While Halloween Horror Nights icon Jack the Clown takes over Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas, he leaves Universal Studios Orlando in the hands of Terrifier slasher Art the Clown for a bloody good time. And essentially, Art feels like this year’s master of scaremonies at the 34th Horror Nights, between having the most extreme house and roaming around his Clown Cafe. But unlike the West Coast version of HHN, which boasts primarily movie/TV franchise frights, Terrifier isn’t the only draw here, as this year’s slate of IP houses is perfectly balanced by original concept horror houses.
io9 recently visited Universal Studios Orlando—tickets for access were provided for review purposes—to see how this year’s HHN and Halloween offerings stack up. One of the key takeaways we found is that the Orlando park has just so much to offer for Halloween in comparison, between a much stronger version of Horror Nights, the Universal Monsters dominating at Epic Universe, and the introduction of a family-friendly Scooby-Doo-themed spooky season event at Volcano Bay. It really outshines the West Coast park in Hollywood, California, to make the most out of the fall-based festivities.
The Good…
Galkin: Monsters of the North and Other Original Houses
The best house at the event, as so often happens with the East Coast, is Galkin, an imaginative original story inspired by Norse monsters and demons. From the start you’re transported away from humid Orlando and into a chilly village invaded by grotesquely horrifying creatures. The monster design is stunning, and the scares are unexpected as you’re transfixed by the sets—the distraction gives the “scareactors,” Universal’s official term for its fightful performers, time to prey on you. The scale is just next level, as you go from mountain terrains to a village with a tall, burning wicker man (not actually burning, but just simulated with clever lighting). This was the one I wanted to go through over and over again.
We’ve also got to give El Artista a shout-out as the other heavy hitter at this year’s event. Following an artist on a creative retreat in a very haunted house driven to madness, it felt like we were on a European countryside vacation gone wrong through a gorgeous manor with terrifying specters and demons. The kills in this one were beautifully harrowing. Honorable original house mentions: Grave of the Flesh and Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters (which had some amazing Lava monsters).
Terrifier
Damien Leone’s Terrifier is such a huge phenomenon with big fan expectations, and the East Coast house didn’t disappoint. Inside the Terrifier Carnival facade is a full-on greatest-kills walk-through of Art’s design. It’s bloodier and, by extension, wetter than its West Coast variant (you will need a poncho). It also has more Sienna, the franchise’s final girl, featured in her Clown Cafe dream sequence look and her badass angel warrior armor. The true delight is how all the Arts inside look like they’re having a blast while targeting their scare victims. I got got quite a few times, and I’m usually a seasoned pro at this.
Fair warning: the house isn’t for the faint of heart. The gore is extreme and really captures the energy of Leone’s cult-gone-mainstream hit films. The only thing we hope is that Art returns next year and maybe goes up against the Killer Klowns from Outer Space in a vs. house, which Universal has done with other titans of terror.
Additionally, there’s a real Cown Cafe cart with awesome food and drinks themed to the films. It looks so good, and the drinks are more solid than the West Coast version, which went for more Instagrammable creations than actually tasty refreshments (like the Art’s Delight, a gross, vanilla-and-black lemonade beverage more designed to look like Art, rather than tasting good). Making the Clown Cafe being the photo-op while the foodie offerings being solid on their own was a better way to go. That, and if you’re lucky, Santa Art the clown might show up to roam around to judge your choices in theme park snacks with his bag of tricks.
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