Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights

Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights is quite literally a horror lover's version of Disney World.  It happens on select evenings in the fall at Universal Studios. My husband and I were already in Florida for a memorial service. We had to take advantage of the opportunity to attend this event!

It was a lot of fun entering into a sandwich place that was full of decor from horror movies! The minute I saw all of the posters I knew we found a place where we'd feel at home.

The big highlight was being able to attend the various haunted houses. I loved the people watching while we were standing in line with all of the horror themed t-shirts. I had originally planned to wear one myself but I was a lot more comfortable in a dress as a Munnesota gal experiencing Florida's heat.

As I stood in line for The Haunting of Hill House, I also could not help but think how everyone in the long line probably enjoyed the show as much as I did. I loved the feeling of comraditiy with other fans while I waited.

The house itself was amazing, feeling like I literally stepped onto the chilling set of the Netflix show.

We attended some other great haunted houses: Beetlejuice, Puppet Theater and Bride of Frankenstein.

The puppet theater full of macabre  clowns and puppets! It wasn't silly at all, it had TONS of jump scares.

In the spirit of the more comic themed movie, Beetlejuice was just a lot of fun. The props were amazing even if this one felt a lot more silly.

Bride of Frankenstein provoked a debate as to whether or not the point of a haunted house is to admire the aesthics or to be scared by the spooky images. Personally, I found it  the scariest of all of the haunted houses.

To be fair, all of the haunted houses were amazing. They each provided the feeling of walking into movie scenes with the top notch props and costumes. 

My biggest complaint was there was not enough time to soak everything in with the way the lines were hurried. However it was obvious that the staff was doing their best to shorten wait times and allow everyone had the chance to enjoy the experience.  When we were done with Hill House I really wanted to jump back in line to experience it again but there was a lot more of the park to enjoy.

Also with the amount of haunted house options there are, I would highly recommend to anyone going to decide which houses are a priority. With the wait times and needing to take breaks for getting something to drink we only got our top choices in while the park was open. But we did also go on a few rides and soaked in the atmosphere.

Some of the streets were "scare zones" with street performers in scary costumes. This made the whole park feel like a haunted house. I appreciated the immersive experience, however, I could have done without loud music in every corner of the park at times. Having a little more quiet on the streets and the music and sound effects in the haunted houses would have been kinder on my ear drums. But I am in my early 40s, when I was a few decades younger I likely would have found it more exciting. However I did LOVE the elaborate costuming.

Overall, this trip to Universal Studios was definitely worth it! If I lived closer to Florida I would likely want to make this an annual event. It's definitely worth it for horror lover's and anyone who wants top notch haunted houses to celebrate Halloween. I will definitely go back again someday!