Photo by: Courtesy
I went through Universal Horror Unleashed alone, and it was … well, horrifying in the best way possible.
If you haven’t yet heard, the otherworldly entertainment district, AREA15, recently unveiled its Zone 2 expansion, which came with an immersive horror experience like none other. I’m talking about four haunted-house experiences, a live show, roaming scare actors and plenty of bites and bevs to round out the experience.
As soon as you cross the threshold into the main area, the vibes are spooky. It’s like a pumpkin patch, but in a nightmare. It won’t be long until you encounter a creepy character, as there are so many fright actors wandering around and they’re very talented at sneaking up on people when they least expect it, especially the girl with the stabby knife.
There’s no way to say which house is definitively the scariest, but The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is easily the most popular house, judged by its much longer line. Because of that, even if you are a solo spook seeker, you’ll likely get placed with a group to keep the wait time low for everyone else. (For the record, this didn’t reduce the scare factor at all.)
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The TCM house is very smart in its design. There are a lot of places for unexpected frights to pop out from, but also plenty of lull moments, creating tons of suspense. As with any haunted walk-through, there’s a chance you’ll catch up to the group in front of you, but here the people in front of you don’t get scared the same way you do. If you catch an actor scaring someone 10 feet in front of you, that actor doesn’t pop out of the same hole to scare you; they either find a new spot or a whole other person you didn’t previously see comes out of a different dark corner.
After escaping what felt like near death, I had to check out the Scarecrow: The Reaping house. The entrance is so atmospheric, immediately teleporting guests to an eerie Dust Bowl-era farm. This house sends guests through multiple dark and smoky rooms that put you on edge, just to lead to a very disorienting corn maze filled with frightening creatures. And what makes this house so much more unnerving is the various props hung from the ceiling that you end up brushing into and thinking something (or someone) is touching you.
The Exorcist: Believer and the Universal Monsters houses are the ones that really perfect the cinema fan experience. Monsters features all of the classic Universal monsters, from vampires to mummies and all the undead in between, and The Exorcist feels like you’ve just walked into the movie itself, complete with live exorcism.
Photo by: Courtesy
Find something to enjoy at the food and bev stands. And if you hang around long enough, a demented clown duo and their evil posse may interrupt to hold somewhat of a competition. If you’re exceptionally lucky, you’ll be selected for the crowd participation portion of the show, which promises a front row seat to all the madness that’s about to ensue.
3215 S. Rancho Dr. universalhorrorunleashed.com
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