Halloween Horror Nights is awesome, but there’s one way Universal Orlando could make it even better

Halloween Horror Nights is often seen as the best of what Universal Orlando Resort has to offer. The parks differentiate themselves from the more family-oriented Disney in that they aren’t afraid to promote the scary parts of the spooky season, creating a late-night event that isn’t for everyone, but is definitely something that many people want. There’s no denying that no one does it quite like Universal, but some of the resort’s hard work can go unnoticed by fans, and something needs to be done to fix that.

There are two types of houses at Halloween Horror Nights. There are those that are based on popular movies that many guests have seen, and those that are original concepts created specifically for the event. In the first category this year are houses based on A quiet place and new Ghostbusters house based on Frozen Empire. If you’ve seen these movies, you know the story they tell.

In the second category, however, things are a bit different. A house like Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines uses classic characters that guests are familiar with but tells a completely new story. Other houses, like Triplets of Terror, are completely original concepts. These are often the best houses, and some are the best Halloween Horror Nights houses of 2024. Universal Orlando has made a point of highlighting original houses over IP-inspired ones this year, showing its commitment to those original stories.

CinemaBlend’s Tiffney Ma recently attended Halloween Horror Nights and was able to take part in the RIP Tour courtesy of Universal Orlando, where a guide took her around the park and introduced her to each house. For her, it provided important context that she didn’t think she would have understood before. She told me…

There were aspects of the house that I would not have noticed if not for the guide who gave me information before entering, which allowed me to see the nuances and all the extra details. All the houses have really good stories and my experience was so much richer because of that information.

This is certainly an argument for the RIP Tour, as it not only helps you quickly walk through all 10 homes (although it definitely does that), but it also provides information that you can’t get by just walking through the home. But it’s not something that will be available at every price point.

If you’re a local who has a Frequent Fear pass and often attends Halloween Horror Nights during the season, you’ll likely be able to pick up on the story elements on repeat visits, even if you missed something the first time around.

But it’s unfortunate if parts of the story end up getting lost for many guests. It’s frustrating for them if there are things they don’t understand, but it’s also frustrating for the people who put all the work into Halloween Horror Nights if part of their work goes unnoticed.

Many of these original houses are sequels to each other or related in some way. There is a pretty deep history surrounding many of the icons of Halloween Horror Nights. Regular guests know this, but learning it is the kind of thing that can turn a new guest into a regular guest.

Time is of the essence at the HHN house, so some kind of information dump early on probably isn’t the answer. But there should be some way, maybe by providing more details about each house on the Universal Orlando app, which could provide a backstory or details to guests who want them. You might gain a new appreciation for the house design, the makeup work, and the scary actors from some of these details. It’s something that should happen to everyone.

Hfordersets

Halloween Horror Nights is awesome, but there’s one way Universal Orlando could make it even better

justin

justin

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