Yet again, Universal have created a fantastic Halloween event and Halloween Horror Nights 29 is sure to live long in our memory. Overall, we feel that the lineup of houses at this years was one of the strongest ever in the history of the event and the creative team that work on this event have pushed the boundary even further as to what is capable of being created within a temporary horror house.
10. Yeti
This house ranks last for us as we felt it lacked any real scares and despite the first third of the house being very aesthetically pleasing with the impressive log cabin section of the house we felt after this the house lacked any real detail in comparison to the other houses at this year’s event. Furthermore, we also felt that the Yeti costumes worn by the scare actors in this house were not very scary, although we were impressed by the variety of different yeti costumes used throughout this house.
9. Killer Klowns
After the success of the Killer Klowns scare zone at last year’s event we were very excited when it was announced that the klowns would be getting a house at this year’s event. Unfortunately, this house didn’t quite live up to our expectations as, similar to the Yeti house, it lacked in scares and certain portions of the house lacked detail. However, on a more positive note, there were a couple of scenes in this house which we really enjoyed and did a good job of recreating some of the more iconic scenes from the film. For example, the scene where Shorty fights the gang of bikers and the final battle scene, which included a very large impressive puppet.
8. Depths of Fear
The sets within this house were very impressive and the universal creative team did a fantastic job at creating scenes within the house that really made you feel like you were in a submarine. We were particularly impressed by the desalination room as it featured by far the largest water feature we have ever seen in a Halloween Horror Nights house. However, similar to the other two houses already covered, this house was not that scary and in a similar way to the Yeti house the main characters in this house, the mouthbrooders, just did not look that scary.
7. Nightingales
We felt that this house was one of the more scary at this year’s event. This house was very dark, full of tight corridors and low ceilings, a combination which will always makes for a scary house. A particular moment which stands out to us features two soldiers swinging a body along the wall, resulting in loud bangs and scares in multiple directions as you turn the corner. There was also a rather impressive lion puppet, which was an unexpected scare amidst the soldiers and nightingales. However, the one downside to this was that it didn’t really immerse you in surroundings which made you feel that you were in Ancient Rome.
6. Universal Monsters
Out of all the houses at this year’s event, this was the house that we struggled to rank the most because it was hard to find anything particularly wrong with the house. The house had a good amount of scares and the sets in this house were all very impressive and full of detail. Furthermore, it’s hard not to love a house which includes so many beloved monsters from Frankenstein to Dracula to the Mummy. However, the reason why we feel this house doesn’t rank higher is because we feel that cramming so many different stories and characters into one house causes it to feel disjointed and less immersive than the other houses at this year’s event.
5. Jordan Peele’s Us
Much like the film itself, this house instantly put us into an anxious state by utilizing Michael Abel’s score to create an atmosphere of terror. Throughout the house you get to experience every iconic moment of the film, beginning in the Vision Quest and ending as you walk through a line of tethered, some real and some mannequins. Our personal highlight of this house was the scene in which we are in the tunnels underground and the tethered Red moves in a twisted dance like fashion to the films iconic ‘Pas De Deux’, before she lunges at us with her gold scissors. This house was able to accurately recreate many scenes from the movie while also remaining scary and unpredictable.
4. Graveyard Games
This was certainly the house at this year’s event that scared us more than any other. We feel that the house was able to create a very eerie feeling and very much recreates the type of creepy feeling you get when walking past a graveyard at night. Many of the boo holes and scare actors within the house were very well disguised within the sets of the house which allowed for the house to offer many more jump scares than any other at this year’s event. The scene with the children and the pram was particularly creepy and the pitch black tunnel with speakers playing the sounds of children playing and talking never failed to put us on edge and make us feel slightly uneasy.
3. Ghostbusters
When Universal announces that they would finally be bringing the Ghostbusters to Halloween Horror Nights we, like so many Horror Night fans, could not wait to experience this house. The Ghostbusters film is so well known that Universal had to ensure that the house included all the key moments from the movie that the many fans of the film would demand and they certainly managed to do this. From start to finish this house had some of the most amazing sets we have ever experienced in a house at horror nights, such as the library, the fire station and most impressive of all the huge Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
We cannot review this house without mentioning how fantastic and funny the scare actors playing Janine at the desk in the fire station are. This was also the most feel good house we have ever experienced at the event and getting to hear the iconic Ghostbusters song being played again within the park was amazing. However, the one thing that stops this house from being our number one this year is that it lacked any scares and since this is horror nights we feel that our number one house must include a few more scares than this house offers.
2. House of 1000 Corpses
Rob Zombies movie may often be criticized for their hectic array of disjointed scenes, but this is exactly what made the house (and arguably the film) so effective. For someone who is unfamiliar with the film, and even for those who know it well, it is hard to predict exactly what could possibly scare you next as you move from Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen to the Firefly family home. As fans, we found ourselves equally thrilled and frightened to witness the iconic kills of Baby, Otis, Dr Satan and the rest of the clan. Every time we went through this house we came across new scares and noticed different things from our last walkthrough which meant that despite going through this house several times it never felt predictable and ensured that we were always on edge.
1. Stranger Things
Like many, we love the Stranger Things series on Netflix and we were very excited last year when it was announced that Halloween Horror Nights would be creating a house based on the first season of the show. However, we were slightly disappointed by elements of the house and so when it was announced that this year’s event would include a house based on season 2 and 3 of the series we weren’t quite sure what to think of it. Our doubts about this property returning to the event were immediately banished after our first walk through this year’s house and our love for this house got stronger every time we experienced it.
This house did a great job at telling the story of season 2 and 3 and was able to recreate some of the most iconic scenes from the show in a simply breathtaking manner. The scene in this with the huge Mind Flayer puppet is definitely the most impressive scene we have ever witnessed in any horror house we have ever visited. We also felt that this house was able to provide many more scares than last year’s Stranger Things house and this is the key reason as to why we rank this house as the best at this year’s event as it included both huge and mind blowing sets while still offering a variety of scares throughout.
If you enjoyed this article and love Halloween Horror Nights then please click here to check out our article discussing what else horror nights has to offer other than the houses.
