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It was finally time for Southern California to get in on the Halloween fun, and what better way than to start off with Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood. We attended 2 nights over the first weekend as we traditionally do, Thursday night as an invited guest of the park and Sunday using our Frequent Fear Passes. Despite some hotter than usual weather (it's typically somewhat warm but this year was ridiculously hot), we had a great 2 visits to the park. We'll say right of the bat, this is one of the strongest ever Halloween Horror Nights events in Hollywood. Maybe THE strongest year (although I do have a soft spot for 2019 which had 3 of my top 10 all time houses (Creepshow, Ghostbusters, Holidayz in Hell). Before we start with our review and update, be sure to check out our Halloween Horror Nights Survival Guide, which did get some updates after our visit on Sunday September 11. Let's head right in. We've got a lot of pictures and video to share.  Before checking in for the media event, we wanted to see some of the HHN Merchandise. It does not disappoint this year!
  We're home!!  Our first stop was The Weeknd, as we figured it would be one of the more popular houses of the event, we weren't wrong. Overall we really enjoyed The Weeknd the 2 times we went through this weekend. It's not necessarily scary, but a twisted club through The Weeknd's imagination. We also have to give him props, not too many a-list celebrities would be ok getting beheaded a couple of hundred times every hour!  The Weeknd After Hours Nightmare Bar was definitely one of the more popular spots at the entire event.  This is the only place (for now) that you can get the Pizza Fries. We actually expect them to change this.     The reason we expect them to change where you can get Pizza Fries is this. The lines are very slow and most people are just there for the drinks. This would have been well over an hour from entering the bar. In addition, the bar is 21+ so anybody under 21 would not be able to get the fries.  Let's stay down on the Lower Lot with this years Universal Monsters House. These are always among our favorite houses of the event, and this years does NOT disappoint at all. While I think Bride of Frankenstein Lives is still our favorite version of this, this one comes VERY close. We'd love one long super house one year that goes through every single version of the Universal Monsters houses!  Making a return this year is Killer Klowns from Outer Space! The house is in an all new location for 2022 and is very similar to the 2019 house. Seems like there may have been more black walls this time around, but a super fun house as always. Take note, the line for this house, just as with 2019, moves VERY slow. Not quite sure why. So make sure you get into this house early.  Some absolutely amazing photo ops this year!  The Terror Tram is back, let's head in to check it out!  In addition to the normal Terror Tram path, this year also features Jordan Peele's Nope and Us, and it works amazingly well! The Terror Tram for 2022 is the best it's ever been. Even before we get into the Nope/Us area at Jupiter's Claim, they've added some really fun spots featuring semi-icon Hollywood Harry. Speaking of Hollywood Harry, his legend is growing and I really do wish they would make him the official face of the event, including merchandise, etc.  New this year the Death Eaters have invaded Hogsmeade, and it's absolutely fantastic. While not an official "Scare Zone", it works incredibly well.  There are two houses over near the Curious George parking structure, a return of a HHN Staple and an all new maze in Hollywood.  Despite being a returning theme that's been at a lot of events, this years version of Halloween does not disappoint. The cast is stellar, and while there's really nothing "new" here, it's still awesome to head back into the Myers house.  One thing I will mention, the queue for Halloween goes into the basement of the Curious George structure. While in a few weeks or a month from now, this would be fine, on Sunday night, with the high humidity, it was absolutely dreadful and had to easily be over 100 degrees in here. I would have expected park operations to see this and use the mostly unused queue from Scarecrow so people could wait outside.  Speaking of Scarecrow, this house has made it's way from Orlando, and it's absolutely stellar! On both Thursday and Sunday, this house was just amazing from start to finish. The scenery, the talent, the story, it's absolute perfection and is very welcome out here in California.  On the upper lot is the return of La Llarona, which had been at HHN Hollywood in I want to say 2009 and HHN Orlando in I think 2014. This was amazing both nights, and was actually our favorite house on Sunday. We absolutely love visiting multiple nights and returning with our Frequent Fear passes as it's great to see little changes in the houses as the event rolls on.  Replacing The Walking Dead this years is Hollywood Horror Hotel. This was supposedly a last minute house but you wouldn't know it. The house is a ton of fun, but one thing I will mention is that this house has been given the gift of size given it's location. While that may sound like a good thing, it means it takes longer for the scareactors to "reset" their positions to scare the next group. So timing is pretty important in this one.  The last house for 2022 is Blumhouse which features two great movies, Freaky and The Black Phone. Unfortunately this one suffered from a lot of black walls, something we are seeing less and less at HHN Hollywood. On the plus side, the talent in here is really awesome and as was said above, I'd anticipate small adjustments being made and we expect this will improve in time.
In addition to all of the houses, HHN Hollywood features some awesome scare zones, and a new spot near Animal Actors Live. 
 What is HHN without fire?   There's also some great food throughout the park, we had planned on checking some of these out on Sunday but it was so brutally hot, we didn't get around to it. Next time!  
 Keep in mind, if you're at the event they do offer an after 11pm Express pass, that is generally less than half of the regular express, but get them early! They can (and do) sell out. We also recommend the Frequent Fear Pass, it's a great way to attend multiple times or just drop in for a few hours, enjoy some food, some scares and more. Overall this is one of the best years of Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, and you will not be disappointed in this years lineup. Did you attend opening weekend? Share your thoughts below! Related Videos
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