Halloween Horror Nights 21 (XXI) 2011 Scare Zones at Universal Orlando

Sept. 30 thru Oct. 27, 2011

OK boys and ghouls, the 21st annual Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando is almost upon us.

With six scare zones, there is way too much to really appreciate in one night. Sign up for 14 Halloween Horror Nights with a two or three day pass to Universal Orlando. You’ll die to keep coming back.

Stay overnight at the “Holiday” Inn just outside the Main Gate…
…if you dare.

Watch a video from last year:

EIGHT HAUNTED HOUSES

Nevermore: The Madness of Poe
The madness of Edgar Allen Poe’s greatest works has come to life.  Step into the mind of the iconic writer, where every turn of the page takes you closer to the brink of insanity.

The Forsaken
Four ships began Columbus’s fateful voyage, only three became legend. Condemned to a watery grave, the mutinous and cursed crew of that 4th ship has returned with a vengeance.  For within the walls of a Spanish fort, a maelstrom has brought from the depths….death itself.

H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror
Join creature feature host, H.R. Bloodengutz, in his final televised broadcast as he presents a SCARE-athon of holiday-based horror that is guaranteed to cleave you screaming for more.

The Thing
Paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers in an isolated Antarctic outpost as they are infected, one by one, by a horrifying creature from another planet. In a place where there is nothing, they found something.

Saws N’ Steam: Into the Machine
Spinning blades and massive, crushing pistons await you around every corner as you are forced deeper into the bowels of a mechanical nightmare.  Give yourself to “The Machine.”

The In-Between
An ominous portal reveals a 3rd dimension where all is not what it seems: a realm where our world and another collide.  Surrounded by fiendish creatures, your eyes will deceive you with every step through this phantasm of terror.

Winter’s Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery
As snow falls on this normally serene gothic cemetery, the deceased souls that occupy its confines have their sights set upon you, insuring that the chill you feel up your spine is more than just the cold of night.

Nightingales: Blood Prey
Within every war, the Nightingales have appeared.  Able to transform themselves to fit any setting, these savage banshees feed on the weak and the helpless.  Patrolling WWI era trenches, you discover that you are more than just at war…you’re being hunted.

SIX SCAREZONES

Acid Assault
For decades now the city has been degrading from the effects of Acid Rain that still falls today, caused by factories which sprung up on the city’s edges during the 20th century.  Those that have lived and survived the blistering decay are all alone in the city. Survivors have stripped the city of all life to sustain their own…dare to enter the ACID ASSAULT.

Canyon of Dark Souls
Upon entering into the Canyon of Dark Souls, you will feel like a small spec of humanity as the overwhelming sense of death surrounds you. Creatures that dwell within the Canyon are not welcoming so walk slowly as to not disturb them.

Grown Evil
Enter, if you dare, into our garden where Evil grows. Nature has taken this once well manicured sanctuary back from the humans who once kept it.  Now the creatures that inhabit the garden are making any human that enters their prey.

NightMaze
Journey through the ever changing maze of darkness.  This all black maze will morph and change as you walk through it. You will not be scared the same way twice.

7
As daylight shines upon our Temptresses, their appearance, though evil, allows you the spectacle of beauty.  As night falls, these 7 temptresses will show their true colors and take on their true Fatal Evil forms. Beware of your own temptations.

Your Luck Has Run Out
Enter if you dare into the lair of the LUCKY!  Your choices will determine if you make it out alive. Witness lucks deadly wrath, will she choose you to be her next victim?

TWO LIVE SHOWS

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure
Party on as those two most excellent dudes return to skewer the biggest names in entertainment and pop culture.

Death Drums
A seductive, hard-hitting and raw extreme drumming experience.

Related articles

• Halloween Horror Nights Adds La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas Maze (dreadcentral.com)
• Universal Studios Hollywood unveils mazes for Halloween Horror Nights 2011 – latimes.com (faircarnivals.com)
• Get Ready To Puke Scream! Eli Roth’s Hostel Is Getting The Theme Park Treatment! (lukewilliamss.wordpress.com)
• Universal Halloween Horror Nights – Themed Mazes for THE THING & HOSTEL (geektyrant.com)

Fall into New Orleans

The hot humid weather is going away. This is the perfect to come and stay in New Orleans.

New Orleans: Top Rated things to do.

• New Orleans Cooking Class 53 reviews
• Westbank Plantation Tour 9 reviews
• Garden District Walking Tour 8 reviews
• New Orleans Original Cocktail Walking Tour 8 reviews
• Tour of Oak Alley Plantation 7 reviews

Places to Stay:

Best Western French Quarter Landmark Hotel
- 920 N Rampart Street, New Orleans, LA 70116-3011

Holiday Inn NEW ORLEANS-FRENCH QUARTER
- 124 ROYAL STREET, New Orleans, LA 70130

Holiday Inn FRENCH QUARTER-CHATEAU LEMOYNE
- 301 RUE DAUPHINE-FRENCH QUARTER, New Orleans, LA 70112

Maison Dupuy
- 1001 Toulouse, New Orleans, LA 70112

More French Quarter Hotels:

Quality Inn & Suites (< 1 mile)

International House (< 1 mile)

Holiday Inn NEW ORLEANS-DOWNTOWN SUPERDOME (< 1 mile)

Bienville House Hotel (< 1 mile)

PRINCE CONTI FRENCH QUARTER HOTEL (< 1 mile)

New Orleans Grand Palace Hotel (< 1 mile)

Chateau Hotel (< 1 mile)

Hotel Royal (< 1 mile)

W New Orleans – French Quarter (< 1 mile)

New Orleans Marriott (< 1 mile)

Baronne Plaza Hotel (< 1 mile)

St Louis Hotel (< 1 mile)

The Chateau Bourbon – A Wyndham Historic Hotel (< 1 mile)

St Anne Hotel (< 1 mile)

Wyndham Whitney Hotel (< 1 mile)

New Orleans Home Page



Ghost Tours of San Diego

Ghostly Tours in History

We took two ghost tours of San Diego recently, in part to compare the $50  3-hour city limo tour with the $10  1-hour walking tour of the Gaslamp Quarter. Each had its advantages, you decide which is for you.

The Gaslamp Quarter tour meets at the haunted William Heath Davis House Fridays and weekends just as the city is getting dark. Our favorite story here is about the tourists who start to follow a “guide” upstairs and half way up are greeted by the real guide at the bottom of the stairs. There were no guides upstairs at the time.

Upstairs - no one there!

Walking around the Gaslamp Quarter at night is quite pleasurable, especially in the company of others and with someone who knows their way around. Not only did we see a restaurant in a former mortuary, we passed by several historic brothels and a haunted hotel. We also noted an interesting new restaurant that we later returned to for a late night snack.

Old Town Cemetery

The evening limo picked us up at an the Living Room Cafe and Bistro in Old Town.  Great place to arrive early, enjoy the food (and have your check paid) so that you are relaxed and ready to go. Door-to-gate service brings you to a cemetary that dates back 200 years and is located very near the very haunted Whaley House. Many violent deaths in San Diego’s history led to burials here. In the darkness you can feel some spirits. Many have seen figures drifting near the surrounding walls, but none seen this night.

Captain's quarters

The highlight was the Star of India sailing ship. Several deaths there have left wandering spirits above and below decks. With the other stops along the way we felt we had a pretty good introduction to San Diego, and a very enjoyable story time to boot. We were able to go to 5 different locations and the story for each one worth the time, trip and money. Tour more online at GoThere San Diego Haunted Places.

 

Rome crypts and catacombs

Capuchin Bone Chapel

When in Rome, do as the Romans? Touring the city’s subterranean burial chambers is something often done by locals, but is almost unheard of with tourists.  So be the first one on your block to have gone “catacombing”.

The Capuchin Crypt chapel walls are completely covered on the inside with human bones. It is only creepy if you stop to think what you are seeing – and standing next to!

Some of the catacombs like the Domitilla Catacombs no longer have bodies on display to the public, but you can sure get the feeling what it must have been like. Bodies were not so much buried here as they were set into shallow holes in the walls, far underground, in the dark. Thank goodness for electric lights. (no cameras though, in any of these places.)

There is a 3-hour tour that starts daily around 2:30 from the Piazza Barberini. – Map - This one is close to a metro stop.
Read what others have said about the tours.
Get more information and reserve tickets before you go. These tours sell out early.

Here is are some pretty good,  reasonably priced, nearby hotels.