Halloween Horror Nights 12: The Scariest House Award Goes To…Sorry, No Winner This Year
The Gates of Hell known as the Halloween Horror Nights are open for business again at Universal Studios Singapore. Is the journey worth the blood, sweat and tears? Let’s weigh in…
Name of the event: Halloween Horror Nights 12
When is this happening? It runs from Sep 27 to Nov 2 at Universal Studios Singapore.
What can I expect? Per publicity notes, highlights include “4 terrifying haunted houses”, “3 sinister scare zones”, and “3 live shows”.
Sounds scary, yes? Er, not really. But that’s just me.
Why so jaded? Listen, I have a high threshold for make-believe death and carnage, but reality is way more terrifying — geopolitical unrest, economic uncertainty, climate change, AI-driven cyber threats, after-hour work e-mails, you name it. Humans dressed up as demons don’t scare me.
In other words, you’re numb to the mayhem. Abso-f***ing-lutely. Plus, HHN 12 is my third tour; I was there in 2019 and last year. It’s hard not to be blasé about it: If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Why are you even there in the first place? I was curious. And I needed to take a few hours off from visiting my mum in the hospital. Add cancer to that list of real-life terrors. What's the question again?
Moving on, there’s a house maze inspired by the Netflix Korean series, Sweet Home. Any good? I think USS dropped the ball on that one. Last year, there was the All of Us are Dead house, based on another Netflix IP. Sweet Home is basically All of Us are Dead repurposed — just switch the zombies with whatever-the-f*** ghouls, and swap the props here and there. Hell, it’s even located at the same spot, next to Loui’s NY Pizza Parlour. Are they even trying? A colleague claimed she saw the same actor stationed at the same corner, but in a different outfit. What are the odds of that happening? I bet I’d enjoy this more had I not been to last year’s HHN. Ignorance is bliss.
Do you need to be a Sweet Home fan? Probably, but I stopped watching after Season 1. Too much content out there. Ozark is still on My List.
What about this Under the Castle house? That’s a collaboration with rapper-singer Jackson Wang and his streetwear Team Wang Design. I’m not a Jackson Wang fan, so I don’t see what the fuss is about. Kinda underwhelming. No offence but I much prefer USS hooking up with James Wan — just as they did with the co-director of Shutter a while back — you know, someone with actual horror cred. Better yet: give Chucky creator Don Mancini a call! He should be available now that they cancelled his series. (Bastards!)
Duly noted. Any thoughts on Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness and Singapore’s Most Haunted: The Killings? You mean, are they scary? Kinda, if you count being startled by a performer sneaking up on you every 30 seconds as scary. After a while, the shit gets tired. In the Cursed Scrolls house, we had to wear ChromaDepth 3D glasses to experience some of the immersive moments. It was a nice touch but the paper 3D glasses were a bitch to put on. Hate to say this, but none of the haunted houses got my vote being the scariest. Yes, I'm a tough customer.
You aren’t into ghosts? Stanley Kubrick once described The Shining to Jack Nicholson as “an optimistic story”. How so? Kubrick was an existential pragmatist; to him anything that says there is life after death is an optimistic story. And that’s my philosophy when it comes to spooks and otherworldly entities.
Deep. You’re a fun person to be around. My wife said the same thing. Get in line.
Anything else to add? There’s Dark Dreams, a live stage show at the Pantages Hollywood Theatre. It’s about this Dream Reaper who feeds off the nightmares of innocent people and steal their souls. Sorry, he’s a Freddy Krueger knock-off. When this Dream Reaper sleeps, he probably dreams of Freddy. Enthusiastic cast, nice sets, though.
It sounds like you were unimpressed by this year’s festivities. Not exactly. Was I asking too much? Sure. Ultimately, this is a mindless diversion where the thrills don’t necessarily lie in me getting scared but watching others get scared. There’s probably footage of me getting startled by a performer being circulated. Not a pretty sight.
Any closing remarks? My biggest fear going into HHN 12 was catching a flu bug or something. Guess what? I did. It knocked me out for a week. It had to happen on the day I didn't bring my hand sensitiser. Why do you think I’m filing this story this late in the game?
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Halloween Horror Nights 12
Where: Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World Singapore, 8 Sentosa Gateway
When: Selected nights until Nov 2
Admission: From $80 (non-peak) or $90 (peak) via the Resorts World Sentosa website (price includes entry to Universal Studios Singapore); HHN will only begin at 7.15pm
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Photos: Dillon Tan