Universal Studios provided passes for review purposes.
It’s that spooky season again for my yearly mother-daughter night at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights! With a heat wave hitting, our Halloween Horror Nights Express Passes proved to be a lifesaver. We recommend visiting the park earlier in the season, as the lines weren’t terribly long, and the express passes allowed us to walk into a separate queue that got us into the haunted houses and experiences in just 0-5 minutes. We made a plan for the houses we absolutely wanted to check out and also looked up showtimes for The Purge show and the brand-new Chucky experience.
Halloween Horror Nights opens at 7 PM, so be ready for a long line of eager horror fans waiting to get in. There’s an option for Horror Nights Early Access Tickets that let you enter the park at 5:30, which helps reduce the wait. This is a great choice for anyone who might feel a bit anxious about entering the park in the dark, since there are performers who greet you right at the entrance, which can be a bit scary or intimidating at night. Guests with early access can access four houses that open early, and one of them is the The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy which is located in the lower lot which wound up being our favorite maze, so we highly recommend making sure to visit that one.
Make sure to buy your Early Access Tickets early, as they do sell out — ours were sold out for the night we attended. Additionally, some rides in the park are open during this event, including Jurassic Park, Harry Potter, The Simpsons ride, and more.
I also suggest eating before you arrive, as food prices can be quite high, even though the themed items are fun. Be prepared for long lines at the food stands as well. A new treat this year is the Mini Stay-Puft S’more — SO CUTE! I saw it listed at the Studio Scoop in the lower lot but it was sold out when we got there. I heard that on opening night it sold out in just 30 minutes! It looks adorable, and I’m disappointed I didn’t get to try it, but definitely head to the lower lot for that tasty snack. I also read that Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Kiosk is selling the dessert. Let me know if you tried it!
Here’s everything we managed to visit: we kicked things off with Monstruous 2: The Nightmares of Latin America. The haunted house this year is a follow-up to last year’s, featuring creatures from Latin American myths and legends. Give it a shot without running into the bogeyman! This was easily one of the mazes with the most jump scares and an impressive atmosphere!
Next, we headed over to the Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire house, which is totally a must-see and takes you right into the heart of New York City. As soon as you arrive, a friendly taxi cab greets you at the entrance, and then you step into Ray’s Occult Books shop. Inside, we were surrounded by slimes, ghosts, and even Ghostbusters ready to save the chilly day!
Visiting A Quiet Place house was a blast because we tried to sneak in without making a peep. If you know me and my daughter, that’s definitely a challenge since we’re usually the ones making all the noise! The sound effects really add to the experience, and the alien puppets were super cool. Plus they gave us some great jump scares.
Our absolute favorite maze of the night had to be The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy. It was full of blinding lights and awesome music, supporting a story about his previous and new albums. A big shoutout to the actor right at the entrance of the maze—it was such a neat touch that got us into the dancing and musical vibe! There were so many jump scares and a bunch of different rooms that kept us on edge!
Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines was another one of our favorites since we’re all about the storylines. Plus, it was awesome to experience it in on Sound Stage 12, where they filmed the original Frankenstein and other classic monster movies. In this year’s haunted house, The Bride of Frankenstein and Saskia Van Helsing team up to go head-to-head with Dracula’s daughter in an all-female showdown. The costumes were fantastic, and we had the chance to meet each character individually. There were a few slow moments while we moved from room to room, but overall, we had a blast in this house.
Blumhouse Productions took over the Terror Tram this year. This line moves pretty quickly, so I’d suggest checking out other attractions first before hitting this one, but you won’t be disappointed when you come face-to-face with characters from The Purge, M3GAN, The Black Phone, Happy Death Day and Freaky. We found the creepiest actors in the Black Phone section. It’s also a great opportunity to snap a photo with Norman Bates at the Psycho house. He even talked to us this year, saying we always have a vacancy at his hotel. I did miss walking through Nope set this time, though!
There’s a new show called Late Night with Chucky at the DreamWorks Theater, where the Kung Fu Panda Adventure ride is located. It’s nice to chill in an air-conditioned room, and there’s audience participation—guests can submit questions for Chucky while waiting. That was a fun twist!
The Purge: Dangerous Waters made a return with multiple shows throughout the night. However, when we were waiting to see the show, there was a delay and it didn’t start until 11:40 instead of 11:15, which was a bit annoying since the staff didn’t keep guests in the loop. Maybe they were just trying to give the audience a taste of the purge, haha! Once we finally got inside, we were wowed by the pyrotechnics, stunts, and an exciting purge storyline.
We also managed to ride a couple of rides and check out the scare zones. Some folks ended up as easy targets—when they screamed or ran away, the performers would chase after them! I miss the Death Eaters in Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I think more can be done in that area to make it spooky!
I know it can be pricey, but I can’t stress enough how much it’s worth it to splurge on the express passes! If those are out of reach, go for the early access tickets—they’re only $10-15 more, but you need to grab them quickly! You’ll get to experience a few houses before the event officially opens at 7 PM. Make sure to plan which houses you really want to hit. I’d definitely say The Weekend is a must-see this season! Overall, we had a thrilling time and highly recommend visiting Halloween Horror Nights!
Universal Studios Hollywood runs from Thursday, September 5 to Sunday, November 3. Visit https://hhntickets.universalstudioshollywood.com for info!
