It’s ladies’ night out at Universal Orlando
It’s ladies’ night out at Universal Orlando
Female fiends reign at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights
From Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula to Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, macho maniacs have largely ruled the horror genre. At this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, however, Universal Orlando is putting gory gals in the spotlight. For example, each year the park draws on Universal Studios’ considerable history and features its classic monsters in one of the event’s haunted houses. For the 2024 haunting season, lesser-known lasses are taking up residence.
“The biggest horror franchise is Universal Monsters,” said Lora Sauls, Universal Orlando’s show director of entertainment production, at a media event kicking off the opening night of HHN. Talking about the Eternal Bloodlines house, she added, “It’s an all-female monster story.”
The horror royalty’s kin, such as Dracula’s Daughter and She-Wolf of London, team up to seek revenge for past indiscretions, and we are caught in the bloody crossfire. With its gothic vibes, the sets are gorgeous, and the production value, which includes video media, is lush. I had a hard time following the convoluted storyline, however, and missed hanging with The Wolfman, The Mummy, and other more established characters. Unless I hadn’t noticed her earlier in the house, leading lady The Bride of Frankenstein–a classic in her own right–didn’t make an appearance until the final moments. Still, it’s always great when the Universal Monsters get to shine. (That’s why I can’t wait to check out their dedicated land, Dark Universe, at Universal’s new Epic Universe theme park opening next year.)
Two female fiends preside over the outdoor scare zones at the 2024 edition of HHN. SINIST3R represents physical horror, whereas SURR3AL embodies more psychological terror. I really got a charge out of SINIST3R’s Torture Faire zone, which depicts a renaissance fair gone horribly wrong. Dandies in doublets wield machetes, while bedecked women wander the fair shackled in stocks. Other gruesome scenes abound. Like much of HHN, the zone inspires simultaneous admiration for its clever concept and, ahem, execution as well as disgust for its depravity. But, you know, the good kind of disgust.
Talk about dysfunctional families. As children, the three Barmy siblings celebrated one of their joint birthdays by brutally murdering their parents. Now adults, they gather on the anniversary of the eventful day to re-stage the gruesome event, and we are invited to the party. Two of the siblings represent the female gender in the Triplets of Terror house. The story is presented as a kind of live-action true crime podcast complete with a narrator. The party favors include plenty of gratuitous gore.
In my estimation, this year’s best house is Insidious: The Further. Based on the popular movie series, HHNers literally enter through a giant red door into the Further realm. I’ve been attending and writing about Halloween Horror Nights for over 20 years now, and as a grizzled veteran, I generally do not get rattled walking through the houses. But Insidious really gave me the creeps.
“It’s one of the most terrifying haunts houses we’ve ever designed,” Sauls said. She’s not kidding. It’s a testament to the creative team that developed Insidious and used tricks of the trade, such as pacing, set design, misdirection, sound design, costuming, jump scares, special effects, and makeup to great effect. Two scenes in particular, which force guests to walk through rooms in very close proximity to a gaggle of characters, some of which are mannequins and some of whom are live scareactors, had me quite unsettled.
Not far behind Insidious, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire also really impressed me. It’s clear from the exceptional production value that Universal lavished plenty of money, resources, and talent on the house. There are lots of video screens, effects, and stunning sets, including a three-story-tall firehouse/Ghostbusters headquarters. It’s a longstanding HHN tradition to include at least one comedy house, and Frozen Empire, which is more funny than scary, serves that purpose this year. Following the story of the most recent movie in the series, the house includes snow, blasts of frigid air (which is welcome in Orlando’s oppressive heat and humidity), and ice-encrusted characters.
Slaughter Sinema 2 is another standout and another HHN, er, stab at comedy. A sequel to an earlier, popular house, it returns guests to the Carey Drive-in where a second roundup of fictitious B-movies comes to life. The folks working on this clearly had a ball coming up with some of the film titles, such as “Mummy Strippers Unwrapped.” After seeing the movie poster and hearing a trailer snippet promoting the movie, we round a corner and, yup, encounter mummy strippers dancing around a pole. By definition, B-movies are bonkers, but the preposterous ones presented here often had me cracking up. With a dozen or so films depicted, each scene evokes a wildly different genre and mood. For instance, “Hell 3-D” (“All hell is breaking loose” according to a tagline on the poster) allows the creatives to present a brief black light-infused scene with eye-popping DayGlo colors.
Another original house that stands out is Major Sweets Candy Factory. It’s a prequel to a previous scare zone which shows how the confectioner developed the treats that turn sugar-addled kids into psychotic killers. It’s brief, but has a great industrial aesthetic taking us into the bowels of the old factory. Incorporating multi-sensory effects, it begins with the intoxicating scent of sugar and candy.
Perhaps the most disappointing house is the heavily hyped A Quiet Place. I didn’t see much of the promised American Sign Language presented. I don’t know what I was expecting exactly, but I found it odd that, despite the absence of a musical score, there was a cacophony of screams, roars, thwacks, and other outbursts filling this decidedly unquiet place. It just wasn’t all that scary or evocative of the movies.
Rounding out HHN are three original houses, all of which are fine but not as stellar as the event’s other three original entries. I was quite taken by the two giant puppets in Monstrous: The Monsters of Latin America, especially the shape-shifting witch owl, La Lechuza. Otherwise, I found the house to be a bit flat. The Museum: Deadly Exhibits takes us inside the gallery of a folklore museum where the latest presentation, The Rotting Stone, is causing havoc. The tone was suitably ominous, but I didn’t get the sense of dread I had anticipated given the concept. Sure they wanted to add me to their main course, but I found the goblins, orcs, and other creatures in Goblin’s Feast, who reminded me of Shrek and Yoda, more funny than frightening. There are some nice sets, however, including one with a full-sized waterwheel.
The spirit of the season can be found throughout Universal Orlando. For example, Toothsome Chocolate Emporium at CityWalk, known for its epic milkshakes, has a special Halloween-themed concoction that includes delicious chocolate chili ice cream and cinnamon topped with pumpkin-colored whipped cream, an edible marigold, and a Day of the Dead chocolate cookie. Slurping the creamy shake, I first tasted the rich, sweet cinnamon-infused chocolate, followed by a mildly spicy hit of chili. It was sinfully delicious.
Will you be heading to Halloween Horror Nights this year? Based on my review, which house most intrigues you?
The only thing missing from this article is a picture of the milkshake, or a link to where I can see a picture of it.
And the review of The Quiet Place haunted house could probably be expanded into a full piece about what makes a haunted house good or bad.
Anyway, keep up the good work.