Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 2022: General Review

Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA

It's time to get this haunt train started in earnest! Although this isn't our first haunted attraction review of the year (we visited Inside the Box Production's Within Our Walls and Zombie Joe's Attack of the Rotting Corpses earlier in the summer), it is the review that traditionally kicks off the formal Halloween season that begins every September. We've been going to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights opening night for fifteen years now, and although we've been critics of the event where we felt it was merited, at the end of the day, it is still a fun tradition that we enjoy each year to help get us into the spooky mood.

This past Thursday's opening night was the hottest and most humid in Horror Nights history--at least for Hollywood (Floridians would probably consider it another day in the alligator park). But that didn't stop this year's HHN from producing one of the overall most solid offerings in the event's history. With eight haunted houses (we will still accidentally call them mazes for a while), three scare zones (and a bonus mini-scare zones for those who visited a particular restroom--don't worry, the scare zone was not inside the restroom), an expanded Terror Tram, three themed dining options, a new Death Eaters Encounter, the Jabbawockeez show, and the park's line-up of rides open at night, this year's Halloween Horror Nights provided arguably the most diverse and widespread roster of attractions ever.

This year's eight mazes were a strong line-up, with a variety of themes and more non-IP mixings than ever. Universal Horror Hotel, and Scarecrow: The Reap(en)ing were both original creations that were not based on any movie or franchise. Although the mazes still featured the typical HHN formulaic boo box jump scare layout repeated throughout the course, the original stories they told were appreciated and fun to behold. We were happy to see that Universal Horror Hotel was completely new, reusing zero percent of the old Walking Dead layout or sets that had previously occupied the space. Scarecrow seemed to offer a Universal version of a classic Knott's Scary Farm maze--one that Daniel Miller might design--with its portrayal of crows and scarecrows taking over a Dust Bowl town and killing its inhabitants in various, creative, and darkly humorous ways (corn on the cob; how about corn IN the cob--or heart or brain?).

Universal Horror Hotel was filled with blood and gore and sadistic rituals.

Scarecrow: The Reaping featured very creative agricultural ways of killing victims.

Meanwhile, La Llorona: The Weeping Woman, could also qualify as original, as it was a rehash of the popular 2011 and 2012 maze with a touch of enhancements referencing the 2019 film. But the blending of the original and IP portions of the stories felt seamless and organic, weighing much more on the original mazes with familiar sets and two beloved climactic scenes returning, plus use of screen-based scares in a manner similar to how Disneyland has "plussed" some of their Fantasyland dark rides with 3D projection mapping integration recently.

La Llorona comes after the children again this year.

This year's Universal Monsters house might also qualify as original, insofar as it used familiar franchise characters to tell a new story of the Wolfman, the Mummy, and Dracula coming together to find an amulet that would allow each to rid themselves of their immortal curses. While Universal Monsters: Legends Collide was not as strong as last year's elite Bride of Frankenstein Lives (an all-time HHN great), it nonetheless featured beautiful sets (with genuine props borrowed from the late 90s / early 2000s Mummy films), some fun scares, and a good incorporation of the familiar icons into the best haunted house of the event. Our only criticisms of the maze were the extended black corridor of doom in the middle of the layout that brought the flow and excitement to a screeching halt and a visual storytelling that just wasn't quite as strong as last year's Universal Monster's maze.

The Wolfman is one of three Universal horror icons in this year’s Universal Monsters maze.

Nearby in the Lower Lot, The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare was... exactly what we expected. This will probably be loved by some guests and completely miss the target for others, but the maze did make use of the horror imagery featured in numerous music videos for The Weeknd's smash hit After Hours album. From deranged fans piecing together a Weeknd creature out of human parts to an eerie dinner party to axe murder and slasher references, the maze translated the various songs into a typical HHN haunted house template, with expected jump scare beats, bright lights, and strobes--all to the soundtrack of the album. And yes, there was even a brief mirror maze moment evoking The Weeknd's meme-worthy Super Bowl Halftime Show performance!

Fans of The Weeknd will recognize how certain scenes from some of the music videos of *After Hours* influence scenes in the After Hours Nightmare haunted house.

The two mazes based on specific classic horror films were also solid performers on opening night. Killer Klownz from Outer Space was an exact mirror clone of the 2019 version, with much less water effects (thank goodness). But the quirky, twisted clowns, often waving back at guests and startle scaring in goofy ways provided that spark of fun that is often missing from the typically serious and intense HHN ambiance. Halloween was another pleasant surprise, because even though this was yet another maze featuring Michael Myers, it was also a very good and faithful translation of the classic movie that started the franchise. While Horror Nights has had many mazes with The Shape before, this was the first to be dedicated to the first film, and the capture of iconic scenes and strong energy helped make this HHN's second best Halloween house, behind only the all-time classic Halloween: Michael Myers Comes Home maze of 2015.

The Killer Klowns are back, and they’re just as murderously zany!

Halloween hits all the beats of the horror classic.

Last but least, we have the Horrors of Blumhouse house, featuring Freaky and The Black Phone. This was the only one that fell completely flat for us, as the relatively lesser known movie titles combined with a lackluster second half ended up making this house forgettable. Located in the Waterworld queue, we would not recommend waiting more than 20 minutes for this haunted house, which was really the only blight in an otherwise terrific line-up of mazes--er, houses.

The Horrors of Blumhouse presents *Freaky* and *The Black Phone*.

Outside, Horror Nights once again went with three scare zones for guests this year. Clownsawz and Sideshow Slaughterhouse--occupying the entrance and New York Street areas of the park, effectively merged together as one scarezone, with the chainsaw-welding clowns often venturing under the fire tower and scaring guests in conjunction with their carnival freak scareactor brethren. This area is always a hive of energy, with stilt walkers and deranged monsters stumbling around, and this year was no exception. The talent here always delivers no matter what the theme, and we appreciated their energy. The Chainsaw Chaseout at the end of the night also provided a fitting traditional end to a very fun evening.

Sideshow Slaughterhouse features carnival freaks and monsters.

The Chainsaw Chaseout takes place in the entrance boulevard of the Clownsawz scare zone and features all of the HHN chainsaw scareactors.

Over on French Street, guests exiting the La Llorona maze were thrown into the gauntlet of El Pueblo del Terror. Similar to the decor of last year's Silver Screen Scream Queens area, this scare zone featured a mix of gorish theming and beautifully illustrated poster signage enriching the story of the scare zone and adding depth to the fiends roaming around. While the French Street scare zone was our favorite last year, we felt the energy level and talent quantity was a bit lacking this year, at least during the two times we happened to pass through. However, we do appreciate the removal of the dead end this year, allowing pedestrian traffic to circulate both ways and not forcing one to effectively go through a maze just to reach the scare zone.

El Pueblo del Terror is full of gruesome creatures tied to the La Llorona mythology crafted from the maze.

Surprisingly, there was also a fourth (mini) scare zone of sorts, a "Haunted Forest" near the Animal Actors restrooms that featured at least one scareactor (a sinister Ent of sorts), eerie lighting, and the remains of some poor souls who weren't able to escape violent deaths in this ominous wilderness area. We never saw any indication of such an offering in any new announcements we saw, and we liked how this was sort of just an unassuming "found area."

A “bonus” scare zone of sorts is found by the Animal Actors restrooms.

Over in the Studio Backlot, the Terror Tram once again took guests through the Bates Motel, Psycho House, and War of the Worlds sets, returning deranged clown icon Hollywood Harry the 2016 Terror Tram and outfitting him with a posse of vintage jack-o-lantern styled chainsaw clowns to terrorize guests. In addition to that, however, guests finishing up the War of the Worlds set were then directed to continue across the lane to the new Jupiter's Claim set that was recently opened as the latest Studio Tour expansion. This was the portion of the Terror Tram that mixed in Nope with Us--two of Jordan Peele's past three movies. Not only was it cool to walk through the set instead of ride through it, the creepiness factor of both movies combined for a more unique Terror Tram experience. Similar to how the Us maze in 2019 was starkly and positively different from most other Horror Nights mazes, this second half of the Terror Tram provided something fresh for an attraction that has long been the same experience, just rethemed each year.

The Terror Tram has been taken over by Hollywood Harry and his deranged followers, who love bloodshed.

The second half breaks new territory, moving into the new Jupiter’s Claim area and bring guests face to face with a mixture of *Nope* and Us this year.

Finally, we'd be remiss to mention the Death Eaters Encounter, which has finally made it over to Universal Studios Hollywood after being a part of the Universal Japan Horror Nights production since 2016 and appearing in Florida last year. In the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Lord Voldemort's most faithful devotees prowled around Hogsmeade, looking menacing but never quite scaring (there were some light soft scares occasionally from what we saw on opening night). In addition, the alleyway to the right of the main walkway featured more Death Eaters in a more theatrical presentation, bathed in mysterious green light and more actively practicing their dark arts. This was a really cool (and photogenic) way to feature a villainous presence that fit in with both the park ambiance of that area and the Horror Nights ambiance, and we look forward to this becoming a regular part of HHN line-up and perhaps even expanding to include more show elements!

The Death Eaters have arrived at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, and they’re up to their dark arts no goodness.

We also have to reiterate our appreciation for the talent at Horror Nights opening night. Through way less than comfortable temperatures and conditions, the talent still gave their all throughout the evening, and we left the event feeling happy and satisfied with our HHN experience. Incredible kudos really goes out to all the scareactors throughout Horror Nights, from those in the 90° outdoor heat that lingered even late into the night to those who worked in temperatures reportedly up to 100° indoors in the non-air conditioned tent locations (those who were fortunate enough to be in Universal Horror Hotel or The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare could at least take in the glorious air conditioning). They really threw a lot of energy and activity into their scares and performances, and the sum of all of that dynamic enthusiasm really helped buoy the event, even though it was just opening night.

Major kudos to all the Horror Nights scareactors on opening night!

As usual, we did not see the Jabbawockeez show. This has become a tradition, although the air-conditioned space would have been a smart respite on this particular night. But it's a dance show, and it's not particularly Halloween themed, but the performers are a talented troupe, so check it out if that's your thing.

Overall, we'd rank this year's Halloween Horror Nights as one of the top years in all our time of attending. Though no one maze haunted house shined as a historic standout, the overall line-up was pretty strong, and the breadth of attractions and offerings also helped moderate the wait times, which reached as high as 90 minutes from what we saw but often were under an hour (and many were 15-20 minutes depending on the ebb and flow of the night). By next year's Halloween Horror Nights, Super Nintendo World will be open, and if it operates during HHN, that will provide another bank to absorb capacity. As usual, guests going on the busier Friday and Saturday nights really should splurge for a Front of the Line Universal Express pass to be able to do all the houses and Terror Tram comfortably within an evening. Otherwise, stick to Thursday and Sunday nights for lesser crowds, and take advantage of HHN early entry with tickets purchased online.

An average wait time allotment from opening night.

We were cautiously optimistic that the diversity and expanded offerings of this year's Horror Nights would result in a great experience, and those expectations were largely met. And while the haunted houses still suffer from the same, formulaic boo box jump scares that they did when they were called mazes, we've largely made our peace that this is just a part of the event. The increase of original story houses is an exciting development, though, and one that we hope to see continue. Halloween Horror Nights remains a standout haunt event in the Southern California landscape. It's not perfect, but no event is. But we commend the improvements that the event has made over the past few years--pandemic interruption notwithstanding--and we can't wait to see how Horror Nights continues to evolve in the years ahead!

As usual, we will follow up this general Halloween Horror Nights review with expanded coverage of the haunted houses as well as a post on everything else!