Last year, we here at UL were lucky enough to have Larry
Talbot contribute a review of Halloween Horror Nights 21. This year, Larry is
back for more and this time he brought a friend with him. Peter V. and Larry
first met while exploring the Nile River in the deepest, darkest part of Africa many years ago.
Both Larry and Peter provided their opinions and details of
their visit to Universal Studios Florida for the Sneak Preview of Halloween
Horror Nights 22.
From Peter V.:
I’ve never actually visited HHN before. This was my first
time and it was quite an experience. Arriving in the main plaza outside the
security gates was sure an eye opener. It was super busy. There were several
thousand people all waiting around to be put through a metal detector. There
were maybe twelve places to get checked out, leading to a very long wait out
front. I asked Larry, an HHN veteran, if it was busy like this every year and
he told me that it is.
Once through security and into the park, we made an
immediate right and went through Hollywood.
Though there were set pieces in place and plenty of giant fog machines, there
was not a Scare Actor to be seen. We weren’t overly concerned about this as it
wasn’t quite 7:30 yet and still very much daylight. This was the same as we walked
through central park on our way to Kidzone.
We arrived in Kidzone and got in line for the House of
Horrors. According to the map, this particular house was scheduled to open at
7:30. Due to apparent queue issues, this venue didn’t open till almost 8:00.
Knowing that the houses were set up in a way similar to last year, Larry knew
that starting here would give us the best chance to see all the houses. So we
waited until it opened.
House of Horrors
Though it was only the first house of the night, I already
knew that this was more than likely going to be one of my favorite houses.
Though it wasn’t overly scary, it was entertaining and neat to look at. All of
the Scare Actors and all of the sets were in black and white, illuminated by
black light. This maze featured characters like the Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s
Monster and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This house was a great place
for a chicken like me to start. Since it wasn’t scary, it gave me a sense of
security that would continue to grow though the evening.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
2/10
Alice Cooper – Welcome to My Nightmare
According to Larry, this house is where the best house of
HHN 21, the In-Between, was located. This is the first year the Alice Cooper
house has been featured at Universal Studios Florida, though it’s been an HHN
standard at Universal Studios Hollywood for nearly a decade. With these two
facts in mind, I had high hopes that this house would rock.
And rock it did, though not in the way that it should have.
The best part of this house was the rock and roll Alice Cooper soundtrack that
blasts one’s eardrums throughout. Though it certainly featured more gore than
the previous house, it was actually less scary.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
1/10
It was at this point where we got distracted from the UL
touring plan. According to Larry, the Alice Cooper house exited right next to
the entrance of the Penn and Teller house, which would have been the next
logical choice on our list. Instead, they too were having issues and, at nearly
8:00, they still weren’t open. We made a pact to come back before the night was
over.
AMC’s Walking Dead
This was the house that I was looking forward to the least.
I’m not a Zombie fan. They really scare me. And this house was the first time
we actually had to wait in line. It took nearly an hour, but we were able to
enter into the derelict Emergency Room featured in Season One of the television
series. Larry got his first good scare of the night when the iconic “Don’t Open
– Dead Inside” door moved when he wasn’t looking. Other than that, this was a
standard house.
I think the main reason that this house failed to thrill me
was that I was expecting much more from the Zombies. In the movies, Zombies are
unstoppable creatures, slowly lumbering after you only to catch and kill you.
As you go into the house, this is what you have in mind. But as you walk
through, you realize that the Scare Actors aren’t going anywhere. They pop up,
get their scare, and return to the shadows to await their next victim. Needless
to say, I was generally unimpressed with this house.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
2/10
Gothic
This house redeemed my faith in HHN as being a place to be
entertained. As we entered the ancient cathedral, a giant gargoyle rises from a
crouch position right in front of us. All this guy did was stand up, and it was
the coolest thing I had seen all night. I’m a big guy, about 6’0, but this Scare
Actor must have been close to 7’ tall. After that, it was one awesome sight
after another. Bat creatures were hanging from the ceiling, and would flap
their wings and fly around the rooms. At one point, the scene was us walking
across a scaffold 70’ above the church sanctuary. Here’s the deal with this: we
were not any higher off of the ground than when we entered the building. This
illusion was so well done that I stood there as long as I could trying to
figure out how they were doing it. It was obviously a bit of forced
perspective, but it was so perfectly done, I couldn’t see the reality of it.
Though, again, I wasn’t overly scared (maybe I’m not the
chicken that I thought I was?), this house was so much fun to go through it
ranks high on my scare factor. I wanted to go back and do it again as soon as
we exited the building.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
7/10
Dead End
I had high hopes for this house. While preparing for my
first visit to HHN, I found that in years past there was a house that wasn’t a
traditional haunted house. The house I read about used special effects to cause
things to happen like they would in an actual haunted house. It was designed to
be more of a psychological scary place, than a physically scary place. This
house, designed after a “real” haunted house in Ohio, was a traditional haunted house with Scare
Actors jumping out and giving the guests a good start. The best part of this
house was the usage of the “Pepper’s Ghost” effect. As we came around a corner,
in front of us was the image of a bloody spectral woman. Larry, thinking he was
clever, tried to figure how the effect was being preformed by sticking his head
around a blind corner. He figured out the effect, all right. As soon as he
looked around that corner, the Scare Actor performing the illusion was
immediately in his face, screaming like a banshee. We all had a good laugh,
and, yes, Larry would eventually change his soiled pants. All in all, though it
wasn’t what I was hoping for, it was entertaining and scary.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
8/10
Penn & Teller New(kd) Las Vegas
Going in, I knew this house wasn’t designed to be a terror
fest. Designed by the comedy magicians Penn & Teller, this house was
expected to be this year’s “joke house.” And, let me tell you, it was a joke
alright. The 3D was very poorly done. The Scare Actors were neither scary nor
funny. The house was itself was too short, especially considering the very
large line that we waited in to see it. Speaking of the line, the queue was a
total wreck. The line was huge, reaching all the way down to a service road.
However, as we were waiting the line grew shorter by the minute, which made
those entering the line feel the need to jump over the ropes, rather than walk
all the way down to the end. This caused the ropes to droop and sag, which
didn’t look very good. Anyway, bottom line, this house wasn’t good in any way,
shape or form.
Peter’s Scare Factor:
-2/10
In years past, there were clearly designed areas called
“Scare-Zones” that were well themed and filled with terrifying Scare Actors.
That was not the case this year. In this incarnation of Halloween Horror
Nights, the Scare Actors were advertized as creatures freely roaming the
grounds, causing panic and mayhem wherever they went. The reality of the
situation was that, yes, the Scare Actors could freely roam… but only in the
area to which they were assigned. And the groups of Scare Actors, ranging from
creepy children in Halloween costumes to Vampires to Walking Dead Zombies (more
on them in a second) would rotate around the park throughout the night. Larry
and I had a good time sitting at Mel’s Die-In watching the women from the burned
down prison chase people with chain saws. Otherwise, these creatures were more
or less boring. Or, in the case of the Walking Dead “Walkers,” confusing. See,
the Walkers outside the exit of the Walking Dead house didn’t do a whole lot of
interacting with the other people. The area was dark, and small, which meant
that it was very crowded. Because of this, it was difficult to tell who was a
zombie and who was simply walking with cheap shoes on. I enjoyed playing the
game “Zombie or Hipster,” even if it was only with myself.
Overall, I found the event entertaining and had a great time
hanging out with Larry again. Will I visit Halloween Horror Nights again? Maybe
not this year, but I see myself going back in the years to come to see what
sorts of vile creatures Universal Orlando can roll out during the month of
October.
Written by guest
blogger Peter V.
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