It's that time of year again! The leaves are turning, everything is pumpkin flavored, and suddenly everybody wants to talk about horror movies. Welcome to Halloween season. As far as Halloween traditions go, you can't beat a good scary maze. This year, I had the opportunity to visit Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando, the reigning king of horror mazes. And what a year to visit. 2015 marks the 25th anniversary of the event, and in celebration of the milestone year, Director of Entertainment Michael Aiello and the folks at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights broke out the big guns, resurrecting and remixing some of their most popular mazes and original characters from the history of the event.
And boy did they go big, this year's HHN includes 9 Mazes, the most in the history of the event, including four based off of entirely original characters and settings. But If you're into the Hollywood adaptations, don't fret, this year sees the fourth collaboration between Horror Nights and AMC's The Walking Dead, the first collaboration with Blumhouse's Insidious franchise, a new The Purge maze (upgraded from last year's most popular scare zone), and a couple other big names you'll find in the list below. So without further ado, check out my list of the 5 best mazes from Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights, ranked from worst to best -- or in this case ranked from awesome to most awesome.
The Body Collectors: Recollection
Another popular maze resurrected for the anniversary even, The Body Collectors: Recollection brings back the silent, well-dressed figures with a perpetual grin who's sole intention is to – well, collect body parts and transplants them into a snowy 18th century hospital. Once inside, the ghastly figures creep up at you between set-pieces of dismemberment. The figures themselves are highly reminiscent of the Gentleman from the epic Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode Hush, and if you've seen that episode, you know how downright freaky that imagery is. The piece de resistance features a girl laid face down on a table as her spine is viciously yanked out of her body, a gruesome sight made even more alarming by the "blood" that splashes across your face. It's a completely immersive environment, and even though it's not based on an IP, it feels like stepping into a cohesive world.
An American Werewolf in London
One of the most exceptional things about Horror Nights is having the opportunity to literally step into the world of iconic horror films, and the American Werewolf in London Maze delivers on that promise. First you step into a detailed recreation of The Slaughtered Lamb, drenched in menacing red light, where you're attacked by a wolf. From there you get to see the film's iconic transformation scene in front of your eyes, as David's body stretches and contorts on the floor. Finally, you head into Piccadilly Circus for the grand finale packed with wolf mayhem. This is the first maze they've ever recreated identically to the first time they ran it, and it's easy to see why. It's just a damn good maze. However, they did have to re-build the maze from the ground up, and this time they had access to the original molds from the film, and the wolves look more accurate, detailed and horrifying than ever.
Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters and Mayhem
As the name suggests, Monsters and Mayhem condenses 25 years worth of Horror Night's creature creations into a single maze and the result is a wildly diverse one-of-a-kind scare experience that touches on all manner of fears. Monsters and Mayhem is the longest maze this year, understandable since they had to condense 25 years of characters into a single experience, and the result is a barrage of different settings and scares. Creeped out by clowns? Got it. Stern old women? Got it. Rabid wild animals? Yup, that too. Oh, and watch out for the Universal Classic Monsters lurking around the corners. There's also a lot of things I honestly couldn't define. As someone who's not familiar with the long history of HHN Icons, I was worried this maze wouldn't connect, but it was a wasted worry. Monsters and Mayhem takes characters who previously had a maze all to themselves and puts them under one roof, leading to rooms that are so richly condensed, each one makes a unique impression. It's wildly imaginative, and the lack of a single theme makes it one of the most singular maze experiences I've ever walked through.
Asylum in Wonderland 3D
Asylum in Wonderland feels like the best bad drug trip of your life. The Asylum characters debuted in 2008, but this year they threw them in a maze and added 3D technology. It is nuts and totally fun. A psychedelic trip down the rabbit hole leads you past sinister incarnations of Dodo birds, the Red Queen, and The White Rabbit, but while it's all twisted and disorientating, Asylum in wonderland is probably the least scary maze of the event. But it's also the most fun. Aeillo says it the most intricate 3D maze they've ever made, and it feels that way. Brilliant neon lights strobe in every direction, curious creatures pop out at every turn, and oh boy, the vortex – this maze messes with your mind in just the right way.
Freddy Vs. Jason
If you're a big horror fan you're probably a huge fan of at least one of these guys. And if you're a fan of these guys, you probably enjoyed the 2003 film that saw the two slasher icons battle it out on the big screen. Now, thanks to HHN, you can walk through a living version of that experience. Horror Nights used these characters once before back in 2007, each having their own maze, but this is the first time they've cohabitated together under one roof. And it's a blast. First you walk through Camp Crystal Lake where Jason stalks you at every turn – and let it be known, Jason is one big, scary motherfucker. From there, you walk through a to-scale recreation of 1428 Elm Street into the nightmare world where you see a number of Freddy's most iconic kills recreated (including a delightful amount from Dream Warriors). Finally, you enter the "versus" part of the maze where Freddy and Jason throw down right in front of you. Just like the namesake properties, the maze is the perfect balance of scary and fun.
Honorable Mention: Evil Roots Scare Zone
Ok, so it's not a maze, but the Evil Roots scare zone is the most "Halloween spirit" you're going to find in Halloween Horror Nights. It's also the one place in the park I got a genuine scare, so props to that scareactor who pounced in my moment of distracted weakness. Set in the Central Park area of the Universal Studios, the entrance is marked by pumpkin totems, and the inside – thick with fog -- holds a collection traditional Halloween elements – scarecrows, bats, spiders, and pumpkins galore. It's like walking through pure Halloween spirit and for any fan of the season, that makes it pure joy.
Final Thougths
All in all this is a can't lose year at Horror Nights. We didn't have time to visit every scare zone, but those we did walk through were all excellent. In addition to Evil Roots, which was obviously my favorite, the Scary Tales area, which features ghastly reimaginings of fairytale characters was a delight. So was the Icons area, where you can walk through crowds of the iconic Universal Monsters as well as the actual original event Icons. You just can't beat turning around to see Frankenstein and then realizing Carrie is right behind you. On the Maze front, even those that didn't make the list were a lot of fun, and I can't say there was a real dud in the mix this year. Basically, if you're a fan of Horror Nights, get thee to Universal Studios posthaste, because it's the biggest year yet. In the words of the creepy clown himself, Jack's back, baby!