Misc
Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2023: The Definitive Haunted House Ranking
This year, the olfactory sense is all the rage, as it seems Universal is embracing the concept of 4D more than ever before by filling your nostrils with putrid scents and mouth-watering morsels. So let’s celebrate the goriest time of the year with the ultimate countdown – from spoopiest to spookiest – of the wicked and wild haunts at HHN Hollywood and Orlando. After all, nothing more perfectly encapsulates that transition from summer camp slasher to the crackling leaves of whichever unfortunate town Art the Clown stalks than running for your life through a humid theme park in Florida or Southern California.
Whether you took the first opportunity in the dog days of August to crack open the Halloween decor and order a Trenta, no-foam, five-shot half-caf, no-foam pumpkin spice latte with no foam at 210 degrees or choose to wait for an appropriately crisp day in September, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios has made its yearly bicoastal arrival. It’s the New Year’s Eve of Spooky Season, toasting to the beginning of two months full of fog machines and midnight screams. This year, the olfactory sense is all the rage, as it seems Universal is embracing the concept of 4D more than ever before by filling your nostrils with putrid scents and mouth-watering morsels.
Halloween Horror Nights House Rankings
So let’s celebrate the goriest time of the year with the ultimate countdown – from spoopiest to creepiest – of the wicked and wild haunts at HHN Hollywood and Orlando. After all, nothing more perfectly encapsulates that transition from summer camp slasher to the crackling leaves of whichever unfortunate town Art the Clown stalks than running for your life through a humid theme park in Florida or Southern California.
14. Terror Tram…The Exterminatorz (Hollywood)
The Universal Backlot Tour is a fascinating experience unique to Hollywood that takes you behind the scenes of one of the most well-established film studios in the world. Unfortunately, the 2023 Terror Tram may as well occur in a Party City because that’s where this low-budget outdoor haunt belongs. Bug women pushing giant plastic larvae in strollers are a far cry from the hoard of chainsaw-wielding clowns that rushed the tram in 2022. It’s sad to say that the best thing about this trip is the campy on-ride video that resembles an acting challenge from Ru Paul’s Drag Race. Unless you’re there to watch your friend with entomophobia pass out or haven’t done the Backlot Tour and want to walk through the (admittedly awesome) set of Jordan Peele’s most recent sci-fi thriller, this year’s Terror Tram is big NOPE!
13. The Darkest Deal (Orlando)
Anything is possible when it comes to creating demented and lived-in original houses at HHN, and yet, not unlike its doomed protagonist, The Darkest Deal falls just short of glory. Following a blues musician who makes a pact with the Devil to reach great musical heights, the story isn’t anything you haven’t seen before and is relatively light on scares. There are some standout moments, such as when said Devil manipulates his unlucky conscript on stage and a particularly hellish ending that steals the show, but otherwise, this deal is no different than a throwaway Netflix movie of the week.
12. Universal Monsters: Unmasked
After a few duds, the rest of the HHN houses stand perfectly fine on their own, but this is a ranking, so critique we must. Like any good horror fan, I was very interested in what Univeral would actually do with their gaggle of classic goons. And while it was great to see them in the flesh once more, their resurrection played it safe. Each monster has a neatly presented package that showcases who they are to varying degrees of gruesome detail, but it doesn’t amount to anything more than you’d expect. The optical illusion of The Invisible Man is indeed a sight to behold; however, I couldn’t help but yearn for the thrill of The Bride of Frankenstein Lives house from 2021 – an insane mashup of the titular monster and something out of the Underworld franchise.
11. Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate (Orlando)
This is another throwback to the classics, referencing the iconic dueling coasters that once soared over the Islands of Adventure skyline. It’s most definitely the largest in scale out of all the HHN haunts, almost as if you’re on edge and briskly walking through an impeccably designed high fantasy film set. It’s a fun concept that shows reverence for the thrill rides of these great theme parks, but high fantasy and horror don’t typically mix, and it’s apparent here. The horror elements feel tacked on to what should otherwise be a permanent walkthrough experience at the park. Kudos to Universal for following through on the title and providing a choose-your-own-adventure style ending with two separate paths.
10. Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings (Orlando)
If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to be chased through a village by pitchfork-wielding townspeople like the Frankenstein monster, Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings has you covered. You’re the ugly duckling in a town full of culty colonial hens, and the experience is undoubtedly disorienting. It’s The VVitch meets Resident Evil 4, and everything’s on fire – perhaps to distract from the fact that nothing all that different happens throughout its runtime. This one’s more about sheer panic than a moody descent into madness, but sometimes, it’s nice to get a quick fix.
9. Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins (Orlando)
quaint /kwānt/ adjective 1. attractively unusual or old-fashioned
“The Good Doctor Oddfellow’s cabinet of curiosities provided a uniquely quaint experience compared to the more vulgar or contemporary houses at Halloween Horror Nights.”
Full of gorgeous detail from the first half of the 20th century when bearded ladies and strongmen ruled the circus circuit, you’ll be more entranced by its beauty than scared. It plays out like an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark, and the finale – lit up in pale green flames – is a wonderous highlight.
8. Evil Dead Rise (Hollywood)
Before you even walk through the threshold of this deadite-infested highrise, you’re met with an incredibly lifelike animatronic of Ellie, the film’s antagonist, tangled up in the building’s elevator shaft – just like in the movie. Universal flexes its industry chops in moments like this and stands out above the competition. From then on, you move sequentially through the film’s various set pieces, from bathtubs to bloodbaths, and the “show them what’s behind door #1” type of jumpscares never quite let up. Unfortunately, it only partially embraces how grotesque the Evil Dead franchise truly is, which ranks it a bit lower on the list. Oh, and keep your eye out for a Staffney cameo!
7. The Exorcist: Believer
First and foremost, if you can’t handle intense poo smells, please STAY AWAY from this HHN house. One room gives new meaning to the term “immersive experience” and supplies a scent only a mother could love. Seriously, it saturated my sinuses for the remainder of the house. Otherwise, it follows in the footsteps of Evil Dead Rise and pulls you through the film’s presumed set pieces – a little spoilery considering it isn’t out until October – although it sometimes looks a tad too Spirit Halloween-ish by using masks instead of makeup & prosthetics for the possessed girls’ faces. A solid (and soiled) effort, nonetheless.
6. Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count
We stan Chucky here at Horror Press, but let’s face it…he isn’t all that scary. So, going into this one, the scares are a bonus rather than a qualifier. After trash-talking the queue line outside, the pint-sized psychopath recreates kills from both his movies and TV show, and there is quite literally a digital kill count displayed before entering new areas of the house. It’s a blast to breeze through and point out favorite moments from his storied history, and while there is an animatronic Devon Sawa and a few Tiffany dolls, there’s no Jennifer Tilly in sight. Sorry, Charles, but you almost made it into the Top 5.
Note: If you’re going to HHN: Hollywood, remember to check out the main gift shop just inside the park entrance. There are actual Chucky, Tiffany, and Glen/Glenda dolls on loan from special effects studio Alterian Inc. on display!
5. YETI: Campground Kills (Orlando)
It’s a simple concept that feels right. You’ve got a yeti on your tail, and the claustrophobic woodsy environment created by Universal makes the experience all the more realistic. You can tell the cast is having fun, and interactions between ill-fated campers and the mountainous monster really up the ante. It’s your own B-movie creature feature, but do be careful. No one usually survives those.
4. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America (Hollywood)
If the yeti served up B-movie thrills, Monstruos provides Guillermo del Toro-level monstrosities. Light on plot and heavy on character creation, these monsters put those from the Universal Classics Vault to shame. It’s moody with a morbid sense of humor, and it’s clear that “go big or go home” was the motto when designing its creatures. As if to prove how much they’ve got going on, there’s a flesh-eating bird the size of a Snorlax in the middle of the house instead of saved for the grand finale, as one might assume. You know that it’s special when presumed returnees are chanting, “Rip the spine! Rip the spine!” to a specific ghoul as if they’re re-watching a viral YouTube video.
3. Stranger Things 4
As we head toward the finish, it seems to be a trend that these houses are either heavy on scares or plot but cannot have it both ways. Well, such is the case for Stranger Things 4 because unless you’re scared of Sadie Sink lookalikes and the occasional Vecna arm grab, there’s not much to pee your pants over. That said, the set design and general immersion on display for fans of the show (of which there is legion) is really something to geek out over. It follows the plot of Season 4 to a tee, and there are not one but two Millie Bobby Brown hands outstretched psychic power moments. In a world full of tens, be an Eleven.
2. The Last of Us
Maybe I’m biased, but I am obsessed with the decision to base TLOU house on the video game rather than the HBO series. Maybe it’s because the game is better – yeah, I said it – and maybe it’s because, unlike the show, it includes some scary set pieces! The infamous sewer sequence was chosen as the moment in question, and it’s truly something to experience such a harrowing moment in video game history IRL. Seeing different actors represent Joel and Ellie throughout the house’s multiple scenes is a little odd, but everyone does a great job playing the beloved characters. The clickers are creepy, the action is tense, and you even get to see a Bloater rip a guy’s throat out!
1. Holidayz In Hell (Hollywood)
Everything about this original house is on its A-game. The outside facade features an NYE countdown attended by an evil Father Time and a 1920s flapper skeleton who holds a martini and poses for the queue. Inside, you begin at New Year’s and your birth(day) – for many, that’s a scary time – and travel across the calendar year through every major US holiday. Each celebration invents a clever and exciting way to blend murder and mayhem with their various rituals, and turning the corner into a new holiday becomes a dangerous guessing game on what to expect. The Halloween section blasts a banger of an EDM song that is sorely missing from music streaming services, and the Thanksgiving scents almost make you forget about the dead bodies around the dinner table. Holidayz in Hell has the scares and entertaining narrative one-two punch that marks it firmly at the top of our HHN ranking.
If you plan on attending Halloween Horror Nights this year, we wish you all the worst! And if you’re nowhere near Universal Studios and cannot make the trip, hopefully this list has inspired you to go out and get spooked at a local haunt instead.
Either way, happy Halloween Season to all, and to all a dark night!
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) Limited Edition 4K UHD from Arrow Video
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original DTS-HD MA 7.1 and 5.1 surround audio and lossless stereo audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary with Dread Central co-founder Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton and co-host of The Spooky Picture Show podcast Chris MacGibbon
- Archival audio commentary with director Marcus Nispel, producer Michael Bay, executive producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form and New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye
- Archival audio commentary with Marcus Nispel, director of photography Daniel Pearl, production designer Greg Blair, art director Scott Gallager, sound supervisor Trevor Jolly and composer Steve Jablonsky
- Archival audio commentary with Marcus Nispel, Michael Bay, writer Scott Kosar, Brad Fuller, Andrew Form and actors Jessica Biel, Erica Leerhsen, Eric Balfour Jonathan Tucker, Mike Vogel and Andrew Bryniarski
- Reimagining a Classic, a brand new interview with director Marcus Nispel
- Shadows of Yesteryear, a brand new interview with cinematographer Daniel Pearl
- The Lost Leatherface, a brand new interview with actor Brett Wagner
- Masks and Massacres, a brand new interview with makeup effects artist Scott Stoddard
- Chainsaw Symphony, a brand new interview with composer Steve Jablonsky
- Chainsaw Redux: Making A Massacre, a making-of documentary
- Ed Gein: The Ghoul of Plainfield, an in-depth look at the infamous killer who inspired the character of Leatherface
- Severed Parts, a look at the cutting room floor and some of the scenes excised from the final edit
- Deleted scenes including an alternate opening and ending
- Screen tests for Jessica Biel, Eric Balfour and Erica Leerhsen
- Behind-the-scenes featurette
- Cast and crew interviews
- Theatrical trailers and TV spots
- Concept art galleries
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea
- Double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Aaron Lea
- Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Michael Gingold
Misc
NYCC 2025 Horror Highlights: A Sneak Peek at ‘The Lost Boys’ Musical, ‘Resident Evil: Requiem,’ and More!
As soon as New York Comic Con announced that its 2025 theme would be “haunted,” I started lacing up my comfy shoes and making a beeline for the Javitz Center! Horror has always been represented at the con, but it felt fitting that it should play a central role in this year’s event at a time when the genre seems more popular than ever.
From beloved family-friendly properties like The Nightmare Before Christmas to pants-dampening titles like the upcoming Resident Evil: Requiem, horror appeared in countless shapes and forms. Here are all the best and scariest insights I gleaned from the show floor, panel rooms, and pop-ups of New York Comic Con 2025!
Our NYCC 2025 Horror Highlights
Resident Evil: Requiem Is Going to Test Your Bladder Strength
Full disclaimer: I’m not a gamer. I’m honestly pretty bad at games, which made my Resident Evil: Requiem play session all the more frightening because I was convinced that everyone around me would realize I’m a fraud. But with easy-to-grasp controls, even for a newb like me, the latest installment in the iconic horror franchise quickly sucked me in and left me on edge for entirely different reasons.
During my 30-minute session, I was introduced to FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft, Requiem’s central character. She swims to consciousness to find herself strapped upside down on a gurney with a needle in her arm, siphoning her blood. After Grace managed to free herself, the controls were handed over to me to explore the creepy facility through Grace’s eyes, looking for a fuse. Some spaces were bathed in red light; others were lit only by flickering bulbs that left me white-knuckling the controller, waiting for something to emerge from the shadows and swallow me whole, not helped by Grace’s anxious, stuttering breathing in my ear.
I took a moment to appreciate how detailed video games have become since my childhood experiences playing Evil Dead: Hail to the King on the original PlayStation (seriously, you can see the dust drifting in beams of light now?!), only for the sound of movement somewhere in the facility to yank me back to the present. I renewed my frantic search for the fuse, only to run blindly into a pitch-black room and encounter something enormous that dragged me into the darkness. Sorry, Grace!
You can find out what happens next when Resident Evil: Requiem releases for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 on February 27, 2026.
Megan Fox Is Among the New Cast Members in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2—And Blumhouse Hasn’t Given Up on Its Other m3gan Yet
Blumhouse made several announcements at their NYCC panel, most notably that Megan Fox (Jennifer’s Body) is voicing Toy Chica in director Emma Tammi’s highly anticipated sequel Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, coming to theaters on December 5. Other new additions to the cast include YouTuber Matthew Patrick, aka MatPat, who cameoed in the first movie and will voice Toy Bonnie, and Kellen Goff, who has voiced multiple characters in the game series and will now lend his pipes to Toy Freddy.
I’m interested in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, not least because my best friend is terrified of the franchise and makes a wildly entertaining moviegoing companion—but I’m more interested in the future of another Blumhouse franchise, M3GAN. After the sequel underperformed, likely due in part to its hard genre pivot away from horror and into action territory, the future of the killer doll is uncertain. But in a special industry presentation on “The Business of Fear,” Jason Blum revealed that “we’re all working to keep M3GAN alive,” adding that Blumhouse is exploring other potential mediums before trying to resurrect her on film.
Does that mean a M3GAN video game might come our way in the future, or perhaps a TV series? I don’t know, but I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve seen of the silicone diva.
Photo taken by Samantha McLaren.
The Lost Boys: A New Musical Will Feature Flying Stunts and a Live Vampire Band
My queer heart is a sucker for musical adaptations of horror films I love, so you can be certain that I’ll be heading down to the Santa Carla Boulevard—aka Broadway’s Palace Theater—for The Lost Boys: A New Musical, which begins previews on March 27, 2026. At their NYCC panel, producer Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring franchise), director Michael Arden (Maybe Happy Ending), and cast members LJ Benet, Ali Louis Bourzgui, and Maria Wirries revealed why they feel Joel Schumacher’s 1987 classic translates so well to the stage, and what audiences can look forward to.
“There’s something that I see with both horror movies, musicals, and superhero movies—there’s an element of melodrama that’s really rewarding,” says Wilson, who began his career in musical theater and worked with Schumacher on the director’s 2004 film adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera. “Some people view it as camp, but there’s a reality of it being heightened that felt like this story cemented itself so much to being a musical.”
“They’re a biker gang, after all, and there’s a level of theatricality to that in and of itself,” says Arden. “Our biker gang also happens to play instruments.”
That’s right: the vampires will be playing instruments live on stage, which made casting twice as hard. Ali Louis Bourzgui, who plays David, the character portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland in the film, reveals that he plays guitar. And that wasn’t the only unusual request in the casting call: auditions included a flying test. (Presumably wires were involved, unless Arden has found himself a real cabal of vampires in his cast.)
Other highlights that fans can look forward to include killer music from one of Arden’s favorite bands, The Rescues. You can listen to the song “Have to Have You” right now, featuring instrumentals from Slash. The director also teases that many fan-favorite moments from the film will feature in some way in the musical, including the bridge scene and, yes, even the sexy saxophone guy.
Greg Nicotero’s Guts & Glory Marks a New Challenge for a Legend of the Business
If you like looking at gnarly practical effects in horror movies, chances are you’re familiar with Greg Nicotero’s work, whether you realize it or not. The legendary SFX artist has worked on everything from George Romero’s Day of the Dead and Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead II to Kill Bill and, more recently, The Walking Dead. The impressive extent of his resume was made clear at the panel “Shudder is Here to Scare the S*** Out of You,” in which almost any film mentioned by the other panelists was met by a small smile and a humble murmur of “worked on that” into the mic, often followed by a wild anecdote. Nicotero seems like the most interesting man in the world to grab a drink with, and his new horror competition show for Shudder—Guts & Glory—will let us see more of the man behind the makeup brush.
“Guts & Glory is one of the most fun times I’ve had on a show,” Nicotero says, teasing that the series is “part Sam Raimi, part Halloween Horror Nights, and part Survivor.”
In the six-episode first season, contestants are dropped into an Alabama swamp, where there’s an urban legend about an evil spirit. “One of the contestants gets possessed by the evil spirit, people start dying off, but in the meantime, they’re still competing and there’s a prize,” Nicotero explains.
Guts & Glory is effects-heavy, which was challenging to do in an unscripted series relying on real people’s real-time reactions. “You do a movie, you can cut and try it again,” Nicotero explains. “[This] was completely out of my wheelhouse and out of my comfort zone, but I’m really, really proud of it.”
Nicotero’s Creepshow was one of the first original shows to debut on Shudder, so he’s truly part of the DNA of the horror streamer, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. Guts & Glory premieres on October 14 as part of Shudder’s Season of Screams programming.
Horror Short The Littles Deserves the Big-Screen Feature Treatment
Some short films are perfectly suited to their bite-sized format, while others contain the seeds of something much bigger. At the New York Premiere of The Littles, a new short written and directed by American Horror Story producer Andrew Duplessie, I could immediately see the potential for the feature film that Duplessie hopes to make.
Equal parts charming and unsettling, The Littles stars M3GAN’s Violet McGraw as a little girl with a loose floorboard in her bedroom. One night, a scuffling sound and a crack of light between the boards lead the little girl to discover that her family isn’t alone in the house…
Duplessie says The Littles was inspired by his own experiences growing up in a creaky old house with a no-doubt overactive imagination. The short features creepy-cute stop-motion animation from Anthony Scott (The Nightmare Before Christmas), puppets by Katy Strutz (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), and some truly adorable miniature sets by Aiden Creates, all blended perfectly with the live-action scenes. Check it out if it’s playing at a festival near you, and watch this space for a (fingers-crossed) future feature!
Photo taken by Samantha McLaren.
Disney Publishing’s New The Nightmare Before Christmas Tie-in Novel Welcomes Younger Fans into the Scary Fun
NYCC’s horror happenings weren’t all geared toward an adult audience. Disney Publishing took over Daily Provisions Manhattan West for a pop-up experience inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas, featuring themed food and drinks like a delectable Pumpkin Potion coffee that I could honestly drink all season long.
At a media and creator event in the space, I took a look at the newly released Hour of the Pumpkin Queen from New York Times best-selling author Megan Shepherd, who also wrote the official novelization of The Nightmare Before Christmas for the film’s 30th anniversary in 2023. In this new tie-in novel, Sally and her rag doll apprentice, Luna, embark on a time-bending adventure to save Jack Skellington and Halloween Town after falling through a mysterious portal.
I was gifted a copy of the book by Disney, but all opinions are my own here. I’m looking forward to giving it a read during the inevitable Halloween hangover that takes place in November, before likely passing it on to my young nieces when they’re old enough. It’s a full novel, not a picture book, so definitely geared more toward a YA audience, but between the beautiful artwork on the cover and the seasonal theme, it might just be the perfect gift for the budding horror lover in your life.
That’s a wrap on New York Comic Con 2025! Be sure to bookmark Horror Press if you haven’t already so you never miss our coverage of conventions, festivals, and more.
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