Halloween Horror Nights 2008

Summary

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Recently, my friend Eddie invited me to tag along on a trip to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2008. I was totally down for this since I've never gone to this specific event before. Good friends, some alcohol, rides, funhouses, nightlife. You can't go wrong.

So we arrive at the park and endure the long lines to park and the even longer lines to get through the gates and metal detectors. The overall theme this year is urban legends which is one of the things that turned me onto this. An introduction video to the Bloody Mary Reflections of Fear attraction played repeatedly on a large screen above the metal detectors gate. I think we heard it loop at least 50 times and it was to the point that it was borderline hypnotic.

After enduring the initial lines, we make our way to yet another gate to present our tickets. This is where things get a little hairy for me. Somehow I ended up with a ticket to the Universal Studios in Hollywood California, so I now have to wait in a customer service line and meet up with my cohorts afterwards. I'm a fairly patient individual and I was pretty excited for the whole event, so waiting approximately 40 minutes in this line wasn't so bad. Unfortunately I had to re-purchase a ticket and the other one would be reimbursed within 7-10 days. Fine, whatever, I don't care. I'm about to go through a bunch of funhouses and rides, all the while slightly intoxicated (we managed to smuggle 2 flasks into the park and did some drinking prior).

I finally make it back to the ticket gate where my second go is successful (I'd sure hope so!). Meet up with my friends and we're off. The overall park layout is always awesome and the atmosphere during Halloween is even better. There are a lot of restaurants and little shops along the way ($$$) and there were costumed people all throughout the park. The costumes were all unbelievable. There was a dead tree costume that seemed to catch everyone offguard due to the fact that he would sit still while throngs of people went by, and then carefully choose who he gave chase to. The kicker was that the costume was built so that the one wearing it was on stilts. So you can well imagine how unnerving being chased by a 12-foot tall dead tree is.

Here's a note to anyone that goes to this event. If you are willing to spring some extra money for an Express Pass to skip the line waits, get it. Most of the wait times were 30 minutes or more. This can really kill a buzz. Fortunately some social people in lines kept us entertained and we're an outgoing group to begin with.

To shorten up this entry, the funhouses were a lot of what you'd expect. Small hallways, strobe lights, black walls and various random characters. We only attended 2 or 3 of them but I think I only genuinely got scared one time. Other than that we were all laughing or screaming just to scare the shit out of whoever was in front of us (which was quite effective). Overall I would say go to the funhouses and you'll get a laugh but they're not worth an hour or more wait when you can go on rides instead.

Our favorite ride of the night was one that had absolutely nothing to do with Halloween Horror Nights. The Mummy is a cross between special effects and an indoor rollercoaster. It's really awesome. My favorite part on the entire ride was when your cart comes to a halt in a small room where Imhotep breaks a window, says some things I wasn't paying attention to, some torches light and--get this--the whole ceiling is engulfed in flames, the wall opens up and you're GONE. It's awesome. It flies through dark tunnels and catches you offguard every time. It also fires you up a hill similar to the Hulk rollercoaster. I suggest going on this.

The main attraction for the entire event is Bloody Mary's Reflections of Fear, which is a type of walk-through/funhouse of sorts. If you're willing to endure a 2-hour wait in line, I would definitely go to this. Unfortunately we weren't patient enough for this and since the park closed at 2am, we wanted to make the best of our time there. Bummer.

The shows are another must see. We went to 2 shows, both of which were entertaining and interesting. The one show that you HAVE TO ATTEND is Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure (don't bring young children to this. It contains vulgarity and drug references--Yes, drug references). Yeah, I thought the same exact thing: "Am I really at Universal Studios watching a show that has repeated bong references, openly uses the word 'shit' and showcases a drunken Hillary Clinton?". Yep. I'm not going to give away everything but the entire show is basically a spoof on practically every recent celebrity you can think of. Iron Man, The Joker (The Dark Knight), Indiana Jones, The X-Files, Barack Obama and John McCain, Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton, etc. If there's one show you can't skip on your excursion, it's this one. The other show that we attended was a classic. It was a Rocky Horror Picture Show tribute. Aside from the insane amount of crossdressing and awkwardness, this was entertaining. Obviously if you're homophobic skip this one altogether. It was really well-done though and the actors and actresses do a great job.

All in all my trip to Halloween Horror Nights was a blast. You can't go wrong with good friends, some alcohol, funhouses, rides and the nightlife. Just don't expect to be scared in the funhouses unless you're the type that scares easily. I'm not.

• Life
• Daryn St. Pierre
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