Halloween Horror Nights 2019: 10 houses, 5 scare zones, and 2 original shows in one night!

So finally after wishing and hoping and thinking and praying and planning and dreaming my whole summer away, last week saw a small but beautiful group of UK media head over to Orlando for the opening night of Halloween Horror Nights 2019. I always feel super lucky to be counted amongst the proper journos and invited on these trips and I feel a deep sense of obligation to take absolutely everything in so that I can report it all back to you. I know from your messages that a lot of you pop here to get updates on Halloween Horror Nights, and to get help planning your trips to Universal Studios (and to Orlando and, indeed, Florida in general) and I also understand that there’s a fine line between giving you information, and telling you too much about the experience and basically spoiling it all for you before you’ve even got there! So here, without further ado, are my thoughts on taking on Halloween Horror Nights 2019: 10 houses, 5 scare zones, and 2 original shows in one night!

The Stranger Things Experience at Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort

From now until October 31st, if you’re going to be staying at a Universal Orlando hotel - and even if you’re not going to HHN - make sure you visit Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort where there’s a brand new and incredibly cool pop-up photo opportunity. The exhibit is open from 2pm until 10pm and features sets from the Stranger Things show where you can take some great pictures. Bear in mind the age limit is 13+.

Halloween Horror Nights 2019

So what did this year’s Halloween Horror Nights have in store for us? Well, Mike Aiello’s swan song as Senior Director, Creative Development before he moves on to his new role as Senior Director of Creative, Live Entertainment for Universal’s newest park, Universal’s Epic Universe, was suitably magnificent, taking us back to the 80s with 10 chilling haunted houses (packed full of all sorts of monsters and ghouls ready to jump out and scare our pants off), five heart-attack inducing scare zones, complete with wandering hordes of terrifying scareactors, and two spectacular live shows. Halloween Horror Nights has continued to grow in popularity, and in size: from 23 nights to 41 nights in the last 10 years (and last year, it hit 1 million visitors for the first time). With the help of our brilliant Universal guide, we got our glitter on, grabbed a drink and attempted to do it all in one night. Here, in rough order of awesomeness is how we got on!

Oh wait, just one thing: can I just point out that it was media night, and I had permission to use my phone before lots of people message me to tell me - quite rightly - that cameras aren’t allowed inside the houses!).

Oh actually, and another thing: I’m clearly not a photographer, and iPhone pics of quickly moving objects in dark haunted houses are completely beyond me, so I’m sorry for the rubbish photos. Still, I suppose that means you don’t get any spoilers.

10 haunted houses

For me this year, the original haunted houses (also known as mazes) stole the show with sheer, bloodcurdling, horrific creativity, yet I don’t feel like I can list them from best to worst as there honestly weren’t any that I didn’t love, so I’ll just list them in order of how they’ve stuck in my head.

Yeti: Terror of the Yukon

Wow, wow, wow. Of all the houses, this seems to have been the one I’ve discussed most with people in that ‘oh my god, did you go in the … house’ way. First of all, the frozen, abandoned building was just beautiful, with drifts of snow collecting in the corners and a proper chill in the air that meant you could see your breath. The yetis were terrifying, and there was lots of tearing people apart (in a good way, if that’s possible).

Nightingales Blood Pit

Oh god. The blood. The gore. The smell. This house was truly disgusting, littered with the bodies of the gladiators and infested with the terrible, bloodthirsty, bird-like Nightingales. Around every corner, they were devouring their prey (and the odd horse too), and the whole house was littered with death and destruction. The ‘body dump area’ (again, based on the true history of the gladiatorial games - body parts were chucked into a pit, to be dealt with later), was truly horrific and actually made my mouth fill up with saliva - the nearest I’ve come to feeling like I might be sick at any Halloween Horror Nights. Funny story: we were actually lucky enough to get a daytime walk through of this house with Creative Development Show Director, Patrick Braillard, and it was so hideous that several of our group decided not to walk around it once it was dark and populated by scareactors. Honestly? I don’t blame them either.

Graveyard Games

I was really looking forward to this one: the premise is like a classic horror movie plot with a modern twist: idiot teenagers mess about in a graveyard, posting their disrespectful antics on social media, only to be hunted down and punished by the dead. This house was so cleverly done, starting with a huge screen showing the live social media feed outside the house. Creatively, it was beautiful as well: I remember running my hands against the cool stone of the graveyard walls, touching the ivy that climbed the walls. The creatures were truly scary and one of the scenes (I won’t spoil it, but it was one of the teen’s hideous deaths, involving a mobile phone) has stuck in my mind and really doesn’t want to leave.

Depths of Fear

I was really looking forward to this one - the premise was just so original: a terrifying race of underwater creatures, Mouthbrooders, accidentally released from their lair by the workers of a deep sea mining operation who then hunt down their victims, infecting them with their disgusting flesh-eating parasitic eggs. I mean, ew. In reality, the monsters were every bit as terrifying as I imagined: the theming was absolutely superb (I mean, how on earth do they make you feel like you’re actually underwater), and the screaming and begging of the crew pleading for help as they were driven mad by their parasites was shocking and not a little unnerving.

Universal Monsters

Universal is the home of the monster movie, and this was a love letter to the Universal Monsters. Every single monster from this incredible genre was represented (including, as Patrick joked, the Invisible Man): we wandered through Dracula’s Castle, saw the Wolf Man and Frankenstein, met the horrifying monster within Dr Frankenstein’s laboratory, and were cursed by the ancient Mummy. We even came face to face with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The house was really atmospheric, with smoke and mirrors, great scene setting (I remember walking past a huge, smashed chandelier), and loads of brilliant scares - I was well on the way to losing my voice by this stage. The character costumes were fabulous and if the rumours are true, and Universal Monsters are set to have their own home in Universal’s new park, I for one will be very happy indeed.

Stranger Things

Last year’s fabulous Stranger Things house focused on the original series, and this year saw series two and three brought to life, beginning where last year’s left off: back in Hawkins, Indiana, where Eleven faces the Demogorgon in Science Room. As we walked through, we saw all the iconic moments: we explored the tunnels under the pumpkin patch (with the dust!), strolled through Hopper’s cabin, which was seriously weird (and coming face to face with Hopper himself was just mind-blowing) and experienced the final scene in the Starcourt Mall with the huge Mindflayer, which was completely surreal. The whole maze - with a total of 14 scenes from the two series - is captivating and a testament to the Universal creative team’s obsessive attention to detail.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space

I’ve got to be honest, the Killer Klowns scare zone from last year wasn’t my favourite - just because they’re big, hard-faced puppet-like creatures, and they didn’t seem that scary. Well. The haunted house based on the iconic movie completely changed my mind. Firstly, it smelled of a fairground, and that scent of popcorn and cotton candy swirled all around us as we walked through this fabulous house. Far from the little taste of the movie that we got from the scare zone, this really immersed us into the plot, as we entered the tent and came across scenes that made me realise that they’re not just cutesy, fun clowns, and we were next on the menu! The neon highlights really made this house extra special and I loved it - fun and scary is the best combination.

Ghostbusters

I absolutely loved this house and got a couple of cracking scares right from the beginning as I was so busy enjoying all the sets from the movie (that’s when they get you). We saw Janine (‘we got one!’) at her desk at the Firehouse, the library and the Temple of Gozer, the terror dogs, plus there was a fantastic encounter with Slimer (‘don’t cross the streams!) and sexy/evil Dana when she was possessed by Zuul. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was my favourite bit (he smelled delicious, by the way). The whole house was super creative and really fun to walk through.

Us

Woah. Academy Award winning Jordan Peele’s brilliantly creative film was brought to life in the most chilling way. We started back in 1986, stepping back in time with Adelaide as she gets lost in the mirrored funhouse at Santa Cruz (the mirrors are terrifying and baffling in the half light and smoke), and then the little crawling dude came scuttering out and I completely lost the plot. This house was chilling and beautiful with a ton of jump scares, and there’s a section where The Tethered are lined up and you don’t know who is a model and who is real. I don’t think my heart ever beat so fast.

House of 1000 Corpses

I don’t know anything about the Rob Zombie franchise, and wasn’t able to track down the film to watch before we left, but the House of 1000 Corpses was brilliantly entertaining. We got to encounter Captain Spaulding and the murderous Firefly family and this house was just oozing (sorry) with dead and dying bodies, a hideous scalping scene that will stay with me for a while, and so many jump scares, I was a hot mess when we finally exited!

The Scare Zones

Vikings Undead

I was initially disappointed that my favourite Central Park area wasn’t going to be lit with the gorgeous pumpkins (the scare zone last year was one of my favourites), but WOW this scare zone was everything, with hanging lanterns and skulls instead of pumpkins, plus some particularly graphic torture scenes that our guide told us were carefully researched and based on actual Viking torture methods (no seriously, you should thank me that this picture is shrouded in smoke: just imagine a kind of barbecue-spatchcock-chicken-type-human and you’re close). The Viking warriors were particularly terrifying and very good at their job of scaring the pants off you as you walked through. Loved it.

Vanity Ball

This zone, on the streets of Hollywood, was like a horrific beauty pageant, with hideous wandering ‘muses’ who had been carved up and put back together as part of a huge fashion show - the runway of which ran down the middle of the street (the highlight being the model sassily walking the catwalk clutching a head - that’s him in the background). So good, and SO clever. Also, I’ve only just realised that this woman was covered in severed hands (in my defence, she was intent on coming after me and I was too busy screaming and running away). I mean, who comes up with these things?

Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe

Again, I’m not familiar with the heavy metal horror genre inhabited by Rob Zombie, but the scare zone - on the streets of San Francisco - was fabulous, full of surprises (and some particularly evil characters) and made even better by being completely enveloped in thumping metal music

Zombieland Double Tap

The streets of New York were inhabited by hordes of blood-thirsty walking zombies. This brilliant scare zone seemed like you couldn’t walk two steps without encountering another zombie - their costumes were SO good, and like the movie, there was a fun element as well as plenty of scares and screams.

Anarch-cade

Visually, this scare zone, based on the Avenue of the Stars, was my favourite: inhabited by 80s inspired gangs of chainsaw slashers, all lit up with neon and revving their chainsaws. They didn’t think twice about chasing their victims right out of their territory. I just wanted to wander this zone ALL night.

The live shows

Academy of Villains

I absolutely adore this crazily creative troupe of dancers, and this year the show - Altered States - came with a strong storyline and featured some incredibly talented guests, including a contortionist who just defied belief, all set to music that had us dancing in our seats. Founder and Artistic Director, Pharside made a triumphant return in his role as a kind of gothic Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type character. There’s some stunning aerial work and as usual, the Academy just take your breath away with their energy and skill. Incredible.

Marathon of Mayhem

New for this year, the lagoon featured a fabulous show featuring scenes from Stranger Things, Ghostbusters, some classic Universal Monster movies, and a brilliant Killer Klowns from Outer Space section, all created with laser technology against a backdrop of giant water screens created with more than 100 fountains. Add some jawdropping special effects, which included some clever lighting on the buildings directly behind the lagoon, and a banging sountrack that had us dancing as we watched and it was pretty much the perfect show to watch between mazes. We all loved it.

Getting there:

Halloween Horror Nights 2019 run at Universal Orlando Resort on selected dates:

September 6-8, 12-15, 18-22, 25-29

October 2-6, 9-13, 17-20, 23-27, 29-31

November 1-2

7 nights in Orlando from £1379pp

Seven nights in Orlando with Virgin Holidays, including scheduled Virgin Atlantic flights from London Gatwick direct to Orlando, room only accommodation at Loews Sapphire Falls Hotel with car hire included. The package includes a Universal 3 Park Explorer Ticket and the Halloween Horror Nights 2019 2-Night flex Friday - Sunday ticket. Price is per person based on 2 adults travelling and sharing a pool view room and includes all applicable taxes and fuel surcharges which are subject to change. Price is based on a departure on 25/09/2019.

Virgin Holidays is a member of ABTA and is ATOL protected. To book: www.virginholidays.co.uk, 0344 557 3859, visit one of our concession stores located in Debenhams and Next or one of our standalone V Room stores nationwide.

Planning a trip to Halloween Horror Nights? Here’s everything you need to know (updated!)