During the fall, Halloween Horror Nights and Petrified Forest are popular attractions that many Floridians enjoy. Halloween Horror Nights, hosted at Universal Studios in Orlando, has themed haunted houses and scare zones that guests can venture through. Petrified Forest, another Halloween-inspired attraction, offers spooky trails that guests can go through. Many students here at Seminole High School have already been to these events multiple times with friends and family.

The ten houses at HHN include Stranger Things, Halloween 4, Poltergeist, Trick or Treat, The Horrors of Blum House, Carnival Graveyard, Dead Exposure, Scary Tales, Seeds of Extinction, and Slaughter Sinema. These houses are based on blockbuster horror films and TV shows. Universal and its employees work hard to create realistic and houses to frighten guests.

“I’m always excited for this time of year when Halloween Horror Nights comes around because it’s a fun place to hangout with my friends and to walk through new houses every year,” said junior Papavarin Manowong.

In between these lengthy wait times, guests can enjoy riding some of the many other attractions open late at Universal Studios in order to maximize their experience. These rides include Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit,  Revenge of the Mummy, Men in Black and Harry Potter: Escape from Gringotts.

“Once I’ve had a fast pass for Dead Exposure and had some leisure time in the park, so my friends and I decided to go do The Men in Black ride. Between waiting in line and riding that attraction, we made it back in time perfectly to do Dead Exposure,” said freshman Madison Mandeville.

Universal Studios employees dress in costumes and put on makeup to make the scare zones come to life. The scare zones are: The Harvest, Vamp 85: New Years Eve, Twisted Tradition, Revenge of Chucky, and Killer Klowns from Outer Space. When walking from house to house, guests at Universal tend to get a jump scare from employees dressed up as characters from their specific horror film or TV show.

Petrified Forest is located in Altamonte Springs, Florida and consists of 3 haunted trails. Here, guests can listen to music from a live band and enjoy the scary trails. On the first trail, guests walk through haunted houses and disguised employees hide in the shadows to scare them. The second trail allows guests to ride a moving cart that drives through a haunted trail. The final trail, said to be the most terrifying trail, advises guests to walk it, only at their own risk.

“I went with my friend and his family this year, … the wait [time for each trail] didn’t take as long and each path was 10-15 minutes long and it looked like they put in a lot of work into it. Overall, it was a fun experience and I would definitely recommend going,” said junior Daiquaan Pittman.

Halloween Horror Nights and Petrified Forest are two of the most popular attractions during the fall and Florida residents are always excited for this time of year, especially teenagers. HHN and Petrified Forest will both be open until November 3rd, 2018. More information about Petrified Forest and HHN can be found on their websites. Mark down your calendars now to be able to experience the spooky season thrills.