This year, Universal Theme Park's Halloween Horror Nights 17 is resurrecting a few old friends; Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger and Leatherface. Known for their impressive ability to make the movies reality with their world-class rides and attractions, Universal has teamed up with New Line Cinema to bring these legendary horror characters to life.

If youv'e ever wondered what it would be like to actually step inside a horror movie, then you must make it to Universal this year. With haunted houses based on Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dead Silence and The Thing, this year's lineup of haunted attractions is any horror fan's dream come true. Universal promises this will be the most extreme Halloween Horror Nights event in history and with the themes they're presenting, I tend to believe them.

Given the realism achieved with the Movieland themes reflected in previous years' All Night Die-In and Psycho House haunts, Universal should have no problem transforming scenes such as Freddy's realm of nightmares into spectacular haunted attractions.

I visited Halloween Horror Nights last year at the Universal Park in Orlando. As a horror and haunt fan, walking into the event is like dying and going to horror heaven, or hell, if you will.

Visiting the theme park by day, only slight indications of this considerably more sinister event are visible in the form of a few set pieces in place on the outdoor stages and around the park's walking path scare zones. Beyond that, not much is revealed to the cursory onlooker and daytime park visitor.

However, when the park closes a couple of hours earlier than normal, the Universal Fear Crew transforms the park from world class theme park into the ultimate Scream Park, creating an all encompassing Halloween experience in an amazingly short amount of time. This is a compliment to their years of experience, along with the military-like precision and attention to detail you would expect from a top-rated theme park--especially one that is able to be successful in the shadows of that giant mouse's trademark ears.

You enter the park through a veil of darkness and clouds of fog, combined with eerie lighting and an ultra-spooky, blasting soundtrack. You can immediately tell that the darker minds of Universal's creative team have been allowed to seize control of the park, even if only for the Halloween season.

And seize control they have, turning every hidden nook and cranny of the park including several unused sound stages into the most amazing collection of haunted houses and scare zones anywhere.

The team behind Halloween Horror Nights have the benefit of a budget that local and regional haunted houses across North America could only dream of possessing. Because of this, Universal is truly in a realm of its own, yet its crews manage to stage the event with a lavish production ethic that does not cross the line into obvious arrogance.

Instead, they pump those dollars into remarkably realistic scenes and set designs, extravagant costuming and intensely detailed character development. They also bring in such extra treats as Robosaurus, the fire-breathing, car-eating robot. Last year, they placed the beast in a zombie scare zone in an obvious ode to Romero's Land of the Dead. However, this mean machine makes Dead Reckoning look like a run-down VW bus.

Even with the behemoth budget behind them, Universal never loses sight of what Halloween events are all about in the first place--scaring the hell out of you. They achieve this almost effortlessly, honoring the fact that fear is the real currency in the realm of Halloween.

Overall, attending Halloween Horror Nights is like going to the world's largest Halloween party with several thousand of your closest friends. While the typical trappings of any theme park event such as themed gift kiosks and overpriced food vendors are ever present, they are not as obvious or crass as in similar parks.

To further separate themselves from the pack, Universal cultivates a more adult, or at least PG-13, atmosphere, complete with several strategically placed bars. Serving up such treats as "The Lobotomy," which is similar to a screwdriver with a spooky twist, and Jell-o shots loaded into oversized plastic syringes. Perfect for those who need a little liquid courage before heading into the haunted houses.

Throughout the park the multitude of actors and performers take pride in letting you know that "they are not Disney." This attitude prevails within all the haunts, which are some of the scariest in the world and are not afraid to push the fear factor that extra bit further. The same view carries through into the special Halloween produced shows such as Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, which manages to update the 80's goofball icons with more contemporary material loaded with sarcasm and approaching R- rated humor.

This year, Bill and Ted are being joined by several new shows, including a tribute to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Freak Show and Jack's Carnival of Carnage.

With a total of 8 haunted houses and 4 shows already confirmed, Universal seems poised to bring even more fun and fear to life with this year's event.

There is so much to see at Halloween Horror Nights that I would recommended spend more than one night exploring the event. If you can only manage one night, break the bank and spend the extra 36 bucks for an Express Pass which will let you cut the lines saving considerable time. That way you can maximize your fear and minimize your queue time.