Despite never having attended Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights before, I was aware that the Terrifier would be a challenging experience. However, I didn’t anticipate it to be such an assault on my senses and nerves.
The first thing that struck me was the smell – a nauseating mix of decay, bleach, metallic blood, and even the foul odour of faeces. It was so potent that it clung to the back of my throat, almost causing me to retch.
The house began deceptively dry, giving the false impression that I might escape unscathed. This illusion was short-lived.
Within moments, I found myself in the midst of a gruesome bloodbath. Walls splattered with red, ceilings dripping, and warm droplets spraying across my arms.
They claim it uses six gallons of blood and 35 bodies – the most ever – and I can well believe it. Each corner I turned revealed another horrifying scene of carnage.
Then there was Art the Clown. His presence was ubiquitous, each appearance more terrifying than the last.
He lunged at me dressed as a grotesque parody of Santa, brandishing a chainsaw and gleefully plunging it into a victim’s back, all the while sporting that same, taunting grin.
A few rooms later, I stumbled upon him mid-kill, snapping someone’s jaw with a sickening crunch that reverberated through the hall. The squelching sound of him dismembering another victim is a gruesome memory that continues to haunt me.
In yet another chamber of this hellish maze, he stood behind a screaming man, dragging a blade across his throat as blood sprayed into the air. I had to avert my gaze.
The most horrific scene was in the bathroom. The stench of mould and sewage was overpowering, and the sinks were choked with entrails.
The sight of bodies piled in the bathtub and a mirror smeared with blood was enough to make anyone queasy. Art, standing eerily still, seemed to be waiting for me specifically.
The twisted jingle of the Clown Café echoed around, its cheerful tune distorted into something more fitting for a nightmare, as Art danced without a care.
By the end, I was dizzy from the gruesome sights and smells, barely able to keep my footing as I stumbled towards the exit. Faced with a choice – a clean escape or a blood-soaked path – I chose the latter.
With each step, my stomach churned, threatening to empty its contents. But I pushed on, and when the warm spray of faux blood hit me in the final corridor, I could still feel it on my skin long after I’d made my escape.
I emerged laughing, but it was the kind of nervous laughter that comes when you’re not sure if you’ve survived or been irreparably damaged. Terrifier wasn’t just a haunted house.
It was an immersion into Art the Clown’s world – uncensored, relentless, and almost too much for me to bear.
Book your holiday
Virgin Atlantic Holidays is offering seven nights at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort in Orlando on a room-only basis, starting from £1,719pp. This includes Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow and a ticket to Halloween Horror Nights.
For more information and to book, visit virginholidays.co.uk.
For additional details, visit visitorlando.com and universalorlando.com/