It’s the Booze Talkin’: RIP Universal Studios’ House of Horrors!

Last Updated on July 22, 2021

On September 1st of this year, for the very last time I made way to experience one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. Universal Studios Hollywood is home to a number of great attractions, but there is one place where I could entertain in some good, old-fashioned, horror thrills. Ever since it opened to the public in 2007 (with a 2006 “soft” opening), the House of Horrors Walk Through Maze welcomed guests willing to have such classic fiends as ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ or ‘The Wolf Man’ snarl and scare. Even modern cinematic villains such as ‘Leatherface’ and ‘Chucky’ were on-hand to make you scream and tremble. Yet only an hour and a half before the theme park closed on that fateful day, the House of Horror shut its creaky doors forever. My final journey had been cut short.

How I didn’t realize that this devastating event was to take place, I cannot even comprehend. It wasn’t until a week before, when my good friend Rob G posted on Facebook that he wanted to visit one more time, that I heard the awful news. With that, and my yearly pass, I was at the very least thrilled that I had an opportunity to say goodbye. In fact, after we went together with a couple of friends, I decided to go to Universal every damn day because as they say, “parting is such sweet sorrow…” But on that final night, the end of the long Labor Day weekend, I arrived too late to walk through the haunted halls of horror for a final farewell.

You see, as a fan of this wonderful genre, I am so very much in awe of Universal’s monster movie history. This silly walk-through maze was more than just a fun way to kill time. It was a year round haunted house attraction that celebrated classic and contemporary horror. A joyously fun 8-minute walk where you could come face to face with Norman Bates knife-wielding ‘Mother,’ or even the classic – and still scary – ‘Nosferatu.’ With its Gothic dark castle design and the men in suits trying to scare the crap out of you, it was a place that kept me coming back until the bitter end. And with the more than half a dozen times I went to pay my final respects, I still hope against hope that this is not the last we will see of the House of Horrors.

My utter disappointment and frustration may sound over-dramatic, but this little slice of horror heaven hasn’t been taken down for another attraction. I think I could somehow live with that. Word is that they brought down the castle walls to make room for something truly horrific… Dining and shopping areas. Now I don’t know if you’ve been to Universal Studios before, but let me tell you that there are plenty of both on the lot. If you want to buy t-shirts, toys, designer mugs, well you can get all of that on nearly every corner. If that wasn’t enough, there is a massive gift shop right before you enter the park on Universal City Walk. The theme park itself has a decent amount of attractions, but not enough to tear them down for another churro stand.

To make matters worse, this is happening right before the month of October! It is beyond vexing that they didn’t even wait until after All Hallows Eve to close the coffin lid. The good news is that fans of the attraction will get to see one final glimpse of the house when it is decorated for the upcoming Halloween Horror Nights. However, I am unsure of which of the upcoming frightful mazes will take up home where ‘Frankenstein’s Monster’ was held. Whatever spooky beasties haunt the hallowed halls this time around better be something really f*cking special. Perhaps it is nostalgia, but it is hard to imagine that whatever they have in store will hold a candle to what it once was.

Maybe it’s the booze talkin’, but why shut down Universal Studios House of Horrors for snacks and merchandise? The rich history of the attraction is more than just guys and gals in costume jumping out at you. It is a celebration of all the macabre the studio has given us. Monster movies helped make Universal what it is today and not having that yearly reminder is saddening to this horror fan. Throughout the years we’ve seen this particular building used for the bad, ‘Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula,’ to the terrible, ‘The Mummy Returns: Chamber of Doom’ but they finally got it right by celebrating Universal’s classic monsters. Goodbye House of Horrors, hopefully you will return in some form once again to give us sweet, living nightmares.