Long story short, I have a weird relationship with horror. I won’t sit and watch horror movies or play horror games. Will I watch people play horror games and read about horror movies? Absolutely. Though now I can occasionally watch older films and I think Suspiria is currently my favorite older horror movie, and I played Dead by Daylight until I started getting motion sickness from it.

Back in around 2005/6 I saw the Travel Channel’s documentary about Halloween Horror Nights and was instantly fascinated. I was way too skittish to attend an event like that. I hated people jumping out at me. But I loved the set design and the backstories. When I went to college, every year I started watching video walkthroughs of the HHN haunted houses so I could see the designs.

Well, a year ago when we started making plans for my niece’s very first trip to Disney World, I realized our trip would be in October, and that I could take one evening of the trip to go to HHN in person. I asked my sister if she would go with me. She immediately said no and volunteered her husband, my brother-in-law, who said he’d go. I was thrilled. I wasn’t going to get the necklace to indicate you didn’t want to get scared. I was gonna get the full experience. So on the 15th of October, I put on my Castlevania shirt and my big girl pants and went to Universal with my BIL.

So here’s a little thing about me. When I get scared, I have a knee-jerk response to counteract it with a big smile and being silly. My brother-in-law is the kind of person who just goes along with whatever antics the person with him is up to. So picture two highly-excited, happy, cheerful people strolling through a dilapidated circus and complimenting the killer clowns. We were able to go through Jack VS Oddfellow before the lines got way too long for my liking. We enjoyed the scare zones, took lots of pictures and ate Deathbringer Tempura Shrimp. I shouted “Yes queen, slay!” At many female scare actors, who would often give me a wave or a wink and a devilish smile. I took pictures of all the Killer Klowns props in Downtown Clowntown (One of my longtime friends is a huge fan of the film).

Other interactions I recall:
-In Jack VS Oddfellow, I bowed and said “Doctor.” to every Dr. Oddfellow I saw. Majority of them would give me a grin and tip their hats, save for one in the middle of a villainous speech who just pointed aggressively at me mid-speech. My brother-in-law wasn’t affected by any of the scare actors, but the large puppet snake was the one thing that startled him. (Yes, I put him in front of me to trigger the scare actors. No, he did not care that I did that and had in fact offered to do that earlier.)
-I complimented a chainsaw-wielding clown’s tiny hat, which caused him to stop, grin and do a little “Oh, stop it, you,” gesture.
-I waved at the actor playing the Caretaker, told him how a documentary with him in it was how I started watching HHN, and he did a little hand-over-his-chest motion in an “oh, bless your heart” kind of gesture.
-I looked up at a stilt-wearing clown, looked at my brother-in-law and said, “This is why you don’t skip leg day.” The clown nodded and gestured to his long legs.
-I…accidentally called out to Chance when I didn’t realize she was heading backstage during a performance. “You’re doing amazing, sweetie!” (Sorry, to that actress. But she was pretty far away so I’m pretty sure she didn’t hear me anyway.)
-A Killer Klown girl seeing I was going to take a picture and doing a “cutesy” pose.

I had a ton of fun. I rarely travel, but I already know I want to go back next year, and take two of my best friends and plan things out better. I’m trying to see if one of my horror averse friends will go with me in august to the lights-on tours. She is thinking about it.

Sinners, Evil Dead and Hellraiser. We have no fast passes. I'm guessing we'll be in line for 2 hours each house. For anyone that's been recently to these, how long have the lines been?

I am a social media illiterate boomer. How do I find this dang phrase. I saw a few posts saying “IG stories”.

Are those the short vertical videos on instagram? Do I need to watch them until I come across the phrase embedded in the video? Are they in descriptions? Is it a comment?

Please help.

Just completed my yearly trip to HHN and its time to compare last years houses vs this years.

Again, I like to compare the houses based on their locations vs last year to see if one year was better than the others. Without further ado, here's the list:

Wyatt Sicks vs Evil Dead Burns

FNAF vs Stranger Things 5

Terrifier vs Ozzy

Grave of Flesh vs Madlands

El Artista vs Jack/Oddfellow

Jason vs Cybergoria

Fallout vs Hellraiser

Galkin vs Sinners

Dolls vs H.R. Bloodengutz

Hatchet and Chains vs Abduction

So my wife and I are doing both coasts for part of our honeymoon. We did Orlando already and got the refillable souvenir cups. Just wondering if we can continue to use them when we go to the Hollywood event later this evening.

I won some money in the casino and my girlfriends come from all over the US every year for us to do a HHN reunion and we spend the whole week hanging out and doing halloween things. This year I wanted to treat my friends, so I surprised everyone with express passes. I’ve never been able to typically afford something like this and I have to say, it was SO worth it. We had the BEST time. We went on a Thursday night, got there around 7pm. We waited maybe 10 min max the entire night although most houses and rides were basically a walk on for us. We hit every single house, every ride and even had time to try every food place and bar and just hangout, take pictures, rest and talk in between it all. It was the perfect night and I know it’s extremely overpriced but if you know you’re going next year, just save some extra money for express. So worth it.

Hello!
I am going to go to HHN for only the second time in my life this year, on October 30th, and I would really like to be properly prepared.

I am hoping to do as much as possible, but I am especially interested in the H.R. Bloodengutz house because he’s a really special favourite to me.
I was really hoping I could get some tips on how to possibly open said house - I have the Scream Early pass that allows me to get in at 2:00, but I have heard people say to get there even earlier, like, I’ve heard some people say to line up to get into the park at NOON.
I would absolutely love to be able to be the first person through that house, if it is at all possible.*

I also was wondering what proper decorum is for doing houses multiple times. Would people be annoyed or weirded out if I did that house several times in a row (getting back in line each time and waiting of course)?
I also know the protocol for gifts tends to be to give things to attendants now, but I want to double check if there’s any special etiquette for that, too. I have some drawings to give to some characters in the Scare Zones which I know is different, but in a house everyone is on timers acting to dialogue so I wouldn’t want to disturb that!

I also was wondering, beyond that house, what the best time to do things like certain houses/scarezones is in general. I heard some horror stories about Fortnitemares being a bottleneck. So I want to know from people who have been this year how it progresses through the night. I am prioritizing original houses over IP ones; the other ones I know I want to for sure do at least once are Jack and Oddfellow and Cybergoria.

*(I am not going to be like, angry or stupid if I don’t, though. I was going to say “obviously I wouldn’t be” but I know that unfortunately some people have been acting out which makes me very sad and honestly a bit afraid)

Thank you for listening! (I made these little H.R.s too!)

We got engaged on the steps of the Psycho house and it was absolutely perfect! Norman Bates came to us in character and told us we can honey moon at the Bates Motel for free 😅 hands down my best HHN experience ever

I went to Halloween Horror Nights and honestly didn't really smell anything in the mazes or scare zones 😭 I've heard people talk about how amazing the smells are at HHN, and how certain scents make the experience even better, but I didn't notice much of anything.

Am I just missing something, or does it depend on which mazes you go through? What are some of the smells you're supposed to notice, and what do they actually smell like? I'm genuinely curious because I feel like I missed out on a whole part of the experience lol.

I didn't even know she was at HHN35! I was SO excited to see her at the end of the wet path last year during the Terrifier house, so I am over cloud nine that this character actor indulged me in an interaction where she pointed to my Art earrings/glasses, threw them away, and gestured to fighting Art as he arrived with the Little Girl. My "Good luck girlfriend, you got this!" was met with an exasperated groan - so Sienna.

Literally made my entire trip. Thank you to this actor!!!!

15/10. Hope they bring it back and keep capacity similar!

My gf is a HUMONGOUS Art the clown fan! We have been on the lookout for Art the last couple HHNs, and it FINALLY happened!

Perfect ending to another incredible HHN!

(PS Nightmare Fuel was every bit as awesome as the last few years! The countdown to next year begins!!)