Halloween Horror Nights 2014

For the first time ever, I went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. I was a little nervous because the only other event like it I've been to is Knott's Scary Farm, which isn't as big or well funded. I went with my sister and we got the VIP experience, complete with a VIP lounge that had a buffet dinner and free drinks, unlimited front of the line access, a special VIP Terror Tram, and a tour guide to take us through the Terror Tram and 3 mazes. It was expensive, but super worth it since the attraction is only open for 7 hours and the line for Alien vs. Predator was always at least 2 hours long by itself. The event was amazing with 7 mazes, 5 scare zones, the Terror Tram, and the rides. Although 7 mazes isn't a lot compared to Knott's 11(of which 2 need separate tickets for access), these mazes are longer and much better quality with crazy attention to detail.

The Good:

Almost all the mazes had these little string things that hang in your face like spiders and that alone made each maze a bit scarier.

* Alien vs. Predator



By far the best maze ever. Best makeups I've seen for the actors with amazing attention to detail and animatronics. That room with the alien and predator on either side with the flashy lights scared the crap out of me. I love the chestburster room because the people on the wall are real and the alien queen animatronic is spectacular.

* The Walking Dead: End of the Line



The set for the Walking Dead is amazing. The outside looks like the prison the cast stayed in and it's huge. The zombie actors were awesome and there were so many! I loved the supermarket because of the super calm, serene music and the zombies stuck in the rubble, which was very unexpected. The set is the strength of this one and really transports you inside the show.

* An American Werewolf in London



Very unexpected maze. The train room was surprising and I loved the way the transformation scene was incorporated. It makes me want to watch the film.

* Terror Tram



It's basically a big scare zone, but it incorporates the crash site used in War of the Worlds. It's bigger and more involved than anything I've ever seen. The chainsaw guys were surprisingly scary. My only criticism is that it was really dark. My night vision isn't great and I would have liked to see more of the actors.

* Mask-a-raid and The Purge: Anarchy Scare Zones



The Mask-a-raid Scare Zone has a great concept: a cannibal cult in masquerade balls during preRevolutionary War France. The out of tune harpsichord music is perfect and it melds horror with high class aristocracy with morbid tableaux and cannibals. The Purge Scare Zone was fun because since many of the dressed normally besides a mask, it was easier for them to hide in the crowd and make the scares more surprising.

The OK

* Face/Off: In the Flesh



I love the show and I liked seeing the makeup up close, but the themes are all different. They didn't mesh well and ended up looking kind of confused. The music was pretty cool and made it creepier than it really was.

* Dracula Untold



Ok maze. Nothing special, but not awful. It doesn't make me want to see the movie when it comes out.

The Bad

* Clowns 3D



Not very scary. I liked the eerie music, which was written by Slash, but the maze was meh. Bright paint covered everything and became dizzying with the 3D glasses (which kept falling off my face). The actors lost interest right after the scare and it ruined the illusion for me. A lot of it was mannequins instead of people. Very unrealistic over all plus the whole maze smelled sickeningly like cotton candy. My sister is terrified of clowns and she was also unimpressed.

* From Dusk Till Dawn



Also not very scary. The set was still cool, but Dracula Untold was just so much better. I thought having 2 vampire themed mazes was odd, but this one dropped the ball.

* the dancers



Really? Were there dancers in The Purge? No. Please don't try to keep horror a boys' club. Half of the crowd is women and at least have some hot male dancers to include everyone if you really want to have them. It's just annoying when people still assume that horror is only targeted at men when it hasn't been for years.

Even with the bad stuff, I had a lot of fun. I will definitely be going next year. I can only hope that the Halloween/Michael Myers themed maze will make it here next year.