Halloween Horror Nights Singapore 2011 Before Nightfall

As it is just mere days before Halloween Horror Nights opens at Universal Studios Singapore, I couldn’t contain my excitement and curiosity, so I took a walk around the park today. There has been a lot of installations and – oh my, there is just so much detail going on the props and decorations.

Update: Trip report here!

Before I begin, here’s more information about the Halloween Horror Nights:

OPENING HOURS

8:00pm ~ 12:00am
Technically the park is open beyond midnight because the lines for attractions close only at 12:00am.

PARK ZONES

The following areas will be open during Halloween Horror Nights:
Hollywood, New York, Sci-Fi City, Ancient Egypt

SCARE ZONES

There are 4 free-roam scare zones:
Carn-EVIL (Hollywood)
Post-Apocalyptic Rage (New York)
The Void (Sci-Fi City)
The Edge of Darkness (Ancient Egypt)

There are 2 enclosed scare zones/mazes:
The Pestilence (New York: Water Street and Lagoon/Harbour Area)
Vengeance of the Matriarch (New York: Stage 28 building)
*HHN Universal Express line available for both attractions.

There is a party zone, called 44 Sins at Ancient Egypt.

Photos!

I must warn you here that the overlay looks deceivingly “mild” in the day. If you’ve ever been to a scare house, you know that you can get spooked even if it’s an empty room. Most of the “horror magic” happens at night when the streets are props are bathed with atmospheric lights and thick theatrical fog.

Carn-Evil

The park has completed repairs (and repaint) for the floor at the Entrance Gateway. It looks so bright and happy now.

Most of the lampposts in Carn-Evil are draped either with these flags or ropes of red lights.

Two tents at the Carn-Evil. There should be fortune-tellers in at least one of them, speaking about the terrible fates awaiting park guests.

At the end of Hollywood: A little stage set where The Director will torment guests.

Vengeance of the Matriarch

Yep, the entrance to this indoor scare house (or maze) is located beside Pantages Hollywood Theatre. It only leads to one place, the long-forgotten Stage 28 attraction. It is the only (empty) indoor space in the park that’s available for a large-scale haunt.

Post-Apocalyptic Rage

New York, in ruins, and infested with Zombies after dark. Only during Halloween Horror Nights.

Charlie Chaplin’s not going to do Meet-and-Greet here anymore.

Sting Alley’s blocked up from here. This is most likely an exit for a scare zone. Perhaps it’s a park crew area. Or you know, like Left 4 Dead: the zombie spawn point.

Obviously in a post-apocalyptic scenario, no one’s going to care about rubbish. (I think some park guests mistook this prop for something else and had a hand with “the look”)

If you’re dining at the outdoor area of Loui’s NY Pizza Parlor, perhaps you’ll be safe from the zombies with the fence here…

Oh, don’t bother making yourself comfortable here.

Dumpsters. I have a feeling scare actors will pop out from the shorter ones.

The Pestilence

The entrance to the other scare zone at New York is actually located closer to Sci-Fi City. This scare zone is not a free-roam zone. It has limited capacity so guests will need to wait in line before they can enter.

Like Vengeance of the Matriarch, Universal Express is offered here.

The Gates seem to be missing something here… Anyway, they were left unlocked so a number of guests (including myself) bravely explored this usually off-limits area.

Ok, there’s actually nothing much, for now. Anyway, the sharp edges of props have silicone bumpers installed. A nice touch for safety of guests and scare actors.

The Void

The Void is supposed to be the domain of some mad scientist, but I guess the props for this zone will be minimal since it’s at Sci-Fi City. With Battlestar Galactica running during event nights (safety) and Transformers construction (lack of space) going on, it’s hard to pull off something like what they’ve done for New York. For now there is some surgical table.

The Edge of Darkness

Finally, we’re at the last scare zone.

There is also this stone gate, right in front of Revenge of the Mummy.

44 Sins

I’m not 100% sure what this place is, but after going through what has been announced so far, it looks like 44 Sins is the site for the “street party”.
EDIT: Yep, RWS has confirmed that 44 Sins is the site for the party.

Park Merchandise

Apart from the usual light sticks and Pumpkin things, the park offers the following:

HHN Merchandise! T-shirts for S$31.90. Only one design available. It’s hard to see here but the “blood splatter” is a bit 3D, with a “pop-out” effect.

Lanyards – S$9.90

There are also mugs but urgh, I can’t be bothered. They’re just mugs. I’m a little disappointed with the merchandise – it’s very basic. Hopefully the park could afford to do more next year. And also, print tickets with special (or just different) designs on them – Just about anyone I’ve met told me that they’re tired of the same old generic “RWS Red” design for all sorts of Universal Studios Singapore tickets. Be it seasonal events, VIP Tours or a $5 After Hours pass, they all look the same. It’s time to change.

So that’s it for this pre-event trip report. I think it’s nice to finally see the Halloween overlay being executed at Universal Studios Singapore. It’s down to the actual Halloween Horror Nights this Friday. Check back this weekend for a detailed review and trip report!