Universal Studios Singapore's Halloween Horror Nights returns with local elements

The annual Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore (USS) has returned with immersive Halloween scare festival this year. Complete with scares in four specially created movie-quality haunted houses and three immersive scare zones, the fifth installment of this signature event is back to thrill with a new experiential tourism offering, with more elements from local ghost stories.

This year, close to 400 scare-actors are engaged for the Halloween Horror Nights, with the oldest being 70 years old. A total of 4,900 prosthetics pieces were produced and 10 gallons of fake blood were used during the event, according to the USS.

"This year, there are also additional technical training sessions for roles that are more challenging, e.g. special stilt walkers," said Seah Wee Thye, Assistant Vice President, Entertainment, Resorts World Sentosa.

The main haunted house this year is "The MRT", which is adapted from the "True Singapore Ghost Stories", a series of ghost stories co-authored by Russell Lee. This haunted house features familiar characters cast in an original storyline created just for Halloween Horror Nights and inspired by tales of paranormal sightings on the train.

"The storyline for the haunted house is inspired by reports of paranormal sightings on trains, and fans can expect to see characters from the pages of the True Singapore Ghost Stories transform into reality," Lee said.

Like "The MRT", two other haunted houses "Siloso Gateway Block 50" and "Hell House" also features iconic local ghosts and scenes. The idea of using more local elements, according to Andrea Teo, Vice President of Entertainment at Resorts World Sentosa, is in fact from audiences.

"We heard our fans, and this year's event will take even more of a local twist, bringing fear even closer to heart...The theme for Southeast Asia's iconic Halloween event this year surrounds the rise of the blood moon, which will spread destruction to life as we know it."

Another brand new idea is the "Tunnel People", the event's first ever dark house, where guests can see nothing but feel their way through the fortress of the Tunnel People in darkness.

"Guests are enveloped in darkness and the narrow pathways enhance the feeling of being cramped in a dark space. Tunnel People plays on the guest's other senses, sounds, scent, touch, and the element of surprise to provide an intense underground experience," said Seah.

This year's Halloween Horror Nights will unfold its horrible veil from Oct. 2. Apart from the haunted houses and scare zones, visitors can also enjoy USS's famous rides such as "Rides like Battlestar Galactica", "Transformers The Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle" during the visit. Endi