[HAUNT REVIEW] Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood
Rounding out 20 nights of HHN this year and it must be said, this is my favorite event of the entire year, hands down. I love the horror community immensely. There was nothing but support and love and the best vibes all around. The plan was to make a cohesive review about HHN as a whole and do a ranking but I don’t think I can do that. I have so much to say about every scare actor that came up to me and said hello on their breaks when they noticed I was taking pictures of them. To meeting friends for the first time and some new friends who I’ve become insanely close with, to growing relationships with friends who I knew in passing but now are stronger because we liked getting scared by our friends who dressed up as monsters. It’s silly to say but Halloween Horror Nights really took me out of some serious slumps this year and I’m so grateful that I bought a Frequent Fear Pass. I’m grateful that I was allowed a few hours every night to forget about the real world and just be in my happy place.
2023 hasn’t been the nicest to me and I feel like I say that every year but this year rings true. And while I won’t go too into detail I will say that some of my darkest moments were washed away when I walked through that giant archway to be greeted by screams, chainsaws, gasoline and fog. Those made me feel like everything was going to be alright and that for a moment, I could breathe again. I knew that if I was having a depressive episode I could go on the terror tram and chant BUGS! BUGS! BUGS! or walk through Holidayz and almost throw up because Thanksgiving had the FOULEST stench around, seriously what the hell did they do in there? Going through Universal Monsters and being face to face with Hunchback while he sprayed water in my face from his giant cauldron was always a highlight.
Standing in Toyz, Monstros and watching Purge: Dangerous Waters or Blumhouse Behind the screams reminded me why I love taking photos. It also allowed me to get creative and find new ways to take photos that were fun and interesting. Not to mention the photographers I linked up with and would shoot side by side with, it was a truly special moment. I loved going almost every night and having scare actors seek me out just to try and scare me which a few were successful and I couldn’t be happier. Every night that I walked back to my car I noticed my jaw was sore because of the sheer amount of smiling I did throughout the night. I will never forget the memories I made, the photos I captured or the sheer amount of scare actors who stabbed me, slit my throat, bonked me on the head, broke my kneecaps, cut my limbs off, stabbed my camera or gave me those deathly stares…thank you. I’m so excited to return next year and I hope to see you in the fog…
For all my HHN photos from this year check out my flickr!
House rankings ;)
Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America
Universal Monsters
Terror Tram
Holidayz in Hell
The Last of Us
Chucky
Stranger Things
Evil Dead Rise
Article by Krystina Alfonso
