Halloween Horror Nights 34: Ranking the 10 Houses
- Allan Tompkins
- Oct 15
- 10 min read
By Allan Tompkins
Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) is one of the most anticipated events of the year for horror lovers throughout the country as well—especially Floridians who consider it a fun, excitement-filled vacation to the parks at Universal Orlando. Every year, Universal makes sure to go over the top when choosing each haunted house's theme as well as the production behind it and this year was no different. As a result of Universal's plethora of movie licenses with popular horror franchises, Halloween Horror Nights is always given the freedom to recreate some of the scariest places seen on screen which is what ultimately made this year's event that much more memorable.
Whether it be Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria in the Five Nights at Freddy's house or the cabins at Camp Crystal Lake in the Jason Universe house, each location within the park felt like a portal into different spine-chilling cult classics that truly made you fear for your safety. However, while every house felt real and scary, there were some that just naturally stood out over others. That's why I've decided to rank all 10 houses from worst to best to differentiate those houses that were spooky from those that really understood how to keep a crowd on their toes.
#10: El Artista: A Spanish Haunting
El Artista was a fun, adventurous house that ultimately fell short when it came to jump scares which earned its spot at the #10 mark. The premise of the house was very interesting: Sergio Navarro, an artist from 19th century Spain, moves to "La Casa Creación" for some inspiration for his art yet, doesn't realize that the house is haunted and makes his art come to life to trap him inside the manor.
While the story was cool to follow throughout the house and the production was spectacular, the house felt more like walking through a movie where all of the jump scares were spoiled for you and I never found myself really jumping at anything. While I can see this house receiving a higher ranking, I think that the fact that the high expectations I had for the house were not met dropped its ranking to #10.
#9: Dolls: Let's Play Dead
At the #9 spot is Dolls: Let's Play Dead. This house was relatively cool to walk through but fell short of my expectations in terms of scariness. The story behind the house is that you are shrunken to doll-sized humans and hunted by mutated toys created by a little girl. The story alone didn't seem too frightening for me and reminded me strongly of Toy Story 3's deranged character Sid, who similarly mutated his toys which hunted Woody and Buzz.
The production behind the house was very cool however, with everything inside the house being much bigger than normal and even some rooms smelling strongly of crayons which helped immerse myself in the experience. Whether it was the house's lack of storytelling depth and/or the lack of memorable jump scares that I experienced, I felt like the house fell short in a lot of aspects that it could have easily nailed which is why it seems almost forgetful and earns it the #9 spot.
#8: Gálkn: Monsters of the North
Gálkn was one of the houses I was most excited for this year. While Universal always delivers on their recreations of famous scenes from popular horror movies, they also manage to make really enticing and original ideas of their own that, at many times, surpass movie-based houses in terms of scariness and creativity. This was the case for The Darkest Deal house in HHN32 and was what I was hoping Gálkn would be this year based on the story alone.
The story, based on Norse mythology, describes a wicked being from a northern village who rises from the dead and unleashes a horde of monsters that you have to ultimately escape from by passing through the belly of one giant, merged beast. While the concept was unique and exciting, I found myself walking out of the house unsatisfied and wishing there were more simply because of the lack of unexpected jump scares as well as the confusion that arose over where I was in the story.
While I had expected to know when I had officially entered the beast's belly, I felt like the house failed in making a specific distinction as to where it happens, which is why it fell short of my expectations and earns the #8 spot.
#7: Fallout
While Fallout is #7 on the list, I don't know how well I can justify it being there. For starters, I must disclaim that I have never finished the Fallout games nor watched the show at all which is why I feel like I may have not connected with it as well as the creators of the set were hoping it would: with actual fans of the series. Yet, I am not completely oblivious to the concept of the game and am therefore basing the ranking more on the production of the set as well as its ability to scare.
The set itself was very cool and it definitely felt like I was traversing the bunkers. While there were occasional jump scares that got me, compared to other houses on this list, this house had one of the fewest effective ones. I think what keeps this house above the ones previously mentioned is the effort put in to making the house feel like a nuclear fallout. Specifically, the costume design was super cool to look at such as the T-60 power armor suits as well as The Ghoul played by Walton Goggins in the show who was seen a couple of times throughout the house.
#6: Grave of Flesh
The story behind the Grave of Flesh house is cool: a young groundskeeper at Halmouth Cemetery discovers flesh-eating creatures that emerge from the grave and is forced to keep its secret until he reveals it to his grandson many years later, prompting guests to escape the underworld from the creatures. While the story is interesting, it didn't necessarily draw me towards the house and was not the reason why it got its ranking. Rather, the house's ability to transition from a creepy cemetery to the underworld combined with the set's production in its entirety automatically made me like the house.
The jump scares were there but not super prominent and I ultimately feel like the house's entire reason for being this high up on the list goes to how real and immersing the whole experience was as well as efficiency of the house's journey throughout the story that made it easy to follow.
#5: Five Nights at Freddy's
Cracking the top 5 is Five Nights at Freddy's which was the first house of the night I went through and one of the most fun at that. As opposed to what I said about Fallout, I have a much better connection to Five Nights at Freddy's since I played it when I was younger and, while I never went super into it, always found the lore behind the origins of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria interesting. Because of that, I feel like this house's ranking is slightly blinded by nostalgia since the house itself never had many jump scares.
The entrance of the pizzeria was exciting and nostalgia ridden as the glowing sign of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria illuminated the top. Once I entered, I was immediately greeted by the infamous animatronics: Freddy, Bonnie and Chica and soon after found out that Foxy, who is usually the first to move, was already gone. In this aspect, I enjoyed the house's effort to remain accurate to the game yet, the rest of the house was a little iffy for me.
I think this is because I was expecting a lot more jump scares from the actual animatronics rather than scare actors dressed up in makeup to imitate the machines. Their jumps were almost funnier than they were scary because the actors were dressed up as toy bears, bunnies, and chickens which took me out of the experience, earning this the #5 spot.
#4: Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters
At #4 is Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters, the last Universal original house on the list. I was initially looking forward to this house since it had been part of HHN33's Slaughter Sinema 2 as a mini house and was now receiving its own house altogether. The story behind the house is that of an old woman who uses a ritualistic curse to summon lava demons to prevent a new train station from being built—these demons are hunted by a bounty hunter duo known as Hatchet and Chains.
I think that while the story itself wasn't very easy to follow, the jump scares were some of the best of the night and really caught me and my friends off guard in the most unexpected ways. The house felt more like a superhero vs. supervillains story which is why the scares throughout the house were most effective on me who had laid my guard down in a house I assumed was not that scary. While the production of the old, beat-down house leading into a fiery portal was super cool, the jump scares are what really topped this off as the best Universal original house this year for me.
#3: Terrifier
The name alone was enough to garner some of the most hype I've ever seen for a house at Halloween Horror Nights. Rumors of a wet route in the house started over the summer and people were saying how you would come out drenched in "blood" to mimic the brutal nature of the Terrifier films. With all of this in mind, I held nothing but high expectations for this house and it delivered, yet in a different way than I thought it would.
The production of the house was great, with a large entrance going inside a cutout of Art the Clown's face and an array of gruesome props that can only be described as unrecognizable. What really made this house memorable though, was the actors' delivery of Art's personality throughout the house. Art, who never speaks in the movie, is a silent, funny and deadly demon who I can only compare most closely to Marvel's Deadpool in terms of his humor.
Throughout the house, scare actors dressed up as Art would effectively scare guests and then begin humorously laughing and pointing at them for getting scared which I found really clever. I also liked how the house, despite its name, was not totally focused on just scaring guests but just immersing them within the context of the movie which is a true slasher film that lacks many jump scares and builds upon anticipation for Art's next victim.
The very hyped wet route at the end turned out to be a little underwhelming as all it was was a long corridor with small waterfalls on either side that slightly splashed you and were not, in fact, dyed red but rather gave the illusion of blood through a red-illuminated background.
#2: WWE Presents: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks
Perhaps the most surprising house on this list for me is the WWE house which I had originally assumed was a filler house for Universal who couldn't find anything else to make a house out of. With one of the lowest waiting times (45 minutes at opening) and a theme based on fake wrestling, I think that all of the underestimations this house got were what made it so good. While the story is hard to understand and follow as a non-WWE fan, I do know that the house was a tribute to the late Bray Wyatt and his creation of the "Wyatt Sicks" faction.
Excluding story, this house was most memorable because of its relentless and effective uses of jump scares that almost never failed to get me and my friends. The house takes guests through the different domains of the members of the Wyatt Sicks who are all stalked by the sadistic alter ego, The Fiend. Throughout the different domains, jump scares were never-ending yet never expected and the constant change of the location allowed for a house that was not restrained to one theme, allowing for a truly immersive experience that was as unexpected as it was scary.
#1: Jason Universe
Undoubtedly at the #1 spot this year is Jason Universe which celebrates the 45th anniversary of the Friday the 13th franchise. The house didn't stick to one story in specific but rather took guests on a tour through Jason Voorhees' most iconic moments throughout the franchise. The anticipation for the house built intense suspense amongst me and my friends as workers in the area warned guests who had claustrophobia that the house had tight spaces, something that I hadn't heard in any of the other houses.
As I entered the house, I was immediately greeted by the creepy Camp Crystal Lake which housed various Jasons hiding in the most unexpected corners and genuinely scaring me in the most unexpected moments. As I walked through different rooms in different cabins, the theme and production of the house seemed to remain generally the same and while I was scared, I was slightly underwhelmed and prepared to give this house a lower ranking.
That was when I exited the main cabin and walked into a much more narrow cabin that had a long, skinny hallway leading to a door. As ominous as it sounds, once I began walking through, one by one, different styled Jasons from different movies in the franchise began popping out from each side, swinging an axe. As one door flew open and a scare actor jumped out, I would swing to the left of the narrow hallway to which a door on that side would open and another actor would pop out, leading to a seemingly endless loop of scares that left me in a flustered state by the end and 100% earned this house's spot as the best of the year.
While Halloween Horror Nights always seems to succeed in gathering people from all walks of life to celebrate the art of getting scared, this year was no different in providing that same sense of fright and awe from the production sizes and the storytelling each house had.
While this article is a ranking of the houses I must emphasize the fact that opinions on the houses are one of the most subjective parts about Halloween Horror Nights due to a variety of factors such as the efforts of the actors, timing of the jump scares and time of year; I just so happened to go on the busiest night of the year which may be good and may be bad in terms of the effort put into making the houses as scary as possible.
Ultimately, though, I enjoy going to Halloween Horror Nights--it's a time of year where you can celebrate pop culture with your friends while paying people to scare you in the funniest and most unexpected ways. At the end of the day, while experiences can be immersive, it's cool to know that everything is essentially made up which just make the creativity and life behind all of the houses that much more real.
Which was your favorite house?
El Artista: A Spanish Haunting
Dolls: Let's Play Dead
Gálkn: Monsters of the North
Fallout
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