Well ATPers, that’s a wrap. Labor Day has come and gone, and that means summer is unofficially over, and daily operations at seasonal theme parks are officially kaput. Boo. (Is it just me, or are summers–and time itself–just flying by in these frenetic times?) But it also means the start of Halloween haunts at parks. Yay! I got to kick off the spooky season at the opening night of Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights, which year in and year out sets the standard for the genre. I’m happy to report that Universal’s gore gurus have done it again.
Among the headlining houses, I was most impressed with Terrifier, based on the film series featuring Art the Clown. The sadistic bozo certainly gives Arthurs a bad name. The movies take slasher cinema to the extreme, and the HHN house is true to the spirit of the franchise.
“Art’s masterful kills in those films were so gory, we just had to bring the gore to life,” enthuses Lora Sauls, senior manager for the creative development group at Universal Orlando and longtime HHN mastermind.
Indeed, the house is littered with Art’s kills, spattered with blood, and chock full of severed limbs and internal organs. There are remnants of a circus in his funhouse, but it is permeated by a patina of dank filth and evil, especially in the disgusting bathroom through which guests are routed. HHN creatives have always waged a multi-sensory assault when they craft their mazes, including plenty of evocative smells. But, is that actually sewage wafting in the air of the Terrifier house? Ew.
By the way, Art can be seen riding his tricycle, honking his horn, and otherwise terrifying guests outside the confines of his house on the park’s streets. There is no host that serves as the face of this year’s HHN, but Art seems to be the de facto ringleader. I have a feeling we may be seeing more of the killer clown at future events.
In my estimation, WWE Presents the Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks was a close second for this year’s crop of brand-name houses, partly because I’m a pro wrestling fan. It’s an odd choice for an HHN theme, because the sports entertainment spectacle that is WWE isn’t typically associated with horror (aside from its horrific displays of staged violence), and there isn’t an obvious crossover among fans. But wrestling storylines have incorporated elements of horror, especially those of the late grappler, Bray Wyatt (née Wyndham Rotunda). Mike Aiello, senior director of entertainment creative development at Universal, who is a huge pro wrestling enthusiast and horror fan and has been an HHN mastermind for years, befriended Rotunda. He pitched the Wyatt Sicks theme and gives props to leadership for greenlighting the concept.
“We’re incredibly lucky,” says Aiello, referring to his gig. “We can be selfish and actually do the things we want to do, because we are also fans of all this stuff.”
The house pays homage to the popular wrestler and to the creepy characters he created, who lurk throughout its corridors. There are plenty of scares, and even the most WWE-illiterate will appreciate the vibe. But I got a huge kick out of the wrestling insider references, such as a backstage sign directing folks to the “Gorilla” position, named for the spot where the late WWE wrestler and exec, Gorilla Monsoon, coached performers just before they entered the arena. There are also folding tables and chairs stacked and ready to be brought to the ring (if you know, you know), posters for long-ago matches, bejeweled, spandex costumes hanging on racks, and more to take aficionados of the squared circle behind the scenes. It is certainly one of the more unusual HHN houses, but it works surprisingly well.
There’s Art, and then there’s art. While the pop culture-based houses are great, I was the most taken by El Artista: A Spanish Haunting. It is a recurring theme at HHN; the brand name IP houses generate buzz for the event and take starring roles, but the original content houses often outshine them. Festooned with Spanish moss and architectural flourishes, the 19th-century colonial manor through which guests enter the maze sets the stage for the lavishly designed house. It tells the story of an artist descending into madness and shows the work that he has created coming to life with evil intent. Yes there are some potent scares, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of the exquisitely produced sets with its statuary, artwork, special effects, and other touches. It’s always amazed me that so much effort goes into creating HHN houses such as El Artista, even though they will only be open for a few weeks.
I was also taken by Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters, a spinoff of the B-movie-themed Slaughter Cinema house from last year’s event. With its rustic buildings and dusty streets, the Old West world building showcased here is masterful. It’s ostensibly about bounty hunters, but the focus is really on the bizarre demons that have materialized in the town. They seem to be particularly interested in attacking us. The pacing is great, and the scares are plentiful.
Other IP houses include Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the video games and the movies they inspired. It takes place at an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese-like arcade and pizza restaurant from the 1980s where the animatronic characters come alive at night to terrorize the hapless guard watching the property (and the guests making their way through the house). It is less about scares and more about the impressive robotic characters created by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. I had high hopes for Fallout, an ode to the post-apocalyptic hellscape depicted in the video games and Amazon Prime show, but it falls flat. I was expecting more elaborate sets and more ominous tension. Even more disappointing? Instead of giving one of horror’s most iconic characters his HHN due, Jason Universe just gives us one hockey-masked maniac after another lashing out at guests.
For the original content houses, Dolls: Let’s Play Dead is plenty creepy with its charred and forlorn life-sized dolls looming everywhere and the twisted little girl who presides over the playroom taking great interest in the HHN guests who have been shrunk to the size of a toy. I had imagined Gálkn: Monsters of the North would transport visitors to an icy, frozen tundra. Instead, it’s more of a remote, bucolic, Scandinavian village that has been overtaken by an odd assortment of elaborate creatures. Still, the sets are striking, and the scares are solid. I didn’t totally get Grave of Flesh. According to Universal, we are supposed to be attending our own funeral and then face the wrath of flesh eaters. Instead, I saw a guy dressed in his burial suit, a bunch of skeletons, and what I guess may have been a mausoleum. I don’t know what happens in the afterlife, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be ogling other folks who are dead and buried. The house had an engaging soundtrack though.
There are scare zones, of course, throughout the park. I got a kick out of the green-glowing, radioactive ghouls wandering Mutations: Toxic Twenties in the New York area. Perhaps the scariest thing at HHN are the subwoofers that are turned up to 11 at Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay. The crazy-loud show features beefcake guys and scantily clad gals nominally performing circus acts, but mostly doing dance routines.
What HHN house most intrigues you? What do you look for in a haunted maze?