Are you heading to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando or Hollywood this season? It’s daunting to keep up with all the different movies and shows you might need to watch to immerse yourself in the haunted houses at either event. More than ever, there are many movie-based houses, events, shows, and even a museum this year. So, here’s the crash course to help you pick through some things you might not need to watch to understand Chucky. For those not attending the event, this is still a hell of a movie playlist or mini-marathon to get you in the right mood for the Halloween season. Without further ado, let’s dig in.

Chucky Haunted House – It’s A Lot

We’ll start with the haunted house at Universal Studios Hollywood and Orlando, which takes the most work to immerse fully. The wonderful people behind Halloween Horror Nights do a great job of giving the best parts of movies as haunted houses, but this time, you’ll probably need to watch Child’s Play, Child’s Play 2, Bride of Chucky, Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky, and Seed of Chucky.

The Chucky series really focuses on the four movies after Child’s Play 3, and you don’t really need to watch that one to prepare for the event. But it still is a long haul of movies and then two seasons of the Chucky series.

Universal Monsters: Unmasked – A Little Less, But Still A Lot

For this one it looks like theyre eschewing the normal classic Universal Monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman, and the Mummy for some of the other members of the rogues gallery. This time around, it’s Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man, The Phantom of the Opera, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. So you’ll only really need to watch The Invisible Man (Claude Rains or the new Blumhouse one), the 1913 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde movie, the 1923 Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the 1943 Phantom of the Opera.

That’s not nearly as much as Chucky, but still a good bit of movies to watch.

The Exorcist: Believer – Just Two, Or Get A Time Machine

For this one, you’ll either need to go later in the season or just go knowing what the plot of The Exorcist is. Because those are the only two, you must watch to immerse yourself fully. The movie of the same name inspires this new haunted house. Hopefully it doesn’t spoil too much about the upcoming movie though. For those that need a refresher, here’s the description.

Inspired by Universal Pictures’ terrifying new horror film from Blumhouse and Morgan Creek Entertainment (in theaters Friday, October 13), “The Exorcist: Believer” haunted house will unleash an entirely new level of terror to Halloween Horror Nights. In this new chapter, guests will be transported to a bustling street market in Haiti, where an innocent purchase of a strange folk doll with three eyes leads to the opening of a demonic portal, the awakening of sinister spirits and the subsequent disappearance of two 12-year-old girls in the U.S. The girls are found three days later with no memory of what happened to them. After the girls begin to exhibit unsettling behavior, it soon becomes clear that only an exorcism can save them – and everyone who comes in contact with them, including unwitting guests, is suddenly at risk of losing their souls.

Stranger Things – Just Four Seasons Of TV, No Biggie

They’ve done Stranger Things houses at Halloween Horror Nights in the past, but they haven’t reached season four yet. So for those who have already been there, done that, you might just have to watch season four. For others, you’re in for four seasons of TV to get ready. Good thing season four of Stranger Things is magnificent. I just hope we get a look at Eddie ripping on the guitar to ‘Master of Puppets’.

The Last Of Us – Just Playing A Video Game

For those of you out there wondering, this Haunted House is based on the video game, not the HBO series. So for fans of Pedro Pascal, you might be a bit disappointed. However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that The Last of Us is terrifying. It also probably doesn’t go through the story of the entire 20+ hour game, so for those worrying about spoilers, you’re more than likely safe.

Evil Dead Rise – Just The One Movie

Evil Dead Rise rounds out the haunted houses that you need to watch movies for, and it’s only one! If you’d like to watch the rest of the Evil Dead series, go for it, but to prepare for this one, you just need the one movie. Luckily, it was terrifying and all kinds of gory. This haunted house has a lot to live up to, so we’ll have to see what set pieces they take from the movie!

The Other Houses And Activities At Horror Nights

The other two houses are based on original ideas or cultural icons, so you just need to know a bit about them going into the event. Monstruos: The Monsters Of Latin America takes you into the dens of three Latin American legends: the blood-sucking Tlahuelpuchi, owl-faced witch La Lechuza and bone-ripping El Silbón. Holidayz In Hell brings to through various holidays with evil undertones.

The Terror Tram this year isn’t based on any movie property, but you can prepare by watching some good ol’ monster bug movies like Them! or Arachnophobia.

So, that’s it for the preparation for Halloween Horror Nights 2023, the day has come, they open their gates to the public for Hollywood tonight, are you excited? Because I am!

For more on Halloween, make sure to check out Fright-A-Thon.

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The 2023 Halloween Movie Marathon Schedule [Fright-A-Thon]