Halloween Horror Nights Orlando 2024

Reviews

27 Sept

Screaming, the sound of chainsaws, & the smell of fog can only mean one thing in Orlando. It’s officially spooky season & Universal Orlando Resort has kicked off its 33rd year of Halloween Horror Nights.

Until November 3, guests can come face-to-face with their fears from films like Insidious, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, & A Quiet Place, along with some Universal original house ideas.

A Dual-Host Showdown: Sinister versus Surreal Scarezones

Pario has spent the past 3 weeks indulging in all the spooky offerings, let’s face it, if we’re going to get scared, we also need snacks, shows, & boozy drinks. All bad jokes aside, this year was nothing short of fun & thrilling. Having attended this event for more years than I can count, one consistent thing is that we always have an event host. We’ve seen The Caretaker, Lady Luck, and my personal favourite, Jack The Clown. This year we were treated to a host duo of SINIST3R & SURR3AL.

In addition to haunted houses, Halloween Horror Nights has been known for its immersive scare zones & unfortunately, this is where the event fell short for me. SINIST3R hosted the Torture Faire scare zone, a tribute to all forms of human torture, & the character itself gave off a Hellraiser vibe with their appearance. SURR3AL was featured in the Demon Queen scare zone & had a similar look to SINIST3R but with a more elaborate & fashion-forward look. These were the strongest of the scare zones featured. Unfortunately though, Universal depended a bit too heavily on the Blumhouse name to draw big crowds to that scare zone, but in actuality, it felt like more of a photo-op section than the scare zones the fans are used to.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of what we really came for, we have to give credit to our favourite snack items of the year. The top sweet treat was the Mini Stay-Puft S’More & our favourite food item was the walking taco. Keeping with tradition, I also snagged my annual Blinky Cup drink (IYKYK) - this year trying the SURR3AL Soda which wasn’t too bad.

Top Haunted Houses: Insidious, A Quiet Place, & Triplets of Terror

Our top 3 houses of the year were Insidious, yes, the rumours of this house being the best this year were true in my opinion. A Quiet Place, & a Universal original, Triplets Of Terror.

A Quiet Place really did immerse you into the first 2 films, & encouraged guests to stay as quiet as possible while making their way through. Triplets Of Terror was a very similar idea to a family much like that of Texas Chainsaw Massacre, & did not disappoint with jump scares.

Scents and Sensations: How Universal Plays with Your Senses

Monsters in the Halloween Horror Nights Demon Queens Scare Zone

One thing Universal always gets right is playing with all your senses. There is a house that has a scene that does smell like vomit, they did this previously when they had the original The Exorcist house. Slaughter Sinema 2, a sequel to a previous year’s house, incorporated popcorn scents in spots, & there’s also the smell of sweets coming from the candy factory house.

As we wrap up our review of this year’s event, we need to mention that if you need a break from the houses, please check out the Nightmare Fuel show this year. This show replaced Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure show from a few years back & as much as I missed Bill & Ted, this crew of dancers, contortionists, acrobats, & some badass fire handlers, are phenomenal. Huge kudos to the cast, makeup team, & set designers, they never fail when it comes to design and creativity.

If you have a chance to visit Orlando & are into the spooky, weird, & unusual, do yourself a favour & plan your trip around this time of the year to check out one of the top Halloween events in the country.

See you in the fog!