“Five Nights at Freddy’s / Is this where you want to be?” Why yes, yes, it is. The pop culture phenomenon FNAF has finally come to Halloween Horror Nights after years of speculation. Fans have spent a lot of time dreaming of what it would look like. Does it live up to the expectations?

Let’s find out!

Backstory

You wouldn’t last one night at Freddy’s, let alone five. You’re about to start the night watch at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, where nothing is what it seems. You’ll be hunted by the deadly animatronics Freddy, Bonnie, Chica and Foxy as you flee through creepy, abandoned hallways. You’ll even encounter the ghosts in the machines.

Five Nights at Freddy’s, often known by the acronym FNAF, started out as a video game by creator Scott Cawthon in 2014. It was almost immediately a hit, spawning a sequel that same year. There are multiple games in the series, including spin-offs, as well as merchandise lines and novels.

In 2023, Blumhouse and Universal released a film adaptation of Five Nights at Freddy’s that follows Mike Schmidt as he gets a job working as night security for a defunct, dilapidated pizzeria. Struggling to make ends meet and maintain custody of his little sister, Abby, Schmidt quickly discovers that he’s taken on more than he can chew at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.

The animatronic band and characters come to life at night, terrorizing any poor souls in the building. I won’t spoil the movie (though, if you’d like a full synopsis, check out our movie review). A sequel, Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, will be released in theaters this December.

The house follows the movie rather than the games.

Review

This house is worth every cent they paid for it, which had to be a lot. Every single detail looks exactly like how you would imagine Freddy Fazbear’s in real life. The details are all intricate and feel lived-in.

This house also does an excellent job of being accessible. If you aren’t a fan of the games or movie, you will still feel the genuine fear these settings evoke, even before you get to the animatronics. Though if you are already a fan, this could quite possibly be a core memory for the rest of your life. You cannot miss this.

The animatronics are everything you could want them to be. They are beautiful, full-size, and properly scary. This house will send shivers down your spine, even if you are a hardcore HHN visitor.

If we had to make any small complaints, there was a single animatronic of Foxy that was not functioning during our visit. We hope this was just a minor technical error, and it will be properly working during our inevitable next visit. This was literally our only negative.

Rating

As far as being a transformative experience adapting an Intellectual Property, this is the best Universal has ever done. Even without the source material, this house would stand on its own merit.

Rating out of 7: 7

Know Before You Go

Location

Five Night’s at Freddy’s is located in Soundstage 23, near WWE Presents: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks.

Fun Facts

• Universal worked with the Jim Henson Creature Lab, who were responsible for the film’s animatronics, to bring recreations to the event.
• The house features the main animatronic group performing Talking In Your Sleep by The Romantics, as they did in the film.

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