Our Top 5 Halloween Horror Nights Houses

Halloween Horror Nights has been one of our favourite theme park events since we first attended in 2013. Since then, we’ve attended the event every year apart from 2015 and 2020 when it was cancelled because of the pandemic. We can’t wait for the day when we’re back walking through the fog at Halloween Horror Nights. 

In this article, we will rank our five favourite houses we have ever experienced. These houses will all be from the event in Florida as this is the Halloween Horror Nights we’ve ever visited.

5. The Shining (Halloween Horror Nights 27)

Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining is one of the greatest movies of all time. Therefore, when it was announced that it was going to feature as a house at Halloween Horror Nights 27 there was more than a little bit of excitement in the fan community. Expectations were very high for this house but thankfully it did not disappoint. The house was located in Soundstage 22. With the film being so popular, Universal had to ensure that the house would include as many iconic moments from the film as possible. Thankfully, they were able to do this and more.

The house started off and ended in the hedge maze. From starting in the maze you quickly found yourself walking through the hotel corridors, in the iconic Overlook hotel lobby and the Gold Room. The most iconic moment of the house was the elevator scene in which the Universal Creative Team did an incredible job at recreating the scene in which blood spews out of the elevator. The characters from the film are incredibly recognisable and Universal did a great job in finding scare actors who accurately resembled icons such as the Grady Twins and Jack Torrance. Every scene in the house was a beautiful recreation of the iconic scenes from the film and the actors did a great job at delivering the most iconic lines from the film.

On top of the beauty of the house it included a good amount of jump scare moments which we feel are sometimes lacking when houses are based on similarly iconic movies. 

4. Poltergeist (Halloween Horror Nights 28)

Fourth on our list is another iconic horror film. If we were to be ranking films then we would put The Shining above Poltergeist. However, the Poltergeist house in 2018 was simply stunning.  Located in Soundstage 25, the façade of the house was the inside of the pool as seen in the movie, with the iconic house located above.  The first section of the house was a series of underground rooms full of different ghouls which made for a very intense and frightening start to the experience. Out of all of the houses based on famous IP’s, we think that this house provided more scares than any other.

After leaving the underground tunnels you saw, located above your head, Carol Anne putting her hands on a TV. From there you then entered the kitchen where you could see Marty’s face peeling off in the bathroom and steak crawling across the kitchen surface. A giant skeleton was located in the hall after the kitchen, which connected to the bedroom. The bedroom scene, including the famous clown puppet, was beautifully recreated and the use of blasting cold air through the bedroom window created a very eerie atmosphere. From the bedroom you walked through the cupboard and passed into the other world. From this point on you entered a chain of  scenes with a variety of skeletons and clowns popping out at you from all directions.

When Poltergeist was first announced, many questions were asked as to how this film could be translated into an effective walkthrough experience. However, it’s fair to say that Universal answered all these questions and more. The level of imagination which went into the design of this house was spectacular and it’s this fact, combined with the variety of effective scares located throughout this house, which make it, in our opinion, one of the best ever houses at Halloween Horror Nights. 

3. Dead Waters (Halloween Horror Nights 27)

Dead Waters, from Halloween Horror Nights 27, is the first original concept to feature on our list. The original concepts are as much a part of Halloween Horror Nights as the houses based on iconic movies, shows and characters. They may not bring in as many people to the event as the famous IP’s, but they certainly bring as much atmosphere, imagination and fear. Dead Waters, located in Soundstage 24, was based off the Bayou of Blood scare zone from Halloween Horror Nights 24. The façade for this was a sunken steamboat and probably the greatest ever façade to be built at Halloween Horror Nights.

The house was split into three separate acts, the first being the sunken boat. The second act was inside the boat and the third was the Voodoo Queens Lair. Throughout the house zombies and bushes jumped out of you from all directions. One particularly memorable moment from the house was the section of uneven floor inside the boat, which forced you to lean towards scare actors who were sure to take this opportunity to make you jump out of your skin.

The Queen’s Lair was full of sacrifices hanging over hot coals with the Queen herself keeping a watchful eye and lunging with a knife at unfortunate passers-by. The imagination and incredible design work which went into the construction of this house makes it a true classic. This house really set the standard for what the Universal creative team could do and one, in my opinion, which hasn’t been passed since. 

2. Ghost Town: The Curse of Lightning Gulch (Halloween Horror Nights 26)

This house, another original concept,  was a sequel to the Ghost Town house featured at Halloween Horror Nights 14. Like Dead Waters, this house was located in soundstage 24. The house was set in the violent, western town of Lightning Gulch which disappeared in a fierce storm. The town only reappears in similarly vicious storms and it’s such a storm which allows guests to enter the town. The town is now home to tortured ghosts still desperate to protect the towns long lost treasures. As you travelled through the house you encountered a variety of  western sets from saloons to dusty alleyways. This house was incredibly well designed, featuring both small spaces and large, expansive scenes.

The truly iconic moment of the house was the “shoot out” scene. More than any other house we’ve experienced, it featured a great amount of memorable character moments both humorous and scary. The only element of the house slightly lacking was the number of real scares which was a little hit and miss. Overall though, from a design point of view, this house was as close to perfection as you could possibly get. 

1. American Werewolf in London (Halloween Horror Nights 23)

American Werewolf in London was a ground-breaking horror film, still hugely popular today. Therefore, when this house was announced for Halloween Horror Nights 23, expectations were huge. This house, better than any other, recreated the movie scene by scene. The house was so good that it came back two years later during Halloween Horror Nights 25. The house started with a visit to the famous Slaughtered Lamb, which was perfectly recreated. From there you travelled through every iconic moment of the film; the moors, the hospital, the transformation in the living room,  the subway, the movie theatre and finally the alley where the cops are shooting at the werewolf. 

As well as the house being a gorgeous recreation of the film, it included a huge variety of effective scares. This house did a fantastic job of creating scenes where you thought you knew where the scare was coming from, only for you to be wrong and the scare actually came from the place you least expected. This house ranks number one for us as it struck the greatest balance between being both scary and scenically beautiful. 

We can’t wait to experience more Halloween Horror Nights over the coming years and can’t wait to find the next house which forces its way onto this list. 

Thanks for reading. Please comment below which house was your favourite ever. 

Click here to check out our house ranking from Halloween Horror Nights 29.