By Johanna Atilano

When the sun is shining, the Terror Tram usually operates as the Universal Studio Tour that travels through Universal's Front and Backlot areas, taking guests through various attractions, movie sets, and prop displays.

In October, as the sun sets, the daylight dims… and the ghouls rush in! Welcome to the Terror Tram; in 2009, it was hosted by Jigsaw, from the Saw film series.

The Studio Tour is a completely different... monster... during Universal's Halloween Horror Nights each year – there is no joyful Tour Guide or Whoopi Goldberg to spread good cheer to tourists via the onboard video monitors, so please… leave your kids at home. This side of the Tour is a gory one – sets are plastered with dead bodies and buckets of guts are spilled on the floor. Terror Tram is your ultimate nightmare, and in 2009, visitors had to walk through the bloody pathway in order to escape Jigsaw’s Hell on earth!

Terror Tram is an amazingly unique attraction that separates Universal Studios' Halloween event from other haunts throughout the country. When Halloween Horror Nights comes up in conversation, it is inevitable to be asked about Terror Tram:

“I heard you get off the tram and actually walk around!”

“Do you really get to walk around the War of the Worlds set?”

“How close do you get to the Bates Motel?”

Unless you do the V.I.P. Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood, it is a very rare occasion today that the public gets to walk along the tram route or even get near the sets until Halloween Horror Nights. The event not only gives the opportunity for guests to get close to the movie sets, the route is completely dressed and filled with gruesome props and roaming monsters. As a long-time Universal Studios fan and avid Halloween fanatic, Terror Tram is pure bliss for me. I get to enjoy the blood and guts, but also admire legendary sets such as the Bates Motel and the crash site from War of the Worlds.

Last October, Terror Tram was hosted by Jigsaw from the popular horror franchise, Saw. In the video that was shown on the tram, Jigsaw “revealed secrets” about random guests (of course, a pre-produced video, but very nicely-done to look spontaneous and real) and that they must “survive” his tests as a group (you know the story) if everyone wants to get out alive. Ironically, there was nothing Saw-related along the pathway; just a few other horror icons to taunt you – Chucky, Michael Myers, The Miner (My Bloody Valentine), and more.

The very first thing I heard as we approached the drop-off area, the Whoville set, were chainsaws. And there were a million of them, all held by bloody-faced clowns! Many people are scared of both, so when they are combined, it is a beautiful sight! An awesome amount of reluctance filled the air when the tram came to a halt, and all you heard was a wave of screams and expletives from absolutely freaked-out guests. These were not your ordinary clowns – they were actually terrifying, and for me to say that means something.

Next door to Whoville is their friendly neighbor, Norman Bates. Although a different area, there were still many, MANY monsters ready to scare us along the path. As with most of the areas of Terror Tram, there was a lot going on at the Bates Motel set. Even though it was at the Bates Motel, the characters were not solely from Psycho. It was complete chaos with a mix of helpless victims, Chucky, The Strangers, and of course, Norman Bates as Mother.

The following areas along the dark pathway were based on the 2009 remake, My Bloody Valentine. The Miner roamed around and did a wonderful job scaring guests; huge props to the “victims” with the flashlights. These folks had a very unique scaring technique – they used a flashlight to shine on their blood-filled prosthetic/mask, which took many people by surprise, and it was great!

One of my favorite areas of Terror Tram that they have incorporated in the previous years is an extremely dark, dirt trail. Though it does not sound like much, it is unnerving to walk through. According to John Murdy, the Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights, the area is supposedly haunted by Frank Stites, an aviator who died in a tragic accident on the Opening Day of Universal Studios in a publicity stunt-gone-wrong. Not only is the trail actually haunted, there were man-made elements long the pathway such as a loud, blood-chilling roar in the darkness and camouflaged monsters that turned out to be great!

One of the major setbacks of Terror Tram is that there is no storyline. It is created as a “scene by scene” massive scare zone, mish-mashing everything they can in one area; "haunt stew" is a term for this kind of mix. Often, fans suggest using the tram route more productively, possibly with a few more mazes built on the Backlot or an extension to the Tour to make the ride/experience longer. Universal has tweaked the route a few times, but not noticeably. Maybe we will see Little Europe incorporated in the 2010 Tour – an obvious selection that could be used wisely.

The walking portion of the Tour after the darkened trail was occupied by the famous serial killer, Michael Myers, and then we found ourselves lured toward the Psycho house to meet Norman Bates. It was a great moment to be face-to-face with the Norman Bates, especially being extremely close to the house, too! But we didn't stay too long… Mother was watching!

The final walk-through portion of Terror Tour was a disastrous zombie outbreak area. This was the final test…

As we walked through the remains of the 747 crash site from War of the Worlds, zombies were attacking from all directions. There were numerous distinctive characters roaming through the are such as a “throwing up” zombie (although TPA tends not to like excessive water gags) and a mass of undead soldiers. Another favorite of mine on Terror Tram were the “dead” passengers on the plane seats – two were dummies and one was real. Although a very common type of gag used in haunts everywhere, it was effective, and had many people screaming.

Departing the Terror Tram was easy; getting back on was just as quick and simple, thanks to good crowd control and many trams being used to shuttle guests to and from the Backlot area. Kudos to Universal for an easy and fast tram operation!

Like every year, the “Ice Tunnel” or Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, is used before dropping guests off. Last year, Jigsaw had one final trick; the guests will be sprayed with “acid” for allowing one of the group to be left behind.

But of course, we survived, and we applauded for yet another successful Terror Tram at Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood! Every year, we look forward to braving Terror Tram and can't wait to see what monsters will be lurking in the darkness for the 2010 season!

DISCUSS TERROR TRAM: LIVE OR DIE ON THE TPA MESSAGE BOARD!

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