I Visited ‘Stranger Things’ Upside Down at Halloween Horror Nights, and Lived to Tell the Tale

I went to the Upside Down, and lived to tell the tale. Or at least, I went to the new Stranger Things house at Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, encountered several Demigorgons, and got to explore a unique collaboration between the Florida theme park and Netflix, who produces the hit horror show.

For those of you who have not previously attended a Halloween Horror Nights in any of Universal’s locations (Orlando is arguably the crown jewel, though similar events run at all of the company’s theme parks), it breaks down into three types of experiences: “Scare Zones,” which are themed areas with characters ready to jump at you, as you walk around the park; original houses, which are spooky creations of the folks behind the scenes; and licensed intellectual property houses, recognizable movies and TV shows adapted for the haunted house experience.

The way the houses themselves are set up is essentially as a maze. A straightforward one you can’t get lost in, but you and a group of friends (or enemies, I guess) wind your way through various rooms and hallways, as “Scaractors” — a portmanteau of “scare,” “actors” and “characters” — jump out at you. But like any good strip club, there’s no touching the scaractors, as much as your base instincts will tell you to punch them in the face and run for your life.

As part of the opening night media event, I (and more outlets than people who get killed in a zombie movie) walked through all the houses and scare zones, to experience everything Halloween Horror Nights has to offer. This year that includes an adaptation of Poltergeist where you walk through a TV screen into the other side; a house called “The Horrors of Blumhouse,” which adapts the Groundhog Day-esque Happy Death Day, and recent The First Purge; and Halloween 4, which hopefully is giving William Shatner a lot of residuals.

Arguably, the best houses this year aren’t the IP adaptations, which often felt like walking through a movie museum… One called “Dead Exposure: Patient Zero” thrust you into a zombie invasion in Paris almost entirely in the dark, and is easily the most terrifying thing I encountered all night. Another, “Slaughter Sinema” walks you through half a dozen made up Z-grade horror movies, and is fun and shlocky in exactly the right way.

But the crown jewel this year is Stranger Things. The creative team worked heavily with Netflix to develop the house, and the level of detail inherent is pretty insane. Here’s how it works: you start out walking through Hawkins Lab, under heavy attack from the vicious Demigorgon, a creature from what comes to be known as the Upside Down. Just as you are about to be killed by the beast yourself, you walk into a large, open room with the title of the show projected on the wall, and the iconic theme music playing. It’s a neat conceit I haven’t seen in any other house, ever (I’ve been to several of these events), and really makes you feel like you’re in the TV show, in the best way. Then it’s over to various scenes from the first season of the show, including Joyce’s Christmas light filled living room, Fort Byers, and finally the high school where you watch Eleven face down the Demigorgon, once and for all.

It’s a surreal experience walking through these sets, as lights flash around you and monsters are screaming… Particularly since the Halloween Horror Night folks didn’t just copy these sets from screen: Netflix actually provided them the blueprints, so they could painstakingly recreate the Byers’ house, and more. And all the props laying around are pre-1984. Nothing is a modern throwback; everything was culled from personal collections, yard sales, and more, to make sure it is as authentic as possible.

But is it scary? Hell yeah. One challenging thing about turning Stranger Things into a haunted house is that the creature is purposefully kept off screen for so long. So while the team was faithful to the layout of the sets, when it came to the pacing of the house they insisted that the Demigorgon be far more omnipresent. And whether it jumps out at you with floral, tooth filled mouth closed, or opened, it is horrifying… The prosthetics job the team worked out for the creature is perfect, and the scaractors move perfectly to physically embody a monster that was mostly CGI on screen.

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Oh f**k no #hhn2018 #strangerthings

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What makes Halloween Horror Nights such a special event is this attention to detail, frankly. I’m kind of a scaredy-cat, and don’t love people constantly jumping out at me, and poking things in my direction. But the production design aspects inherent in houses like the Stranger Things experience are phenomenal… And in a weird way, almost better than going on set, because they don’t need to make accommodations for cameras and craft service tables.

Oh, and one other thing that makes these houses unique: they’re not all scary; sometimes they’re beautiful. My absolute favorite moment from any house was towards the end of the Stranger Things walkthrough, when you enter the alternate dimension of the Upside Down… And it begins to snow. The screaming and music stops, and it just becomes still, and haunting as the small flakes glisten and float through the air, making you feel like you’re somewhere else entirely.

And then, of course, the Demigorgon attacks.

Halloween Horror Nights runs after hours at Universal Orlando until November 3.

Stream Stranger Things on Netflix