Best and Worst Halloween Horror Nights Orlando Houses (So Far)

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Florida began last week. We visited Halloween Horror Nights every evening of the opening weekend. What were the best and worst houses so far this year? We will keep these lists as spoiler-free as possible so you can enjoy your Halloween Horror Nights experience.

Determining the quality of a Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) house displays some individual preferences. Do you like gory houses or pretty houses? Is your favorite intellectual property, like “Stranger Things,” at the event? Did you have a good run through the house, or was there a cast change?

We have been through each of the ten houses this year several times. Based on that, we created a list of the best and worst HHN houses this year.

Disclaimer about Halloween Horror Nights House Rankings

Apart from maybe one house this year, all the HHN houses show great planning and creativity. The scare actors are doing an excellent job so far. We keep repeating the idea of “so far” since the houses evolve as the event goes on. Changes are made. Some were made this week based on the pros and cons of each house on opening weekend. So, if you visit later in the Halloween Horror Nights season, your experience may differ slightly from this report.

Best Halloween Horror Nights Houses (so far)

After experiencing each of the ten HHN houses, we came up with a list of the best ones. We narrowed that list down to five.

“Stranger Things” Season Four

We will start with one of the large intellectual properties in this year’s event. “Stranger Things” returned for its third appearance at HHN. We wrote a review during the opening night of HHN 2023 in Orlando about this house.

This house offers most of the expected scenes featuring Vecna. Sure, a scene or two more could have been included. Yet, overall, this house hits all the right spots. Fans of the show will enjoy this house. We did not find it as good as the previous house based on season one. Nonetheless, it shows great improvement over the 2019 house based on seasons two and three.

The Last of Us

This video game-based house takes guests through the Pittsburg section of the journey by Joel and Ellie during The Last of Us plot. People familiar with the Max streaming show or the video game will enjoy the music and seeing scenes coming alive. The scenery in this house qualifies as excellent.

People unfamiliar with this property may be confused at points. However, the storyline from the tragic beginning to the ending will suck The Last of Us fans into this adventure. Personally, this was my favorite HHN house so far.

Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate

This original concept HHN house based on an extinct attraction at Universal Islands of Adventure causes long-time fans of Universal Orlando Resort to be excited. If you enjoyed the lore of Merlyn back in the olden days of Universal Islands of Adventure, this house should impress. Guests unfamiliar with that Universal version of the lore should listen closely to the narration at the beginning of the house.

Fans of the extinct roller coaster Dueling Dragons will see wonderful recreations of aspects of the former queue to that thrilling attraction. Also, guests choose their fate towards the end of the house. This house presents guests with four possible endings, which we enjoy.

The Darkest Deal

This original concept house takes guests through the life and eternal future of Blues musician Pinestraw Spruce. He makes a deal with The Collector that involves his soul. The background music provides an excellent enhancement to this house. Guests will encounter some scary scenes, even for Halloween Horror Nights. You should also expect some classic Greco-Roman ideas of a place of torment within this house.

Universal Monsters: Unmasked

This year for Halloween Horror Nights, the Universal Classic Monsters return. This time, we will find four of them in Paris. Guests descend into the catacombs.

We thought the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame starred in this monster mashup. Fans of the Invisible Man and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde will have scenes to enjoy also. The props and set design show off the amazing skill of Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights team.

Worst Halloween Horror Nights Houses (so far)

We selected two houses for the worst Halloween Horror Nights houses. In fairness, one of these houses we really enjoyed all three times we walked through it. The other one has earned poor reviews across the board from Halloween Horror Nights fans.

The Exorcist: Believer

We enjoyed this house. The house functions as a walking trailer for a movie coming out October 6, 2023. Unless you have seen the trailer or are familiar with the screenplay, you will not understand large portions of this house. The issue with a house based on a movie no one has seen yet causes this HHN house to fall on the worst list.

We heard from several colleagues that they did not enjoy this house. When asked why, it came down to a lack of knowledge of the trailer for “The Exorcist: Believer.” If you want to enjoy this house, watch the trailer first, please.

Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count

While several elements of the Chucky house provided scares and enjoyment, this house failed to be as impressive as the other nine Halloween Horror Nights houses this year in Orlando. The highlight of this house happens about five seconds into the journey. After that, the use of video screens to allow Chucky to talk and sometimes curse at us lowers the quality overall.

While the house remains enjoyable, the promised concept of Chucky himself taking over his own Universal-designed Halloween Horror Nights house was under-delivered.  Still, this house deserves a walk-through after you enjoy the other nine houses first.

So you know, we are typing this best and worst Halloween Horror Nights house right before we drive to Universal Orlando Resort to experience many of these houses again tonight. Our opinion may change, but that fits the nature of HHN.

Feel free to comment below to let us know your thoughts about these Halloween Horror Nights houses. We hope you are enjoying the spooky season in Orlando.