Halloween Horror Nights 2014 Experience and Review

Previously, I have posted about a Halloween event that takes place in California every year. You can view that post here. On October 17th I made the long journey from Iowa to California for my favorite event in the world, Halloween Horror Nights. I had been anticipating this day since I left Universal Studios the year before. H.H.N. is top of the line, and because of this, I am left wanting more every single year.

As night fell on October 18th I arrived at Universal Studios and I was instantly hit with nostalgia as the familiar gates of H.H.N. stood tall. I entered the park and my best experience at this event to date, began. The front of the park was decked out in the usual lights, fog and music. These combined created an intense atmosphere that can never truly be imagined unless you witness it for yourself. Placed around the front gates are the famous H.H.N. go-go dancers. They dance in sync to the eerie music that is being blasted from the speakers, and they often distract much of the crowd so that the scare-actors can initiate their attacks.

As I sprinted farther into the park, the main scare-zone came into view. This year, John Murdy (Creative Director) chose to replicate The Purge. Dozens of chainsaw wielding scare-actors crept out from the shadows and began to stalk their pray. They then began the opening scaremony. The scare-actors rev their chainsaws and began to charge the large crowd. All of my senses were engrossed, and H.H.N. constantly does an amazing job of doing so. As the night began, I made my way towards the mazes. Below are some of my favorite mazes from this years event.

The Walking dead
For the past 3 years H.H.N. has hosted this incredibly popular show. They recreate everyone's favorite scenes and showcase the most popular characters. The prison was rebuilt in a way that made me feel like I was really on the set of The Walking Dead. The scareactors did an astonishing job of playing their roles, and utilizing their talents of scaring the guests.

Alien Vs. Predator
At this years event The Creative Director John Murdy went all out. Inside of this sound stage was a full size recreation of the space ship that is featured in Alien Vs. Predator. It was so large that it had to be built in three separate pieces, in order to fit it inside of the door. There was an immense amount of detail inside of this maze, and many animatronics that gave off the impression that they would come to life and any moment, a great task that H.H.N always seems to pull off.

An American Werwolf In London
In this maze they showcased the transformation from the human form into the form of a beast with expert precision. Through prosthetics, you could visually see the transformation occurring with your very eyes. This was the highlight of the maze, along with the numerous scares located through out.

Every year H.H.N. seems to raise my expectations, and every year they more than surpass them. This year is no exception to this. I was overwhelmed by the amount of detail that each location had. Anyone who attended this event would be a fool to not notice the obvious amount of time that is spent going into every single detail, and finishing touch. These are the things that brought this even to life for me, yet again.
http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/hollywood/2014/

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