Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 2022: Scare Zones, Terror Tram, Themed Dining, and Death Eaters

Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City, CA

Welcome to our final day of coverage for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights! After our general review and yesterday’s haunted house dive, we’re looking at the rest of the event today, which encompasses… well, everything outlined in the title. Even more than yesterday’s haunted house editorial, today’s post is more about the photo galleries, since there’s only so much you can analyze about scare zones and summarize about the Terror Tram (even if it does have an expansion this year). So enjoy the eye candy, and lets get into what really has been the most variety and breadth of any Halloween Horror Nights we’ve experienced to date!

Clownsawz

These days, the Horror Nights scare zone names have just become parodies of themselves. Sorry—themselvez. Case in point, Clownsawz, which lines the Main Way Universal entrance lane. It’s got clowns. It’s got chainsaws. And it continues the time-honored tradition of Horror Nights scare zones ending in -Z. What more could you want?

Much like last year, the Clownsawz entrance area scare zone is a bit amorphous and merges into its adjacent scare zone on New York Street. During the middle of the night, when there aren’t as many guests traversing the entrance boulevard because it’s after the arrival rush and before the exit rush, the chainsaw-wielding clowns will wander into Sideshow Slaughterhouse and find victims over there before routing back to what is technically their home base.

During the last half hour of the night, Clownsawz is also home to the HHN traditional Chainsaw Chaseout, where all the chainsaw-wielding monsters of the park congregate along Main Way and create an intimidating gauntlet that guests must pass through to leave. Half the time, the scareactors stand motionless, holding their chainsaws, eyeing passing guests. The tension here comes from the expectation that inevitably, they will rev up their weapons and explode into a cacophony of chaos, chasing after terrified guests and brandishing their chainsaws menacingly in a terrifying display of sinister saw symphony. Back when this was a newer feature, it would be fun to see the reactions of screaming guests who weren’t expecting this. On opening night, however, with mostly veteran enthusiasts in the mix, the reactions are more muted. But it’s still a fun custom to behold!

Sideshow Slaughterhouse

The primary scare zone of Halloween Horror Nights lies at the heart of the park, on New York Street, adjacent to Universal Plaza. Each year, the fire tower marks the central haunting point for the zone with the most amount of talent. This year, that talent extends the Clownsawz carnival theme into Sideshow Slaughterhouse, featuring a malevolent band of miscreant monsters determined to seize their next victims.

This area has traditionally seen the most energetic and talented street monsters of the park, with one or two stilt walkers and prowling, weapon-waving fiends in constant motion and sneaking up on unsuspecting guests. This year’s carnival freaks provided a great demonstration of disturbing dismay, and we thought it was the strongest scare zone of the evening.

We did notice that the theming for Sideshow Slaughterhouse felt a little more sparse compared to previous years. There was a nice ambiance of twisted Halloween vintage, for sure, but the area seemed to be missing additional ground level props and decor that seemed more prevalent in the past. The fire tower is always nice, but we would have liked to have seen a little more theming tying both Clownsawz and Sideshow Slaughterhouse together.

El Pueblo del Terror

Located on French Street and accessible both by exiting the La Llorona house and via the side of Super Silly Fun Land and around the corner from Mel’s Diner, El Pueblo del Terror once again functioned as an extension of the Parisian Courtyard haunted house location. This time, the terrifying visages played off Mexican horror folklore, featuring characters like La Llorona, a stilt-walking dead horse, garish sugar skulls creatures, and other skeletal beasts prowling the fog-filled premises.

Continuing a trend established by Silver Screen Queens last year, there are also elaborate signage and art pieces that illustrate many of the hideous monsters that guests might run into. Big kudos goes out to the Halloween Horror Nights art department, which once again killed it with their beautiful, stylistic paintings. Each creature was portrayed as through on the cover of a comic book, and there’s even a newstand display to tie the environment together.

We enjoyed the visuals of this area during our couple of visits through, though the quantity of monsters and energy seemed to be slightly lacking compared to last year. That said, the talent still did a great job working through the very uncomfortable and sweaty conditions, and we were very impressed with their performances regardless.

Haunted Forest

In addition to the above three, there was also a bonus, unadvertised scare zone of sorts, if guests happened to venture near the restrooms at the Animal Actors Theater. Guests might be drawn by the eerie lighting gleaming through the trees—hues of orange and magenta and turquoise suggested a little something more than this normally dead area during HHN. And then there were the signs, which clearly read “Haunted Forest” and proclaimed warnings that passers-by should not venture near.

Those who disregarded the proclamations found themselves in an eerie wooded environment, mostly static, but with an occasional scareactor portrayed as some sort of woodland beast, like a gnarled tree come to life. There weren’t any particularly hard scares in this area, and it felt more like a spooky atmosphere. But it was nonetheless and pleasant and unexpected surprise to discover another themed area within Halloween Horror Nights.

Themed Dining

Over the past couple of Horror Nights, we’ve seen an expansion of themed food pop-up’s and atmospheric dining areas, and that trend continued this year with three main attractions to satisfy the hunger of guests who needed a break from the horrors.

Down in the Lower Lot, adjacent to Jurassic World, the Weeknd After Hours Nightmare Bar offered up specialty cocktails and a variety of gourmet fry dishes. The area was decked out in red lighting and a glamorous decor, evoking the tone of the album. Unfortunately, service was incredibly slow. Though the greeters were very apologetic about it, the fact remains that we waited in one of the lines for ten minutes and did not move at all. As a result, we did not get to try the highly anticipated Pizza Fries. We’re not sure if the cocktails were mixed on order, but if they were, premixing the cocktails could help save on the service time to help the lines move faster.

Also on the lower lot, the Killer BBQ from Outer Space stand basically mimicked last year’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre-themed BBQ quick serve and featured much of the same food too—hot dogs, loaded tots, and barbecue dishes. We didn’t get a chance to try food from here, and while the lines were long at the beginning of the night, they appeared manageable by the middle of the evening.

In the Upper Lot, at Universal Plaza, a Día de los Muertos theme once again dominated this central gathering space. Guests could enjoy spirits and beers for beverage and tacos from a taco bar for sustenance. The environment was once again a colorful display of festive mariachi skeletons with atmospheric character to pose for photos. There was also a display on La Llorona, tying to the maze. Missing this year were the animatronic slapstick skeletons bantering and joking around.

In addition, while not part of any specially themed area, the Springfield part of the park did offer Dufftoberfest beer at Moe’s Tavern and the Duff Brewery Beer Garden. It was pretty tasty—a great autumn ale with nice malty sweetness and depth!

Terror Tram

This year, the Terror Tram brought a bigger and longer layout than ever before, with the highlight being the new expansion into the Jupiter’s Claim set that opened as part of the Studio Tour back in July.

The theme this time around saw the return of Harold Kappowitz aka Koodles the Clown aka Hollywood Harry. The iconic serial killer was a creative and much-enjoyed component of the 2016 season, and this time around, Harold had returned with a band of maniacal followers dressed up in pumpkin-themed garb and ready to wish guests as slashy Halloween with their numerous chainsaws!

The course of the Terror Tram followed a familiar route. After a video intro that kayfabe-narrated the premise of this year’s Terror Tram theme, guests were dropped off by the Bates Motel, where Hollywood Harry stood alone to greet them. Just one creepy clown? This doesn’t seem like a big deal. But of course, the big reveal would come as his minions emerged from a large pumpkin facade beyond, coming through the teeth of the wicked jack-o-lantern and grouping up to form a wall of chainsaws.

Those who were able to break through this chaotic line made their way around the Psycho Motel, where Harry was waiting to ambush them. Meanwhile, other guests of the motel could be seen wandering around in various states of bloody injury, while more of Harry’s followers burst out of curtain areas to surprise guests. At one point, a DJ played the soundtrack to a Halloween party, only to be murdered by Harry. In another scene, a monstrous-looking priest of some sort tore the face off of a screaming nurse, all while a pair of skeleton bartenders looked on from behind a bar. Certainly, this was no Halloween party guests wanted to stay around!

One more encounter with Harry at the end of the Bates Motel property brought guests onto Psycho Pass, the uphill turn that arched around to the Psycho House. Once again, guests who wanted to detour could wait in line to get their photo with Norman Bates in front of arguably the most iconic Universal backdrop there is. Those who wanted to keep going then had to navigate a small “maze” portion that was mainly a constricted path with feral-looking vintage Halloween creatures popping up behind the walls. In previous years, this type of element often proved to be a bottleneck, so in learning from those lessons, this year’s Terror Tram kept the pathway relatively open, with minimal turns, to avoid clogging up the pedestrian flow.

Then it was onto the War of the Worlds set, where sharp-eyed fans could pick out the beloved Log Bunny—Horror Nights’ answer to the Catawampus at Knott’s Berry Farm—in whichever location he happened to be in. The location changes across different nights, and Log Bunny is a great little Easter egg to look for. As they navigated the wreckage of crashed planes and ruined residential houses, guests encountered ghoulishly costumed trick-or-treaters looking to trick and kill more than beg for candy.

One last turn into Koodle’s Pumpkin Patch brought guests face to face one more time with Hollywood Harry to finish off the first act of the Terror Tram. A school bus with horrid skull-faced arachnids and creepy children stranded inside capped off this series of horrific scenes.

Normally, the Terror Tram walkthrough would be over at this point, as surviving guests would be picked up by a tram at the end of the War of the Worlds set. But this year, with the new Jupiter’s Claim set located just across the street, guests actually crossed the road into the second act of the Terror Tram, highlighted by a mashup of Jordan Peele’s Nope and Us movies.

Utilizing the movie backdrop from Nope, this extended walkthrough featured a very chilling and unnerving ambiance, as a mix of ominous characters from Us and frightened victims from Nope danced a cycle of creepiness and terror. All around, scenes of slaughter could be seen, as the few surviving members tried to run and hide and escape the yes of the Tethered. In the surreal, Old West meets Las Vegas dystopian landscape of the set, the unfolding pantomime provided a great blend of the tone of the two films. The Tethered would pace around intentionally, some clutching potential weapons, others performing mundane tasks—like stirring a teacup—in the most unnerving way possible. Their blank, lifeless stares provided a great alternative to the regular in-your-face jump scares, yielding a much more psychological form of tension and manipulation.

Every so often, the entire environment of Jupiter’s Claim would change, as the lights would turn off, the ambient music would grind to a halt, and everyone seemed to freeze as though controlled by a higher force. The supernatural interference would seem to build to a crescendo, only to taper off seemingly harmlessly and repeat the cycle.

Much like the Us maze in 2019, this half (or third) of the Terror Tram allowed for a unique and different type of scare experience than most Halloween Horror Nights attractions, and it gave the Terror Tram a refreshing jolt of originality and freshness that has mostly been missing from the past many Terror Trams, which repeat the same format under a different theme. In the upcoming years, assuming Jupiter’s Claim will become a regular part of the Terror Tram, this too may lose its unique appeal. But for now, and for this year, the addition was an excellent enhancement and more climactic than what happens in this area during the day on the Studio Tour.

Death Eaters Encounter

Finally, our tour of the non-house attractions at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights concludes in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. When the land originally opened 2016, it was not a part of the Horror Nights line-up, as J.K. Rowling reportedly did not want an association with the much more adult HHN event. Whatever the case for a change of heart, “Potterland” eventually was incorporated into the Halloween Horror Nights fold by being opened but unthemed during the event, with both Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey and Flight of the Hippogriff operating to help increase park capacity and help siphon off some of the guest capacity from the mazes to help with the wait times.

This year, however, the Wizarding World more formally became a part of the HHN operation by welcoming the Death Eaters into the fray. First debuted in Universal Japan’s Wizarding World back in 2016, the Death Eaters are a more atmospheric addition and don’t engage in active, hard scares. Instead, their sinister and eerie appearance enrich the general ambiance, supporting the general Horror Nights villain celebration.

In the main walkway area through Hogsmeade, free-roaming Death Eaters might encounter guests and appear to try to solicit them into Lord Voldemort’s services or threaten a curse. However, the real highlight came for guests who followed the ominous green glow of light on the pathway to the right of Dervish and Banges. There, in a dark alleyway, the Death Eaters seemed to manifest out of the very fog itself. Some were stationed on platforms, looming over guests and waving their wands ominously as though to cast some nefarious spell. At the end of the lane, before it turned left and reconnected with the main path, another Death Eater more actively engaged in a swirl of hand waving and wand pointing, synched to a tense, stormy-sounding audio track that culminated in a green flash of flourish—all iconic to the look and manifestations of the Death Eater magic as portrayed in the movies.

This addition is a wonderful addition to the park that enhances the Halloween Horror Nights atmosphere and makes Hogsmeade a must-visit attraction during the HHN evening even for those who don’t care to ride the attractions. In the future, perhaps this performance can expand into show moments (or perhaps there were show moments that we missed—apparently, a carnival role call in Sideshow Slaughterhouse did occur at some point in the evening) to create more immersion. But at the very least, this new component to Horror Nights provided yet another feature for an even that—this year—is already full of so many different fun components to see!

That wraps up yet another year’s massive round-up of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. This year’s experience was marked by the overall high level of enjoyment brought about by the sum of all the different attractions and features of the 2022 event. Eight houses of different themes, tones, and environments; three scare zones that were pretty solid; a bigger and better Terror Tram than ever; an exciting component that will thrill Harry Potter fans; and enhanced ambiance through more of the park has made this the most diverse and large-scale Halloween Horror Nights ever. The more features also go to help the capacity issues the event has long experienced, evening out wait times and easing the packed crowdedness that this event has uncomfortably drawn in the past. Though our opening night experience was far from the peak crowds that will descend especially on Fridays and Saturdays come October, it still featured a sold-out crowd of HHN fans who enjoy kicking off their Halloween season with this now-legendary event.

Halloween Horror Nights is not without its flaws, of course, as we’ve picked upon the formulaic nature of its attractions and scares. But it has been moving toward a diversification in recent years that has loosened up some of the rigor of the patterns of the past, and we really appreciate the innovation and expansion that the event has explored in its recent seasons. Universal Studios definitely produces one of the top Halloween events in all of Southern California, and we’re happy to see that this year’s festivities offer some of the strongest spooks and haunts to date!

Halloween Horror Nights runs select nights now through October 31st. Visit the HHN web site to purchase tickets and see more information.