Halloween Horror Nights Is Back At Universal Studios Hollywood!

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My favorite time of year is upon us! It’s Halloween time and I was invited to kick it off big time with the launch of “Halloween Horror Nights” 2014 at Universal Studios Hollywood! It’s “More Dead Than Ever,” expanding to 22 select nights from Friday, September 19 to Sunday, November 2, 2014. The popular event brings together the sickest minds in horror to immerse guests in a living, breathing, three-dimensional world of terror. Featuring an all-new slate of unrivaled film production quality mazes, frightful scare zones and a fully re-imagined “Terror Tram” experience uniquely themed to today’s most definitive horror properties, “Halloween Horror Nights” will taunt, terrorize and torment guests with spine-chilling haunted attractions during Southern California’s most extreme Halloween experience. Universal’s most popular rides and attractions will also be open to guests, including Transformers: The Ride-3D,” “Jurassic Park–In the Dark,” “The Simpsons Ride” and “Revenge of the Mummy – The Ride.”

The season always kicks off with the Eyegore Awards which this year honored:

Multiple Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker and Special Effects Make-Up Supervisor Greg Nicotero (“The Walking Dead,” “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” “Breaking Bad,” “Django Unchained,” “Predators,” “Piranha 3D”), with the award presented by Chris Hardwick, comedian and host of “Talking Dead” and Robert Kirkman, Creator and Executive Producer of “The Walking Dead” and “Outcast.”

Versatile, award-winning filmmaker and Founder & Chairman of El Rey Network, Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City,” “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Machete,” “Grindhouse”), accepted the award, presented by prolific actor, producer and last year’s “Eyegore Award” recipient, Danny Trejo (“From Dusk ‘Till Dawn,” “Heat,” “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “Machete”).

Renowned filmmaker John Landis (“An American Werewolf in London,” Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” “The Blues Brothers,” “Animal House”) accepted the award, presented by seven-time Academy Award®-winning Special Effects Make-Up Artist and previous “Eyegore Award” recipient, Rick Baker (“An American Werewolf in London,” “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Men in Black,” “The Wolfman”).

Celebrated Grammy® Award-winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist SLASH, hailed as one of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time by Time magazine, accepted the “Eyegore Award,” presented by Greg Nicotero.

I was thrilled to be invited to attend as we ran into all our favorites on the red carpet. Check out this interview footage from the red carpet featuring Robert Rodriguez, Vanessa Hudgens, Greg Nicatero and a slew of other celebs:

And also here are some highlights from the actual Eyegore Awards:

After the awards we couldn’t wait to check out all the scary fun of Halloween Horror Nights.

Universal Studios Halloween Horror nights is incredibly fun for adults and teenagers. I wouldn’t take small children to it as it is a little too scary for them.

We immediately got on the “Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead”!

AMC’s engrossing cult favorite television series will seep into other parts of Universal’s backlot with predatory walkers prowling the secluded wooded areas of the movie studio. “Terror Tram: Invaded by the Walking Dead” will send guests on the daunting path to Terminus, interspersed with landmarks and walkers from Season 4, including the “burned moonshine cabin,” “charred walkers” and “mud walkers.”

A marquee attraction unique to Universal Studios Hollywood and “Halloween Horror Nights,” the “Terror Tram” combines a ride aboard Universal’s signature trams with a terrifying walk-through experience amid famed movie sets, including Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” and the infamous Bates Motel and Psycho House from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film.

We then went to check out the All-New Terrifying New Mazes!

Our first maze was of course “The Walking Dead: The End of the Line” as we’re huge fans of the show. It’s by far the maze I was looking forward to most!

“The Walking Dead: The End of the Line” maze, inspired by Season 4 of AMC’s critically-acclaimed, Golden Globe^®-nominated, Emmy^® Award-winning TV series, will place guests at the heart of a harrowing journey to seek sanctuary at Terminus, an elusive destination that promises community for all. Mirroring the terror that befell the residents of the West Georgia Correctional Facility, now overrun by savage walkers, the experience will send guests fleeing from the fallen prison into unknown territory as they stage a desperate battle for survival against flesh-eating walkers and ruthless humans.

The ambitious maze channels the many iconic scenes from Season 4 into a new haunted attraction, inviting guests to encounter the terror they viewed from afar. From infected walkers whose bleeding eyes struck a new chord of fear throughout the prison to the walker-filled tunnel on the crusade to Terminus, the ominous attraction will evoke a countless barrage of distressing images that will traumatize guests over and over again.

The contemporary urban city streets, towering skyscrapers, brick-faced facades and industrial exterior movie sets that make up Universal Studios’ world-famous production facilities will serve as the backdrop location for this all-new, frighteningly realistic maze.

My favorite was this sign which we saw after we did the maze. Hilarious. Still Alive, No Problem…The Night’s Young!

Next up was the “Clowns 3D Music by SLASH” maze.

Celebrated Grammy® Award-winning musician, SLASH, hailed as one of the 10 best electric guitar players of all time by Time magazine, is joining forces with Universal Studios Hollywood to compose an original score for the theme park’s hypnotizing new 3D maze, “Clowns 3D Music by SLASH” at “Halloween Horror Nights.”

While partnering with top recording artists has become a signature of “Halloween Horror Nights,” this collaboration with prolific guitarist, SLASH, marks the first time a musician has created an original maze score for the popular event. This inspired effort comes at a demanding time for SLASH, whose new album “World on Fire” debuts on September 16, 2014, on the heels of his “Let Rock Rule” World Tour, headlining with Aerosmith.

My second favorite maze of the night was next and it’s the “AVP: Alien vs Predator” maze!

The complex and terrifying “AVP: Alien vs. Predator” maze will entangle guests in the middle of an epic and primal war between the universe’s most deadly species in an all-new, horrifying haunted attraction inspired by the Twentieth Century Fox cult sci-fi franchise.

“AVP: Alien vs Predator” will answer the proverbial question asked by mankind since the beginning of time: Are we alone in this dark, vast universe? This menacing maze will once and for all shed light on the answer when it brings to life the violent creatures cohabitating our world as it pits two rival alien species in a fight to the death with Earth as their battleground. “AVP: Alien vs Predator” will uncover a dangerous alien spaceship carrying a race of hunter aliens known as Predators and a threatening new alien life form that uses human hosts to propagate its species. After crash landing in a remote section of America and escaping to the countryside, the alien and predator become hunter and prey with guests caught in the crossfire.

AVP: Alien vs. Predator is a sci-fi horror franchise that brings together the two iconic species spawned from the blockbuster films, Alien and Predator, to create a terrifying crossover of eponymous monsters in a raging battle against mankind struggling to survive amid the chaos that ensues from these two vengeful creatures. To mark the 35th anniversary celebration of Alien, and the 10th anniversary of AVP: Alien vs. Predator, “Halloween Horror Nights” guests and fans of these celebrated films will have a chance to live the horror as they come face to face with the terror of Aliens and Predators.

Followed by the “From Dusk Till Dawn” maze…

From cult horror film to breakthrough television series on El Rey Network, “From Dusk Till Dawn” will add terrifying maze to its credits when filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s acclaimed supernatural show debuts as a menacing new “Halloween Horror Nights” experience at Universal Studios Hollywood.

This all-new maze, inspired by the critically acclaimed television series, will thrust guests into the deviant world of “From Dusk Till Dawn,” where they will encounter sordid mythological creatures known as “Culebras,” serpent-like vampires who have tormented the earth for centuries. Residing within the elusive and sinister nightclub, “The Twister,” located just over the Mexican border and above cursed ancient ruins, the “Culebras” prove to be a band of immoral and depraved beasts with a deadly agenda. As guests navigate the maze and venture deep within the bowels of “The Twister,” they will find themselves face to face with a cast of perverse characters, including exotic dancer, Santanico Pandemonium, a mysterious and irresistible “Culebras” femme fatale and Queen Vampire.

And the “An American Werewolf in London” Maze…

Universal Pictures’ Academy Award®-winning and genre-defining film, An American Werewolf in London, written and directed by John Landis, will be unleashed upon guests at Universal Studios Hollywood in an all-new “Halloween Horror Nights” maze. The experience will recreate legendary scenes from the cult favorite using gruesomely convincing props, chillingly authentic music and mind-blowing special effects that will re-awaken the terrorizing shape-shifting creature with superhuman strength, the Werewolf.

Guests will begin their horrifying journey as they enter “The Slaughtered Lamb,” the English countryside pub movie fans will instantly recognize, and experience first-hand what the tavern patrons in the film meant when they cautioned, “Stay on the road, keep clear of the Moors and beware the moon.” After stumbling upon the overgrown wasteland known as the “Moors,” maze-goers will be forced to traverse through dense fog amidst sounds of savage growls and unknown peril ahead.

Along with “The Slaughtered Lamb” pub and the Yorkshire Moors, guests will recognize other memorable scenes and characters from the film, including the London Underground and gun-wielding demon soldiers. The famous “transformation scene” that inspired the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to create an Oscar® for achievement in makeup will also be featured in the remarkable maze experience.

They also had A “Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood” Maze…

Universal Studios Hollywood breathes new life into history’s most notorious vampire, Vlad Tepes, the real life 13^th century ruler and inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula in a terrifying new “Halloween Horror Nights” maze, “Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood.” Guests can feast on this immersive preview of Universal Pictures’ upcoming epic action-adventure Dracula Untold. Starring Luke Evans, the origin story of the man who became Dracula arrives in theaters on October 17.

“Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood” will introduce guests to the sadistic Transylvanian ruler Vlad Tepes, known as “Vlad the Impaler,” who infamously tortured his enemies by impaling them alive with a wooden stake and suspending their bodies. The foreboding maze will also shed an ominous light on the one-time hero, turned blood-thirsty-tyrant, who chose to embrace unholy powers in order to defeat his enemies. “Dracula Untold: Reign of Blood” will spiral guests through Dracula’s eternal damnation, where the thirst for blood is never-ending.

And last but not least a “Face Off: In the Flesh” Maze!

The most twisted and gruesome character creations featured on Syfy’s hit competition series “Face Off” will be live and “In the Flesh” at Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights.” Nightmarish creatures will surround guests as the macabre visions of some of the most talented up-and-coming make-up artists’ from the show are brought to life in an all-new maze.

The “Face Off: In the Flesh” maze will recreate the morbidly disturbing creations masterminded by visionary make-up special effects artists over the course of the show’s past six seasons. Twenty-two original “Face Off” designs – from human-insect hybrids to horror villains, ancient mummies and zombies – will cascade throughout the dark corridors of the terrifying new maze bringing to life multiple incarnations of these select characters and adding to the cast of characters designed to scare the life out of every guest. “Face Off: In the Flesh” will also feature new sounds from acclaimed electro house artist “Figure,” who returns to Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights” with a haunting mix of electronica-inspired dance music.

Between the mazes and as you walk through the park are Terror-Filled Scare Zones designed to provoke an unrelenting sense of fear, a series of unnerving scare zones will infiltrate “Halloween Horror Nights” to terrorize guests as they navigate the darkness from one terrifying maze to another.

As the gates to “Halloween Horror Nights” open, so too does the annual Purge begin at Universal Studios Hollywood with the debut of a terrifying new scare zone, “The Purge: Anarchy,” inspired by Universal Pictures’ new thriller. The scare zone will greet guests with pure unadulterated fear, bringing to life the turmoil and pandemonium that awaits those vulnerable to masked vigilantes in search of new victims. Reimagining the movie’s premise that on one night every year, any and all crime is made legal, the scare zone will be inhabited by average citizens transformed into sadistic felons during this period of government-sanctioned lawlessness. Like civilians in the movie fighting to survive, guests will be at the mercy of cunning wit, luck and speed as they attempt to outsmart and outlive the anarchy brought about by those who believe in an “eye for an eye.”

Swarms of predatory walkers will also reawaken in a terrifying new scare zone, “The Walking Dead: Welcome to Terminus,” located adjacent to the all-new maze, “The Walking Dead: The End of the Line.” With an overwhelming onslaught of zombies lumbering in all directions, the scare zone will set the stage for the unpredictable terror guests will encounter in “The Walking Dead: The End of the Line” maze.

Additional scare zones will include “Mask-a-Raid,” featuring hordes of bloodthirsty cannibals masquerading as French aristocrats; “Dark Christmas,” a Pagan-themed area where demonic creatures hunt disobedient children and drag them to hell; and “Skullz,” based on the Native American legend of Wendigo, a malevolent supernatural half-beast monster with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.

“Halloween Horror Nights” event dates are: September 19, 20, 26, 27, October 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 30, 31 and November 1, 2. The event will begin nightly at 7:00 p.m.; closing hours vary by night throughout the event.

Tickets to this year’s event are available for purchase at www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com/hollywood, including a Front of Line ticket option that enables guests to enjoy priority access at each “Halloween Horror Nights” maze, “Terror Tram” and theme park attraction. Advance purchase is recommended as event nights will sell out.

If you’re in the Los Angeles Area and looking for something filled will lots of fun and scares I highly recommend you check out Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights!

Photos by thequeenofswag.com and Universal Studios Hollywood.

We were solely invited to attend this event and go to the park. All opinions are my own.