This will be an unprecedented sort of entry for this blog; It doesn't involve a movie (Directly, anyway), TV show, book, or video game. It involves a seasonal event at a theme park.
I am a devoted fan of Universal Studios' annual "Halloween Horror Nights" event. This is in fact my thirteenth year of attending it. I went each year from 2007 through 2010, for one night in 2014 (I was only able to hit about half the Houses that year, but my friends and I made good choices on which ones to hit), then each year from 2015 to the present, including the sort of quasi- year they had in 2020, in which they didn't technically have the event due to the pandemic, but opened a couple of the planned Houses during regular park hours (It was christened "Halloween Horror Lite" by fans for that reason).
(Credit for this image goes to the user HorrorUnearthed on the Halloween Horror Nights wiki at https://halloweenhorrornights.fandom.com/wiki/Halloween_Horror_Nights_31?file=3E0A51B3-337C-4EB3-8E6F-5FD6214C62DC.jpeg)
First, I might as well describe it for those who are unfamiliar with the event:
Halloween Horror Nights is an annual Halloween event they have at the Universal Studios theme park, after normal park hours. It was first held in 1991, though that first year it was known as "Fright Nights." It's been held every year since, if you again count the quasi- event they held in 2020.
While a few of Universal Studios' normal rides are open during the event (Mainly the really popular ones like 'Revenge of the Mummy,' 'Men in Black: The Ride,' and 'Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit'), people tend to come to Horror Nights more for the terrifying special features it has. The big focus of the event is on the Haunted Houses (Sometimes known as "Mazes," even though you travel in a normal walking path through each of them), scattered throughout the park, some based on previous intellectual properties like movies or TV shows, while others are original concepts that the events' writers came up with. After waiting in line like you would for a ride, you eventually enter the Houses, and make your way through them, with performers known as "Scareactors" popping out at you at random points in each room. Each House takes approximately 3-5 minutes to walk through, and they're usually pretty dark and there is NO flash photography or video recording allowed.
A nice thing about the event is that, to ease the tension a bit, each year usually features at least one "Scary/ funny" House that blends laughs with screams through the use of dark humor in various forms.
While a few of Universal Studios' normal rides are open during the event (Mainly the really popular ones like 'Revenge of the Mummy,' 'Men in Black: The Ride,' and 'Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit'), people tend to come to Horror Nights more for the terrifying special features it has. The big focus of the event is on the Haunted Houses (Sometimes known as "Mazes," even though you travel in a normal walking path through each of them), scattered throughout the park, some based on previous intellectual properties like movies or TV shows, while others are original concepts that the events' writers came up with. After waiting in line like you would for a ride, you eventually enter the Houses, and make your way through them, with performers known as "Scareactors" popping out at you at random points in each room. Each House takes approximately 3-5 minutes to walk through, and they're usually pretty dark and there is NO flash photography or video recording allowed.
A nice thing about the event is that, to ease the tension a bit, each year usually features at least one "Scary/ funny" House that blends laughs with screams through the use of dark humor in various forms.
In addition to the Houses, there are also what are known as "Scare Zones." These are areas in the normal walking spaces of the park which each have a special theme and their own Scareactors who might similarly jump out at you or lunge at you, but whom you can also take pictures of or with if you so choose.
The third unique feature to Halloween Horror Nights is that there is often at least one live show each year. For decades, there was 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure,' which had the famous movie duo and their time- traveling phone booth hilariously satirizing whatever movies, shows and celebrities were big that year. Sadly, it ended in 2017. The performance dance troupe known as Academy of Villains have also had a few shows at Horror Nights in recent years, but that too ended a couple years ago when the troupe was forced to more or less disband amid a "Me Too"- esque scandal. There is frequently also a magic show of some sort, and they've recently started having a lagoon show in which the fountains and bursts of water on the theme park's lagoon are combined with creepy holographic images projected onto them to create a nice little show.
Another element that Halloween Horror Nights often has is an "Icon," a scary original character who acts as the host/ Master of Ceremonies for that year. For this year, they're bringing back an evil being known as "The Pumpkin Lord" who is kind of the master of Halloween, and first debuted last year in the marvelous "Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin" House.
One more just generally cool perk about Halloween Horror Nights is the specialty foods and drinks they serve at the events. As a matter of fact, from what I've heard, the profits made off of HHN's specialty drink sales alone make it one of Universal's biggest moneymakers of the entire year! While I can't speak for the drinks (I can't hold alcohol very well, and by the end of the night am usually battling fatigue already, so I don't want to have any alcohol in my system when I'm driving home to worsen things), the foods are usually awesome, and this year they've seriously outdone themselves! I highly recommend the Pizza Fries (French fries topped with cheese, marinara sauce, pepperoni, and often bits of hamburger), as they are a longtime staple of Horror Nights for a good reason. Another French Fry- related dish which they debuted this year that is pretty good are their "Petrified rat tails" (Funnel cake fries topped with crab dip and chopped scallions). One dessert item I'd suggest avoiding is the "Major Sweets' Ice Cream Sandwich," which is a quite large ice cream sandwich with two candy- corn- shaped cookies (With a cute face drawn on them) and candy- corn- flavored ice cream. It tastes really good and all, but the cookies are too thick and hard to really work for an ice cream sandwich, and the ice cream melts FAST.
The third unique feature to Halloween Horror Nights is that there is often at least one live show each year. For decades, there was 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure,' which had the famous movie duo and their time- traveling phone booth hilariously satirizing whatever movies, shows and celebrities were big that year. Sadly, it ended in 2017. The performance dance troupe known as Academy of Villains have also had a few shows at Horror Nights in recent years, but that too ended a couple years ago when the troupe was forced to more or less disband amid a "Me Too"- esque scandal. There is frequently also a magic show of some sort, and they've recently started having a lagoon show in which the fountains and bursts of water on the theme park's lagoon are combined with creepy holographic images projected onto them to create a nice little show.
Another element that Halloween Horror Nights often has is an "Icon," a scary original character who acts as the host/ Master of Ceremonies for that year. For this year, they're bringing back an evil being known as "The Pumpkin Lord" who is kind of the master of Halloween, and first debuted last year in the marvelous "Wicked Growth: Realm of the Pumpkin" House.
One more just generally cool perk about Halloween Horror Nights is the specialty foods and drinks they serve at the events. As a matter of fact, from what I've heard, the profits made off of HHN's specialty drink sales alone make it one of Universal's biggest moneymakers of the entire year! While I can't speak for the drinks (I can't hold alcohol very well, and by the end of the night am usually battling fatigue already, so I don't want to have any alcohol in my system when I'm driving home to worsen things), the foods are usually awesome, and this year they've seriously outdone themselves! I highly recommend the Pizza Fries (French fries topped with cheese, marinara sauce, pepperoni, and often bits of hamburger), as they are a longtime staple of Horror Nights for a good reason. Another French Fry- related dish which they debuted this year that is pretty good are their "Petrified rat tails" (Funnel cake fries topped with crab dip and chopped scallions). One dessert item I'd suggest avoiding is the "Major Sweets' Ice Cream Sandwich," which is a quite large ice cream sandwich with two candy- corn- shaped cookies (With a cute face drawn on them) and candy- corn- flavored ice cream. It tastes really good and all, but the cookies are too thick and hard to really work for an ice cream sandwich, and the ice cream melts FAST.
Here are the Haunted Houses they have this year, and my thoughts on them:
1. 'Halloween.' A walkthrough of scenes from John Carpenter's classic 1978 horror film of the same name, in which you'll be face- to- face with the horrifying killer Michael Myers. It's quite similar to when they did a House based around that movie back in 2014, but with some new twists added. There are loads of scares in this one, as Michael Myers is practically EVERYWHERE in it in one form or another, and other Scareactors playing other characters from the film (i.e. Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis) will occasionally pop out at you as well. A small weakness this House has is that many of the scares, especially those tied directly into memorable scenes from the movie (i.e. The scene in the end when Dr. Loomis empties a pistol into Michael Myers until the lunatic is knocked out a window by the force of the bullets), depend on you arriving at certain points in the House at just the right moment.
1. 'Halloween.' A walkthrough of scenes from John Carpenter's classic 1978 horror film of the same name, in which you'll be face- to- face with the horrifying killer Michael Myers. It's quite similar to when they did a House based around that movie back in 2014, but with some new twists added. There are loads of scares in this one, as Michael Myers is practically EVERYWHERE in it in one form or another, and other Scareactors playing other characters from the film (i.e. Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis) will occasionally pop out at you as well. A small weakness this House has is that many of the scares, especially those tied directly into memorable scenes from the movie (i.e. The scene in the end when Dr. Loomis empties a pistol into Michael Myers until the lunatic is knocked out a window by the force of the bullets), depend on you arriving at certain points in the House at just the right moment.
2. 'Bugs: Eaten Alive.' This original House, which is the token "Scary/ funny" House this year, puts you in a 1950s- style "House of the Future" which boasts of using a cutting- edge new form of pest- control technology called "Exterminair" that supposedly kills pest insects AND cleans/ purifies one's home and air at the same time. As you can probably guess, it turns out to have (If you can forgive the pun) a few "bugs" to work out. As you progress through the House, swarms of vicious, hyperaggressive bugs altered by exposure to "Exterminair" descend upon you, and many quickly mutate into giant abominations as big as a person if not bigger. Let me tell you, this House ROCKED! It had scary and gross moments (From the Scareactors playing big mutated bugs, from ones playing their tormented victims, AND at times from special effects), some funny moments largely centering around the 1950s aesthetic they used, and impressive set and character designs. The only thing I'd have improved was, while there were a good variety of insects seen wreaking havoc in the House (i.e. ants, flies, bedbugs, LOTS of spiders and cockroaches, etc.), there were no mosquitoes at all and only I think one use of bees/ wasps/ hornets. I'd imagine seeing more of those types of bugs mutated by the effects of "Exterminair" could REALLY get some screams from people! Just picture a scene with a giant mosquito completely sucking a person dry! Oh, well, a wonderful House anyway.
3. 'Universal Monsters: Legends Collide.' For the last few years of Horror Nights, Universal has featured Houses that wonderfully incorporate their classic movie monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein, etc.), and they are now continuing that trend with this House. In this one, we find ourselves caught in the middle of a three- way battle royale between Dracula, the Wolf- Man and the Mummy, as all three of them are duking it out over possession of a magical Egyptian amulet; the Wolf- Man thinks its power could cure his curse, Dracula thinks it could enable him to survive exposure to sunlight, and the Mummy is the one it belongs to in the first place and isn't too eager to part with it. This house was great, large and scary, but a weakness it has is that I'd say it relies WAY too much on the Mummy appearances, at the expense of the other two monsters. So, while you have the Mummy lunging at you in almost every room, Dracula doesn't seem to appear at all until near the end. One plus to it is that the final room in it varies a lot in depicting which of the three monsters ended up winning the battle (My first time hitting it, Dracula was the winner, but my second visit ended with the Wolf- Man on top), so multiple visits might be required in order to see each outcome.
4. 'Spirits of the Coven.' Similar to 'Bugs: Eaten Alive,' this too is an original House which is a period piece, though this one is set in the 1920s; Evil witches disguised as beautiful 1920s "Flapper girls" lure you into their coven's speakeasy, only to then attempt to make you the key ingredient in their foul brew. Even though this House is not very popular among fans, I must say, I personally LOVED this one! The costume designs and set pieces were really fitting for its historical setting, and there were loads of scares. However, the best thing it had going for it (Besides its clever and original concept/ setting) is how well it gradually amps up the intensity as you proceed through it. It starts by seeming like a typical 1920s speakeasy in terms of its appearance/ set design, the flapper girl witches seem like beautiful normal dancers who will maybe just jump at you a bit, and the other employees there (i.e. The bartender, the piano man) also seem like normal people who'll maybe just do a little jump and growl at you. Then, as you proceed further in, the place looks seedier and more dangerous, with dark rooms and assorted corpses and body parts of previous "Customers" on display (i.e. One section which looks like the speakeasy's gambling room has a roulette wheel with a severed head on top of it), and with the girls now looking more haggard and aggressive. Finally, by the last few rooms, it appears to be more like a decrepit dungeon, and the witches have completely shed their past disguises and now lunge at you shrieking in their hideous, cronelike "True" forms. In short, I highly recommend this House, it's probably my favorite this year.
The first guideline concerns advanced planning on when to go. Keep in mind that you will likely be there very late. Another thing to keep in mind is in terms of time. Horror Nights usually opens at about 6:00 or 6:30 each night. In planning/ scheduling the trip, plan around the fact that it'll generally take several minutes just to get through the parking gate/ toll area, about another 3- 5 minutes to get a parking space, and then approximately fifteen minutes to get from the parking lot through City Walk and finally to the park. Then, there's the matter of getting your tickets, which can slow things down more. So, essentially, if you want to be among the first to pour through the gates when the event opens, try if at all possible to get there about an hour or so early to help go through all that more easily.
Another important guideline I can think of involves how to avoid lines for the Haunted Houses; If you want to visit one of the high- demand Houses (i.e. 'Halloween'), it would be best to do so near the end of the night, as the lines generally ease down in the last hour or two of each night. At the start of the night, go for the Houses in the back of the park, near the 'Men in Black' ride (i.e. 'Bugs: Eaten Alive' and 'Descendants of Destruction').
In addition to guidelines on time efficiency and avoiding lines, there are also a few rules and guidelines that I've learned from my time at Halloween Horror Nights that can help first- timers keep from getting too scared when going through Houses (A major concern I've heard from many people thinking of attending):
In addition, though it's not connected to Houses, if you need to find a place free of Scareactors where you can go to kind of decompress and relax for a while, the best option is definitely the London/ Diagon Alley section of the park, aka the Harry Potter- themed area there. There's no Horror Nights- related stuff there (I'd picture J.K. Rowling being pretty angry if that section was used in such a way), and it has a lot of things to do, from the magnificent 'Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts' ride to a few eateries to a whole bunch of gift shops. Try the Butterbeer (An incredibly high- quality cream soda topped with a mind- bendingly delicious vanilla foam head), I'm fairly positive it will be on tap in Heaven!
An interesting thing is, many of these tips for going through Houses aren't just good for attending Halloween Horror Nights, they often contain elements of Scriptural wisdom, as well, that can help guide you year- round. For instance, the first hint I offered about staying in the center of the walkways at all times and not getting too close to the walls and the second one about not being distracted but staying aware of your surroundings can both tie in to Proverbs 4:27: "Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil." This verse reminds believers that, just like when going through a Haunted House, we must stay on the one true path in the middle, fixed on the faith and destiny that God gives to us all, and not being lured aside or distracted.
5. 'The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare.' This House is based around the songs and music videos of the rap artist known as "The Weeknd." His songs and videos often contain horror elements, and this House has us walking through scenes from several of them. It's recommended that you watch at least a few of the music videos of the songs from his 'After Hours' album first in order to understand what you see in this House (In particular, the videos "Heartless," "In Your Eyes," "Too Late," and "Save Your Tears," as well as the "After Hours" short film). If you just go in blind, figuratively speaking, you won't have a clue what's going on. That being said, it does have a few memorable moments, such as a scene in which you seem to almost get hit by a subway train and a Hall of Mirrors portion. So, an alright House all in all.
6. 'Fiesta de Chupacabras.' This original House puts you in south of the border, where a small Mexican village has what appears to be a big annual party, but it is in fact designed to lure tourists in to be used as sacrifices for the Chupacabras (Monsters from Mexican folklore, usually depicted as slaughtering and drinking the blood of goats, but these varieties seem to be hungrier for humans). This House worked pretty well, as the village seemed quite realistic in terms of its layout, it really feels like you're in the middle of a Mexican block party between the music and the regular sounds of fireworks going off, and the townspeople lunge at you with machetes and wearing creepy fiesta- type masks for good scares. When the Chupacabras first really show up halfway into it, they look awesome! They're extremely well- made animatronics that look sort of like a cross between sabretooth tigers and giant rats, and they'll scare you out of your mind every time they pop out! A good House I recommend.
7. 'The Horrors of Blumhouse.' Horror Nights has a couple times in the past made Houses dedicated to the horror films put out by the studio Blumhouse, and this one has you walking through scenes from two of their more recent hits: 'Freaky' (Which I talked briefly about in my 'Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters of 2020' list, it's a horror- comedy film in which a shy teenage girl switches bodies with an aging serial killer for a day) and 'The Black Phone' (A more serious film in which a boy in the 1970s is kidnapped and imprisoned by a different serial killer, and soon discovers that a disconnected telephone in the basement he's trapped in enables him to hear the voices of the killer's past victims who try and give him advice on how to escape). Pretty good House with lots of scares and mostly good usage of key scenes from both movies, but the only small problem is, the section devoted to 'Freaky' feels pretty short while the section devoted to 'The Black Phone' feels quite long. Though, perhaps that's more of a personal gripe due to the fact that I liked 'Freaky' as a movie somewhat better than 'The Black Phone.'
6. 'Fiesta de Chupacabras.' This original House puts you in south of the border, where a small Mexican village has what appears to be a big annual party, but it is in fact designed to lure tourists in to be used as sacrifices for the Chupacabras (Monsters from Mexican folklore, usually depicted as slaughtering and drinking the blood of goats, but these varieties seem to be hungrier for humans). This House worked pretty well, as the village seemed quite realistic in terms of its layout, it really feels like you're in the middle of a Mexican block party between the music and the regular sounds of fireworks going off, and the townspeople lunge at you with machetes and wearing creepy fiesta- type masks for good scares. When the Chupacabras first really show up halfway into it, they look awesome! They're extremely well- made animatronics that look sort of like a cross between sabretooth tigers and giant rats, and they'll scare you out of your mind every time they pop out! A good House I recommend.
7. 'The Horrors of Blumhouse.' Horror Nights has a couple times in the past made Houses dedicated to the horror films put out by the studio Blumhouse, and this one has you walking through scenes from two of their more recent hits: 'Freaky' (Which I talked briefly about in my 'Top 10 Favorite Movie Characters of 2020' list, it's a horror- comedy film in which a shy teenage girl switches bodies with an aging serial killer for a day) and 'The Black Phone' (A more serious film in which a boy in the 1970s is kidnapped and imprisoned by a different serial killer, and soon discovers that a disconnected telephone in the basement he's trapped in enables him to hear the voices of the killer's past victims who try and give him advice on how to escape). Pretty good House with lots of scares and mostly good usage of key scenes from both movies, but the only small problem is, the section devoted to 'Freaky' feels pretty short while the section devoted to 'The Black Phone' feels quite long. Though, perhaps that's more of a personal gripe due to the fact that I liked 'Freaky' as a movie somewhat better than 'The Black Phone.'
8. 'Hellblock Horror.' This original House has you entering a prison in which the inmates are in fact monsters, that are about to break out. Mostly a decent House. The set pieces usually aren't very remarkable, but a plus it has is that its character designs, especially for the inmates, are extremely diverse. Some of these monstrous inmates resemble demons, others look like aliens, others look like zombies, still others look like human/ animal hybrids, and so on. It even includes some besties from past years of Horror Nights! Could be worth a visit, but not if doing so would prevent you from hitting one of the other Houses I more highly recommend.
9. 'Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake.' This House, an extension of the popular past Scarezone 'Dead Man's Wharf,' has you in a New England fishing village in which undead sailors and fishermen have emerged from their watery graves in search of revenge. I have sort of mixed feelings on this one. The costume/ makeup effects for the ghostly sailors and fishermen look alright (A couple of them REALLY nailed me as I went through it, such as one who appears to be hung on a runner hook and swings back and forth), but nothing to really write home about. However, where this House truly shines is that its set designs/ environments look simply GORGEOUS! Between the sights, sounds and even smells, you will feel like you really are passing through a chilly New England fishing town, and the doomed ship which the undead sailors came from and which you board in the last portion of the House looks so beautifully detailed, like something that could be seen on a legitimate movie set. I hope whoever worked on its sets gets some sort of award for it. Definitely worth a visit.
10. 'Descendants of Destruction.' In this House, you're making your way through the subway tunnels of a postapocalyptic New York City, dodging mutants who think you look good enough to eat. One thing to give this House credit for is that its Scareactors are really bringing their A game! They put a lot of "Oomph" into their performances, really radiating the sort of aggressive savagery that you'd picture postapocalyptic mutants to have. The costumes and makeup for them look good, too, with some just looking poor and ragged while others look horrifically disfigured. It does a pretty good job of capturing the environment of an NYC subway, too. A mostly good House.
The good thing about my having attended the event for so many years is that it's let me pick up quite a few tips, tricks and guidelines on how to make the most of one's time there, which I decided to share with all of you:
The first guideline concerns advanced planning on when to go. Keep in mind that you will likely be there very late. Another thing to keep in mind is in terms of time. Horror Nights usually opens at about 6:00 or 6:30 each night. In planning/ scheduling the trip, plan around the fact that it'll generally take several minutes just to get through the parking gate/ toll area, about another 3- 5 minutes to get a parking space, and then approximately fifteen minutes to get from the parking lot through City Walk and finally to the park. Then, there's the matter of getting your tickets, which can slow things down more. So, essentially, if you want to be among the first to pour through the gates when the event opens, try if at all possible to get there about an hour or so early to help go through all that more easily.
Another important guideline I can think of involves how to avoid lines for the Haunted Houses; If you want to visit one of the high- demand Houses (i.e. 'Halloween'), it would be best to do so near the end of the night, as the lines generally ease down in the last hour or two of each night. At the start of the night, go for the Houses in the back of the park, near the 'Men in Black' ride (i.e. 'Bugs: Eaten Alive' and 'Descendants of Destruction').
In addition to guidelines on time efficiency and avoiding lines, there are also a few rules and guidelines that I've learned from my time at Halloween Horror Nights that can help first- timers keep from getting too scared when going through Houses (A major concern I've heard from many people thinking of attending):
1) In the Houses, stay in the center of the walkway at all times; DO NOT get too close to the walls or barriers on either side. Scareactors often lurk within the walls, in tucked- back alcoves or secret passage chambers called "Boo- Holes" before popping out at people, so to stray too close to a wall where one of those spots might be located would be, to the Scareactors, like thrusting a steak in front of a starving man.
2) Remain aware of your surroundings as much as possible. HHN's creative team LOVES using techniques like Distraction (Getting your attention fixed on a Scareactor or effect at one side of the room, then using a completely different Scareactor or effect to nail you from behind) and Camouflage (Having a Scareactor use a disguise that blends in with the walls or decorations, so they can suddenly pop out at you, such as going through a room full of statues, only one or two of those "Statues" are really Scareactors standing very still until you're right next to them) to take visitors by surprise. They can also change things up by having scares come at you at times from above, or even once or twice from below!
3) Keep your ears peeled. Many people underestimate the effectiveness of sound effects in scaring people. One of the main reasons why chainsaws are often used at Horror Nights in various ways (With the chains removed, so there's no safety hazard) is because there are very few sound effects scarier than the roar of a chainsaw. In addition, through hearing the screams of the people ahead of you in line, you can thus better determine where the Scareactors will pop out at you next.
4) Keep in mind that the Scareactors, frightening though they are, cannot actually touch you. They can jump out and wave their arms and yell "Booga- Booga" or whatnot, but if they actually physically touch you, they could be arrested. The opposite is true, too, you're not allowed to touch THEM, either. I recall a story I heard from 2008, when a drunk visitor to one of the Houses that year got a little too grabby with an attractive female Scareactor. As you can probably guess, park security was NOT happy about that, and the night didn't end well for the drunken creep in question as a result.
5) As a Christian, one technique I have used since my very first year attending Horror Nights is, when just about to enter a House (i.e. When the line I'm in has ten or so people left between me and the House's actual entrance), I recite to myself Psalm 23, paying special attention to "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." This helps me compose myself and gather my courage in preparation for what awaits me. It can likely do the same for any of you. It's an easy passage of Scripture to memorize, too.
2) Remain aware of your surroundings as much as possible. HHN's creative team LOVES using techniques like Distraction (Getting your attention fixed on a Scareactor or effect at one side of the room, then using a completely different Scareactor or effect to nail you from behind) and Camouflage (Having a Scareactor use a disguise that blends in with the walls or decorations, so they can suddenly pop out at you, such as going through a room full of statues, only one or two of those "Statues" are really Scareactors standing very still until you're right next to them) to take visitors by surprise. They can also change things up by having scares come at you at times from above, or even once or twice from below!
3) Keep your ears peeled. Many people underestimate the effectiveness of sound effects in scaring people. One of the main reasons why chainsaws are often used at Horror Nights in various ways (With the chains removed, so there's no safety hazard) is because there are very few sound effects scarier than the roar of a chainsaw. In addition, through hearing the screams of the people ahead of you in line, you can thus better determine where the Scareactors will pop out at you next.
4) Keep in mind that the Scareactors, frightening though they are, cannot actually touch you. They can jump out and wave their arms and yell "Booga- Booga" or whatnot, but if they actually physically touch you, they could be arrested. The opposite is true, too, you're not allowed to touch THEM, either. I recall a story I heard from 2008, when a drunk visitor to one of the Houses that year got a little too grabby with an attractive female Scareactor. As you can probably guess, park security was NOT happy about that, and the night didn't end well for the drunken creep in question as a result.
5) As a Christian, one technique I have used since my very first year attending Horror Nights is, when just about to enter a House (i.e. When the line I'm in has ten or so people left between me and the House's actual entrance), I recite to myself Psalm 23, paying special attention to "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." This helps me compose myself and gather my courage in preparation for what awaits me. It can likely do the same for any of you. It's an easy passage of Scripture to memorize, too.
In addition, though it's not connected to Houses, if you need to find a place free of Scareactors where you can go to kind of decompress and relax for a while, the best option is definitely the London/ Diagon Alley section of the park, aka the Harry Potter- themed area there. There's no Horror Nights- related stuff there (I'd picture J.K. Rowling being pretty angry if that section was used in such a way), and it has a lot of things to do, from the magnificent 'Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts' ride to a few eateries to a whole bunch of gift shops. Try the Butterbeer (An incredibly high- quality cream soda topped with a mind- bendingly delicious vanilla foam head), I'm fairly positive it will be on tap in Heaven!
An interesting thing is, many of these tips for going through Houses aren't just good for attending Halloween Horror Nights, they often contain elements of Scriptural wisdom, as well, that can help guide you year- round. For instance, the first hint I offered about staying in the center of the walkways at all times and not getting too close to the walls and the second one about not being distracted but staying aware of your surroundings can both tie in to Proverbs 4:27: "Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil." This verse reminds believers that, just like when going through a Haunted House, we must stay on the one true path in the middle, fixed on the faith and destiny that God gives to us all, and not being lured aside or distracted.
Also, the tip about knowing that the Scareactors can't hurt you calls to mind Psalm 118:6, which says "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" When we trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for guidance and protection, we can gain amazing courage. If we are saved through Christ and leaning on Him, the feeble attacks by men against us are as ultimately nonthreatening as Scareactors jumping out and giving a growl before letting us pass. What fellow humans can do to us is temporary; What the Lord Jesus Christ provides us with is eternal.
For one more example, the tip about reciting the 23rd Psalm not only helps drive home the Lord's role in protecting and providing for us as our Good Shepherd, it also calls to mind the importance of relying on God's Word, the Bible, in general. Psalm 119:05 says "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Also, in Psalm 1:2, it says of a righteous and wise person, "But his delight is in the Law for the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Lastly, in John 15:7, Jesus says "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you." It is through knowing, memorizing, and meditating on what God says through His servants in the Bible that we can always live in Him and achieve the glorious plan He has for us.
That about sums up my look at Halloween Horror Nights 2022, an awesome year for an unforgettable Halloween event which teaches equally awesome lessons on focusing on what's important, living in the courage God provides, and earnestly knowing His Word. It's so good, it's scary!
That's all from the Nightcrawler Experience for now. I'm working on my upcoming Christmas entries, and some others as well. Until then, happy Halloween, stay safe, and may God bless you all!
For one more example, the tip about reciting the 23rd Psalm not only helps drive home the Lord's role in protecting and providing for us as our Good Shepherd, it also calls to mind the importance of relying on God's Word, the Bible, in general. Psalm 119:05 says "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." Also, in Psalm 1:2, it says of a righteous and wise person, "But his delight is in the Law for the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night." Lastly, in John 15:7, Jesus says "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you." It is through knowing, memorizing, and meditating on what God says through His servants in the Bible that we can always live in Him and achieve the glorious plan He has for us.
That about sums up my look at Halloween Horror Nights 2022, an awesome year for an unforgettable Halloween event which teaches equally awesome lessons on focusing on what's important, living in the courage God provides, and earnestly knowing His Word. It's so good, it's scary!
That's all from the Nightcrawler Experience for now. I'm working on my upcoming Christmas entries, and some others as well. Until then, happy Halloween, stay safe, and may God bless you all!
