Halloween Horror Nights 34: The Ultimate Guide

What Did I Accomplish at HHN 34?

Hello everyone! I’ve had some time to recover from my trip to Orlando, and if you know me, you know that my trips have zero breaks (sometimes I need a vacation from these vacations – it’s knees to chest only!). Here is my Halloween Horror Nights Guide! I was able to successfully conquer all of the Halloween Horror Nights houses, visited all the scare zones, watched the shows, and partook in the many beverages and cuisine options available. Keep reading for my list of houses and scare zones, ranked (spoiler free, always!), my thoughts on the shows, and the food and drink options you cannot miss.

Looking to Save $$$, Get the Cup!

If you are planning to eat and drink at Halloween Horror Nights, the costs can rack up quickly. My number one rule of advice for drinking at the park is to invest in the souvenir cup. It is $18 and holds 20oz of your desired drink. For refills, they are $14 (pricey, I know), but you get 8oz of additional beverage for the same price as the standard 12oz drink.

Speaking of beverages, I made sure to capture my favorite drinks for you. Some of them were way too strong for me, so the list below has some really yummy drinks that I personally believe are worth the money:

1. Berry Scary – this was over by the Simpsons area and it was just a great drink; I got it twice.
2. Strawberry Morgue-a-rita – I liked this a lot; they did a collaboration with Fanta this year and this drink was great. This was located in between London/HP area and MIB.
3. Pineapple Potion – This was another Fanta drink and I loved it! One thing to note is that any food allergens are hard to see on the menus, this contains some type of almond extract, so please take the next step to double check!
4. Bloody Screamscicle – Loved this; it honestly tasted so much like a creamscicle that I wanted another one. This can be found over at the Dolls food booth near the Simpsons area.

My Favorite Food Options:

Sometimes HHN can have some weird food options, but this year had some standouts!

The Cat Lady food booth was phenomenal and I honestly went back two nights just for the birria ramen bowl – it was spicy and incredibly flavorful. I recommend taking your bowl and eating it in the Simpsons area because the A/C is blasted in there and there’s many tables available. The other great food option there is the walking taco (pro tip: ask to add cheese and shake/crush up your bag to evenly distribute the toppings…trust me).

The other standout was the Fallout booth! I tried the infamous “deviled eggs” (it’s actually a dessert) and was surprised at how much I loved it. It has the texture and look of a deviled egg, so it can be off putting. However, I enjoyed the flavor and creativity! I also tried the buffalo chicken dip and fried pickles combo and I will be trying to recreate this. Phenomenal flavor and hit the spot! I wish they included more pickles though because there was a lot of leftover dip.

The Shows and What to Know!

This year, we had two options for entertainment at HHN: Nightmare Fuel Circus of Decay and Haunt-O-Phonic water show.

I have seen the Nightmare Fuel shows 4 years in a row now and my advice is to catch up on the lore through YouTube videos if you’ve never been. Once again, it’s spectacular. The pyro and athleticism always blows me away. As mentioned in my Halloween Horror Nights page, I highly recommend getting in the queue at least 45 minutes prior to the show starting to get a good spot. The fan base for these entertainers is next level, so you’ll need to make sure you plan ahead.

The other show was new this year, Haunt-O-Phonic. It was a water projection show and honestly, I watched it twice because I was so mesmerized by it. This is an awesome addition to HHN (and honestly, the mist from the fountains is a free cooldown opportunity!). I recommend getting a spot near Central Park in the New York area because there’s many fences you can lean against and it’s a central view of the show.

Houses & Scare Zones Ranked:

The moment you’ve been waiting for…my spoiler-free rankings of the houses and scare zones. Keep in mind that these are just based off of my experience, it’s possible that your rankings are completely different!

Scare Zones:

1. Masquerade
   • I loved this so much! It reminded me so much of Phantom of the Opera. This is a must see!
2. Mutations: Toxic Twenties
   • The actors are phenomenal with this theme. Take some extra time to look around at the buildings nearby…
3. The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane
   • As a cat lover, I was obsessed with this theme. So fun! There’s also a small show at the end of the scare zone.
4. The Origins of Horror
   • This was the first scare zone at the beginning of the park; it was fine, but it wasn’t anything extraordinary. I do recommend checking out the stone busts of the houses though!

There were two other “scare zones” at HHN this year: Mel’s Die-In Zombies and Club Horror. Club Horror was just so much fun, I loved dancing my way through the scare zones (and I guess Art the Clown likes to party here too).

The Haunted Houses:

1. Grave of Flesh
   • I loved this house. I’ve heard mixed reviews but I found this one to be scariest to me and the set design was phenomenal. Maybe it was just catching lightning in a bottle?
2. Gálkn: Monsters of the North
   • Another Universal original! Absolutely beautiful set design and the scares were top notch.
3. WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks
   • This was one of the first houses we went in and it was surprising how well done it was. Constant scares and the actors are extremely tall and frightening.
4. Terrifier
   • I watched all three Terrifier movies in preparation for this house. It delivered on the scares and the iconic scenes are there. You gotta do the wet path too!
5. El Artista: A Spanish Haunting
   • This house was visually stunning and the storyline was captivating. I loved it!
6. Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters
   • Such a fun house! This one scared a member of my group so bad, it was worth the wait for that alone (haha!)
7. Five Nights at Freddy’s
   • If you’re a fan of the games/movies, you’re gonna love this. I found it to be very nostalgic and was happy to see FNAF finally at HHN! The line for this is asinine though, so make sure you plan accordingly.
8. Fallout
   • I’ve never seen the show so I had no idea what to expect, but it was a solid house. However, if it’s a high wait, I’d recommend checking out one of the other higher ranked houses.
9. Jason Universe
   • I have to be honest, I didn’t care for this house. I found it to be repetitive and lackluster. I would say catching this at night may be a different setting and more thrilling; I queued for this when the sun was still out.
10. Dolls: Let’s Play Dead
    • I liked this house, but it wasn’t spectacular. It was campy and fun but the scares weren’t there for me. I recommend catching this when the wait is low!

Final Thoughts and Tips:

• If you are an annual pass holder or have day tickets to Studios, take advantage of the Stay & Scream bracelets. The smallest line was at Lombardi’s and we utilized this perk to queue up for big houses.
• Make sure to check all food and drink items for allergens. My biggest complaint was how small the indicators were on some of the items (it’s super dark out too) and we had many close encounters with allergens.
• Do research ahead of time for food and drink items you’d like to have. The lines look massive, but honestly they have a solid system and the lines move quickly!

If you have any questions or want to discuss HHN, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out on my different social media platforms! I’d love to chat about this 🙂