If you take a peek at your densely-packed Google Calendar, you’ll notice that October is creeping up on us already. As we wonder where the heck 2024 has gone, spooky szn is in full swing, and you know what that means. It’s time to hit up the group chats for your annual visit to Universal Studio Singapore, as Halloween Horror Nights 2024 has made a harrowing return.
Happening on select nights from 27th September to 2nd November 2024, this year’s edition of the spine-chilling event has an overarching theme of your darkest nightmares coming to life. From giving abominations from Netflix’s Sweet Home the slip, to an encounter with spirits in a cursed castle, read on to find out what’s in store for Halloween’s bravest souls.
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Tickets are available for purchase on the USS Halloween Horror Nights 2024 website. They’re going for $80/pax on non-peak periods such as Thursdays and 27th-28th September 2024, and $90/pax for peak periods, which includes Fridays and Saturdays, as well as 30th-31st October 2024. Your tickets come with a $5 retail voucher and a $5 F&B voucher to use at Halloween Horror Nights 2024.
Groups of 4 can opt for the Frights For Four package (from $480) instead. Along with 4 tickets to Halloween Horror Nights 2024, the package includes set meals for the group, a $20 retail voucher as well as early entry to the event grounds.
For those looking for the ultimate Halloween Horror Nights 2024 experience, the R.I.P tour ($260) is just the thing for you. You’ll be accompanied by a ghoulish guide who’ll take you past the lines at all the attractions, along with a slew of other VIP benefits such as entrance to the exclusive Viper Lounge speakeasy.
After a 4-year hiatus, live shows at Halloween Horror Nights are back.
For a prelude to Halloween Horror Nights 2024’s sinister happenings, sit in for the Dark Dreams live show that’s taking place every night in the park’s Pantages Theater. Your host for the evening is the Dream Reaper, who’s equal parts charming and sadistic.
Those with arachnophobia might want to look away.
The show promises healthy doses of both laughs and gasps, as the charismatic Dream Reaper goes about tormenting his unlucky victims with their worst nightmares, while engaging in cheeky banter with the audience. One moment he’s roasting your Halloween costume, and the next he’s spearheading a circus act with killer clowns brandishing chainsaws.
We won’t reveal too much, but don’t get cold feet if you’re invited onto the stage to be part of the show. We’ve gotten word that the Dream Reaper is looking for test subjects to use his Dream Reader contraption on, which materialises their darkest fears for all to see.
Scare factor: 5/10, not that scary but you’ll never know what the Dream Reaper has in store next.
Much like Halloween Horror Night 2023’s tie-in with Netflix’s All of Us Are Dead, they’ve joined forces with another South Korean horror TV series that’s perfect for serial bingers. This time, fans of Sweet Home will have a field day exploring scenes ripped straight from Seasons 1 and 2 of the show, in the Netflix’s Sweet Home haunted house.
Most of the actors were even shouting in Korean to make the experience as authentic as possible, albeit with a slight Singaporean twang.
We can’t promise that you’ll catch glimpses of Korean eye candy at this one, but there are plenty of other surprises around every corner that’ll get your heart racing nonetheless. You’ll rub shoulders with the iconic monsters from the show; see if you can recognise the grotesque tongue and blind monsters, or the hulking steroid monster.
Without spoiling both the show and the attraction, some of the sets that really stood out to us were faithful renditions of that one scene involving a despondent pregnant mother, and a battle-scarred set of stairs.
Scare factor: 8/10 if you have yet to catch the series and don’t know what to expect, 6/10 if your fear is overpowered by eagerly expecting to bump into the dreamy Cha Hyun-Su.
Don’t worry if you’re already wearing a pair of specs to help with your short-sightedness; these sat comfortably in front of mine so I didn’t have to fumble in the dark.
You’ll definitely want to stay sober for the Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness haunted house, as it’s Halloween Horror Night’s most trippy attraction to date. Before you set foot into this Chinese mythology-themed realm, you’ll be given special ChromaDepth 3D glasses to enhance your experience.
We were pretty sure we kept the drinks to a minimum, but after donning the 3D glasses, symbols were jumping out at us, while lasers looked especially solid and had to be navigated over and under. If that wasn’t enough, we were ambushed by talisman-wearing zombies, floating severed heads, and even a fox demon stalking us as if we were prey.
The settings of the various rooms were pretty cool too. For instance, the fox demon’s lair was covered completely with white fur, while one room in particular was shrouded in fog so we couldn’t see from our knee-down. Of course, you have the option of going through the haunted house without donning the 3D glasses, but in our opinion, half of the thrill is not being able to tell what was tangible or not.
Scare factor: 8/10, mistook some of the ushers as scare actors while wearing the 3D glasses which was quite hilarious.
Halloween’s not complete without meeting a vampire or 2, so head right to the Vampire Alley scare zone for a blood-chilling brush with Edward Cullen and friends. But, you’ll soon find that this shady alley is where the lesser vampires reside, so no Robert Pattinson here.
Instead, you’ll bump into blood-dealing vampires attempting to peddle bags of the good stuff to you out of a trench coat, and seductive vampiresses looking to sink their fangs into naive visitors. There’s also a part of the alley which sees you walking through meat lockers, as bloodied bodies dangle from the ceiling.
Venture deep enough within the slums, and you’ll come across the entrance for the Viper Lounge, a speakeasy frequented by only the upper echelons of vampire society. Do note that this is an add-on experience that you can bundle with your Halloween Horror Nights 2024 ticket for $35/pax.
The food served in the Viper Lounge come in an adorable mini coffin.
Inside the clandestine bar, expect to be tantalised all night long as the blood suckers go around table to table to strike up small talk. On our visit, we spotted a rousing bartending show by a vampire hunk who just so happened to have his shirt off, and another who was immaculately dressed in fancy gothic garb greeting visitors.
Scare factor: 6/10, must-visit for fans of The Vampire Diaries.
In case you’re wondering, yes, it’s that Jackson Wang. The Hong Kong superstar’s TEAM WANG design has worked in conjunction with Halloween Horror Nights 2024 to bring you the Under the Castle haunted house, and boy are their creative minds wonderfully twisted.
It’s a mediaeval era-themed number, and it’s the team’s first haunted house outside of China. We were jumpscared by a gargoyle that looked all too realistic, suits of armour which came to life, and classical paintings whose glowing eyes seemed to follow you around.
Also watch out for impressive animatronics giving you the jump, and mortified villagers from a nearby village warning you not to advance any further, but where’s the fun in that?
Scare factor: 9/10, -1 because Jackson himself didn’t appear from the shadows to scare us, but the decrepit castle vibe was otherwise mighty frightening.
Halloween Horror Nights 2024 also has its fair share of callbacks to Singapore-specific ghost stories and tales passed down over the decades. An area dedicated to generation-transcending legends and myths from the Little Red Dot is The Lost Kampung.
This scare zone is housed in The Lost Kingdom part of USS, making use of the foliage to mimic a kampung environment.
Like its name suggests, it’s a kampung village-themed scare zone whose inhabitants most definitely do not want to be disturbed, so we’re heading in anyways. You’ll meet possessed villagers pleading for you to turn back, but the stars of the show must be Singapore ghosts such as the Toyol and Penanggal.
No idea what this abomination is supposed to be, and no, I don’t wanna know.
The crowd-favourite Pontianak also makes an appearance in this zone. Be sure not to anger these ladies dressed in white, lest they entrap you in The Lost Kampung to accompany them forever. Also, see if you can spot some of the cursed objects within the zone. One that you can’t miss is an illuminated, cracked mirror, but don’t stare at it for too long. Why? Give it a go yourself to find out.
Scare factor: 6.5/10, not that scary TBH, plus the 6ft Pocong that was just bouncing about menacingly with its hands bound was kinda adorable.
Another unmistakably Singaporean attraction is the Singapore’s Most Haunted: The Killings haunted house. It draws inspiration from the infamous Red House in Pasir Ris, so ghost-hunting Easties might find this one to be especially familiar.
Its entrance is littered with stone lions whose eyes gleam a bloody red, and the joss stick holders nearby is an ode to the legend that you only have a lit cigarette’s worth of time in order to escape the house unscathed.
Head on inside, and you’ll come face-to-face with the victims of the alleged murders that took place within the building’s four walls, all stained with the blood of those who met their end here. Highlights of the house include decapitated bodies clinging on to their heads, rocking chairs that move automatically, and our pick of the night; a room decorated with creepy dolls, some of which might just spring to life.
Scare factor: 10/10, lowkey scared of going to Downtown East at night now.
Whether you’re looking for a respite from the frights or wanting to down some liquid courage before you hit up the haunted houses again, Nether-Land is the place to be. It’s really not a scare zone, but quite the opposite; it’s a thumping rave located along the roads of the New York area of USS.
Swing by, and you’ll bear witness to the undead living it up on the streets, inviting you to dance with them for a bit. It’s the perfect spot to get some IG-worthy snaps, as the eccentric ravers are more than happy to stop for a photo. Strike a pose with dancers atop smoke-spewing carts, or wave hello to towering eyeball monsters on stilts.
Do stick around for the occasional Ocu.lar’s Rave happening throughout the night. It’ll supply you, along with the denizens of Nether-Land, with the sickest of beats. It honestly felt like the entirety of USS’ New York was turned into a nightclub you’d walk into at Clarke Quay.
What’s a rave without drinks, right? You can grab 320ml cans of Tiger Infused Soju Lager at the nearby Twisted Bar, for $8 a pop.
Scare factor: 0/10, party-goers here, alive or not, are pretty chill. Good place to take a breather from the screaming.
Don’t forget to make a stop at the castle grounds at USS’ Far Far Away before going home. Every 30 minutes from 8.30pm onwards, our good friend the Dream Reaper will turn Shrek’s fairytale castle into a canvas of horror. Watch the spectacle unfold before your eyes, as evil spectres and creepy crawlies get projected onto the castle’s walls in an epic light show.
Yes, visitors to Halloween Horror Nights 2024 are able to go on some of Universal Studios Singapore’s regular rides. Moreover, those with early-entry park tickets such as visitors who’ve purchased the Frights for Four package can enter the park earlier at 6pm to go on rides before the haunted houses and scare zones open at 7.15pm.
The list of regular rides open during Halloween Horror Nights 2024 include: TRANSFORMERS The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle, Battlestar Galactica: HUMAN vs. CYLON, Revenge of the Mummy, Accelerator, Enchanted Airways, Puss In Boots’ Giant Journey, and Treasure Hunters.
As usual, Halloween Horror Nights 2024 is gearing up to be a must-visit for horror wimps and fanatics alike. It was my first time ever experiencing the event, and I have to say I’m terrifyingly impressed, even though I’m not the biggest fan of things that go bump in the night. The scare actors and set design were phenomenal, but before I head down for round 2, BRB, gotta binge Sweet Home real quick.
For more paranormal reads to get you all pumped up for Halloween Horror Nights 2024, check out what Singapore’s most haunted bus route looks like. Homebodies can catch these horror movies and series on Netflix instead, while the truly brave have these haunted neighbourhoods in Singapore to explore.
Photography by Jaslyn Tan & Chan Hui Wen.
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