Halloween Horror Nights is still a few months away, but that doesn’t mean we need to delay our predictions (and our suggestions) for future haunted houses in Universal Studios Florida. This event is often regarded as the best Halloween party in the whole world, and Universal surpassed expectations in 2023 with amazing haunted houses based on popular IPs like Stranger Things, The Last of Us, Chucky and much more.
How can they beat last year and make 2024 a year to remember? Fear not, Famvia has the right choices when it comes to Haunted Houses, some excellent picks that will truly send a shiver down your spine. Let’s take a look at our top picks!
Mortal Kombat
The classic video game would be amazing in Halloween Horror Nights! This is, after all, the franchise that brought gore and crazy fatalities to arcade machines and videogames way back in 1992. I still remember playing it on my SNES and thinking it was awesome to see Kano ripping the heart out from a poor fellow. It was so over the top - and just got even more wild with each passing iteration - that you can’t help but laugh at it.
It would not be hard to make a Haunted House based on Mortal Kombat. All you need are people cosplaying as your characters and some props to simulate some of the most classic fatalities. You could have Raiden, Liu Kang, Kitana, Sonya, Kano and many more characters waving at you and even fighting each other in awesome choreographies.
Jurassic Park
Wait a minute... has there never been a Jurassic Park haunted house? I remember there was a Scare Zone at Universal Studios not too long ago, but I don't recall a haunted house based on Steven Spielberg's popular franchise ever coming to fruition. Seriously, it would be perfect! I understand that such a haunted house would likely be very expensive, with animatronics of raptors and T-Rexes, but it would be so much fun to see people dressed as Dr. Grant exploring the dangers of the park.
Just imagine a jungle area with a dinosaur that spits poison, or the T-Rex shoving its head through a wall, or even entirely new areas featuring new dinosaur species. Dinosaurs are always cool, and I'd love to see the crazy specimens people could come up with. It’s also a nice excuse for us to listen to the theme song over and over again, of course.
An underwater haunted house
Oh boy, I'm not sure exactly how this one would work out, but it would be incredible! Picture yourself strolling around a giant aquarium, with sharks and giant squids lurking behind immense glass walls. Perhaps they could use projections instead of animatronics to make it more cost-effective. And maybe the story could involve us boarding a small submarine and embarking on a dangerous journey through an alien world?
I've always believed that our oceans are some of the scariest places on Earth, where we never know what we might encounter. Oh, and you know what would be another amazing prop or projection to feature here? A giant Anglerfish suddenly emerging from the darkness, ready to swallow you whole. Seriously, Google these guys, they are super scary.
BioShock
Speaking of underwater Haunted Houses, how about BioShock? Wait, you don’t know what that is? It’s fine. Bioshock is a videogame franchise that takes place underwater. Well, at least in the first game. It’s about a city called Rapture where things go wrong, and there are giant… creatures… in diving suits walking around called Big Daddies, crazy psychopaths using masks called splicers and even small children in schoolgirl uniforms holding giant syringes called Little Sisters. Yeah, it’s a pretty messed up place. The games have amazing art design and some awesome moments and setpieces, I do suggest you play them if you have any interest in first person shooters.
So, why BioShock now? Well, Netflix is working on a movie that should be coming out in 2024 or 2025. There are also rumors that a new game will be released in that same timeframe. There is also the fact that the games are amazing and more people need to know about them. There are billions of set piece ideas for a Haunted House here, from a Big Daddy walking with a Little Sister to Splicers tormenting guests and even Andrew Ryan - the villain of the first game - giving one of his awesome speeches to the public.
What about you, do you have a haunted house idea that would be awesome for Halloween Horror Night 2024?
