Halloween Horror Nights 2 review

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls The Puppet Master closeup

Universal Studios Singapore’s Halloween Horror Nights 2 returns to offer a dark playground of thrills and scares. This year, The Puppet Master and his Legion of Evil has transformed several areas of the park into fearful domains, where nightmares never end.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Review – Museum Edition

As part of Museum of Horror Nights, this revamped article now features enhanced photos and edited write-ups.

HHN2 Haunted Houses review

Similar to last year, the haunted houses are located at Soundstage 28 (behind New York), and at the New York Lagoon and Sting Alley. Also, the park used the Waterworld queue area for a haunted house.

Dungeon of Damnation

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Dungeon of Damnation Queue

Dungeon of Damnation will transport you into a fallen castle run by the Undertaker. Your journey begins from a cave (as seen in Before Dark 3), which leads you into the drawbridge leading into the Dungeon. Almost too quickly, the Undertaker appears, directing you into one of two paths. (Both actually lead to the same corridor of skeletons).

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Dungeon of Damnation Entrance

As the theme of this haunted house is about torture and suffering, the scenes are overrun with graphic imagery. It is meant to depict a realm of death, after all. There is a corridor of skeletons, and another chamber with a lot of disembodied, talking heads. Then another with rotating spike pillars, floors strewn with “maggots”, and a big rotating grinder (be aware of the wheel’s spokes that may tragically break up groups of friends). Be prepared for numerous tight passageways filled with dangling heads and body parts.

My favourite part is the “jump and glide” stunt character. There’s also a room where the walls will give you a surprise. I’ll leave you to find out what and where these are, but let me just say this: You should always be careful, and look in all directions before walking around in the Dungeon of Damnation.

Rating
Story: ★★★★★
Presentation: ★★★★★
Scare Factor: ★★★★★★★
(Yes, that’s right, 7 stars!)

The Insanitarium

Halloween Horror Nights 2 The Insanitarium gateway

Doctor Dementia runs The Insanitarium, a horrifying institution for cruel therapies and gruesome experiments. The house starts off in the prison section, with some encounters with the “criminally insane” inmates. Some scenes include a morgue, electric chair chamber, a video surveillance room, Doctor Dementia’s room (which is very cramped!), a disorienting padded cell and a few rooms with haunted tables.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 The Insanitarium building

As this is hospital-prison (or an asylum trying to be a hospital), expect graphic imagery galore: cuts on skin and well, random parts of bodies scattered around. There is A MAJOR water effect in one of the rooms here.

I felt that this Haunted House was really long. There were countless rooms and it never seemed like it was going to end. Definitely an abundance of scare actors here, and they attack from all directions. My favourite room in this haunted house is actually the final room filled with several locked doors, each with an exit sign above it. Suddenly, all the lights start to flicker… as if taunting victims that there is no escape.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 The Insanitarium escaped patient

Occasionally, some escaped inmates will linger outside of the Insanitarium.

Death Alley

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Death Alley queue

Death Alley takes place in New York zones’s harbour area, leading towards Water Street, also known as Sting Alley. Given the compact layout of the area, plus an abundance of characters ready to attack, it offers nothing but intense scares – thankfully a short one. Your trip into Death Alley starts from a street food bazaar, filled with twisted hawkers, eventually leading into a shady street away from the bustle. There, the morbid Pleasure Inn welcomes new customers, soon to be enchanted and turned victims by its grotesque courtesans.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Death Alley entrance

To add on to the atmosphere, a very foreboding and slow remix of “Waiting for your Return” (等著你回來) by Bai Guang (白光) is played at Death Alley and its queue. Have a listen to the song that is often associated with Chinese horror films here:

It was a fair attempt to build another haunted house in this area. All was fine until the Pleasure Inn scene, where the amount of scares and props dropped to barely anything. There was too much happening in the first half of this haunted house.

Rating
Story: ★★★★☆
Presentation: ★★★★☆
Scare Factor: ★★★★☆

HHN2 Scare Zones review

There are three scare zones this year, taking place at Hollywood, New York and Ancient Egypt. The Lost World area (leading towards Waterworld) acts as a mini scare zone with random encounters with scare actors dressed as mental patients.

House of Dolls

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls Custom Made Toys

As the ‘mandatory’ scare zone welcoming guests to HHN2, House of Dolls comprised multiple sets and showpieces – each filled with freaky abominations crafted by The Puppet Master. He is the Lead Icon of Halloween Horror Nights this year. Guests will meet several roaming ‘creations’, from the twisted porcelain dolls to the life-size puppets, and some “almost perfect” figurines.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls first area

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls pageboy doll

The Puppet Master’s fascination for perfection hides the terrible secret behind his life-like dolls – easily explained by disappearing visitors that ventured into his workshop. There are also morbid toys displayed in the creepy cabinets, and strange objects that you probably won’t find a child playing with.

At the end of the scare zone, a “Now Showing” stage is where guests can finally meet The Puppet Master. This is where he, and his aide, strings up and traps his latest victims (for souvenir photos).

Overall, this zone is an impressive undertaking of the classic ‘killer toys’ genre of horror – with a mash-up with the Puppet Master’s obsession to craft “perfect human-like dolls”, that is a nod to the film “Dead Silence”. There are several talented scare actors here that are pretty convincing ‘dolls’ – watch out for the one on the ‘clockwork’ set.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls clockwork set doll

Rating
Story: ★★★★★
Presentation: ★★★★★
Scare Factor: ★★★☆☆

Total Lockdown

HHN2 Total Lockdown scare zone entrance

The streets of New York were once again bathed in chaos – with lawless destruction and leaking radioactive waste causing further damage. Demented civilians, shell-shocked by the disaster, prowl the streets and scream from the pain caused by the radiation poisoning. Some mourn for their loved ones. The military and police patrol the street, enforcing an emergency quarantine.

HHN2 Total Lockdown scare zone lone survivor girl

I felt that this scare zone could’ve been a lot more. The props were more impressive, but the scare actors were not as scary as the infected ones in last year’s zone. However, as these characters could talk, run and react a lot faster than zombies, it offered a different dynamic through their interactions with guests. Although most of them would just run away most of the time.

HHN2 Total Lockdown scare zone NY Library toxic green

At first glance, this zone does appear to lack scare actors. However, there could be the same number as roaming zombies last year, but as the cast here is split into “victims” and “quarantine enforcement” groups (that don’t quite interact with park guests), the streets may seem empty. In fact there isn’t much going on in front of the New York Library, unlike last year. Alternatively, the lack of engaging scare actors and lowered amount of interaction in Total Lockdown could be part of the disaster/ quarantine storyline.

HHN2 Total Lockdown scare zone Rockefella building

HHN2 Total Lockdown scare zone street overview

This zone also looks like a sequel to last year’s Post-Apocalyptic Rage – or rather, a prequel as it portrays an ongoing disaster scenario, whereas the 2011 zone could be what happens after – a zombie outbreak.

Rating
Story: ★★★★☆
Presentation: ★★★★★
Scare Factor: ★★★★☆

Bizarre Bazaar

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Bizarre Bazaar scare zone entrance marquee banner

Last year, Ancient Egypt area had The Edge of Darkness and 44 Sins – two scare zones that did not seem thoroughly executed. I even thought that it was the “edge where the budget went dry”. In 2012, the park brought a true scare zone to this area.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Bizarre Bazaar scare zone street overview

There’s all sorts of weird things happening, a cart full of body parts (not even bodies!) and bizarre objects and even more eccentric characters. There is a snake woman, an anthropomorphic seer and some peddlers selling… well, stranger things. It almost feels like an Ancient Egypt adapted last year’s Carn-Evil for an even more foreign market.

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Bizarre Bazaar scare zone Ritual tent

Halloween Horror Nights 2 Bizarre Bazaar scare zone Anthromorphs

HHN2 Bizarre Bazaar High Priest

However, this zone is extremely cramped (and rather small and short) so it is difficult to really see what’s going on. Better hit this area early or save it for last.

Rating
Story: ★★★☆☆
Presentation: ★★★★☆
Scare Factor: ★★☆☆☆

Updated Review and Trip Report

The following section contains the rewritten review, plus original trip reports and documentation.

HHN2 Event Review

Halloween Horror Nights 2 House of Dolls opening crowds

The entire park is open this year, with 10 attractions running and 3 new Haunted Houses to experience. The Dreamworks zone (Far Far Away and Madagascar) do not have Halloween programming, but offer a direct route to The Insanitarium Haunted house. Scare zones this year are extremely elaborate – clearly a great deal of effort went into production. I felt that all of them surpassed the original scare zones in 2011, except for Total Lockdown.

While it is Singapore’s second Halloween Horror Nights, the park has yet to tap on existing IP, such as characters, themes and elements from existing films and video-games. Instead, Universal Studios Singapore developed its own characters and themes.

All three haunted houses this year looked and felt incredible, and the scare level definitely went up by a few notches. Death Alley was built within a compact area, but still offered a satisfying walk through Chinatown-inspired sets. The other houses this year used a lot of effects, including water as well, so be prepared.

The concept this year feels a little scattered compared to 2011. Having the Director and “The Final Cut” are very safe ideas, but placing guests as victims of multiple “horror films” (scare zones and haunted houses) works naturally with the concept of a Universal Studios theme park. The Puppet Master is the Lead Icon that also “controls” the other three – but it is hard to see any connection beyond his House of Dolls. After walking out of the first zone, the other houses and mazes appear to be exist independently. He does have a very short (and VERY easily missed) appearance in another scare zone.

RWS advertised that there will be a “a frightful maze of five highly immersive scare zones” and three haunted houses, but there were only three scare zones: House of Dolls, Total Lockdown and Bizarre Bazaar. On the Event Guide, they are grouped together with Haunted Houses as 6 “Haunted Attractions”. This is quite mystifying, because there is no theming or scare actors at Sci-Fi City and The Lost World. There is no explanation for the two missing scare zones.

Another complaint this year is that the park has started selling flashy accessories – from lighted wands to swords – that guests could bring into the haunted houses. Light from these items were bright and they ruined the special effect and scenic design in the Haunted Houses. Some of the park crew have asked the guests to switch these lights off, but I saw that it was not strictly enforced.

Crowd control could also been better. The House of Dolls was very difficult to walk around because props were scattered all over the street. There were also some crowding in the Dungeon of Damnation, causing guest flow to slow to a halt even from the very first scene. With she short event hours (4 hours), many guests would obviously be very conscious (or even upset) of the long waiting time. I feel that the park should start Halloween Horror Nights from 6:30pm or 7:00pm, just like the parks in America.

Additional Information & Updates

Edit 21/10/2012 5:00pm
Halloween Horror Nights 2 event hours will be extended. The event now runs from 8:00PM~1:00AM on 25/10/2012 to 28/10/2012.

On Crowd levels (Click to expand)

Crowd levels

Opening Night was not a sold-out night, but the park already felt very packed. Wait times for attractions peaked at 90-120 minutes. It might be wise to get Halloween Horror Nights Express passes, but they go for $40 this year – the price doubled from last year’s $20 as the Express Pass now includes 10 attractions and 3 haunted houses. While event ends at 12AM, the queues for attractions only close at 12AM (sharp!), so you may still have some extra time to enjoy the park’s attractions and haunted houses.



Complaints on short event hours and long waiting time for attractions (Click to expand)

Edit 20/10/2012 4:00pm
I have received feedback that HHN2 was very crowded and there was barely enough time to even visit all of Haunted Houses. During my own trips to the park, I waited in line for more than 90 minutes for the Dungeon of Damnation. So when some guests felt cheated that they could not experience all the attractions that were open – I could see why they held such opinions. Though frankly, this is to be expected in any theme park. Some guests said that they were only able to visit one Haunted House after queuing for more than 2 hours.

I felt that the crowds and waiting times were still manageable on 19/10/2012, but on 20/10/2012 things were totally different. It was announced to be sold-out and there were rumours that over 15,000 guests attended the second night. The heavy rain before 8PM meant that some areas of the park were wet and remain temporarily closed for guests. Wait times for Haunted Houses were very long, up to 2.5 hours. The queues had to close at 12AM sharp as there was still a long backlog of guests waiting in line. This means that many would be unable to experience more than one Haunted House during 4 hours of the event.

Perhaps the park should not have sold so many tickets when the event hours are short, and the Haunted Houses are unable to accommodate the immensely large crowds. If you do not intend to get an Express pass, you must have some sort of plan (and alternate plans) when you visit the park during Halloween Horror Nights, or you will fall victim to the long queues and end up not being able to experience much.


Edit 20/10/2012 2:00pm
Some people have said that there aren’t as many scare actors as last year’s event. Here is a very rough list of characters that I could recall or see from my huge set of photographs.

RWS claims that there are 350~400+ scare actors this year, but take note that most characters are played by multiple actors (usually two actors to each role), and they take turns to perform. Not all characters are available at the same time, so you will need to revisit a scare zone to find them all.

List of characters / scare actor roles (click to expand)
House of Dolls (18+ characters)
1. Round (Roly-Poly) bald doll
2. Porcelain face doll, Grey dress
3. Porcelain face doll, Blue dress with hat (as the House of Doll’s cashier/receptionist)
4. Female wind-up doll, white hair
5. Male doll, distorted face
6. Human victim, bound on chair
7. “Automaton” doll (sitting at the set with spinning gear)
8. Killer clown (x2)
10. Zipper-face doll
11. Ballerina
12. Jumping clown (x2)
14. Male doll, cracked face
15. Twin Sisters
17. Puppetmaster
18. Puppetmaster’s aide (played by a little person)
19. Dancing couple
21. Elf creature, with sword
22. Male doll, bald, with cracked face
23. Ragdoll
24. Killer Teddy Bear

Total Lockdown (20-21+?? characters *VERY hard to count here)
1. Man in coveralls
2. Lost young girl
3. Grieving woman
4. Man with crowbar
5. Woman suffering from burns, running (x3)
8. Man suffering from burns, running (x3)
11. Man walking with arms clutching his body
12. Man wearing hoodie
13. Girl wearing hazmat mask
14. Military (x3)
17. Police (x3)
20. Medic

Bizarre Bazaar (26+ characters)
1. High Priest
2. High Priest’s assistant
3. Ritual victim
4. Anthropomorphic Seer/Fortune teller/Mystic
5. Mummy (2x)
7. Snake woman
8. Snake man (wearing Cobra-like headgear)
9. Snake woman’s stall victim
10. Snake woman’s stall owner/master
11. Coffin/corpse seller
12. Body parts peddler (wearing a red headgear)
13. Male ritual master (cuts and takes out victim’s heart)
14. Female ritual master (with #12)
15. Ritual victim (with #12)
16. Leopard man
17. Leopard woman
18. Leopard duo’s victim
19. Dancer
20. Female fire dancer
21. Male fire dancer
22. Skulls and bones peddler
23. Insects peddler (female)
24. Man standing on stone block
25. Man on stilts with turban
26. Creature with black feathers
27. Warrior/Guard with bronze armor
28. Wandering woman (beggar?)

The Insanitarium Entrance
– About 10 “insane” inmates roam the entrance. Some travel in pairs.


HHN2 event coverage

View more Halloween Horror Nights 2 contents in other articles on Dejiki.com

Halloween Horror Nights 2 – scare zone features

The Domains of Fear articles showcase more photos and videos of mayhem captured during Halloween Horror Nights 2.
House of Dolls | Total Lockdown | Bizarre Bazaar

Halloween Horror Nights 2 – Before Dark

Part one | Part two | Part three

See how Universal Studios Singapore gradually transforms into five scare zones and three haunted houses. This mini-series showcases photos of the park in the day, before terror strikes!




Halloween Horror Nights 12 (2024)
HHN12 REVEALED: Ticket and Event Guide
HHN12 MEGA REVIEW: Photo Tour of all haunted houses, scare zones, shows and Special Experience
HHN12 RIP TOUR Review and Vlog (VIP Experience)

Special Features
Under The Castle by TEAM WANG design | Netflix's Sweet Home
Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness
Singapore's Most Haunted: The Killings
Viper Lounge (Special Experience) | Vampire Alley
The Lost Kampung | Nether-Land + Ocu.lar's Rave | Dark Dreams

HHN12 BEFORE DARK: Day Tour of Halloween Horror Nights 12 setup

Universal Beijing Resort (UBR) 2024
Scares @ Universal 2024 Event Guide

Halloween Horror Nights – The Archives
Click to Expand and see all posts from past Halloween Horror Nights


Halloween Horror Nights 11 (2023)
HHN11 REVEALED: Ticket and Event Guide
Sneak Preview: DIYU: Descent Into Hell, Rebirth of the Matriarch, Icons and more
Halloween Horror Nights 11 MEGA Review: Photos of all Haunted Houses and Scare Zones
HHN11 RIP TOUR (VIP Tour) Review

Features on Haunted Houses, Scare Zones and Experiences
Grimm Encounters | The Weeknd: After Hours Til Dawn Nightmare
Judgement Day (Opening Scaremony) | Netflix's All of Us Are Dead
DIYU: Descent Into Hell | Rebirth of the Matriarch
Dead Man's Wharf | The Cursed Kiramam
The Hacker + The Hacker: GAME OVER

Universal Studios Japan (USJ) 2023
Halloween Horror Nights 2023/ HAHAHA! Halloween Party! Event Guide

Halloween Horror Nights 10 (2022)
HHN10 REVEALED: Ticket and Event Guide
Halloween Horror Nights 10 MEGA Review: Photos of all Haunted Houses and Scare Zones
SPECIAL FEATURE: Behind the Scenes at HHN10 Haunted Houses
HHN10 RIP Tour (VIP Tour) Review

Features on Haunted Houses, Scare Zones and Experiences
The Silenced Auction (Opening Scaremony) | DIE-ning with The Dead | Monsters & Manifestations
Escape The Breakout | Killustrator: The Final Chapter | Hospitality of Horror
Operation: Dead Force | The Hunt for Pontianak | Dark Zodiac

Universal Studios Japan (USJ) 2022
USJ Halloween Horror Nights 2022 Review and Photo Tour

Trick or Thrills (2021)
Halloween Horror Nights Exhibition
2021 Day and Night Halloween: DIE-ning with the Dead, Universal Monsters Scream Alley | Zany Zombies and IT'S SHOWTIME! Premium Experience

Halloween Horror Nights 9 (2019)
HHN9 REVEALED: Ticket and Event Guide

Halloween Horror Nights 9 MEGA REVIEW
SURVIVAL GUIDE for Halloween Horror Nights 9
HHN9 RIP Experience (VIP Tour)

Features on Haunted Houses, Scare Zones and Experiences
The Chalet Hauntings Revisited | Spirit Dolls | Hell Block 9
Curse of The Naga Revisited | Twisted Clown University
Dead End | Death Fest + Death Fest LIVE
2019 Opening Scaremony (The Undertaker)

SNEAK PREVIEW: Curse of The Naga | The Chalet Hauntings | Behind The Scenes of HHN9
HHN9 Construction Updates (BEFORE DARK)
Part 1 | Part 2 (with Daytime Halloween event) | Part 3 (Horror Truck) | Part 4


Universal Studios Japan (USJ) 2019
Universal Surprise Halloween/ Halloween Horror Nights 2019 Event Guide

Halloween Horror Nights 8 (2018)


Universal Studios Japan (USJ) 2018
Universal Surprise Halloween/ Halloween Horror Nights 2018 Event Guide | 2018 HHN Japan Review

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Japan (2017)


Halloween Horror Nights 7 (2017)

Halloween Horror Nights 6 (2016)


Halloween Horror Nights 5 (2015)

Halloween Horror Nights 4

Halloween Horror Nights 3

Halloween Horror Nights 2

Halloween Horror Nights

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37 Responses to Halloween Horror Nights 2 review

  1. Nigel October 20, 2012 at 7:11 am #

    Hey dejiki! I’m planning to go tonight, what route/plan would you suggest I take in order to go on all the houses and ‘big’ rides with the least wait? Thanks!

    • Dejiki October 20, 2012 at 8:54 am #

      (This comment was edited on 21st October. Changes in bold)

      Hi Nigel,

      I would highly suggest:

      1. Be at the park gates very early, like 7:00pm and start to wait at the entrance. Once the gates open, quickly form up lines to the ticket gantries and get into the park as soon as possible.

      2. Skip all the scare zones and photo-taking first. Go to Dungeon of Damnation first, followed by Death Alley and the Insanitarium.

      – You should be able to at least clear one of the Haunted Houses before 8:30pm. If the wait time exceeds 70 minutes, you might want to skip the Haunted Houses until 11:30pm.

      – From 11:50pm onwards, the wait times for Haunted Houses should be less than 10-30 minutes. NOTE:This really depends. The wait time for Death Alley was 100 minutes at 11:55PM during the second night.

      3. After you’re done with the three Haunted Houses, head to the rides. Battlestar Galactica and Transformers: The Ride will have the longest wait time.

      I would actually suggest skipping the rides to experience the Haunted Houses and Scare zones, which are not available in the day.

  2. zha October 20, 2012 at 10:04 am #

    Hi Dejiki,

    Great Review:) May I ask, what you think of booking an RIP tour for HHN2? wil it be worth it? Thank you

    • Dejiki October 20, 2012 at 10:32 am #

      Hi zha,

      The HHN2 RIP tour is ideal if you prefer to have a guided tour around the scare zones, and access the haunted houses and park attractions with hardly any waiting time.

      You will be able to visit all three haunted houses and most of the park’s major attractions within 2.5~3 hours. The RIP tour guide will also provide backstory for each scare zone and haunted house to add onto the experience of Halloween Horror Nights.

    • Princess October 21, 2012 at 11:46 am #

      RIP is the best option if you have the cash. It’s definitely worth all your money, because it guarentees you can visit all the halloween attractions at least once, even twice if time permits. You even get priority in photo taking with the characters, which can take a long time.

      On the side, you also can rest in the VIP lounge, sip TWG tea, and get ready for the long night, before the event, instead of joining the mad crowd in front of the entrance (no joke). You can also get 10 FnB voucher to grab supper before heading home, and 10% off mechandise if you are interested.

  3. TimidGirl October 20, 2012 at 10:58 am #

    Hi Dejiki!

    Thank you for your detailed write up on your adventure for Halloween Horror Nights 2.
    I am now slightly more prepared and have a slight clue on what is expecting. I will be going along with 2 other friends tonight and I am still very much afraid. Would you recommend the same route to take as Nigel if I wish to level up my scare intensity slower?

    Thank you! 🙂

    • Dejiki October 20, 2012 at 11:05 am #

      Hi TimidGirl,

      As you said that you are still afraid, perhaps heading to the Haunted Houses first might not be the best idea. However, I believe that once you walked through one of them (and screamed your heart out), you will feel a lot more comfortable and start to enjoy the experience.

      If you wish to gradually level up the intensity of scares, instead of going directly to The Insanitarium via Madagascar and Far Far Away after walking out of “House of Dolls”, walk towards New York. Have a stroll through the “Total Lockdown” and “Bizarre Bazaar” scare zones, so that you can get used to the dim environment, props and scare actors.

      When you are in the Haunted House, hold hands (or lock your arms) with your other two friends. Walk slowly, explore each room and keep an eye out for scare actors coming out from their hiding spots. I wouldn’t advice looking at the floor or keeping your eyes closed – you’ll miss the incredible amount of detail in the Haunted House’s rooms!

  4. Rachel October 20, 2012 at 5:14 pm #

    what attire should we wear to the event? 🙂

    • Dejiki October 20, 2012 at 5:42 pm #

      Hi Rachel,

      It’s best to dress for comfort – it’s an outdoor event. Wear comfortable flat shoes as the floor may be uneven and/or wet!

  5. Ken October 20, 2012 at 5:58 pm #

    Hi Nicholas,

    You’ve done a great review of the show!
    Very detailed and informative but did not ruin expenctant guests’ experiences.

    Thumbs up!

  6. Joe October 21, 2012 at 12:21 am #

    Was at the event tonight (20/10) and the Dungeon of Damnation was totally inspired, seriously I would say maybe the scariest maze of all my HHN’s since 2003… Loved Insanitarium too and Death Alley, but Dungeon was just great, even with loads of people going through, It had us running… And the use of powerful intermittent strobes in Insanitarium, people just didn’t know which way to turn. So many disturbing scares and truly original too. Great, great night, I was very impressed. Joe from Australia.

    • Dejiki October 21, 2012 at 7:15 pm #

      Great to hear from you, Joe!

      Did you get an Express pass? How long did you wait for the Haunted Houses and attractions?

      • Joe October 21, 2012 at 8:53 pm #

        Yes definitely Express Pass, coming all this way, wasn’t going to leave that to chance! Queue length and time factors are probably the only thing that people complain about…!

  7. Melvin October 21, 2012 at 5:37 pm #

    Hi. May i ask whether are photos allowed to be taken inside the haunted houses?

    • Dejiki October 21, 2012 at 7:16 pm #

      Hi Melvin,

      Photography and video recording is not allowed in the haunted houses. You can take photos at the three scare zones, so be sure to capture as many photos as you can!

      • Melvin October 21, 2012 at 8:16 pm #

        So would i be able to bring in my camera but won’t take any pictures or they dun even let us bring a camera inside?

        • Dejiki October 21, 2012 at 8:34 pm #

          Yes, you would be able to bring your camera into the Haunted Houses. As long as you don’t switch it on and start taking photos or record a video, it will be fine.

  8. Per October 22, 2012 at 4:12 am #

    I’m more or less pleased. I do not feel the scares was enough though. For me it was rather boring, but that might be because I’m rather used to it. During “Death Alley” I were fortunate enough to be behind some girls who seemed to be screaming of pretty much everything. It almost became comical.

    The queues 21/10 seemed to be around 30-45 minutes for all haunted houses. I didn’t see it go up towards 100 minutes. I did, on the other hand, see it being 65+ minutes for the transformers ride.

    One room that completely took me by surprise was the “spiral” bridge room at the end of Dungeon of Damnation. I’m not quite sure whether it was me or the bridge moving. This comes even from someone who’ve been on offshore supply ships with 25-30m high waves. I really liked that part, but they could’ve added more to it.

    For me it was a 3.5/5 night in total. I do feel that I need to travel to Universal Studios Singapore once more during daytime to experience the other rides though, but I’m not quite sure whether I can afford to dish out another SGD 68. We’ll see I suppose.

    • Dejiki October 22, 2012 at 12:22 pm #

      Hi Per,

      Glad to hear that the crowd conditions were better on the 21/10. There were definitely a lot less people at the park compared to the first two nights.

      How did you feel about the padded cell in the Insanitarium (with strobe effects) and the final exit room?

      The bridge in the spinning room in Dungeon of Damnation does not move at all, but if one is were to stare at the spinning portion, they will feel disoriented. I’ve been to these types of rooms before and some people do feel like they are going to fall over.

  9. Chris October 22, 2012 at 11:25 am #

    Hi, thanks for your review and strategy! It was really helpful (: Was there on Sunday (21/10) and we managed to finish all 3 haunted houses before 9pm (without the express pass)! The park opened early though, slightly after 7:30pm and the crowd was much lesser on a Sunday night. We went straight in for Dungeon of Damnation and Insanitarium, and for the latter, we were even the only 2 at some of the rooms! Really scary… Thanks again for your great write up, it was an awesome night! 😀

    • Dejiki October 22, 2012 at 12:24 pm #

      Hi Chris,

      Great to hear that you had fun! So which Haunted House do you like best?

  10. Marcus October 23, 2012 at 4:42 pm #

    Heading there Friday night… very excited!
    We also (specially…!!) arranged to have dinner in KT’s Grill during the park conversion to skip the queues at the turnstiles and I’m going to direct the group to go to the Dungeons first so that we’re the only ones in there (well, we’re a group of 12, so it won’t be SO empty. haha)… thanks for you strategy though – will be very useful to maximize time! Plan to do haunted houses first, then rides then scare zones until the end.
    Might even do 2 rounds of haunted houses if we have the time and if we don’t need to use the express pass the first time around!!

    • Dejiki October 23, 2012 at 5:11 pm #

      Hi Marcus, It’s great to know that you have a plan and intending to take advantage of being patrons at KT’s Grill.

      Going to Dungeon of Damnation as the first thing is a good idea, but why not walk in the Dungeon one by one (instead of going as a group?) 😉

      With right planning and (some running!), it’s definitely possible to do two rounds of Haunted Houses even if you don’t have an express pass, but you’ll need to sacrifice the other attractions in the park. If you have the express pass, it’ll be a lot easier to achieve that and you can go for the rides too.

      Right after Dungeon, go straight to Death Alley (or Insanitarium, but I’d recommend Death Alley since you’re nearby). You should be able to finish all three Haunted Houses by 8:45PM if all goes well, with 4 more hours to spare for a second go, or even more.

      • Marcus October 23, 2012 at 5:22 pm #

        Thanks for the tip on going into the Dungeon one by one (since we’ll be eating right opposite, we can get there as the first for the night… just hope none of us actually throw up dinner… haha)… might either do 1 by 1 or 2 by 2…
        We all have express passes, so going to make total use of them. Am going straight to Insanitarium right after the Dungeon cos hopefully that one will be empty at that point (with people still coming in and being “stuck” at the Doll area). Also very keen to do the Lost World Ride and Battlestar at night, so those will have to go somewhere in between.
        As you can tell, I’m quite excited… haha.

        • Dejiki October 23, 2012 at 5:34 pm #

          It’s good to be excited – I’m sure the Haunted Houses will definitely be memorable. For my first walkthrough in all the Haunted Houses, I was always the first person to step anywhere (extra thrill factor for me) and I made sure to leave a big gap between me and the next group in front of me. That gave the scare actors ample time to “prepare”.. haha.

          Be sure to come back and post your comments on HHN2’s scare zones and haunted houses! – I’d like to hear what you think and also discuss on some of the most interesting rooms inside (shouldn’t discuss now as it’ll be spoilers for you 😉 )

          • Marcus October 23, 2012 at 5:40 pm #

            will definitely come back to discuss!! will also remember your tip on the space between groups for a “reset”!

  11. Ekira October 24, 2012 at 4:05 pm #

    Hey! Love your post!
    And loving the pictures, may i just ask what camera did you use?

    Thanks!

  12. Ekira October 24, 2012 at 4:07 pm #

    Hey Dejiki! Love your post on HHN 2!
    I had a lovely time with my cousins!
    And also loving the pictures, may i just ask what camera and equiment you used for taking the pictures while you were there?

    Thank you! Keep on posting!

    • Dejiki October 24, 2012 at 6:46 pm #

      Hi Erika,

      Photos were all taken with the Sony NEX-5N. 🙂

  13. Awky October 25, 2012 at 2:34 pm #

    Hi! Great post there 😀 Looking forward to my trip here this coming Saturday 🙂 One of my main concerns, however, is the weather. Will the park close early if it rains?

    • Dejiki October 25, 2012 at 3:24 pm #

      Hello! 🙂

      In case of rain, the event will still continue. You may want to refer to the “What if it rains during HHN2?” section above.

      Do bring umbrellas just in case! Poncho are available at the park at $3 each.

  14. Chuwei October 25, 2012 at 3:58 pm #

    Hi, for those who are interested or keen in going tonight, 25th. I have a pair of tickets for sale at only $90, I couldn’t make it so my loss is your gain. you may contact me at 98800666. thanks! sorry to hijack your thread.

  15. Jasmine October 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm #

    What is the minimum age requirement to go in the park? And are we allowed to wear costumes?

    • Dejiki October 25, 2012 at 6:00 pm #

      There is no minimum age requirement, but I would suggest that children below age of 13 to be accompanied with an adult.

      Costumes and masks are NOT ALLOWED at Halloween Horror Nights.

  16. Justin October 26, 2012 at 11:56 am #

    Hey guys, any idea if the main door tickets and priority passes will sell out? i only plan to purchase them at around 5pm.

    many thanks,
    justin

    • Dejiki October 26, 2012 at 12:23 pm #

      Hi Justin,

      I highly don’t recommend buying at 5pm on the same night you’re visiting. Try to buy in advance. Tickets for today and Saturday are already sold out. Express passes may still be available until 10-11pm during the event. They may get sold out earlier if the park is too crowded though.

  17. meltz October 28, 2012 at 11:58 pm #

    Really need to thank you for the tips .. managed to complete the ghost house without express pass .. good job =n

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