Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood opened during an insane Los Angeles heat wave, but we didn't let that stop us! We're ripping off our sleeves, tearing off our pants legs, and braving the ghouls (and the heat) to tell you all about Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2024 and breaking down our favorite houses of the season.
Monstruos 2: The Nightmares of Latin America
Hands down, my favorite house in this year's lineup is Monstruos 2: The Nightmares of Latin America. Last year's Monstruos house ranked high on the list, and I wasn't the only fan. The house was so well-received that it made its debut at Horror Nights Orlando this year. Leaving Hollywood with a new rendition of Monstruos featuring a lineup of additional monsters from Latin American folklore not featured in last year's maze.
For me, the real star of this one was El Cucuy! Every Hispanic kid grows up being told “If you don't (insert random directive here), El Cucuy will get you.” The Latin American boogeyman is allegedly quite diligent about making sure kids obey their elders, brush their teeth, go to bed on time, etc.
The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy
The Weeknd is back with The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy. Music is pumping through the queue and all throughout the house. Upon stepping foot into the air conditioned studio building, “The Weeknd” greets guests as he DJ's from atop a massive cityscape facade.
The visuals in this are so bizarre, pulling imagery from The Weeknd's music videos (and pretty sure, mostly just straight from his own personal nightmares). I love this house for the sheer strange nature of it. A room full of glowing neon eyeballs, blinding lights, a Baby Weeknd wading in a sink full of blood, a Kafka-esque amalgamation of three versions of The Weeknd blended with a giant roach-like bug.
A Quiet Place
We got to do a behind-the-scenes lights-on tour of this one with HHN Creative Director John Murdy earlier this season, so it was exciting to see it all come together under show lights. The creatures the team built were even more impressive than expected, with puppets and animatronics bringing the monsters to life. The detailed sound design featuring lots of tiny speakers rather than the usual giant overhead speakers made the scares feel more intimate, like there just may be something breathing down your neck if you were to turn around to face it.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
While Hollywood's version of the Ghostbusters maze did not feature the impressive 24-foot firehouse structure, we did get a fun Slimer animatronic out front welcoming guests to Ray's Occult Books! The rest of the house layout is similar, with slight differences. The portion of the lab where creatures are free to break out of their containment units was especially fun in the Hollywood version because it gave guests a chance to get stuck between monsters, what a pickle!
Insidious: The Further
The Orlando version of this house took the top spot for my favorite house this season . The jump scares were relentless and guests never quite get the chance to catch their breath. Our version doesn't have the massive red door setup to welcome guests into the maze, but we did get an impressive facade featuring the iconic Red Face Demon stalking back and forth on the top floor of a house. His shadow is visible from the line queue, and knowing he's waiting inside causes more than a little hesitation when crossing over the threshold.
Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines
The Hollywood incarnation of this all-female Universal Monsters house is very special for a very particular reason: It's built on the Universal Studios Backlot Stage 12. Why is that significant? Well, it's pretty much the birthplace of Monster Movies. Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Bride of Frankenstein were all shot on this stage, for goodness' sake! It's not every day we get the opportunity to walk the hallowed halls of horror history.
Boris Karloff himself walked this very stage. The studio tour drives park guests past this building, but most never have the opportunity to step foot inside. And that's something no other theme park can offer. I'd love to see Universal's Hollywood branch of Horror Nights continue to utilize their giant stamp on cinematic history by giving guests access to locations that are so important not just to the genre, but to cinema as a whole.
As for the maze itself, I enjoyed the storyline! The Orlando house was a bit tragic with The Bride watching The Creature speared by Saskia VanHelsing right in front of her. This storyline essentially picks up where that Orlando house left off and we get to watch The Bride enact some good ‘ol fashioned revenge. Which is great if you're Team Monster (we are)! In addition to a crossbow-toting Bride and female descendent of VanHelsing, we also get a She-Wolf, Brides of Dracula, and Daughters of Dracula.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface
In celebration of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre‘s 50th anniversary, this house walks us through Leatherface's legacy across the entire franchise. Fans will get to see multiple iterations of Leatherface across the TCM cinematic universe, with some franchise favorites waiting inside the house. Hi, Choptop! This house was also on our behind-the-scenes lights on tour with John Murdy, so it was again really cool to see it all come together with the scare actors, show lights, final set dressings, sound, and blood. Ah, I nearly forgot the smell. I knew it would be present, but it still caught me by surprise when the rotting stench hit me in the face and instantly stung my nostrils.
Aside from seeing some fan-favorite characters, my favorite parts of this maze were the nods to TCM creators Hooper and Henkel and, of course, the Sawyer house. Walking in the front door to find that iconic sliding door, fully knowing what was about to come out of there… chilling!
Terror Tram: Enter the Blumhouse
Speaking of Chainsaws! This year's Terror Tram is an all-Blumhouse-themed haunt. Waiting to greet guests after disembarking from the tram is a bevy of chainsaw-wielding Blumhouse characters. The Terror Tram is another area where Horror Nights Hollywood offers up something no other theme park has. As you weave your way between killer characters from Happy Death Day, The Black Phone, Freaky, The Purge, and M3GAN, you'll find yourself at The Bates Motel, walking through an apocalyptic crash scene from War of the Worlds and even have a chance to stop at the Psycho house to meet Norman Bates.
Live Entertainment:
Late Night With Chucky
New this year is Late Night With Chucky, a live interactive show with our favorite killer Good Guy. If you're a Chucky fan, this is a fun detour (and if this heat wave keeps up, pro-tip that AC is cranked). Chucky takes audience questions submitted ahead of time, just make sure it's a good one! (I narrowly escaped with my life.)
The Purge: Dangerous Waters
Back for a second year is The Purge: Dangerous Waters. It seems lots of folks missed this live stunt show last year, but I'll tell you it's worth stopping in. If you're a fan of Universal's long-running live Waterworld show, then there's even more reason to check this one out. It's pretty great to see what they've done to utilize the existing space and the various ways they find to work in horror elements. It's like watching a live horror movie, this time the splash zone has to watch out for slit necks!
Scare Zones
An absolute highlight of this year's haunt is the Luchadores Monstruosos scare zone. After completing the Monstruos house, guests will be spit out into this scare zone featuring some iconic monsters with a twist. They're all luchadors! That's right, Frankenstein's Monster as a Mexican wrestler, Creature, and more. Monstruos is the best house this year and Luchadores Monsruosos is the best scare zone.
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“Luchadores Monstruosos,” an all-new scare zone.
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“Skull Lordz,” a scare zone featuring a gothic inspired royal court of the dead.
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“Chainsaw Punkz,” a troop of chainsaw killers will confront guests as they enter the event.
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“Murder of Crowz,” a flock of menacing crow stilt-walkers will terrify guests.
Forgive me, there is one maze I missed on the lower lot! After hitting three lower lot mazes I headed back up to forage for food not realizing there was a fourth maze below! And the night was over before I was able to make it back down the escalators, but I'm sure the radioactive zombies of Dead Exposure: Death Valley are entirely awesome.
Horror nights runs select nights through Sunday, November 3. All event tickets for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood are now on sale. For more, check out our Horror Nights Orlando review and stay tuned for Horror Nights Hollywood video highlights taking you inside the houses.
