Terrified, alert and tense, I pushed myself to walk into the next room of the building, knowing that I would only find myself in another disturbing setting where I would fall prey to the demons and monsters that haunted me.
Nobody has scarier costumes or better actors than Hollywood’s Universal Studios, and I had the pleasure of attending the theme park’s “Horror Nights” event, enclosed areas rigged with creepy props and actors in horrifying costumes whose sole job is to give unsuspecting visitors a panic attack.
As I took my first steps into the park, under a metal arch that spit fireballs into the night sky, I heard the sound of revving chainsaws. Walking into a cloud of fog, I suddenly jumped back as a man wearing a murderous mask slid towards me, making sparks fly from his chainsaw as he dragged it across the floor. He was only the first of many professionally trained monsters that I would encounter in the giant haunted maze of Universal Studios, including menacing zombies and terrifying scarecrows on stilts.
I was very excited to enter the more specifically themed mazes that the park offers. Although the howling demons and spirits of the “Insidious 2” and “The Evil Dead” mazes constantly made me flinch, it was the unsettling feeling of being in a confined prison filled with zombies from “The Walking Dead” that truly got to my nerves. Unexpected movement of bodies, zombies suddenly running towards me from the darkness and the realistic texture of rotting flesh from the actors’ makeup almost made me pee my pants.
Although indoor mazes make me tense, claustrophobic and terrified to walk through each doorway, my favorite maze was actually a Walking Dead themed outdoor maze. The journey began with a tram ride, which made me feel as if I was being taken on another tour of the studios. However, the tram stops halfway, in a remote area filled with zombies.
As I walked with my friends into the night, I could hear growls coming from all directions. Without warning, the zombies began to chase us, and they even attacked the actors who were posing as security guards. This led the crowd through a series of winding roads and abandoned buildings, each infested with zombies and fake corpses. The acting was so professional that by the end of the trail, I was checking myself for bite marks and symptoms of being undead.
Sadly, the only thing I found more appalling than the monsters were the long lines. The more popular mazes had two hour waiting periods. Considering that Horror Nights begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 2 a.m. means that visitors have limited time to visit all of the attractions. People should be running, not because of the desperation to get in line, but because of the frightening monsters. In the end, Horror Nights was a worthwhile experience. For the adrenaline-junkies out there: spend this Halloween at a haunted maze, but just don’t forget to bring diapers.