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Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights is Not for the Faint of Heart

With All Hallows' Eve creeping around the corner, there's no better time to get your bones chilled, spine tingled and nape-of-neck hairs standing at attention. Thankfully, Universal Orlando's annual Halloween Horror Nights event does all that, while also fueling a lifetime of nightmares.

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Running on select nights through November 2, the fright-fest returns for its 29th year bigger, better and bloodier than ever. Featuring 10 haunted houses, five themed scare zones, two live shows, Halloween-inspired eats, and enough fake blood to fill an Olympic-size swimming pool, this year's expansive offering has scares to spare.

A Tour of Horror Nights

We recently toured all 10 houses, a gruesome gauntlet that took us through an old-timey logging camp overrun by bloodthirsty yetis, beneath the viscera-soaked confines of a gladiatorial arena, and into a ghost-filled graveyard that doesn't take kindly to trespassers. And that trio of terrifying experiences only accounted for our first 30 minutes in the park. 

Universal

On top of the event's original houses – which also includes a deep-sea encounter with infection-spewing mutant fish – this year's take raises goosebumps with haunted houses based on popular horror properties, from “Ghostbusters” and “Stranger Things” to “Killer Klowns from Outer Space,” “Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses,” and Universal's own stable of classic monsters. 

Universal

The attractions are all impressively brought to life (and death) with practical effects, audio and visual trickery, talented live actors, and the sort of oozing detail that'll have horror fans braving each house multiple times to spy all the secrets. The highlight of the event is a maze based on Jordan Peele's “Us.” It is a fright-filled affair that puts park patrons scarily close to the Untethered. The scissor-wielding doppelgangers not only look, act and speak like their big-screen counterparts, but – when combined with the aforementioned production values – pack the kind of up-close frights a film just can't match. 

While walking – or running and screaming – between the haunted houses, the outdoor, detail-drenched scare zones will keep your blood pressure raised well above any doctor recommended level. Everything from undead Vikings and victims of plastic surgery gone horribly wrong to “Zombieland Double Tap's” walking corpses haunt the park's pathways, ensuring there's no escape from the frights once the sun sets.

Live Shows

Those who'd rather keep the scares at a safe distance will want to take in the live shows, Academy of Villains: Altered States and Halloween Marathon of Mayhem. The former offers a potent mix of theatrics, dance and sideshow acts, while the latter uses lights, lasers, music, and water-projection to pay tribute to some of Hollywood's most popular horror properties.

If your stomach hasn't been turned by all the lopped limbs, exposed entrails and decaying corpses, you can cap your evening with a terrifying treat, like a “Stranger Things”-inspired waffle dessert or a “Blood Pit” adult beverage. 

Universal

Of course, heading to bed with a belly full of sugar and alcohol – not to mention a psyche swimming in fresh nightmare fodder – could result in a decision as regrettable as accepting candy from a Killer Klown. 

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Matt Cabral, Khareem Sudlow