Universal Studios Orlando Halloween Horror Nights 2023 Review
With All Hallows’ Eve just a couple weeks away, spooky season is officially here. Of course, the scares started creeping up the calendar much sooner at Universal Orlando Resort, where the park’s annual Halloween Horror Nights event has been raising goosebumps and chilling spines since September 1. That month-plus of frights has mostly come courtesy of the celebration’s 10, elaborate haunted houses, including an especially terrifying take on acclaimed PlayStation game The Last of Us.
But while Joel and Ellie’s inclusion on this year’s roster has fueled its fair share of nightmares, HHN’s other walk-through attractions also deserve your screams. As any horror enthusiast worth their weight in spilled entrails knows, however, those cries of terror can be triggered by any number of very specific elements – from the monster lurking beneath your bed to the clown peering through your window. With that in mind, we braved this year’s slate of mazes and broke them down by distinct categories catering to fright fans of all stripes. Read on, if you dare.
Best Storytelling: The Darkest Deal
If you like your scares supported by absorbing storytelling, you’ll want to sign up for The Darkest Deal, the rare haunted house that prioritizes narrative progression and character development as much as nightmare-conjuring encounters. Guests follow the career path of Pinestraw Spruce, a fledgling Mississippi Delta musician who finally finds success after making the titular pact with the menacing “Collector.”
While Spruce’s journey introduces its share of frightening foes, the assortment of hellspawn and other unsavory characters never overshadows the story. From the opening scene – where we see Spruce accepting the terms of the doomed deal – to the moment we witness his soul being sucked from his body, The Darkest Deal spins one of the event’s most comprehensive, compelling tales.
Most Meta Approach: Chucky Ultimate Kill Count
Universal Creative could’ve easily crafted a Chucky attraction based on the possessed plaything’s popular Syfy series, scared the pants off park patrons, and called it a day. But the twisted minds behind this year’s event had a decidedly more disturbing idea: What if the “real” Chucky – furious to discover no one’s actually meeting a grisly end in his haunted house – crashed the party to guarantee a high corpse count?
This refreshingly self-aware approach sees the terrifying toy possessing the house’s 250 Chucky dolls, spurring his red-headed army to carry out a seemingly endless variety of creative, gore-soaked kills. The clever concept even finds some of the attraction’s live performers reacting in utter terror to Chucky taking matters into his own, murderous hands. A fun finishing touch sees survivors passing beneath a digital counter tallying the night’s deaths.
Most Inspired Concept: Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate
Given a passing glance, this maze might seem like a better fit for a Renaissance fair than Universal’s annual fright fest. (Not to be confused with Six Flags’ annual Fright Fest.) But don’t let the medieval castle setting and Merlin’s whimsical greeting fool you, as Universal Creative has brilliantly re-imagined one of the resort’s retired roller coasters – Islands of Adventure’s Dueling Dragons – into a house that blends high fantasy with hair-raising horror.
The inspired result is an experience that retains the ride’s original tale of rival warlocks battling it out before being turned into fire- and ice-spewing dragons, while complementing the established yarn with plenty of fresh, terrifying touches. These include a cast of jump scare-inducing creatures – many enhanced by pulse-spiking effects representing the warlocks’ respective elemental powers – as well as an impressive appearance from the titular beasts. Toss in multiple endings – a cool callback to the coaster’s dual tracks – and we can’t wait to see which bygone attraction gets the haunted house treatment next.
Most Fan-pleasing Adaptation: The Last of Us
If you’ve never experienced PlayStation hit The Last of Us, or watched the acclaimed HBO series it recently spawned, this house will feel like familiar zombie-apocalypse fare. That said, if you’re already acquainted with Joel and Ellie’s journey – particularly the pair’s harrowing trek through Hunter-occupied Pittsburgh – you’re in for one of the evening’s best attractions.
An incredibly authentic adaptation with skyrocketing production values to spare, this Infected-filled house is a heart-stopping romp that essentially puts brave guests inside the world of the game. On top of recreating iconic scenes and unleashing a relentless lineup of fungally-altered favorites – from Stalkers and Clickers to Runners and Bloaters – the house packs enough fan-pleasing shoutouts, nods, and Easter eggs to fill a FEDRA quarantine zone.
Best Monster Mash-up: Universal Monsters: Unmasked
You needn’t navigate more than a handful of the night’s mazes to encounter enough ghouls, ghosts, creatures, and creeps to fuel a lifetime of nightmares. While you’ll meet everything from colonial-era cultists to creepy carnival folk, few of the featured foes will prey on your fragile nerves like the Universal Classic Monsters.
Luring unsuspecting guests into a creature-quadruple-feature of sorts, Universal Monsters: Unmasked pits patrons against the Phantom of the Opera, the Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Invisible Man. Supported by stunning makeup, costumes, and sets – including the atmospheric, lantern-illuminated streets of Paris – the attraction trades the classic versions of these movie monsters for gory, graphic reinterpretations that wouldn’t look out of place in a viscera-splattered slasher flick.
Most Unexpected Connected Universe: Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins
Film and television aren’t the only mediums cashing in on the connected-universe craze, as HHN’s Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins could give Marvel a run for its multiverse. While this maze initially looks like another gruesome circus packed with creepy clowns and scary carnies, the bloody big top is actually a decades-in-the-making deep dive into one of the event’s original creations.
Established as one of HHN’s “icons” 20-plus years ago, Dr. Oddfellow returns to take center stage, stealing souls and scaring guests with an especially twisted assortment of circus acts – the bullwhip-wielding dude in the pink tutu and animal mask still haunts us. But more than breathing fresh life – and death – into the “killer clown” trope, this one digs into the origins of the ringmaster/fake physician, as well as his most famous victim, Jack the Clown. Those brave enough to further explore Oddfellow’s story can visit the park’s five open-air “scare zones,” all of which are also tied to the disturbing doc.
Best Blood and Gore: Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings
If it’s good old fashioned graphic violence you crave, Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings has your back – and maybe your ritually sacrificed spine, too. Featuring enough severed heads, lopped limbs, and exposed innards to turn the stomach of a slaughterhouse worker, this one is definitely not shy about flaunting its fake blood budget.
But it’s not all about gory shock value either, as this richly detailed house effectively transports visitors to a colonial-era community populated by lunar-obsessed cultists. Even as these robed, chanting fanatics hunt us non-believers with their blades, it’s hard not to appreciate the haunting beauty of the set design, as well as its ability to immerse visitors in its unsettling alternate history. That said, it’ll probably be the towering, sacrificial totem made of body parts that’ll stick with you long after you exit (escape?).
Best TV-inspired Haunted House: Stranger Things 4
Over 32 years, Halloween Horror Nights has adapted countless genre films and TV series, accurately retelling their stories via impressive sets, cool effects, and talented live actors. This year’s Stranger Things’ house retains this authentic approach and attention to detail, but adopts more of a “greatest hits” position in recreating the series’ recent batch of Vecna-haunted episodes.
For fans, this means being placed in the middle – quite literally – of some of the season’s most iconic moments and memorable encounters. Walking right between Eleven and Henry Creel, while the former blasts the latter into the Upside Down, is a highlight, as is any scene reacquainting us with fan-favorite Hellfire Club leader Eddie Munson. Whether you’re seeking a season 4 recap or just can’t get enough of Kate Bush’s “Running Up Tthat Hill,” this one delivers like a piping hot Surfer Boy pizza.
Best Blend of Humor and Horror: Yeti: Campground Kills
If you prefer your horror with a helping of dark humor, Yeti: Campground Kills should occupy the top spot on your HHN itinerary. Set in a ’50s-era National Park, this maze finds a crew of not-so-happy campers besieged by a family of the hairy, mythical beasts.
The towering creatures rack up quite the kill count, leaving more than a few bloody, detached limbs in their wake. But while the many mutilated corpses will send a chill down your spine, the colorful, B movie-inspired cast and story will stretch a smile across your face. From the pissed-off woman with apparent plans to fend off the intruders with a frying pan to the outdoor retirement party that had the unfortunate luck of being scheduled during the Yeti apocalypse, the morbid humor often steals the spotlight from the rampaging monsters.
Best Film Adaptation: The Exorcist: Believer
Billing this attraction as a movie adaptation is cheating a bit since the film it’s based on hadn’t yet been released when the house first welcomed guests. That said, this scream-eliciting take on the 50-years-later sequel to The Exorcist works brilliantly as a real-life, immersion-ratcheting teaser that’ll immediately put the recently released movie on your radar.
Beginning with a tense setup surrounding a pair of missing teenage girls, the maze quickly goes from unsettling to utterly terrifying when the story jumps ahead. While the teens are apparently found, they return home… different. More specifically, they’ve been possessed by a demonic entity that transforms them into two of the most blood-curdling kids this side of The Shining’s Grady twins. Toss in a chilling exorcism scene that only seems to anger the possessed pair, and this house is better – and scarier – than its source material.
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