As October arrives, so do all Halloween events in Los Angeles. One of the main events is Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. The event has been taking place since 1992 and this year is its 26th year in Hollywood.

This year has been the most anticipated year due to Universal Studios having more mazes. Halloween Horror Nights this year has a total of nine mazes, including their permanent all-year Walking Dead maze and the terror tram.

They also have scare zones throughout the park. All of the mazes are great in different ways but some stand out from the others. The three mazes that stand out from the others are: Insidious: Beyond the Further, Saw: The Games of Jigsaw, and The Titans of Terror maze. These three are the most complex and detailed mazes.

Insidious: Beyond the Further is the maze to go to if you are planning to go to Halloween Horror Nights. The maze is based off the four “Insidious” movies and the new “Insidious” movie that will be released in January. The maze has jump scares all throughout it, not leaving a dull moment. The end of the maze is the most terrifying due to the five scares at the end, leaving you breathless when you finally leave the maze.

Saw: The Games of Jigsaw is a maze that will have you groaning, due to the scares, the sound effects and even the smell of rotting flesh throughout some parts of the maze. Although a quarter of the maze is just walking and seeing the tortured victims of Jigsaw, it is still terrifying since the bloody hostages trapped in torture devices will still scare you. At some points, the corpse smell is repugnant and makes you feel nauseated. That is an example of how much effort and idea the park put into the maze. The smell added to the fear and the feel of being in a horror movie.

The Titans of Terror maze is surprisingly good and it included the horror icons Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th) and Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street). The maze is divided into three different movies inside. Before you enter, you walk down a black hall with a disorientating light making you confused and right after they scare you which is a great contributing factor to your fear.

Although there are some great mazes, there is also a few that are a let down. The Titans of Terror tram hosted by Chucky is disappointing. Universal Studios advertised it to make it seem as if Chucky has a huge role in the tram but he is only in the beginning and you don’t see him after that. At the end of the tram is a long walk so you expect there should be more scares but it is empty. The end is the most disappointing since you don’t get scared the last five minutes and then you realize that you are back in line to go back to the park.

Mya Gates

A maze that was highly advertised and was exciting to finally have at Halloween Horror Nights, is the maze based off the movie, “The Shining.” The maze is overall good, but is a little dull at some points of the maze. The movie doesn’t have any characters that are scary except the main character, Jack Torrance. The only reason why this maze isn’t fully disappointing is because the maze has the iconic scenes from the movie, also the detailing is amazing. The hedge maze is also fun and the cold air and fake snow made it seem as if you were in that scene of “The Shining.”

Even though some mazes aren’t great, Halloween Horror Nights is still terrifying and the scare zones are a great addition to it. The last day to attend Halloween Horror Nights is Nov. 4th