ORLANDO — Now in its 26th season, Universal Orlando’s latest “Halloween Horror Nights” delivers an evening of hair-raising frights and down-to-the-bone chills through a daunting collection of nine haunted mazes, five scare zones and two live shows.
Building upon last year’s 25-year celebration, the macabre extravaganza ramps up the scares with help from this year’s mascot Chance, the girlfriend of the iconic homicidal clown Jack, and some dynamic alliances with legendary horror film franchises.
Here’s a quick roundup of the festivities, running through Oct. 31, with a focus on the five best haunted mazes this year, all contained in the Universal Studios Florida theme park.
The Exorcist — Based on director William Friedkin’s 1973 classic film about the demonic possession of 12-year-old Regan MacNeil, the maze begins with a walk into the front door of her famed Georgetown home.
The subsequent gantlet of terror then involves reliving the young girl’s bedroom horrors, scares realized during an archeological dig in Iraq and a series of grotesque nightmare corridors expanding upon the movie.
During Regan’s most harrowing moments, visitors see: her head twist 360 degrees; her body float above her bed; a message gets etched on her stomach; and Regan in a back-flipped position, looks like a contorted spider, in a cinematic moment actually shown in the 2000 re-release of the film.
Regan’s famous projectile vomiting on Father Karras also comes to visual, aural and tactile life via a trippy walk through a corridor of puke-stained mattresses.
The area features just a hint or overwhelming presence of the repugnant smell, depending on the mazes nightly temperature. It’s not as vile as the odor of one actually hurling but it may induce a bit of urping.
Behind the screams: Sound designers actually recorded people throwing up to offer the most authentic, albeit disgusting, aural immersions into one of the most shocking scenes in horror cinema history.
American Horror Story — The famed FX horror anthology television series comes to life through the longest maze in the park, a 14-scene living diorama that features moments and characters from the seasons “Murder House,” “Freak Show” and “Hotel.”
Look for encounters with Twisty, the scariest clown in the history of TV, Amazon Eve, Ethel, Siamese twins Bette and Dot Tattler and killer apparition Edward Mordrake, from the “Freak Show” portion of the maze.
“Hotel” highlights the vampiric Countess and her brood, maid Hazel Evers, Hypodermic Sally, serial killer James Patrick March and his gory collectibles along with a creepy ghoul crawling through a soiled mattress, one of the most iconic visuals from that season.
Behind the screams: Universal Creative worked with the costume designers from “American Horror Story: Hotel” to recreate three of the Countess’ (portrayed by Lady Gaga in the show) dresses — red, white with turban and blue style — worn by scare actors in the maze who actually look like the famed actress/singer.
Krampus — One of this year’s best mazes delivers a jump-scare-loaded look at 2015 comedy horror hit about a Germanic demon tormenting a family that lost its Christmas spirit. The snowy walkthrough in and around a house has Krampus and his minions stalking visitors throughout.
Areas perfectly mix humor and scares highlighted by the demon (dressed as Santa) on the roof, a group of blood-thirsty Gingerbread Men (sweet smells included) destroying a kitchen, many of Krampus’ elves (with large carved heads perfectly recreated from the film) popping out, and a fanged, “Jack in the Box” clown in the attic and on the prowl.
Behind the screams: Slow down and pay careful attention to a collection of snow globes at the end of the maze to see miniature versions of Shadybrook Asylum (a famed location of “Halloween Horror Nights”), the Empire Hotel (one of the theme parks many façades), the home of Halloween’s Michael Meyers and Horror Night’s famed Caretaker looking thought a window in his ScreamHouse.
The Walking Dead — AMC Television’s popular adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s zombie apocalypse comic book series returns to “Halloween Horror Nights” and features the best scenes of previous mazes celebrating the show.
After walking past a full-scale version of Dale’s RV, visitors will see the animated head and torso of bicycle girl; a disgusting well walker; the shocking, floating secrets in the Governor’s room; and the bloodthirsty work of the Terminus cannibals and Wolves, all in gory glory.
Best of all, the maze concludes with visitors getting an overwhelming and claustrophobic encounter with a horde of walkers not to be forgotten by fans. It’s one of the best moments of all of the mazes.
Behind the screams: The zombie bicycle girl is recreated by a real person in a full body suit connected to the fake grass of the diorama while the well walker is fully animatronic.
Tomb of the Ancients — Of the original story houses this year (including Lunatics Playground 3D and Ghost Town: The Curse of Lightening Gulch), “Tomb” delivers the most compact scares as visitors walk through tunnels of a pyramid, following a group of grave robbers that have awakened powerful Egyptian gods.
Victims eventually meet Anubis, Bast and Seth and then marvel at Ammit the devourer, a full-sized female demon with a crocodile face, a lion’s mane and hippopotamus body.
Behind the screams: It’s the most claustrophobic maze in the park (visitors can actually touch the ceilings) and Universal paid to have the sprinkler systems lowered to follow code but still create such tight, fright spaces.
Honorable maze mention this year include a faithful recreation of the horrors found in the original movie “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and a stroll through a hospital housing Laurie Strode and various versions of her brother in “Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield.”
To get to the mazes, guests will encounter some fairly potent scare zones — free roaming, open areas in the park, loaded with creepy atmosphere and characters.
The best range from one devoted to Chance and her psychotic minions called A Chance in Hell to an underwater swim off Deadman’s Wharf (offering a Pirates of the Caribbean’s worth of sea rotting ghouls) and a quick walk through Survive or Die Apocalypse, a place looking like it’s plucked from a “Mad Max” movie.
IF YOU DARE GO
Where: Universal Studios Florida, Kirkman Road and Interstate 4, Orlando, Fla.
Fear factor (out of 5): 4.5 for adults; parental discretion highly advised for children younger than 13.
Hours: Open select nights between Oct. 15 to Monday, Oct. 31, including Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, 6:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. depending upon the night and date.
Price range: Single-night general admission ticket is $104.99. Look to the website to find other combo deals tied to park admissions and multiple-day access.
Special pricing packages can help with the pain of the excruciatingly long lines. First, look for an HHN Express Pass (starting from $89.99) for shorter wait times.
Or, the pricy but well worth it RIP Tour offers groups an actual guide (dressed in medical scrubs) to quickly usher a party through all of the mazes in one evening and includes a pre-tour desert and appetizer reception (starting from $179.99 per person).
Website: https://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando/
• Joseph Szadkowski can be reached at jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com.
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