Every year, Universal Studios in both California and Florida becomes decked out with scary Halloween decorations to celebrate their annual tradition of Halloween Horror Nights; the event runs from the end of September to the beginning of November. This year, many Pine Crest School students drove up to Orlando to experience the haunted houses and terrifying scare zones.

There are around ten different haunted houses, and each house is based off of horror movies or shows. Some of this year’s themes were Saw, American Horror Story, Blumhouse (Insidious, The Purge, and Sinister), and The Shining. After talking to many students from Pine Crest who went through the houses, some students found certain houses scarier than others. 

Senior Maggie Pliske said, “American Horror story was scariest because it transitioned through three different seasons and the house was the longest out of all of them.”

In addition to the haunted houses, which are spread throughout the park, there are “scare zones.” As people walk from house to house on the streets through the park there are people dressed in scary costumes typically holding props meant to scare everyone. For example, this year there was a scare zone that was based on The Purge. An announcement played in the park that said the Purge would begin soon, then there was a countdown, and suddenly there were tons of scary figures holding chainsaws that walked throughout the crowds of people trying to scare each one.

Halloween Horror Nights is definitely a fun experience, but probably not the best place to hang out if you are easily scared. Make sure to keep an eye out for the announcements of next year’s themes, which should be released soon.