For those of you that don’t use your vacation time to go ride roller coasters and walk through haunted houses like I do, writing an article for Wax Trax about Universal Studios’ “Halloween Horror Nights” event in Los Angeles might seem a bit random. But one of the reasons my roommates and I have made it an annual tradition is the emphasis they put on music.
Universal Studios, known for their massive movie franchises like Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and The Bourne Identity, are no strangers to soundtracks. And at Horror Nights, I was well aware of how they consider music as a soundtrack to visitors’ experience in the park. Even though the park is filled with the sound of chainsaws, pyrotechnics, and the general buzzing of roughly 30,000 people a night, music of all genres can be heard throughout the park. From walking through Simpsons Land and hearing the music from the show’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode or standing in line at the Ozzy Bar listening to album cuts from “Diary of a Madman”, not a section of the park goes without some form of music.
But the music at “Horror Nights” often goes beyond ambience for the park. Over the years, Universal has collaborated with artists to bring their music to life through haunted houses, scare zones, and more. From Rob Zombie’s early involvement with the event to last year’s house featuring original music by Slash, these collaborations have become another way for musicians to leave their mark on the park.
This year however felt particularly special as it was announced that Halloween Horror Nights 35 (HHN 35) would feature an Ozzy Osbourne tribute house. I was apprehensive at the idea (as his death was only a year prior to HHN’s announcement), but my opinion started to alter the more I sat with it. The news was that his family was endorsing the tribute, and that Universal’s team was paying extra attention to making it a fun experience AND a respectful tribute to his legacy.
So earlier this month, my roommate, girlfriend and I were back in LA for year two of Halloween Horror Nights. This time around, we planned better than we had the year prior: better walking shoes, more water bottles, and enough Advil to silence the pain of a broken limb. Unfortunately for me, the only thing we didn’t prepare for was me getting a nasty cold the day we arrived.
After a full day of plain ol’ Universal Studios (the festivities don’t begin until 5pm), the three of us lined up at the Ozzy tribute house a little before the event began. “45 minute wait,” the sign read at the beginning of the line. While that’s a walk in the park compared to how bad the lines can get at night, this was a brooding task after nearly nine hours of walking around on hot cement in record breaking heat. Alas, with all of our feet in immense pain (and me on a cocktail of various medicines) we got in line and waited. We felt every second of those 45 minutes, but the overhead speakers blasting tracks from Ozzy’s catalog made it a lot more tolerable.
Once we made it through, we were met with what might’ve been one of the coolest tributes I’ve ever seen. Upon entering, you were met with a zombified Ozzy dressed as a train conductor, occasionally jumping out then signalling people into “The Crazy Train.” The inside of the caboose included windows that showed a blue tinted hellscape rapidly passing by, with skeletons scattered throughout the seats. A couple of rooms over felt like stepping onto the photoshoot of Ozzy’s album “Bark At The Moon”-- tombstones galore, a full moon illuminating the otherwise dark room, and a werewolf-ified Ozzy at the tail end jumping out at you.
But it wasn’t just walking through album covers and song concepts, the entire experience was filled to the brim with easter eggs and references for the diehard Ozzy fans. Two of the most memorable pieces in the house was a giant bat holding the head of a demonic Osbourne– a reference to Ozzy biting the head off a bat during a performance on his “Diary of a Madman” tour. The second piece was a giant animatronic of Ozzy’s blue dragon tattoo, which would occasionally pop out towards your feet. Also no shock, but Ozzy’s music soundtracked the entire house at max volume, making for a heart-pounding, energetic experience.
Overall, it was a fun, spooky, and ultimately fitting tribute for the legendary career of The Prince of Darkness. We also found out later that Ozzy’s son and granddaughter, Jack and Pearl Osbourne, were dressed up and scaring people in the house the week of our visit!
The Ozzy themed bar and restaurant maintained the same high energy a little bit deeper into the park. The bar featured a menu of drinks that were inspired by Ozzy’s music and food inspired by his obsession with curry dishes. And I gotta say, for theme park food especially, it was great. After all, it isn’t often you get to eat Chicken Tikki Masala with “Over The Mountain” blasting on full volume, and bat decorations all around you (which is a kind of ironic choice for decorations at Ozzy’s food area all things considered.)
Before going this year, I knew I’d be writing about the Ozzy house when I got back. But what I didn’t expect was to grow an even deeper appreciation for the music as a whole at Halloween Horror Nights. Even though I was delirious from all of the cough medicine, I found myself being more attentive to what was playing in certain areas. In the “Killer Klowns From Outer Space” house, the aptly named song “Killer Klowns” by The Dickies played as the scent of cotton candy flooded our noses. Or in the “Stranger Things 5” house, “Purple Rain” could be heard echoing through the rooms, serving as a callback to the show's emotional finale.
When they aren’t using licensed tracks that’re associated with the franchises for that year, HHN often recruits artists to make original music to soundtrack the remaining attractions. I heard Ice Nine Kills performing metal renditions of classic Christmas songs to accompany the “Terrifier 3” themed Terror Tram (a horror spin on the classic “Universal Studio Tour”), and also with Slash coming back to HHN for his 8th year to score the haunted house “Killceañera”.
So whether it's paying tribute to a legend like Ozzy Osbourne, bringing an iconic song into a beloved franchise, or giving artists the opportunity to create something entirely their own, music helps breathe life into Halloween Horror Nights. I went into this year's event expecting to write about one house, but left with a new appreciation for the soundtrack of the entire night. And honestly, if I'm going to spend two full days walking around in the heat while fighting off a cold, I’m glad there’s fun music to go along with it.
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