The Museum: Deadly Exhibits is an original house at Halloween Horror Nights 33 in Universal Studios Florida with gorgeous sets and some of the most unique Scareactors. But does it work?
House
A folklore museum’s newest exhibit, The Rotting Stone, has released an evil spirit that decays everything. And it’s coming for you.
Backstory
To butcher a quote from Dr. Ian Malcolm, “Yeah, yeah, but your museum curators were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
The curators at the Museum of International Folklore have found a new relic perfect for their exhibit, “Humanity’s Stories of Death.” Who cares that the Rotting Stone leaves a trail of death and destruction in its wake? It’s probably a coincidence.
(Spoiler alert: It’s not!) When we arrive at the Museum, it’s after hours, and only the staff are left behind. Oh, yeah, and the possessed objects. The Rotting Stone has spread, well, rot throughout the museum, and the building is falling apart. The exhibits are haunted. The staff are dying.
When guests enter the house, they pass piles of crates and a shipping truck.
The brick facade has more crates stacked outside and a sign for deliveries. One crate is marked as hailing from Egypt — possibly a reference to Slaughter Sinema 2, where the plot of one “movie” involves a crate containing an Egyptian artifact that fell off the back of a museum truck.
There is a poster for The Rotting Stone exhibit.
Review of The Museum: Deadly Exhibits
The Museum: Deadly Exhibits was one of three houses we were able to see during a Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror tour before the event began. It underwent some changes in between that time and now. The biggest change we noticed was that the glowing color of the rot was switched from blue and pink to red and green.
We liked the first colors better. Not only did it kind of play into the lighting across the park for Sinist3r and Surr3eal, we were told the colors were chosen to showcase that the rot was magical in origin, not natural. They intentionally leaned away from the typical colors you associate with rotting flesh and decay.
This house has some really unique Scareactor roles. Some are museum staff and others are possessed objects or artifacts. Some of these didn’t quite land, but others, like the possessed sail and possessed wallpaper, were very effective. The wallpaper scene, in particular, is very disorienting and sets the Scareactor up for a good opportunity.
The ending follows the general theme this year: we, the guests, escape with our lives, but there’s no resolution. The evil lives on, the rot persists, and there’s no indication it will end.
Overall, The Museum: Deadly Exhibits is visually beautiful with unique Scareactors, but lacks a real sense of urgency and offers few chances for a good scare.
Rating out of 7: 5
Location of The Museum: Deadly Exhibits
The entrance to The Museum: Deadly Exhibits is located in Springfield, U.S.A. (home of The Simpsons), between the ride and Fast Food Boulevard. Find it at J on the map below.
The Museum: Deadly Exhibits did not get a food booth or merchandise. The logo is on the house lineup collection, but there’s nothing more.
Halloween Horror Nights 33 at Universal Orlando Resort runs on select nights from August 30 – November 3. Stay tuned for our full guide to this year’s event.
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