It must be hard to think about Halloween as we enter the height of the summer, but for the horror fans and thrill-seekers amongst you, it may well be time to look ahead. Every year at the Universal Orlando Resort come the spooky Autumn Season (September 15th to November 4th to be precise), the park orchestrates numerous nights of blood-chilling terror and scream-inducing frights in the form of Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. For over 25 years the park and its staff have dedicated themselves entirely to scaring the living hell out of you. We were lucky enough to attend a presentation on some of the things that you can come to expect from the chilling event this year so those of you fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get tickets may have an inkling of what horrors may await.
This year, your soul is requested to attend a number of nail-biting houses and mazes that have been designed around some of your favourite horror properties! Following off of the success of last year, FX’s American Horror Story will be making a return with more mazes based around separate series of the gloriously gruesome show! This year will see houses designed after Season 2: Asylum, Season 3: Coven and Season 6: Roanoke. You’ll mingle with the patients of the mysterious Briarcliff Hospital, be enticed by Salem Witches or relive the gory murders of the Millers in Roanoke. For die-hard fans, you’ll find it hard to not love being pursued and spooked by such characters as Bloody Face and Piggy of the Polk family, ghouls and witches, and whatever your imagination may conjure!
One exciting addition to this year that is bound to get any horror fan excited is a thrilling house and maze experience based after Stanley Kubrick’s iconic The Shining! Michael Aiello of Universal Orlando Resort spoke of the many white Whales that exist for him and the company when it comes to landing iconic movies and titles to feature at such events, and The Shining has been a big win for all involved on his team. You can bet that that passion will translate into the experience itself, as we have been promised a recreation of the ambiguous atmosphere of The Shining, peppering the house with Easter eggs and references that the keen eyed fans amongst you will get a rush from finding!
What does sound particularly exciting is the intention to make the experience feel as though you yourself have the ‘shining’, with an emphasis being played on illusion and making you second-guess yourself. There is also the promise of more direct frights, like coming dace-to-face with the spirits that dwell in the Overlook. It is a very enticing addition to eh Halloween Nights, and one which hard-core horror fans will surely be jump at the chance to experience.
The most recently announced experience at this year’s Halloween Horror Night’s promises to throw your right into the madcap world of Starz’s Ash Vs. Evil Dead. N The show that is, of course, a continuation of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead Trilogy, follows Bruce Campbell’s Ash in his perpetual struggle against forces of Evil, and this house promises to partner you up with the chainsaw-limbed quip-tastic action hero. This is a property that exists beyond the realms of the TV show, having a long history dating back to the 80’s video nasties, so there’s a lot of pressure to meet up to the level of detail and gruesome thrills that Evil Dead fans will surely come to expect from such an attraction!
All the properties that the Halloween Horror Nights are focusing on this year have huge fan followings; fans who are devoted and will be very particular with nearly every detail on show. However, seeing the enthusiasm and clear passion that went in to the presentation we witnessed, it is very hard not to get excited about the prospect and potential of all of these gloriously grisly and spectacularly spooky attractions.
Here’s the house reveal for the Ash vs Evil Dead attraction.
For more information about Halloween Horror Nights at either Universal Orlando Resort or Universal Studios Hollywood, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.
Updates on “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood are available online at HalloweenHorrorNights.com/Hollywood and on Facebook at: “Halloween Horror Nights – Hollywood,” on Instagram and Twitter at @HorrorNights as Creative Director John Murdy reveals a running chronicle of exclusive information. Watch videos on Halloween Horror Nights YouTube and join the conversation using #UniversalHHN.
