This past weekend, I was able to attend opening nights of Halloween Horror Nights. I must say.. Amazing!

As Erik and I rushed from Apopka (long story..) to Universal, we missed the Q&A session with John C. Reilly who plays in Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. Hundreds of people crowded outside of the Universal Archway, waiting to enter the gates. We entered the park and we were escorted to the Horror Make Up Show area, where we encoutered many other media outlets, a few friends, and celebrities!

Erik is one of the biggest nerds I know when it comes to this kind of stuff. As I stood there, not even realizing I was surrounded by celebrities from movies I’d seen, Erik was mingling with them. It was awesome to meet Doug Jones, who played in Hell Boy and chat with him as he ate salad out of a martini glass. He thought it was just as odd as I did.. Salad in a martini glass.. Who would have thought?

As the event began, we gathered with our VIP tour guide, Pepper – She was AWESOME, by the way. And we were off!

There are spoilers beyond this point. Read on if you choose!

Fangoria Presents: Spawning
Creatures known as Sculders, which are two feet tall, are now living in the sewers in Wyandot County, Ohio. The sewers have become stopped up and it is your job as a guest to free them up.

I think the idea is a long stretch. If you’re not a huge fan of Horror Nights and you haven’t viewed the website, you probably won’t know what this house is all about and it will make you raise an eyebrow.

I really liked this house. The Sculders were not two feet tall, but most of them were my height or taller. At one point in the house, I found myself gagging because of the smell – That’s got to be one of my favorite things about this house! The house itself was dark and dreary, surrounding you with piping and many hiding places for Sculders. The only down fall to the house was halfway through the house, the congo line infront of us came to a dead hault for several minutes.

Bill & Ted: The Lost Continent
By far, this is my favorite year of Bill and Ted! Where do I start? The opening to the show contains a clip at the beginning explaining that the show contains loud music, crazy effects, and explicit language. That leads into a whole explanation of what you could pretend you’re hearing instead of what you’re actually hearing. Bill and Ted hits the hammer on the head dead on this year, making fun of the pop culture of 2009. I won’t spoil this show as this is a must see, but I’m shocked with some of the music choices.

Silver Screams
When you enter this house, you feel as if you are truly entering the Universal Palace Theater. Believe it or not, this is where the Halloween Horror Nights commercial was filmed – according to our tour guide. This house features several movies, including the Usher’s favorite movie, Phantom of the Opera, and a few others. You will see scenes from movies such as My Bloody Valentine, Shaun of the Dead, The Thing, Phantom of the Opera, The Strangers, Medieval Dead (Army of Darkness).

The detail that went into this house is simply amazing. When you enter the Theater, the smell of popcorn fills the air, and you pass posters of movies on the wall, and then you enter the movies – or at least that’s how I felt! Some of the scenes were scarier than others, and some just made me raise an eyebrow, mainly because I haven’t seen the movie. Good house with a lot of potential!

Chucky: Friends til the End
Upon entering this house, you find a famous vortex. Actually, this is the worst vortex I’ve ever been in. The inside was splattered with many different paint colors, making the effect even worse than what it really is. Three steps into the vortex and I found myself against the railing struggling to hold on. I found myself to be dizzy for almost the remainder of the house.. That’s a pretty powerful vortex. The vortex is meant to make you feel like you are being warped down to ‘Chucky-size’. You’re not really ‘Chucky-size’, he’s lifesize. Awesome concept!

The house itself was adorable. I was imagining seeing Tickle-Me-Elmo, or some other popular toy that had became evil, but I was wrong. This reminded me of a classic fun house. Infact, most people were laughing and looking around taking in their surroundings. My all time favorite part is the writing on the walls, especially “Barbies are for whores”. The house also has giant mesh sacks filled with balls.. Who doesn’t love getting hit in the face with a giant ball sack? Actually, I don’t.. And I really got hit in the face.

Saw
I can’t really say much about SAW except that if you haven’t seen the SAW series, you need to go see them before you walk through this house, or you won’t get it. Most of the scenes in SAW can be seen in the first movie alone.

This house had some awesome effects. A girl who didn’t make it out of the reverse bear-trap in time, who had her jaw ripped off splatters blood all over you! AWESOME! It gets better though. As you continue through the house, you find a man cutting his arm off, who is also splattering blood all over the place. This house is dead on the money. I really liked this house. I’d have to say it’s a favorite.

Fangoria Presents: Leave it to Cleaver
A house themed to the 1950’s house where fresh meat is served and everyone who eats it becomes addicted. No, that’s not pork you’re eating. It’s human meat and now you’re a cannibal!

You enter the house through the back, passing through a children’s play area where they can learn the importance of meat, and you also pass through a processing area, the kitchen, and a few other places before you find yourself in the front of the shop. (Hey, Baby’s back ribs are on the menu!) There is a spot in this house, like Spawning, that just made me gag because of the smell.

Wolfman
Don’t touch the trees.. They’re real and they have sap on them. I found that out the hard way! You make your way through England, meeting one of the most dangerous creatures from the movie. Gun shots are fired around you and you’re told that he’s going to get you.

The detail of this house is just immense. The trees are real and the stars look real too. I really felt like I was outside, but I wasn’t. This is one of those houses that you have to see for yourself and experience on your own. This is a great house.

Frankenstein: Creation of the Damned
I’ve never seen the Frankenstein movies, but I really liked this house. As you entered you found yourself entering the ruins of a smoldering castle. The smell of electricity filled the air, and it seems as though Dr. Frankenstein was trying to bring the dead back to life. I swear that at one point, it was thundering and lightning in the house..

The soundstage houses seem to be the best when it comes to detail, and this is not an exception. I got a few good scares out of this house, not expecting Dr. Frankenstein to pop out and scare the crap out of me!

Dracula: Legacy in Blood
This house is another one of those houses with a complicated theme, or so I thought. I’ve never seen the movie, so I just imagined vampires killing people and sucking their blood: the typical stereo type. You’ve invited to Dracula’s castle on the night of “The Calling” and the women must make a choice to join the dark side, or suffer for all eternity. The house has two different kinds of brides – those who joined the dark side, and those who suffered for a long time. The beautiful, bloody brides are the brides who joined Dracula, and the old, decrepit brides are the ones who have suffered for all eternity. In this house, you will see Dracula take many different froms. However, I was only able to see him once, right at the very end.

This house was dark and creepy, and just scared the crap out of me. I’d have to say we saved the best for last, and by far, this is my favorite house.

I won’t go into detail about the scare zones, except that the DIE in was probably my favorite. Horror Nights was awesome to check out for a second year in a row and I can’t wait to check it out again.