The Nation’s Premier Halloween Event has reclaimed its title once again. Halloween events in Florida are almost always overshadowed by Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, however most fans will say last year was a weak year compared to others. It had a smaller Stranger Things house than previous years, which made the house fall short of expectations. While houses like Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count only featured a bunch of fake gore and body parts that instead of making it feel like a haunted house, made it feel as if you were walking through a Spirit Halloween a few days before its season closure or a Party City after Halloween discount sale. This year with a refreshing lineup and new punk rock theme, it's safe to say that if you haven't gone before, go now.  

(SEPTEMBER 5^th, 2024, 5:55pm)

      The gates opened to a gloomy and drizzled night of fans waiting at the gates of Universal Studios Florida. The smell of the HHN fog filled the air, as the sounds of punk rock, chainsaws, and cheers did as well. This year’s houses are ranked below by The Cloud but, with a ghoulish twist.

GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE | 4/5 GHOULS

      The first house of the night was Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire and once you walked in and saw the opening facade the fans knew Universal had gone all out with detail. With minimal spoilers being said, the Frozen Empire house had followed the film almost to a tee. Minus a few details, fans might as well be submerged into the world of their NYC. Only downside is if you are preparing for an A/C filled house. Unironically this wasn’t the right house for you. Same goes for scares, great chill house.

(2018) A QUIET PLACE | 3.5/5 GHOULS

      The next stop was 2018’s A Quiet Place, a world where aliens invade and hate sound. The animatronics featured in the house looked beautiful. But when it came down to the scare actor portrayals of the actors, the makeup and costumes lack. From their portrayals of John Krasinski’s Lee Abbott who just looks like an old man with white hair, to Noah Jupe’s Marcus Abbott looking like Michael Cera with an afro. The house was well designed but is mostly animatronics and slight jump scares.

TRIPLETS OF TERROR | 4/5 GHOULS

      Halloween Horror Nights has had original houses since the beginning of the event in 1991, Universal’s original stories come to life very well as this is a very entertaining house. It about three siblings on the day of their birthday breaking bad and killing their whole family. From a cousin who just wanted orange juice, to a mother who wanted to know what went wrong.  At times the masks and makeup seem a tiny bit overkill, but it's better to be overprepared than not.

(2011-2023) INSIDIOUS: THE WITHIN | 10/5 GHOULS

      This is not the first time Insidious has made an appearance at the event, that would be in 2015 at HHN 25. And still it was only based on the first movie from 2011. This time all the fears from every Insidious movie are here. This is more of a “best scenes” house from each movie that will intensely scare anyone who would walk though. This is absolutely, 100% the scariest house of the year.  If you went during a busy night and you would get the best scares. It was definitely worth the long wait. Beware of mannequins.

MAJOR SWEETZ CANDY FACTORY | 2.5/5 GHOULS

      The Willy Wonka gone wrong trope has been milked over the years and here its very much the same thing. This is a very gore related house, and it is a reminder that, unfortunately, Universal can fall short with their original ideas. Hopefully this means that the Chucky house didn't start a curse in the Fast and Furious queue. In terms of scares, there's really only one or two big ones to look out for. What a miss.

THE MUSEUM: DEADLY ARTIFACTS | 2.5/5 GHOULS

      This is a revived concept all the way from 1997’s house called Museum of Horrors.  This is supposed to be a brand-new exhibit of a cursed item called the Rotting Stone and causes evil and destruction in its path. This house set design is very impressive, and that's all it will probably be remembered for.  Underwhelming.

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SLAUGHTER SINEMA 2 | 3.5/5 GHOULS

      The reprisal of an original, fan loved house from 2018, and it was done fine. The idea of the original house was a great concept which derived from HHN 2009’s theme year and icon, “Ripped from the Silver Screen” and “The Usher” and this house just goes to show that not all sequels can match their original counterparts, and especially today that is known. Amazing idea and a few good scares.

MONSTRUOS: THE MONSTERS OF LATIN AMERICA | 2/5 GHOULS

      Unfortunately, while this is a good idea, the only good aspect of the house was the set. This is a house you would do at the end of the night while you're about to leave.  not much else to say.

UNIVERSAL MONSTERS: ETERNAL BLOODLINES | 2.5/5 GHOULS

      Since 2020, for some odd reason the Frankenstein family has reemerged every year in some way. The Bride of Frankenstein has been overused and this doesn't help the case. This really was just a filler house to reuse costumes of past years.  Nice Try Universal.

      Overall, Universal Studios has certainly done a better job than in years past, and a huge step up from the decline of last year's event. If you were able to go this pretty cool theme year, consider yourself lucky. The highlights were high and that means a lot.  

      See You Next Year!

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