Halloween Horror Nights Lights-On Tour – The Walking Dead house and scare zones

Join us on a lights-on tour of The Walking Dead house at Halloween Horror Nights 23. The tour points out details to look for in the Walking Dead themed areas.

This photo essay of The Walking Dead haunted house and some of the scare zones reveals secrets and elements along the way. If you prefer to be completely surprised, read this article later! We also want to warn you that some of the images may be graphic.

This year all of the street scare zones are themed to The Walking Dead. At first it may seem that all the zones are alike, but really they refer to different segments of the series.

This scare zone is themed to a season 3 episode titled “Clear”. Note that many of the lighted messages are the word “clear”.

This scare zone is based on season 1, and scenes in Atlanta.

Keep an eye out for this van. It drops off additional “walkers” at random times and locations.

The area from Mel’s Die-In to Animal Actors is based on season 2.

The agreement with The Walking Dead producers is that no living characters are featured at Horror Nights, only walkers. Which explains why letters are missing from a name on the R.V. here, while in the show the name on the side is complete.

Ravens are on the R.V. antenna. They are part of this year’s Easter Egg hunt for guests to spot where the ravens are in each of the houses. These ravens are Easter Eggs for the scare zones, and everyone can say they saw a few of the ravens!

This is the entrance to the Walking Dead house, dubbed No Safe Haven. It’s based on season 3 of the show. The arrow points to one of the rare times where a scareactor is outside a house. A walker is chained here. You often see guests living dangerously and posing for a photo with the walker.

In the show, The Governor has heads in fish tanks. Here, with the lights on, the tanks have been drained of water to avoid problems that happen with stagnant water. For Horror Nights, the heads are secured with fishing line to always face outward.

An impaled walker is a safe walker.

Sometimes the houses have a choice between routes. Normal routing is at the right, where you are required to hunch down and walk under netting. There is an alternate route to the left.

The hunched route.

The alternate route.

A detail you might catch a glimpse of is around the corner, when you reach the laundry line. The arrow is in the direction of the routing, toward the camera.

Universal takes safety very seriously. This is a tribute to the Orlando Fire Department for their help in protecting the park.

Another tribute is seen to the right as you walk along this platform.

It’s a tribute to someone who worked on Horror Nights for many years and has passed away.

The hours 10 and 2 refer to the times the Horror Nights lights-on tours used to leave. (This year the first tour time was changed to 10:30 a.m.) 6 p.m. refers to the earliest Horror Nights will open on a night.

Perched on the watch tower is the raven for this house.

This raven seems awfully judgemental!

This is a neat trick where mirrors are on opposite sides of a hallway, and make the hallway seem very long. The arrow points to the reflection of the camera taking this photo.

As you turn right into this doorway you will see a phone.

Lift the receiver! It’s one of the rare times where a guest can trigger an effect. Impress your friends!

A tour guide demonstrates how this effect is done.

A scareactor is standing, instead of sprawled on the concrete. The scareactor’s shirt would be in matching fabric, and seamlessly joined together with the fixed costume.

The prison cells have a secret.

The secret is that there is no second floor! This view is looking straight up a doorway.

Reverse view of the prison cells. This view is a common one in press photos.

Here’s a walk-through of the whole house using infrared, taken with special permission by Universal during regular operating hours:

This tour was part of an “Unmasking the Horror” tour. This year Universal offers two different versions of the tour. Each version visits three houses. If you take both tours in one day you’ll see six of the eight houses. A regular day park ticket is not required to take a tour. Each tour is $59.99 separately, plus tax. Or both in a single day for $99.99, plus tax. Details at halloweenhorrornights.com