Universal Horror Unleashed is good; not great

I still remember the conversation I had with a buddy of mine while monster watching in Noche de Brujas last year.

“What’s new? What have you been up to?”

“I’m in Vegas now, working at Horror Unleashed.”

“Oh! I’m going to be in Vegas in March! I was planning on visiting while I’m there. How is it?”

“It’s awful. It’s such a mess…”

Fast-forward to now, and those words still echoed in my head as I walked up to the giant warehouse facility, located in the 30-acre Area-15 immersive entertainment district, just one mile west of the Las Vegas Strip.

Before I break everything down piece by piece, let me say this: I had fun. I’d say the attraction was enjoyable, albeit kind of clunky, and I do feel that I may have enjoyed myself even more if I had gone with friends and not been alone. For a more tangible reference, I’d put Horror Unleashed a step above the former year-round Universal mazes (Universal House of Horrors, Walking Dead, etc.), but a step below Halloween Horror Nights.

There are currently four mazes offered at Horror Unleashed: Universal Monsters, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Scarecrow the Reaping, and The Exorcist Believer.

Mazes were fine; nothing overly scary but not boring. Set design seemed to be on par more with HHN Orlando than Hollywood, meaning they seemed a little bigger and grander. Groups are sent in staggered from one another, meaning hypothetically your group should have a five-to-six-minute personal experience while walking through each attraction. That said, I admittedly keep a quicker pace than others, and almost always caught up to the group ahead of me, clearing each maze in about two-to-three minutes.

Scareacting hovered right around where you’d expect a HHN maze to be, if not just a smidge below it. Scare timing was definitely hit or miss, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get jump scared more than once. I was also pleasantly shocked to see some scareactors talk and interact with guests, and not just mouth along to prerecorded lines like I’ve become so accustomed to at HHN Hollywood.

However, I do feel that mazes at times felt understaffed. While it’s not uncommon for a scareactor to cover one to two spots in rapid succession, it seemed like some had to bounce between three or four. Mazes also don’t stay continuously open throughout the night, with each closing for brief stretches of time for what I can only assume are lunch breaks or the like (I walked up to one maze and was told it would open in 15 minutes, but only for 20 minutes before closing again).

All said and done, Scarecrow was my favorite maze of the night, featuring two of the coolest rooms (one featuring a simulated tornado and the other a seemingly massive cornfield) that I’ve ever seen in a haunt. Universal Monsters was gorgeous, and Texas Chainsaw mazes are always fun. Though not bad by any means, I wouldn’t be surprised if Exorcist Believer is the first to be transitioned out, if Horror Unleashed ever changes or rotates their offerings.

Entertainment included a couple of shows and roaming characters; everything from murderous slashers to possessed dolls to medieval knights and vampire queens. The main entertainment draw, however, was HHN Icon Jack the Clown and sidekick Chance, who hosted Stay or Slay, in which performers “pulled off of the Las Vegas Strip” compete in a life-and-death staked talent show.

Comparable to theme-park atmosphere, entertainment was fun. During my visit, I watched Jack and Chance’s show and grabbed a photo with them afterwards. I also mingled a bit with the Vampire Queen before grabbing a selfie.

Dining options include The Boiler and Jack’s Alley Bars, the Roughcuts quick service barbecue, and the Blumhouse themed Premiere House full-service restaurant and bar, which is where I ate.

Premiere House presents itself as a fancy restaurant, however the food is more or less basic sliders, flatbreads, tacos, and salads. I had the fried chicken sliders and Death by Chocolate dessert. The chicken itself was tasty, albeit the bread was tough and bit stale at parts. It’s appropriate that the Death by Chocolate is a devil’s food cake, because it was sinfully delicious.

I indulged in three drinks during my evening, one with dinner and one each at the two bars.

With dinner I had the Bloodsucker, made with Sonrisa Platino rum, Marie Brizard blackberry liqueur, lime juice, simple syrup, and ginger beer. It was pleasant and tart, albeit with an aggressive ginger aftertaste I wasn’t overly fond of. At The Boiler, I had the Severed Pear, which is – essentially – a pear old fashioned; it disappointingly was nothing mind blowing. Finally, at Jack’s Alley, I had Jack’s Juice, made of Mount Gay rum, Bols cherry brandy, Peychaub's aromatic bitters, lime, simple syrup, and mango nectar. This was my favorite drink of the night.

In its entirety, my dining experience was pleasant, and I enjoyed most of what I had. Even better, the prices were decent and not far off of what you might expect at HHN, which was nice after dealing with the typically high Vegas markups for two days prior.

There are currently three ticket tiers offered at Horror Unleashed: General Admission Unlimited Access, General Admission One-Time Access, and the Fraidy Cat ticket. These boil down to maze access, with unlimited granting limitless access to each maze, one-time offering single entry, and fraidy cat leaving you on the outside looking in, but still available to enjoy the entertainment and dining. Prices are listed online at $89-$129, $59-$89, and $24-$49 respectively. However, at the time of my visit there was a limited-time savings promotion running, so I only paid $79 for unlimited access. The venue does offer discounts for Nevada residents, active and retired military, and college students as well.

There is also a three-hour VIP package offered for up to six guests, which includes special perks including priority maze access, semi-private dining table and exclusive menu, merchandise discounts, and a special meet and greet, all starting at a mind-boggling $2,750.

So, should you get your hopes up if you visit Universal Horror Unleashed? Honestly, don’t set the bar extraordinarily high; it’s definitely not the “year-round HHN” that I think many - myself included - wanted and hyped it up to be. After my visit, I’ve been telling all my friends the same thing - “It’s not great. It’s not awful. It’s at least worth one shot.”

Overall, I’d still recommend a visit to Horror Unleashed if you happen to be in town, and if you go knowing what to expect. While it may not be HHN proper, it does enough to scratch the spooky itch in between haunt seasons.