Halloween at Universal!

When I was a kid, one of my favorite places in the world was Universal Studios Hollywood. I was a huge fan of movies and what better place could there be than an amusement park that is all about movies? With a tram tour where you can see the original PSYCHO house, or ride through Amity Island and have your tram attacked by JAWS, that kick ass great white shark that looks kinda fake. Throughout the years, Universal Studios has grown up and now includes actual rides, including The Mummy’s Revenge and Jurassic Park, a big ole’ water ride with a huge drop down into the abyss. In Orlando, Florida, there is a whole lot more being that the Hollywood location is an actual working studio.

Now if love for movies wasn’t enough, Universal recently updated their walk-thru “Haunted House” which is called the House of Horrors. Inside you will find, Chucky, Leatherface, Dracula and more monsters and mayhem. Now being that I am a massive horror fan, ever since the ripe old age of seven, what I always wanted was an amusement park that was drenched in the genre. Seriously, I always thought that would be cool.

Well, the past few years, Universal has offered a park that serves as one big haunted house in October. They have mazes and monsters and all sorts of things that go bump in the night. But this year, they have enlisted the help of New Line Cinema and brought in a few guests. What better way to spend Halloween then with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface? I ask you… what better way? None I tell you! Well, maybe Michael Myers would have been nice, but still…

Once again, starting October 5th, you can go through four new haunted mazes, watch a few ghoulish shows, and take the Studio Tour like you’ve never seen it before with the “Terror Tram”. The Terror Tram will take you through the hallowed streets of Universal, while letting you get off the tram to walk along the Bates Motel, up the psycho path to Norman Bates and his mother’s home. You will also get to walk through the WAR OF THE WORLDS airplane crash set, no doubt besieged by ghouls and chainsaw wielding maniacs…

…like this guy

Speaking of chainsaws, I got the chance to get a preview when Universal invited JoBlo.com/Arrowinthehead.com to get a glimpse of the preparation behind the madness. It was the “Chainsaw Training Boot Camp” with several actors getting ready to scare the pants off those unlucky souls (or lucky in my opinion) who cross their paths. It was a fun morning at Universal Studios Hollywood in the Fear Factor building, as the crew took their chainsaws and practiced their moves including the Chainsaw Brigade and the “daunting Chainsaw Lock-Step procession“. We even got a quick lesson on how to cut a person in half. It was a bloody good time.

Afterwards, I got to talk to a few of the actors involved, and also, the man who brought it all together. John Murdy is the Creative Director at Universal Studios Hollywood. He had a moment to chat about his love of horror and what inspired him to bring New Line Cinema and Universal together in what looks to be a horror lovers dream, and maybe a few nightmares for some. Insert evil laugh here!

And since I was there, I was able to bring home a few images to give you an early taste of Halloween Horror Nights. It’s a 10-day event that runs October 5-6, 12-13, 19-20, 26-28 and of course… October 31st… Halloween night. According to the press release, it will be a night to experience “appalling levels of torture, turmoil and maniacal behavior”, thanks to our favorite psychos, Jason, Freddy and Leatherface. And a big severed hand to all those involved in the making of the madness and some very friendly cast members at good old Universal. Be good to these ghouls and guys this year because the only thing they want to do is scare the hell out of you. The horror will also haunt Universal Orlando for those of you heading to Florida this October. You can get more information for both parks HERE and find out terrors they have in store for you.