Halloween Horror Nights 34 (UOR) - Reviews, Photos, & Videos

[johnathanm]

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about the AAP but still can’t quite pin what the issue seems to be. All of the houses and queues are fully accessible to wheelchairs; mobility issues would not traditionally qualify for one of these passes. So I’m not sure what exactly Universal did wrong here. Having to get a return time from the end of a walking path without shade or seating shouldn’t impact an AAP user any more or less than a non-AAP user.

(I know I’m picking apart one minor part of your otherwise glowing review, this is just the most detailed version of AAP angst I’ve seen so far).

A member of my group uses an AAP - it’s not a huge complaint but the basic idea is rather than having an AAP return time retrieval table in a more centralized place (near minions like last year), they have it in the back of house near the soundstage house entrances. That means in order to do any one house with a backstage entrance, those with AAPs must do that walk twice (barring they used the table near MIB to snag a return): first to get a return time, and then to return to the house. I get what they were going for having it back there, but I think the best solution is a third table somewhere in the vicinity of minions or HHN bar.

P.S. mods sorry for the off topic conversation, but thought this warranted a response.

 

[Tobias]

Back home from my convention trip, and I was able to drop by for Opening Night, so here's my quick first impressions.

I'm absolutely a fan of the new Stay and Scream wristband process. Was super easy getting the wristband at Villian-Con, and it was really nice being able to walk around, hit up E.T. and MIB, take shelter in a shop or Fast Food Blvd to get out of the sun/rain. I will happily do more Stay and Scream's with this process!

As for my first impressions house rankings...

1. El Artista - This house is absolutely gorgeous, you can see very quickly why they had the overall theme revolve around the conservatory and had this house as the first original announced.

2. Jason Universe - Easily gave me the biggest scare of the night, fantastic use of the location, too.

3. Galkn - I love me some good creatures, and this house was chock full of them with some great sets and puppets, too! Very aggressive and memorable finale as well.

4. FNaF - Being a fan of the series, I wasn't expecting to get scared, I was just hoping for great animatronics and atmosphere, and they delivered that for me!

5. Dolls - Oooh, this house is unsettling, disturbing and I did NOT do well my first time through as the mannequins/dolls struck that serious uncanny valley which creeps me out. Great time overall, though!

6. Grave of Flesh - Love the creatures, the sets can get very cool, and when the scares hit, they hit pretty darn good. Definite room for improvement, though the story does get lost on me with how weird the sets get.

7. Hatchet and Chains - To preface, this was my first house and it was missing actors in a good chunk of spots and that's where it landed at 7. I went again later around 11 and this house absolutely kicks butt with great scares, sets and a lot of neat effects. Definitely a sleeper/dark horse for me!

8. Wyatt Sicks - Timing was a tad off for me on this, so there's room for improvement. Overall I really enjoyed this one. Lot of neat sets, some wonderfully creepy segments and a bunch of little touches which I appreciated.

9. Fallout - Great sets, lookalikes, I did enjoy it though there's other houses which I just personally enjoy more.

10. Terrifier - I will say I did enjoy this one more than I thought, so that definitely is a plus! There's some pretty neat sets in here, and the actors are going for it. I did enjoy the wet path as that was pretty refreshing to be honest. But for me, it's an IP I don't really care for, plus it's the kind of gore house I thought it would be, so it just doesn't hit like the other houses for me.

This is a very solid house line up! Well done to A&D and the casts, and I can't wait to see how they improve in a couple weeks!

Scare zones are a massive 180 compared to last year, they're all fun!
I did enjoy the roaming Art's, they really are the most effective like this be it creepy or goofy.
Haunt-O-Phonic/Ghoulish was great, loved all the little tweaks and the couple song changes they made.
Didn't see Nightmare Fuel, but I will in a couple weeks.

Like what a lot of folks have already mentioned, we are so back! From the houses, to the zones, to the overall atmosphere, this is a far more cohesive and promising year compared to last year's half-baked execution.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I’ve seen a lot of chatter about the AAP but still can’t quite pin what the issue seems to be. All of the houses and queues are fully accessible to wheelchairs; mobility issues would not traditionally qualify for one of these passes. So I’m not sure what exactly Universal did wrong here. Having to get a return time from the end of a walking path without shade or seating shouldn’t impact an AAP user any more or less than a non-AAP user.

(I know I’m picking apart one minor part of your otherwise glowing review, this is just the most detailed version of AAP angst I’ve seen so far).

A member of my group uses an AAP - it’s not a huge complaint but the basic idea is rather than having an AAP return time retrieval table in a more centralized place (near minions like last year), they have it in the back of house near the soundstage house entrances. That means in order to do any one house with a backstage entrance, those with AAPs must do that walk twice (barring they used the table near MIB to snag a return): first to get a return time, and then to return to the house. I get what they were going for having it back there, but I think the best solution is a third table somewhere in the vicinity of minions or HHN bar.

P.S. mods sorry for the off topic conversation, but thought this warranted a response.

Main issue I have (mobility issues have nothing to do with it), as johnathanm mentioned, is that you have to walk all the way back to FNAF/WWE to receive a return time. Sort of have to go out of the way to do it, only to then return back to the main park (since there's no seating back there) and wait out however long your return time is. Really all they need to do is move that table over to Villain-Con, not a big deal. Easy to fix.

The other issue is the lack of communication when it came to how AAP is utilized during S&S. Saw lots of guests just waiting out in the sun over by the FNAF/WWE table not knowing about the change when they could have been told in advance and wait it out somewhere more comfortably.

I understand they want to curb abuse (and they've done a decent job at it), but I don't think this was the right approach IMO.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Main issue I have (mobility issues have nothing to do with it), as johnathanm mentioned, is that you have to walk all the way back to FNAF/WWE to receive a return time. Sort of have to go out of the way to do it, only to then return back to the main park (since there's no seating back there) and wait out however long your return time is. Really all they need to do is move that table over to Villain-Con, not a big deal. Easy to fix.

The other issue is the lack of communication when it came to how AAP is utilized during S&S. Saw lots of guests just waiting out in the sun over by the FNAF/WWE table not knowing about the change when they could have been told in advance and wait it out somewhere more comfortably.

I understand they want to curb abuse (and they've done a decent job at it), but I don't think this was the right approach IMO.

just curious, do they still give times at the houses themselves? Just sounds like the issue is the first time they get as I assume (the thought or plan) would be to pick up a time for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th sound stage while still back there -- but then again, I am sure the wait time is spent in the park proper so it would still be just as easy to leave the 'sound stage hub area' and use a table out there w/o needing to get it before leaving the 'hub' area -- just thinking (if they do not give times out at the queue themselves) it could force you back to the park -- say one house has a short enough line to handle to wait out a return time --

methinks the real answer is to have more to do back there -- food/drinks/restrooms but that would not make way for seating -- so the easy answer is more place to get return times! (or adjust the VQ software to enable to AAP/HHN uses)

 

[Brian G.]

 

[Chumpieboy]

Main issue I have (mobility issues have nothing to do with it), as johnathanm mentioned, is that you have to walk all the way back to FNAF/WWE to receive a return time. Sort of have to go out of the way to do it, only to then return back to the main park (since there's no seating back there) and wait out however long your return time is. Really all they need to do is move that table over to Villain-Con, not a big deal. Easy to fix.

Is there only one table? Would that same issue exist if you had to go from the back of the park to the hypothetical villaincon table then back to the tent house locations?

Genuinely curious not trying to start nothing…

 

[coastercody]

Is there only one table? Would that same issue exist if you had to go from the back of the park to the hypothetical villaincon table then back to the tent house locations?

Genuinely curious not trying to start nothing…

There's a table in the back of the park as well

 

[johnathanm]

just curious, do they still give times at the houses themselves? Just sounds like the issue is the first time they get as I assume (the thought or plan) would be to pick up a time for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th sound stage while still back there -- but then again, I am sure the wait time is spent in the park proper so it would still be just as easy to leave the 'sound stage hub area' and use a table out there w/o needing to get it before leaving the 'hub' area -- just thinking (if they do not give times out at the queue themselves) it could force you back to the park -- say one house has a short enough line to handle to wait out a return time --

methinks the real answer is to have more to do back there -- food/drinks/restrooms but that would not make way for seating -- so the easy answer is more place to get return times! (or adjust the VQ software to enable to AAP/HHN uses)

Is there only one table? Would that same issue exist if you had to go from the back of the park to the hypothetical villaincon table then back to the tent house locations?

Genuinely curious not trying to start nothing…

Yeah - the issue is with the house exit routes. Most of them don’t exit near where they enter. FNAF and WWE in particular (the closest portals to the AAP table in question) are the furthest walk possible from the existing soundstage exits, three of which spit you out effectively right at the Fallon bathrooms.

So effectively, if the table was at minions, you could exit a house, get the return, hang in the park, then return to your designated house at your time. In this case, you’d have to take the long walk back around to get a return at a portal (or the table), then return to the park to wait out your time, then take the long walk back to the house at your designated time.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

So effectively, if the table was at minions, you could exit a house, get the return, hang in the park, then return to your designated house at your time. In this case, you’d have to take the long walk back around to get a return at a portal (or the table), then return to the park to wait out your time, then take the long walk back to the house at your designated time.

Yeah, issue is once you utilize an AAP for one of the houses, you now have to go back to either the house entrance itself or to that AAP table back by WWE/FNAF.

Heck, I think the best location would be right at the exit of FNAF/WWE as it will be close to a major resting/F&B area and not require guests to make that long walk back to FNAF/WWE or deal with that annoying walk to get to Terrifier/Grave.

 

[johnathanm]

Yeah, issue is once you utilize an AAP for one of the houses, you now have to go back to either the house entrance itself or to that AAP table back by WWE/FNAF.

Heck, I think the best location would be right at the exit of FNAF/WWE as it will be close to a major resting/F&B area and not require guests to make that long walk back to FNAF/WWE or deal with that annoying walk to get to Terrifier/Grave.

That location would be perfect except it’s unfortunately so crowded right there

 

[Brian G.]

Review tomorrow.

 

[Rikku]

First time attending opening weekend and did Premium Scream Night and my only operations complaints really stem from PSN as many others have discussed that it was oversold resulting in lines that didn't feel worth the price. Especially after utilizing Express the rest of the weekend and had similar or less waits it just soured the experience and think PSN needs a lot of re-working if they are to bring it back next year. However I feel I always remember reading about how Express doesn't work that well opening weekend as ops is still figuring it out however I had no trouble with utilizing it anywhere and found tons of value in it. Everything else worked just as how I expected it too and how it feels when I normally attend the event at the end of October and was pleased. However I saw lots of ops complaints, as mentioned here the AAP tables and of course the soundstage paths are truly crazy this year which are all fair critiques that Universal needs to hear but I certainly hope the creative teams get their flowers and hear the compliments as this is truly one of the best line-ups in years, easily best since COVID for sure. My top 6 houses I think could've been HOTY if they appeared separately one of these past few years.


I found ranking the houses this year the hardest in a long time and think the top 6 are interchangeable just pending on the run you have. It just truly highlights how weak last year was when I had a clear bottom 5 and this year I only have one clear dud.

1 - Jason - Obviously not the strongest house with visuals, but it is the house I had the most fun in. Consistently got got in this house and found the actors impressively aggressive. I just always left the house with a smile and the point of being at HHN is to have fun and I felt that in this house.

2/3 - Terrifier - Same thing as Jason I just have fun with this house and it did what HHN does best, turn a property I don't care for into an amazing house. Consistently got the scares, just truly I don't think there is anything else I think could've been asked from this house.
2/3 - Artista - One of the most stunning houses ever but also supplies the scares, which is something I think beautiful houses like Dead Man's Pier suffer to balance with. Just truly an immaculate house and even when I had a few "miss" runs I was never disappointed to walk through it and just take it all in.

4/5/6 - Galkn, Hatchet & Chains, Dolls - I can't rank these three as I find them all on the same level and just truly superior originals. Gorgeous set pieces, scares are there, fun ideas, I am just happy to go through them anytime. I think even on some nights when I had a perfect run they could crack top 3, but I had enough inconsistent runs that I put them in the bottom half of the top 6.

7 - Wyatt Sicks - I think this house looks great, I have fun with it but as someone who isn't familiar with the property I do think it is confusing on what exactly I am seeing. Never a bad time just don't get what's happening.

8 - Fallout - The opposite of Terrifier this was the property I am eager to see that fails as a HHN house. Not a complete loss I do have some fun moments in the house but too many missed opportunities to rank it any higher. The one I think really stands out to me is the amount of Lucy scares was the wrong choice as she isn't threatening, it should've been loaded with Ghoul scares and the hallway with refrigerators should've had the doors opening as I think that would've had a bigger impact. Just missed opportunities on both fronts of making it scarier or making it more visually striking.

9 - FNAF - The animatronics are absolutely amazing and impressive. Truly applaud the team for their efforts but that's it. The actors just being victims screaming feels like a waste as basically we are all just here for the animatronics. Not scary and I appreciate the efforts but once you've seen it there isn't much else to get from it.

10 - Grave of Flesh - The only true dud of the season I'd say. This house gives me such Spirits of the Coven vibes in design and feel. While it is nowhere near as bad as some all-time lows like Chucky but doesn't stack up against the other 9 by a mile. It commits the sin of being repetitive and boring on all fronts.

Scarezones feel the best they have in a long time with I think undisputed GOAT being Cat Lady zone. Mel's zombies are a nice touch and while I think it does leave a lot on the table I think Club Horror the idea is correct for this area just needs some fleshing out for Club Horror volume 2 next year, it is just too barebones in it's current form.

The houses feel intense and same time high production value and gorgeous. Also love how close all the actors get, especially when they felt a mile away in houses like Monstrous last year. I just hope the appropriate teams get the feedback that this is the path I want HHN to pursue moving forward, it is a great year. Food leaves something to be desired but if that is the one sore spot we are doing good. Please keep this momentum HHN, this is the HHN I fell in love with.

 

[Brian G.]

OK, so I didn't think I was going to get the review out today, then thought there was a chance... but now I definitely know it's gonna be tomorrow AM...

In the meantime, here's more vids

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Overall, this is the best year since 2019 and a top 3 year since I've started attending in 2014. It's an excellent lineup of houses with good variety, and even the 10th place house still has some merits to it. I may or may not try to go back in October depending on my work schedule and budget, but if I don't, this was a super strong weekend.

1. Terrifier - 9.5/10 (3 runs): I have never been more glad to be proven wrong about a house than this one as someone who isn't big on the franchise. It has genuinely inventive effects for the event, whether it's the wet path (which got wetter on every run) or the intestine SIF. The house balances great scares with extremely dark humor, and by my last run, the majority of Arts were playful and receptive to my reactions.

2. El Artista - 9.5/10 (2 runs): One of the most gorgeous houses I've ever experienced at the event, El Artista feels like old school HHN with 2025 money. I love how the house flows, and every scareactor has a purpose to the larger story beyond being spooky creatures. This is possibly the best original since Scarecrow.

3. Jason Un1v3rse - 9/10 (3 runs): By far the most aggresive cast of the year, I never missed more than a few scares on any of my runs. The "hallway" finale feels so maddening to walk through. It's a unique use of the Supercharged queue too and continues demonstrating the venue as a strong location when utilized properly.

4. Fallout - 8.5/10 (4 runs): This is the only house I did 4 times on opening weekend. Initially, I thought it was solid with fun references for a fan like myself but not scary at all. Over the weekend, the casts really found their grooves and became more aggressive and quicker with reset times. The house is a blast to go through, but the finale keeps it from being a truly great house (why are we ending with The Ghoul and Maximus in a dark hallway to New Vegas?). With how much merch is selling, hopefully a New Vegas house for Season 2 would improve upon this one (and gets a soundstage).

5. WWE Presents: The Horros of the Wyatt Sicks - 8/10 (2 runs): My first run on opening night was a surprise hit with the cast going all in on tag team scares and getting in your face. My second run through was only half staffed for some reason, and the house's shortcomings became a bit more apparent. It's got a great progression from the Wyatt Sicks into Bray Wyatt's mind, but aside from a few rooms (especially the monitor room), the set design isn't too impressive for a soundstage house. When the cast is firing on all cylinders though, it's a great walk through.

6. Dolls: Let's Play Dead - 8/10 (3 runs): C R E E P Y to the core, my first run through the house genuinely got under my skin. It's a much different house than Dollhouse of the Damned, for better or worse. On subsequent walkthroughs, the actors' positioning throughout the house doesn't really allow for close quarter scares, and some rooms feel a bit wasted.

7. Five Nights at Freddy's - 7.5/10 (2 runs): As I said in the house thread, I found this to be quite a surreal and hilarious experience. It's a house with few scareactors but lots of puppets and animatronics, and while it isn't scary, it's a fun walkthrough experience.

8. Galkn: Monsters of the North - 7.5/10 (3 runs): Something feels missing from this house, and I can't quite put my finger on it. There are strong sets with some fun jumps, but the house seemed more epic than scary to me. The character designs feel a little generic despite some variation (looking at you Hatchet & Chains...), and a village going crazy doesn't feel fresh for the event when Bloodmoon was recent.

9. Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters - 7/10 (3 runs): As I just alluded to, this house has almost no variation in its demon design. While some boo holes are positioned well, the repetitive character design makes the house feel stale quickly. There are a few fun rooms and setpieces like the train in here, but the house confirmed what I feared when this was selected as the first Slaughter Sinema spinoff house: it feels caught between wanting to be a dark comedic house and a genuinely scary one, and the indecisiveness hurts it on the whole.

10. Grave of Flesh - 6/10 (2 runs): This was the clear weak link on opening night, though not entirely bad. The sets have a fun progression the deeper in you go, but many boo holes are too far from the path with bulky costumes that restrict movement from actors. My second run was a bit less exciting without the newness factor and bumped my rating down a point. The only way this house can be saved is if they redesign the costumes halfway through like Depths of Fear, but that won't fix all the house's issues.

The scarezones were impressive this year with Cat Lady maybe being the best zone I've ever seen in my decade going to the event. I absolutely loved the side path with boo holes. Toxic Twenties and Masquerade are also fun zones with energetic casts.

The lagoon show was.... fine. I wish it had IPs included like 2019, but it's a solid 10 minute distraction from long lines. I did not see Nightmare Fuel as I've never been a fan of any iteration I've seen and didn't want to lose time from the houses with how big crowds were this weekend.

 

[Brian G.]

Halloween Horror Nights 34 is here, and the horror vibes are, as they say, immaculate. Everything feels connected and thoughtfully designed. Basically, they knocked it out of the friggin' park.

REVIEW: Halloween Horror Nights 34 at Universal Orlando

The fog has returned as Universal's premier Halloween event is back with a vengeance, unleashing a fresh lineup of haunted houses and experiences for Halloween Horror Nights 34. This year's line-up is arguably one of the most stacked line-ups the event has ever had, featuring several properties t

www.insideuniversal.net

 

[Frank Drackman]

 

[krazyhorrorkid]

You know after last year being the biggest dumpster fire I think I’ve ever seen in the history of myself attending Halloween Horror Nights I actually was heavily considering not attending this year if it was looking like they didn’t get their crap together. Oh my god I am so happy to be wrong.

34 is a pure spectacle. It’s the most stunning, cohesive, and terrifying year I’ve ever been too. It’s restored my faith that there is still juice left in the tank and that A&D actually listens to what the fans actually want and take guest feedback seriously.
I have a lot to say but I’ve seen every house now atleast twice across two visits so I can fairly rank everything.

-RANKINGS- HHN 34
El Artista
Dolls
Galkn
Five Nights At Freddy’s
Terrifier
Wyatt
Jason Universe
Hatchet and Chains
Grave of Flesh
Fallout

I think the bottom three here are still great houses and everyone can still find enjoyment out of all of them.

Jason Universe is probably the best house in that location and is super fun to go through. I think I need to see it more. Though I don’t think it’s as strong as Insidious like some have said.

Wyatt sicks is clearly a passion project for some members of the design crew and it shows. I don’t know jack about WWE or the Wyatt Sicks but I still found myself enjoying it on my runs.

Terrifier is sitting at a lot of people’s top 3 and I totally get why. It’s gritty like the films while also being very fun. Every actor in Terrifier understands the assignment and knocks it out of the damn park.

My long awaited Golden Goose, Five Nights at Freddy’s went and blew me away with the atmosphere and its awesome puppetry effects and was well worth the wait. Hopefully they can actually get Foxy moving soon because I feel like that scene may actually move it up on some lists.

Now these top three houses is the best set of Originals I’ve ever seen in one given year.

Galkn is just an adrenaline rush all the way through. A good run of this house will have your blood pumping for sure. The sets and costuming here is just top notch HHN.

I find it hard to believe Dolls rates so low for so many people. It is insanely quotable and the actors are very very aggressive. This may also be the best GAT’s I’ve seen in a house personally. The smells and that room you can practically taste is just pure HHN magic. Great stuff here.

I will also say that all the scare zones this year are good to great. Masquerade and Cat Lady are my main takeaways with Crooked lane being my favorite Central Park zone ever.

Finally, El Artista.
You know not many houses have me walking away in shock, in my nine years of attending I’ve thought I have seen it all.
Once again, I was wrong.
El Artista A Spanish Haunting is quite simply a fantastic piece of storytelling. A stunning innovative house that had me gripped from that jaw dropping facade to its final epic conclusion. The set pieces are the best in any house I’ve seen. I was just in awe the entire time. I think the narration can get muddy sometimes but it helps for sure on reruns. I also got many great scares. But what truly makes this house so great is that it balances environment, story, and scares in a way I’ve never seen. Everyone, even if they do not like haunted houses or HHN MUST see El Artista.

I am proud to say it is best house I’ve ever seen and sits on top of all my greatest hits throughout my attended years.

I’ll be returning a few more times this year to truly just enjoy it.
A&D more years like this please.

See you in the fog.

 

[Frank Drackman]

 

[velocicoasterswife]

Got to everything except Grave of Flesh (seems like I picked the right one to miss).

9. Hatchet & Chains - Maybe I just had a bad run, but this one left me pretty underwhelmed. A few cool sets, but... wasn't this a cowboy house? Way too much Lava Demon, not enough Western, which was exactly my worry going in.

8. Fallout - Biggest disappointment of the year by far. Fallout is all about the advent of a new American frontier, one that highlights the ugliness of the frontier ideal, vast expanses full of awful people and terrible monsters. This was just a bunch of tight hallways full of Ella Purnell. Eh!!

7. Jason Universe - Probably an awesome house if you get a perfect run, but if you see the scares in advance (which most people will), this one doesn't have much to offer. Kind of lame sets and there's not a ton of creativity to the way the scares are executed. The hallway of Jasons is great, of course, and I love the second facade with the hockey mask, but I felt like this one had so much potential and came up pretty short.

6. Five Nights at Freddy's - The animatronics are awesome and it's not hampered by the movie the way I thought it might be, but there aren't quite enough scares for me and the sets could have been a little more exciting. Super cool as a fan but I wouldn't have been all that devastated if I missed it.

5. Dolls - The top half of this list is just hit after hit after hit. So much fun. I loved the scenic design in here, I loved that it was more Toy Story and less The Boy, the actors were so fun. I'm not crazy about the screen use, but on the whole, what a cool house!!

4. Wyatt Sicks - Way more fanservice-y than I expected, and all the better for it. HHN forced me to get into the Wyatt Sicks and then it rewarded me for doing my homework with a dream house for fans. The Firefly Fun House was great, recreating the team's first appearance made me genuinely giddy, that Huskus room is scary. Loved this one!!

3. Galkn - Much better use of the tent than Fallout, much more forgiving on a bad run than Jason. The sets and costumes are so wonderful and the last run of scares is so effective no matter where you are in line. I really liked this one on a perfect run and I really liked it on a weak run. Pretty perfect original house!

2. Terrifier - The top two spots are so competitive this year, and Terrifier could easily take number one if I think about it a little longer. This one had the best actors by far, all extremely responsive to the crowd in a way that makes them fun to see even if you miss their scares. I loved dancing with Art in the Clown Cafe, applauding for his kills and watching him bow, getting blasted in the face by his compressed air. This house made me like Terrifier more, highlighted the impish silliness of its violence in a way that truly delighted me. Lots of unexpected scares, too.

1. El Artista - Hooooooooooooly poop. Like Galkn, I had a "good" run and a "bad" run and they both ruled. I expected pretty-not-scary, but I got gorgeous and terrifying. The long stretches of silence let you get lost in the brilliant scenic design so the scares are genuinely unexpected! So creative, so pretty, just a great time all around.

In terms of scare zones, Toxic Twenties was the clear best, great energy from the actors, real scares, real laughs. Cat Lady was gorgeously designed but just a little too busy for the actors to really thrive, although they had a lot of fun during Stay and Scream. Masquerade was small and not particularly scary, but the stilt walkers were awesome, the music was lovely, and that big glowy set piece in the center was super cool. Origins of Horror was a great intro to the event, I loved those bird guys. I wish the Wyatt Sicks statue was Uncle Howdy or the Fiend instead of the WWE logo, though!

Other highlights included:

Dead Coconut Club: Koven - I went with some friends from school this year (we all graduated from one of the more legendary American party schools) and we all agreed this was amazingly well executed. Maybe my favorite part of the entire event. Super cute, the little show was so fun, the level of detail surpassed some permanent attractions in the parks. I could have spent hours in here. Open this place on non-event nights, I'll stay till 2am! The Kappa Killer was also my favorite drink of the entire event (shoutout to Phantom Punch, though).

Haunt-o-Phonic - I'd love to see IP back in the lagoon show, especially this year, but failing that miracle, this was still a really nice nighttime spectacular. Fun music, fun visuals. Nothing mind-blowing, but I watched it once-and-a-half and had a great time.

Nightmare Fuel - I don't care what anyone says, this show owns. The acts are extremely impressive, the crowd energy is fantastic, and somehow, with more dangerous stunts and a less permanent venue than either of the new shows at Epic Universe, it's both more reliable and more enjoyable than both!

Club Horror - I get why this underwhelms people, and I would probably prefer a real scare zone, but the energy back here was always fun and the lines at the bar were always short. How could I complain?

Mel's Die-In - These actors were SO fun I couldn't resist hanging around for a while. Keep this around every year!!!!

As for the Tribute Store, well... You can't have everything.

 

[Frank Drackman]