Halloween at Universal Studios...EEEEEEK!!!

I'm always up for a good scare and apparently so is my fabulous husband. I think before we even arrived here in LA Ryan had scoped out the Halloween situation and we were both delighted to discover Halloween is a big deal in these parts.

Of the Halloween night festivities Ryan chose the one at Universal Studios - Halloween Horror Nights.

The Bates House from the movie Psycho

There were lots of people, but it wasn't too crowded. This may have been more the case because we paid extra to avoid lines. Even still it took us several hours to visit all 6 mazes and 3 rides.

First we went on the terror tram that took us to a trail that had been taken over by zombies from the AMC show The Walking Dead. I've watched the show a few times, I can see how perhaps these actors on television really aren't acting. The zombies were so damn real I was running around like a real chicken with its head cut off. I nearly kissed the dirt running away from one extremely tall and incredibly bloody, tattered zombie. Thankfully I corrected my near fall. I don't know how, but I did.

Towards the end of the zombie trail the Bates' house from the Hitchcock movie Psycho stood available for folks to get their picture taken in front of, but I kept getting attacked by stray zombies so we didn't wait around. We took a picture and fled.

Through the park itself there were crazy, demented killer clowns, and there was a section of witches, and another section of the park was covered by evil toys. They all roamed their own sections of the park so no visitor was ever truly safe. Some of these characters walked on stilts, others wielded chainsaws, and they all chased folks around.

Ryan just outside the Clown zone

There were six mazes - Universal Monsters Remix, La Llorona, The Walking Dead (inside, which was different than the terror tram), Alice Cooper 3D, Silent Hill, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The scariest and creepiest of them all was definitely the Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Saw is the Law. It was just like you had stepped into the original movie. I was terrified and Ryan may not admit it, but I think he was scared too.

In the Silent Hill maze Pyramid Head and these knife toting nurses lurked everywhere. Awful!!!

Creepy Pyramid Head

Wicked Nurses

The scare tactics were the same in each of the mazes, but this didn't make any of them less scary then the others. Essentially you walk into a house or space where you walk through and it's dark and decorated like the set of whichever given movie you are walking through. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre we walked through the dining room scene with a crying bloody survivor begging for help as she is being tortured by this cannibalistic family from hell (or Texas as the case happens to be). As you walk through the maze actors who are very well made up jump out and scare you. Some even follow you around.

We ran into this creepy bastard from the movie The Strangers, in the Universal Monsters maze

Thankfully the rides at this theme park fright night were not nearly as terrifying! There were three rides - a Simpson's ride, Transformers, and The Mummy. The Jurassic Park ride was closed on this given night :( But overall all the rides were all essentially a simulation of a real roller coaster, which was pretty neat. Without the the visual effects the rides may have been mediocre at best, but probably more like putting a quarter into one of those spaceship rides outside Zayre's when you were 4 years old.

Just outside the entrance to the Simpson's Ride

Lastly, there was a Bill and Ted's Halloween show. It was kinda all right. Highly imaginative, sometimes funny, definitely entertaining and there was a lot of talent in it. The show was like a variety broadway show. It was very theatrical. The performers acted their skit out in the aisles, had an audience participant and the show was heavily riddled with all things popular culture. From the Hunger Games, Magic Mike, and Snooky, to the song "Call Me Maybe," and Nikki Manaj it was all there. 

So This is Where We Live Now

Welcome to my blog about a Maine girl living in Los Angeles. We arrived on October 24th and some cool things have happened, some not so cool things too, but mostly it has been all cool. I'm going to launch this first entry so it will be easier for me to keep on track.

We've spent a lot of time unpacking and organizing but taking breaks to get out and do some cool things too. Because we are so busy unpacking at home I haven't had the chance to start this blog yet, and as time goes by more cool things happen, but in order to keep events in order I keep missing the opportunity to blog because I haven't written my first entry yet.

So here is the first entry, and thank you so much for reading and being here with me :)

Emotions have run the gamut the first week living in Los Angeles. First there was excitement. We were so pleased to get the keys to our apartment and prepare to settle in, but in the process of moving a few things into our new digs we managed to get a parking ticket and the excitement disappeared. Ryan had never gotten a parking ticket before, and not even a speeding ticket. He was very disappointed. After all it was a loading zone and we were told to park there so we could move our stuff in and this made sense because the building has no parking or driveway to speak of. Apparently we must have been mistaken for a vehicle squatting in the spot for purposes other than moving. No big deal, we have an appeal out. Hopefully they will have mercy on us.

Since then we've walked along Hollywood Boulevard a few times and checked out a few restaurants like The Snow White Cafe open since 1946, which just so happens to be the same place Ryan got the largest beer I have ever set my eyes upon!

Pretty sure that's a half gallon of beer!!!

We've also checked out the oldest Italian restaurant in Hollywood - Micella's, and we've stopped into a bar/restaurant with historical significance and a beautifully wood carved ceiling called the Pig and Whistle.

We've seen some neat stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to include John Ritter, Dean Martin, Buster Keaton, Poison, Orson Welles, and Bob Barker.

There are endless helicopters that fly overhead at night. It is terminally sunny during the day, but not too hot, and then at night it's cool and there is a fine breeze.

Naturally we are both homesick, but still exploring our surroundings. Driving can be a challenge, but it's still not us rough as Boston.

We're happy to be here and anxious to settle in.

Serious troubles uploading the before footage of our apartment, but I'll keep working on it and set a special blog for the before and after of our sweet place.