Halloween Horror Nights 31

Universal is back with their highly acclaimed annual Halloween event, emphasis on Halloween this year. Indeed, this year the overall theme on HHN is traditional Halloween, with the event being overseen by the Pumpkin Lord. This celebration of all things Halloween sees a year with some uneven houses, but the best collective of scarezones that Universal has done in awhile.

Houses

Universal Monsters: Legends Collide- After the Bride of Frankenstein house from last year, I was anticipating this house quite a bit. Unfortunately this would end being a house I would end up disappointed in. The house is billed as The Wolfman, The Mummy and Dracula throwing down against each other, and it happens...sort of. A major issue is that the house feels more like a Mummy house with the other two creatures appearing sporadically. I realize this is a house set in Egypt, but if you promote all 3 characters, make sure they get equal time. Furthermore, the plot of this house is honestly kinda confusing, unless you look up what is supposed to be happening online. The good aspects about this house is the actors do manage some decent scares, and the set design is remarkable, with the opening scene of a dig in a temple being stunning. Unfortunately this house just doesn't live up to what I hoped for it.

6 / 10

The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare- Heading into the event, this was wildly considered the most controversial of the event. Many were wondering how a house based on a pop musicians works would fit into a Halloween event. However, this was one that I personally anticipated due to his music videos and the imagery contained within. Luckily, this one lived up to my hopes, being better than hoped for. The Weeknd's music is blared throughout the house, used to match the scenes within. One of the better examples in the confusing, maze-like Blinding Lights room, with lights flashing from everywhere you look, while various monstrous versions of The Weeknd jump out from well hidden holes. Great misdirection like this is used throughout the house, and the actors do a good job with timing to make scares work well. This is a fantastic collaboration between artist and event, and I look forward to Universal attempting something like this again in the future.

10 / 10

Descendants of Destruction- The story of this house takes place after an apocalyptic event destroys humanity, causing survivors to go underground. This location is an old subway tunnel set years after the event, and dealing with the humans that have mutated inside the tunnels. The story told in this house is a strong one, starting first with the monsters that still look human, who hunger for human flesh , while ending up in the deep caverns with humans who have mutated into nightmarish creatures that stalk in the dark environments they have adapted to. This is a fun original house that has some decent scares, but its main strength is the set design, especially the caverns late into the house. Nothing special actor-wise, but they get the job done.

7.5 / 10

Bugs: Eaten Alive- Before the event started, this one got people concerned, as the idea of a house being about giant bugs terrified a lot of people. This led to me highly anticipating this house, but unfortunately this was my biggest disappointment of the entire event. The house's plot is that a company is showing off their new pesticide that is designed to cause rapid metabolic aging in insects, causing them to have short life spans. Of course things go horrifically wrong, instead causing the bugs to grow to great size. This set up is a nightmare for those with bug phobias, and for those without that issue, this seems to be set up to at least be the comedy house of the year. It does not succeed on this front, and as someone who doesn't have a phobia of bugs, this house didn't offer much overall. The big bug props looked cool, but weren't terrifying. The scientists that were becoming victims had great makeup, but the scares aren't really there either. Furthermore the retro 50's design was cool, but not remarkable overall. This was just a below average house that came off as underwhelming. If you got a bug phobia I'm sure it could have some scares, but it won't be enough to make this house great under any circumstance.

5 / 10

The Horrors of Blumhouse- Blumhouse returns to HHN, this time bringing along 2 tales of terror. The first half of this long house is based upon the film Freaky. This is a pretty good representation of the movie, exploring the entertaining Freaky Friday-like horror movie. While the house does a good job with the scenes it picked out from the movie, some strangely were kept short or none existent, like the blacklight mini golf couse which could of made a really cool scene. Also, the actors were just okay in this portion in the nights we went through. This first half is a decent haunted house. The second half, based upon The Black Phone is an outstanding house. Heading into the event, I wondered how they would pull off doing a house that mostly takes place in one room. What they did was use the basement multiple times in between dark halls that contain the ghosts of children, Other scenes include derelict alleyways as well as the kitchen with the killer waiting to punish naughty children. The actors have timing down perfectly in this portion, getting good scares, and tension is built masterfully in scenes like the aforementioned kitchen, where you expect the sleeping killer to wake up at any moment. This part of the house is superb, making for both halves off the house creating an overall strong, entertaining house.

8 / 10

Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake- Gorgeous. Absolutely one of the most beautiful houses in event history. The facade is absolutely awe-inspiring, a town square of a fishing town, with a lighthouse looming overhead, lighting the way for the living and the dead. The house has a constant feeling of melancholy, with the story coming off as a classic American tale, of undead fisherman being lured back to the land of the living by the ghostly playing of a violin. The atmosphere is tense during the entire house, and scares are not typical of a haunt, avoiding being overtly loud and in your face. Instead, everything comes off with a feeling of sorrow, even the scares, and the actors do a good job of portraying this, hitting their marks perfectly. The scenes of this house add to this perfection, including a scene along the raining docks into a derelict ship that is grand in scale and just gorgeous to look at. There is not a single negative to list for this one, easily the best house of the year.

10 / 10

Fiesta De Chupacabras- Tourists to this Latin village are being used as sacrifices to appease the legendary cryptid. This was the 1 house that we only went through once for the event. It wasn't a case of us not enjoying it, but it wasn't just something we felt the need to go through again. The set design is amazing, coming off as convincing guests that they have reached a Latin American village. Other than that though, this house is just average. Nothing about it is bad, but nothing is great. The scares are ok, with the Chupacabra showing up a few times, which is a cool looking puppet, but not really getting good scares. That leaves the rest of the scares up to the villagers and they come off as generic masked evildoers. It is a fun house to go through and experience, but it is the definition of average.

7 / 10

Halloween- Step back into Haddonfield and experience the original classic. Listen, I'm going to be biased for this one. I love the original Halloween so this house was always going to be a favorite of mine. Luckily, Universal did it justice by creating a unique experience from their standard house formula. For instance, the intro to the house is not some grand facade, but instead a walk straight into the Myers home, on the fateful night of Judy's murder. They then manage to recreate the opening title sequence in the house which is something that needs to be seen. Some other sets include the block containing the Myers home in all its glory, Smiths Grove, and of course the house containing babysitter Laurie Strode. The scares in this house are good, in particular the final scene which sees many Michael Myers hiding among mannequin versions, in a room filled with flashing lights, creating a sense of delirium. There are 1 or 2 rooms that don't hit perfectly, such as the room which has Dr. Loomis shooting Michael, which comes down to some awkward timing, but this is overall an incredible house that pays homage to a classic movie.

9 / 10

Spirits of the Coven- A trip into a 1920s speakeasy that is a cover for witches to lure victims in to be used to brew their special drink. This was I have noticed has been shockingly decisive, with some people loving it, while others absolutely hate it. I stand in between and think this is just another average house. The first portion of the house, which includes going through the hidden entrance of the speakeasy and going though the building into the initial back of house areas are impressive, filled with some good scares. However, the second portion is weaker, with an exploration of the caverns and brewing areas being not as interesting as the first half, and the scares coming up lacking. An uneven house that is certainly a tale of 2 halves. If you get a good run of the actors then this house can actually be quite strong. However, this is not guaranteed for every run, leaving this as another house that is average.

7 / 10

Hellblock Horror- A prison breakout is occurring in a place that is designed to hold all of the monsters that reside on Earth. This is another house that is going to depend on if you get the right group of actors. The house has an intense atmosphere, and it can be complimented well when the staff kills it. The set design for the house is impressive, especially considering this was a last second replacement in the lineup. The storyline is serviceable enough, and the house has some cool callbacks to previous year's events. Not much more to say about this one, as it is truly one that depends on the crew you get, which we got lucky on our visits to get good timing from the actors.

7.5/ 10

Scarezones

Last year, the scarezones were a massive weakness of the event, a collection that led to the worst year since the streets were basically nonexistent at HHN 22. This year is the exact opposite of last year, having the best crop of scarezones in awhile. Production Central features the introductory scarezone, Horrors of Halloween. Here, the Pumpkin Lord oversees the event, spreading his roots through the area, while his minions haunt the location under the neon HHN sign, beckoning guests like moths to the flame. While this area has been used as a more introductory area for awhile now, this year is different in that it felt like actors were going more for scares than usual. The Pumpkin Lord is used mostly as a prop for people to get their videos and photos in, allowing for other characters to be more free than usual to get scares. Easily the best zone in Production Central in awhile. In Hollywood there is Graveyard: Deadly Unrest. The spirits buried in the graveyard wander around, almost silently, looking to drag away the living. The scarezone is eerily quiet, and the actors do a good job keeping that up while swiftly being able to get scares. Especially of note are The Twins, playing games together before rushing the crowd. Next is Scarecrow: Cursed Soil, a scarezone sequel to the amazing house Scarecrow: The Reaping. Set in the Central Park area of the park, the entrance is a fog filled barn, before roaming the cornstalk filled area beyond. A worthy successor to one of the scariest houses to ever exist at HHN, the dark of this area does a great job hiding the actors that leap out with great success. This design of their costumes allow them to blend in well with the crowd, making this a great zone for even busy nights, which honestly is most nights at HHN. In the San Francisco area of the park is Conjure the Dark. The weakest scarezone of the event, by no real fault of its own. The San Francisco area of the park is a major chokehold section, making it hard to gets scares in a place crushed with people. Still, the actors do an admirable job, using sets to get scares, and the short show at the small central stage is entertaining, making for an enjoyable zone overall. The final zone is locating in New York, which is the incredible Sweet Revenge. Here, candy has turned children into psychotic killers. After last year's horrifically horrible scarezone in this section, it is great to see this area be treated right. This area is pure chaos, with parade floats and destroyed fairground equipment litter the streets. Victims and killers wander around, while projections up in windows show the slaughter of the adults of the town. This is a fun zone that manages to get some great scares while also having some fantastic areas for photo-ops. The zones this year combine to create the best collection that the event has seen in awhile.

10 / 10

Shows

There are two shows this year. First up is Ghoulish!: A Halloween Tale, this year's lagoon show. Much better than last year's lagoon show, it still doesn't quite hit the highs of Marathon of Mayhem. The plot behind the show is impressive, a child's Halloween vinyl and popup book telling a creepy story with quite the twist near the end. The music choice is fun and the show makes for a great break from the rest of the event. Unfortunately, it seems like the hurricane earlier this year caused major damage to this show, leading to it's early exit from the event. Upsetting, especially with it being such an enjoyable show to watch.

The other show is Halloween Nightmare Fuel: Wildfire. A sequel show to the popular experience from last year, this is a mix of dancing, aerial acrobatics, sideshow acts and lots of fire. This show is exhilarating to watch, bringing back an adult-oriented show to HHN, with an infectious energy that gets the crowd pumped up. Some of the illusions used are truly impressive, and the acts are awe-inspiring. The only issue for this show is that the structure and story is still the same as last years, making it feel like a bit repetitive if you saw last years show. Still though, this is easily a show that can last for a long time at HHN, especially when they start changing the storyline for future years.

8.5 / 10

Halloween Horror Nights 31 shows that Universal still is far ahead of many other haunted attractions. The ability to create 10 new houses and multiple shows and scarezones every year is truly commendable. However, when compared to itself, this is not the strongest year. The atmosphere of the park is lacking a bit this year, as the music choices are odd, as psychobilly is the main choice, which just doesn't work as a classic Halloween party. While there are some true gems in the house list, there are way too many that are average to below average, leading to year that just feels okay on that front. However, the scarezones are incredible and help to raise the overall rating. The shows are good, but are just variations of last years show, making it hard for them to feel special. Overall this is just an okay year for HHN, feeling kind of like last year, something that is still good, but it is not up to the lofty standards the event has, especially when you consider the insane cost to go to the event. Still an event that if you have the time and money to go to, is always worth checking out.

Overall: 7.5 / 10