“Halloween Horror Nights” Has Officially Begun, Here’s How Each Maze Ranks

Just a tip: if you think a character is fake, think again.

Hi! We're Pablo and Crystal and we L-O-V-E horror movies. And, because we also love a good scare IRL, we went to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights and ranked all the mazes by both a scare and creativity factor.

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The whole adventure took us almost five hours (with express passes) — including one Starcourt Mall burger break — but, we survived and here's what we thought...

9. The Curse of Pandora's Box

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Pablo: I don’t remember a whole lot about this maze, and that could either be because it wasn’t very memorable or I repressed it. It wasn't bad by any means, but the maze felt very random to me. That being said, one of my favorite scenes of the night came inside the maze via a freaky bird tunnel. Birds are assholes, and the birds in this scene are no exception. Scariness: 2/5, Creativity 3/5

Crystal: I don't know who Pandora is but her Box is a big mishmash of freaky monsters. If you don't like skeletons, birds, mummies, or people running at you on stilts you're gonna have a hard time in this one. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 3/5

Scare Rating: 5.5/10

Creativity Rating: 6/10

TOTAL: 5.75/10

8. Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses

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Pablo: This was a house with a few dozen corpses. I couldn't follow the narrative too well, but I enjoyed seeing dismembered dummies and making eye contact with the guy getting put down in the electric chair. Scariness: 3/5, Creativity 2.5/5

Crystal: Clowns, corpses, and mad scientists...oh my! This maze could best be described as nasty and freaky. Dr. Satan called, he wants you to have nightmares for the rest of your life. BYE! Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 3/5

Scare Rating: 7/10

Creativity Rating: 5.5/10

TOTAL: 6.25/10

7. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

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Pablo: As a clown myself, I was amongst my people. This maze was particularly interesting because it starts off bright as hell, which made me feel safe. But that’s how they get ya later! If you have a clown phobia, this will be the scariest maze ever. Personally, given that it is based on a “fun” horror movie, I would describe the maze the same exact way. It even smelled like a popcorn jelly bean at one point, which screams FUN. Scariness: 3/5, Creativity 3.5/5

Crystal: I haven't seen this movie, but look...clowns are scary as fuck. At first, I thought, "Oh, OK. This maze isn't dark, it's got lots of bright colors so it'll be fine." But I was WRONG. This maze stressed me out because the clowns were really big/tall, had giant nasty-ass faces, and I kept getting sprayed with water (yuck)! I did, however, love the very '80s vibes. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 4/5

Scare Rating: 6.5/10

Creativity Rating: 7.5/10

TOTAL: 7/10

6. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

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Pablo: If you thought I remembered very little of Pandora's Box, I remember this one even less. Given that I’m attracted to hairy men, a wolf man wasn’t exactly nightmarish. However, I don’t do well in low light, and parts of this maze were dark, so you bet your ass my tiny legs rushed through so that Frankenstein wouldn’t have the chance to kill me. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 3.5/5

Crystal: I was kind of a chicken about this maze, because the Universal Horror Monsters maze last year was the scariest, IMO. So, I followed Pablo...but he went VERY fast throughout the maze, so the whole thing is kind of a blur of scary wolf faces, freaky Frankensteins jumping out at me, and a screaming Bride of Frankenstein. Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 3.5/5

Scare Rating: 7.5/10

Creativity Rating: 7/10

TOTAL: 7.25/10

5. Stranger Things

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Pablo: Despite the million different Demogorgons jumping out and squirting water, this maze was much cooler than it was scary for me. I LOVED that the maze felt long, which makes waiting in line much more worth your time. I was also 100% here for the Mind Flayer marionette, ‘cause I’m a sucker for a giant puppet and a strobe light. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity: 4/5

Crystal: Last year the Stranger Things maze encompassed Season 1 and this year it was all about Seasons 2 and 3. It definitely felt scarier this year (and longer), and without giving too much away just know you'll come much closer than you'd ever want to with a lot of Demodogs. One thing I wish they'd been able to squeeze in was Starcourt Mall, but maybe next year??? Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 4/5

Scare Rating: 7/10

Creativity Rating: 8/10

TOTAL: 7.5/10

4. Creepshow

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Pablo: If you're afraid of filthy-ass public restrooms or bugs, STAY AWAY. I've never seen Creepshow, but I assume the maze stays true to the gross creepiness of it all. The cool comic book-lookin' posters on the wall and the smell of shit were nice added touches. Scariness 3/5, Creativity 4/5

Crystal: Creepshow is another one I haven't seen, but based on this maze there is a whole heck of a lot of gross and creepiness happening in it. Like there was one room that literally (and I have to assume purposefully) smelled like shit?! LOL. Impressive, but sick. Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 4.5/5

Scare Rating: 7/10

Creativity Rating: 8.5/10

TOTAL: 7.75

3. Holidayz in Hell

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Pablo: This one felt like the shortest maze of the night, so do what you will with that info. Every holiday is equally represented, which is great, and I can FINALLY say I've seen the Easter bunny feast on a small child. They found a way to make each holiday super weird and gross, which is a feat all its own! I had a demonically fun time. Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 4/5

Crystal: So THIS maze was also nasty, but kind of hilariously camp, too? Like...never in my life did I expect to see a bunch of giant demon turkeys about to feast on a full-grown man positioned like a roasted turkey for Thanksgiving?!?! There were some clever gross-out performers in this one.

Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 4/5

Scare Rating: 8/10

Creativity Rating: 8/10

TOTAL: 8/10

2. Ghostbusters

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Pablo: This is by far one the most well thought out and carefully crafted mazes of the night. They even have Louis Tully outside the maze for your enjoyment! This one, with water squirts and all, wasn’t scary for me, but it was very interesting to watch. It felt like walking through an immersive Ghostbusters play in which people, and a blob named Slimer, occasionally jump out at you. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 5/5

Crystal: I. LOVED. THIS. MAZE. All the ghosts, performers, special effects, and details were SO GOOD and I wish I could've gone back through 100 more times. It wasn't super scary — I literally went, "Yay!!!" when I first saw Slimer and, like, really wanted to hug him?!? LOL. That's not to say there weren't a couple good jump scares, 'cause there were, but I really just wanted to live in this maze more than anything. Scariness: 3.5/5, Creativity 5/5

Scare Rating: 7/10

Creativity Rating: 10/10

TOTAL: 8.5/10

1. Us

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Pablo: Much like Ghostbusters, I felt like the Us maze was really well designed and thought out. The actors were phenomenal and the choreography/soundtrack were spot on. Just a tip, if you think a character is fake, think again. If I had known that before, I wouldn't have yelled, "NO!" at the last performer who tried to get me to run out of the maze. Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 5/5

Crystal: If you've ever wondered what it would be like to actually be IN a horror movie, this maze will do that for you. The sets, costumes, and performers were so picture perfect that they actually distracted me from the fact that people were jumping out at me making stabby motions with weapons...most of the time. I did get a couple really good jump scares in this maze that sent me running. Scariness: 4/5, Creativity 5/5

Scare Rating: 8/10

Creativity Rating: 10/10

TOTAL: 9/10

If you want to check out all the mazes yourself visit Hollywood.HalloweenHorrorNights.com (Los Angeles) or Orlando.HalloweenHorrorNights.com (Orlando) to get more information and to purchase tickets!

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Sweet dreeeaaams!