Universal Studios Hollywood opened their popular Halloween Horror Nights events a few weeks back and sold out weekend after weekend. The park’s line-up of haunting attractions this year is great and popular IPs such as American Horror Story drew large crowds. Let’s take a look at the mazes (and Terror Tram) found at this year’s event!
How we rate and review:
The four ratings exist of a Length Rating, which relates to the length of a maze, the longer the better. This doesn’t necessarily mean physical length of walking through the maze, but may also indicate there are plenty of different scenes and that the maze felt long. The Scare Rating is exactly what you think it is, how ‘scary’ does a maze get, how gruesome it is, if it creates a bunch of jump scares, etc. The Set Rating looks specifically at the job done regarding the theming of the maze, how immersive the sets are, how many different scenes guests encounter, etc. And then last, but definitely not least… the Experience Rating. Which is mainly based off of the overall feel of the maze, was it a extreme? Did it leave you breathless? etc. The overall experience, combined with the other three factors creates a FINAL SCORE for the maze. (Out of 10, 10 being: “absolutely unbelievably amazing”, 1 being: “Don’t even bother visiting”)
Freddy vs. Jason
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 9 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 8 FINAL SCORE: 8.5
This maze just blew me away. The number of actors they had in this maze was perfect. I enjoyed this maze the most, since the timing of the jump scares were perfect. You are put through the whole set of the movie and trying to escape Jason at first. You see Jason pop up in random places then move on. You are tricked by a sweet smell present in the room. That smell makes you think you are safe, until you reach the ending of the maze. You are finally let into a scene where Jason and Freddy are fighting. This leads to many jump scares ahead of you. You are then lead to the final part of the room, where Jason stands there with Freddy’s head in hand…
American Horror Story
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 8 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 8 FINAL SCORE: 8
Though I have never seen this show, some clips of the show were projected on a wall. Those clips ended up being the parts seen in the maze. You are thrown into a straight path right away. This path is covered with paintings and jump scares right away. You are then lead into a clown’s mouth, where a magician tries to saw someone in half, with a special guest watching…. After that, you are lead into a room where a character pops out of a bed and tries to grab you. After this weird scene, you are hit with a horrendous smell, where you see a doctor show off his prized possessions. You are then lead to a last room with an even worse smell than before and one final jump scare. This maze is definitely for fans of the show, but if you want a good scare, this maze is good even if you watch the show or not.
Krampus
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 6 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 7.5
Right away, I was just blown away by the attention to details with the façade of the place. There was the main character walking around talking to guests. He was handing out a special ‘poster’ to people, and we did not get to see what it was. So if you are lucky enough to get what the character was handing out, let us know! The whole Christmas theme is super odd to begin with, but throughout the maze, you are given a sweet smell of cinnamon and confused by attacking gingerbread men. This maze was lacking a lot on the jump scares, but the details made it unique. You walk around the house trying to escape Krampus, but he always finds a way to get to you. You are then thrown into a room with a giant toy eating a person and other toys coming to life to scare you. After that, you are again attacked, but this time by snowmen, which is quite funny. You are then lead into the final room, where again, the smell of cinnamon is present. You think it’s a normal room, until Krampus finds out where you are.
Terror Tram
Length Rating: 7 Scare Rating: 2 Set Rating: 3 Experience Rating: 2 FINAL SCORE: 3.5
Well, yet again, another disappointing tram. In my opinion, this is the WORST one so far in many years of going here. You are lead to very very very few actors, with only one decent jump scare behind the building. The only thing enjoyable of this attraction, is that there is a clown who flashes out. No, not his privates, but his guts that are hanging out. After this, you are stuck behind a GIANT herd of people. This experience was literally a line within a line. The only good scares came out of crates you had to walk through, and people thought a clown standing still was a dummy, but would smack the container super loud and get a good number of people to jump. Other than that, a very sad attempt at a terror tram.
Exorcist
Length Rating: 9 Scare Rating: 9 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 9 FINAL SCORE: 9
You are lead into a room with an Ouija board. This Ouija board has its piece moving all over the place, already creeping guests out right as they enter the maze. Then you see the infamous scene where the actor crawls down the stairs in a weird fashion. You are lead into A LOT of jump scares. This maze simply creates so many jump scares. If you are at the right place at the right time, you will get the crap scared out of you. You are also brought into a room with the exorcism is happening. The bed is moving and frame is going crazy. The next room has guests seeing the actor on the bed just staring at you with her creepy looks. Then, more jump scares! You cannot get away from them. The next room has the actor spitting water on you just like in the movie. Sadly, this robot malfunctioned when I was in the maze. The last room also utilizes special mechanic effects. You are led to some jump scares and see the actor gone crazy and the exorcist has been killed. A few more jump scares happen after that last room, then you are finally free!
Texas Chainsaw
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 8 Set Rating: 9 Experience Rating: 8 FINAL SCORE: 8.25
You are led into a diner where the host is telling you to get the hell out. If you don’t, someone will get you… You are lead through a slaughter house with animals hanging all over the place. And a few humans as well. You are trying to escape the chainsaw maniac, but he keeps finding you everywhere you go. Half way through the maze, you are led to a house, where the maniac tries to out someone’s face on you. In other rooms, you find more human remains, intact or not. This maze has several actors and many jump scares throughout. If you are a fan of this movie, you will understand the set better than most people, but over all, this maze is filled with good jump scares and terrible smells.
Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield
Length Rating: 8 Scare Rating: 6 Set Rating: 8 Experience Rating: 7 FINAL SCORE: 7.25
If you remember Halloween from last year, it’s about the same this year, but differs in the middle of the maze. You are lead into a room with a tv playing and a sweet smell of cinnamon. You are then lead to Michael getting shot several times and being fought off. You go through several turns around the maze with Michael popping up in every corner. There’s always a weird presence felt in this maze, feels like Michael is following you everywhere. In the hospital section of the maze, Michael is making sure you end up in a hospital. Killing nurses and trying to kill you. You then are lead to more jump scares and seeing Michael drown someone in boiling water. (Yay!) Continuing through the hospital, you are trying to find your way out, with Michael always finding you and attacking anyone he sees. Leading into a room where there are glow in the Dark pumpkin masks…. You know it, some of those masks are worn by people who jump at you with a knife… though last year’s Halloween maze was the best at the event, there were better mazes this year. 
Thanks for checking out these Halloween Horror Nights MAZE and Terror Tram Reviews, we left out The Walking Dead Attraction as it’s a year-round attraction and we’ve reviewed it previously. Everything we reviewed is exclusively to be experienced during Halloween Horror Nights 2016! Check out all other Halloween Theme Park events around the state and our reviews on our HALLOWEEN PAGE!
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