
What do these rankings mean, though? Not much, honestly, as this year is primed to be one of the coolest Halloween Horror Nights in recent history. This hinges on how Dr. Oddfellow is received overall, as he is part of one maze and all of the scare zones. It is fun to create a list and go back in 2 months and see if we were right or way off on how we enjoyed HHN for the season. What do you think about all of this? Will we see you in the fog? Let us know in the comments!
