With the popularity of Universal’s annual Halloween Horror Nights event growing each year, the park is always finding new ways to up the scares and bring guests back to experience what’s new from last time. From year to year, some things remain the same. Halloween Horror Nights 33 follows the typical pattern of 10 haunted houses, five scare zones, and a single show.
However, there are some changes, upgrades, and improvements implemented each year to keep Halloween Horror Nights a must-do for many horror fans. So, what makes HHN 33 different? And how does it compare to 2023’s HHN 32?
Many fans look forward to the intellectual property houses each year to see their favorite cinema killers brought to life. The IP houses are fan favorites and often have the longest wait times. Even on less crowded nights, it’s rare to see one of these houses with less than a 60-minute wait time.
HHN 32 had a total of five IP-themed houses (The Last of Us, Stranger Things 4, The Exorcist: Believer, Universal Monsters: Unmasked, and Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count) and this year’s event has four — A Quiet Place, Insidious: The Further, Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. With fewer IP houses this year, Universal creatives have been able to go all-out on more original haunted houses like Major Sweets Candy Factory or Goblin’s Feast.
Another thing that varies year after year are the different food offerings available during the event. Similar to years before, HHN 33 features an abundance of food stands, three of which are themed around the IPs found in this year’s roster: Insidious: The Further at Production Central, A Quiet Place in New York, and Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire in the shuffle of stands between Transformers and Revenge of the Mummy.
Believe it or not, HHN 33 has two icons this year: SINIST3R and SURR3AL, the representations of physical pain and psychological pain, who can be found at the Duality of Fear scarezone by the park entrance with special appearances at Torture Faire and Demon Queens. If you’re lucky, you can catch them in the middle of one of their special scenes. This is the only time in recent years that two icons have been used for Halloween Horror Nights.
HHN 33 also brought a unique take to lore with the QR code scavenger hunt taking guests from the Museum of Antiquities and through the tribute store to learn about a missing idol from a museum exhibit and the bloodthirsty bat creature attached to it!
Over a total of seven journal entries, unravel the story of a once-museum worker fighting for survival underneath an overgrown, apocalyptic version of Manhattan.
The fan favorite pyrotechnic and aerial stunt show Nightmare Fuel returns to the stage this year with a brand new theme — Nocturnal Circus. As usual, this event is one of the most popular things to do at HHN so be sure to get in a queue for the next show for least a half hour to an hour before start time.
That about covers the new additions for this year’s event. With all these upgrades, it’s easier than ever to find yourself lost in the fog… but where’s a better place to be during spooky season than prowling new scarezones and shuddering in unique haunted houses? What are you looking forward to most, or what was your favorite part about Halloween Horror Nights 33?
