It’s like a scene from The Walking Dead!! Osaka Universal Studios’ Halloween Night Gets Spookier the Later It Gets

Text and photos / Buji

If the seventh lunar month is considered the Ghost Month in Eastern culture, then October is the Ghost Month of the Western world. Compared to the many taboos and eerie vibes of the Eastern Ghost Month, Halloween is clearly much more festive. And of course, theme parks wouldn’t miss out on this perfect opportunity to go all out with gimmicks and “fake ghosts and monsters”!

Buji visited Universal Studios Japan this time and it happened to be during the park’s Halloween season.The park was filled with a thick festive Halloween atmosphere—not only were the staff and decorations all in Halloween style, but many events and haunted houses were exclusive to the Halloween period.It was super fun and super unique!! Wandering around Universal Studios Japan at night, beware—the zombies might just be right next to you!!

▲ Universal Studios Japan’s Halloween season features both cute and terrifying events (Photo / Official Universal Studios Japan website)

2015From September 11 to November 8, Universal Studios Japan’s approximately two-month Halloween season fills the park with a spooky ambiance. Daytime activities are full of childlike fun and laughter, while nighttime brings screams galore and ramps up the terror!!

Let’s start withthe intense nighttime horror version first.Universal Studios Japan isthe birthplace of Halloween horror events.The annual Halloween Horror Nights have always been hugely popular,and this year they unprecedentedly launched “the most ever” — nine terrifying activities in the park —to scare everyone silly!!

▲ Nine Halloween Horror Night activities launched by Universal Studios Japan in 2015 (Photo / Official Universal Studios Japan website, Chinese annotations added by Buji)

After 6:00 PM, the park fully activates its scare mechanisms.In addition to the previous years’ offerings such as“Zombie Street Chase,” “Chucky the Doll,” “Sadako (from Ring),” “Ju-On (The Grudge),” and “Resident Evil”horror attractions, this year also introduced“Alien Battlefield,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” (Killer Freddy), “School Ghost Stories,” and what’s said to be the park’s highest terror index ever—“Trauma ~ Horror Limit Experiment Hospital.”。

▲ Nighttime street zombies (Photo / Official Universal Studios Japan website)

Among the nine horror activities,the zombies that scatter throughout the park after 6:00 PM are the only ones you can experience without waiting in line.

If you’ve watched American shows like The Walking Dead or movies like World War Z—anything with zombies—the staff-dressed zombies look just like that!!After the music plays and a few loud explosions echo through the park around 6:00 PM, the zombies start appearing.Walking slowly and eerily through the park after dark, each zombie was full of personality, oftenlocking onto a target and slowly approaching before suddenly speeding up and charging at them, playing a game of ghost tag.Who were they trying to scare to death, XDD? I knew it was fake, but even so, I still got scared several times — pretty lame, but also super fun!

▲Because we kept getting startled while taking photos, most of the shots came out blurry (Photo / Buji Photography).

Some zombies even carried terrifying props like chainsaws, axes, or other weapons as they ran toward visitors.Super fun to watch. Some people screamed or shrieked and ran around in panic, while others remained unfazed — the more scared you were, the more the zombies loved to scare you XD.

▲A zombie charging at visitors with a chainsaw prop. Taken on a phone, so the image isn’t very clear — just enjoy the atmosphere on-site. Also, a heads-up: turn your volume down before watching (Video / Buji Photography).

Aside from playing tag with the zombies on the streets, you can also explore 8 different terrifying attractions.

▲Three Halloween horror attractions transformed from existing rides (Photo / Universal Studios Japan Official Website)

Let’s start with “Sadako,” “Ju-On,” and “School Ghost Stories.”These three attractions are existing park rides that get transformed in the evening.For example, “The Terminator,” “Space Fantasy The Ride,” and “Backdraft” all become “Sadako versions” after 18:00, while “Back to the Future” turns into the “Ju-On version of Back to the Future” at night, and the “Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic” becomes “School Ghost Stories” at the same time.

The “Terminator version of Sadako” is really impressive.In addition to showing related scenes, there are also live actors performing on stage,and sometimes Sadako even crawls out right beside you.

▲Five walk-through horror experiences (Photo / Universal Studios Japan Official Website)

The other five attractions are more like “walk-through haunted house” experiences,and all open after 12:00 midnight.Want to be chased by Freddy and a bunch of Chucky dolls? This is an unmissable opportunity.I heard it’s super thrilling but not overly scary.

Also,another one that everyone raves about is “Resident Evil 3,” which is more like a real-life shooting survival battle.You have to shoot zombies with a gunand then crack a code to escape the escape room to complete the mission.The clearance rate is only about 0.003% so far,which is practically zero...

Finally, there’swhat the park claims is its scariest attraction ever — the “Trauma (Trauma) ~ Horror Limit Experiment Hospital,” which is so frightening that entry is prohibited for those under 15, and players must sign a “consent waiver” before playing.The premise is roughly that a psychologist in the hospital is conducting a series of experiments to understand “the limits of terror humans can endure.” Participants go through four or five stages, one of which even features live bugs. I really didn’t dare to try it — this is probably only for the bravest of the brave.

By now, have you caught your breath?Actually, it's not all that scary—apart from the daytime and haunted house areas, it's quite sunny and joyful too!This festive Halloween atmosphere can be clearly felt as soon as you enter the park.

▲ The grand entrance is decked out in gorgeous Halloween style (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

From the staff, environment decor, to various merchandise and food items for sale, everything has a strong Halloween vibe. The park also holds daily Halloween activities that both adults and children can enjoy together.

▲ The greeters at the main entrance and many staff members throughout the park wear Halloween-themed costumes to welcome visitors (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

▲ Many corners of the park feature cute mascots and decorations all dressed up for Halloween (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

Even the pathways are lined with Halloween celebration flags, and the overall orange-dominated color scheme feels warm and playful!

▲ The Halloween-themed flags of Minions, Snoopy, and Elmo are super adorable (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

▲ The park is filled with Halloween spirit (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

Many visitors come prepared, dressed up as characters from video games, movies, or cartoons.There are Minions, cops and robbers, special forces, Mario brothers, and even Ding Xiaoyu, Snoopy, Spider-Man, and Disney’s Aladdin showing up at Universal Studios!

▲ %Visitors show off their creative costumes, bringing their favorite characters to life (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

▲ %The park also offers a variety of Halloween-themed snacks and goods, such as % (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).The limited-edition Minion vampire popcorn bucketis a big hit, and the mummy-shaped hot dog buns are also quite unique (Photo by Unrestrained Photography).

Additionally, in theNew York area, there's a Halloween costume party every day at 12:30 PM,where all kinds of character outfits come out in full force. The wildly popular Minions even make an appearance wearing Halloween capes, dancing with everyone on stage. Visitors who also dress up may be invited on stage to take photos and perform, creating a fun-filled atmosphere!

▲ Illustration of the costume party (Photo from the official Osaka Universal Studios website)

“Universal Wonderland”This primarily kids-focused play area (featuring Sesame Street, Snoopy, and Hello Kitty rides) hosts a“Trick or Treat” eventdaily from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM during Halloween season. Elementary school-aged children and younger just need to shout the magic words “Trick or Treat” to receive candy. Everyone’s faces light up with joy here.

▲ The Trick or Treat event at Universal Wonderland (Photo from the official Osaka Universal Studios website)

All in all, Universal Studios during Halloween offers delightful surprises from morning till night—whether cute or thrilling. For those who can’t make it this year, it’s still a fantastic experience to visit in the future, as the park introduces different events each year. Just thinking about it makes Unrestrained want to go again!

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