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Universal Studios Hollywood is changing. From Shrek to the tram tour, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and “The Simpsons” Springfield construction zones have taken over the park, leaving Halloween Horror Nights 2014 to scramble for space. Add to that a 2013 controversy that left a fan favorite show dark for 2014 and this year’s event feels neutered.

Sure, the scares are there. Plenty of ’em. And there are many new mazes to appreciate. When those are combined with at least one really inventive new scare zone, then the event works – just on a smaller scale.

The Rules

Below you will find each haunted house, scare zone, and show (or lack thereof) summarized and ranked into one or more categories: Screamer (scare-filled), Gut Buster (comedy-packed), Eye Popper (visually-stunning), and/or Mind Blower (overall best in show). And in the case of a complete dud, I refer to it as a Grave Digger. Use my thoughts as a guide to help you plan your attack when you visit Universal Studios Hollywood’s event and see if you agree.

Being an Orlando local and frequent visitor to the east coast’s version of Horror Nights, I will offer some comparisons of the duplicate experiences from both coasts.

Read on for my Halloween Horror Nights 2014 review from Universal Studios Hollywood.

Halloween Horror Nights 2014 Haunted Houses

Due to the construction in the park, Halloween Horror Nights is spread all throughout Universal Studios Hollywood this year, really making guests work to get to the mazes. There’s an excessively long walk to get to the three most popular mazes situated way out on the backlot. It’s a great place to wander around, but takes some work to get there. It also leaves the upper lot feeling rather empty of Halloween content.

There’s also a tremendous amount of overlap between Hollywood and Orlando this year, both in mazes and scare zones. Largely, it seems, Orlando does it better. But Hollywood’s mazes definitely capture attention in some unique ways that Orlando simply can’t and likely never will.

It’s an odd year for sure – one that’s really difficult to rank.

Unlike Orlando, Hollywood allows video recording in their mazes, so each one below includes a full POV walkthrough.

1. AvP: Alien vs Predator

RANKING: Mind Blower, Eye Popper, Screamer

REVIEW: Easily the best of the best at the event this year, Alien vs Predator is a completely different take on the franchise than Orlando’s version – which also tops my list. So it’s no surprise that I absolutely loved the Hollywood maze too. While Orlando’s is more Alien than Predator, Hollywood’s definitely plays up the “versus” aspect with full bodied creatures attacking guests from both sides simultaneously. The costumes look fantastic and make for big scare moments. It’s great to see the Predators with and without their masks. But the real showstopper is the ending scene featuring a massive queen Alien towering over guests, fully animated. It’s a stunning moment that Alien fans will go crazy for.