Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios – Courtesy: Shutterstock – Image by Amonarch
This Halloween, visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights will be entering cinematic history when they enter the Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines home.
The West Coast version of this home is situated on Sound Stage 12, the exact sound stage where Universal first gained notoriety in the horror genre.
What made it truly renowned was that in 1931, this served as the interior of Dracula’s castle in the film “Dracula.” It served as the interior of Frankenstein’s laboratory in 1931 for both “Frankenstein” and “Bride of Frankenstein.” However, during this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, everything from “Back to the Future” to “Scarface” to “Jurassic Park” has been filmed inside the stage, according to John Murdy, creative director and executive producer. He made this revelation while taking USA TODAY behind the scenes of the event.
This difference is representative of the ways that Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights are different from one other. To assist travelers in choosing between the events in California and Florida, consider the following differences.
Distinct beginnings
While Universal Studios Florida was primarily constructed as a theme park with production capabilities, including the former Nickelodeon Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood began as a film studio that later developed into a theme park.
Both locations still see production, although Hollywood sees significantly more of it. As a result, even though both events have sets and costumes fit for a movie, a large portion of the staff behind Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights is drawn from the television and film industries.
“They staff up with industry professionals, but we have a prop master and a couple of people who are on staff all the time who work on Horror Nights pretty much all year long,” Murdy explained. That applies to our production designers as well. For example, our production designer and art director have a (stable) of movie designers that work on these massive productions; we take advantage of their breaks.”
Varying dimensions
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando is bigger than the one in Hollywood, just like the Florida resort itself.
This year, Hollywood’s event features eight houses, four fear zones, and its well-liked Terror Tram situated around famous movie locations, while Orlando’s HHN boasts ten haunted houses and five scare zones.
Distinct priorities
Compared to Orlando, Hollywood typically has more intellectual property houses.
“We exclusively focused on branded work for many years, which was my kind of vision for this event,” Murdy remarked, adding that he saw the residences as live horror films. Hollywood added original content only later.
This year, Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines, Insidious: The Further, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and A Quiet Place are the four IP house themes shared by the parks. The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface are two more IP houses in Hollywood. “Late Night with Chucky” is an interactive chat program that is hosted in Hollywood.
Orlando, on the other hand, offers more original content.
Lora Sauls, assistant director of Creative Development and Show Direction for Art and Design, Entertainment at Universal Orlando Resort, told USA TODAY, “Our original content houses are so fun to develop and are some of our fan favorites.”
This year, Orlando has six original houses, one of which is Slaughter Sinema 2, which combines eight mini-themes into one. “You never know if what our fans are going to say they absolutely love might be a full original house in the future,” Sauls remarked.
Which one should I choose?
Hollywood is the destination for horror enthusiasts who value intellectual property highly and who wish to explore storied soundstages and movie locations. However, those seeking more terror should choose Orlando instead because of its additional dwellings and distinctive, original content. A few admirers go to both.
In Hollywood and Orlando, Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights is open on a few nights through November 3.
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Born and raised in South Florida, Krystal is a recent graduate from the University of Miami with professional writing experience at the collegiate and national news outlet levels. She’s a foodie who loves all things travel, the beach, & visiting new places throughout Florida.