By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

It still feels hot out, but it is most definitely fall at the theme parks.

Mickey’s annual Halloween event returned a few weeks ago to the Magic Kingdom, and now the biggest Halloween event of all, Universal Florida’s Halloween Horror Nights is back. Also returning to the Central Florida scene, is SeaWorld’s family-friendly Halloween Spooktacular.

Not for the faint of heart, Halloween Horror Nights is now its 21st year, and it features all new haunted houses and scare zones and the theme “Lady Luck.”

The enormously popular scare event is so crowded on peak nights, it is hard to get through all the houses. Universal does offer VIP options to get through the crowds faster though, and if you go on a weekend, it is definitely worth considering.

Halloween Horror Nights 21 kicks off each night at 6:30 p.m. To purchase advance tickets go to www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando. Guests also can get updates and exclusive details on Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights on the event’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/halloweenhorrornightsorlando) and at Twitter (@UORHHN).

Here are the highlights of this year’s houses:

Nevermore:

The Madness of Poe

The madness of Edgar Allen Poe’s greatest works has come to life.  Step into the mind of the iconic writer, where every turn of the page takes you closer to the brink of insanity.

The Forsaken

Four ships began Columbus’s fateful voyage, only three became legend. Condemned to a watery grave, the mutinous and cursed crew of that fourth ship has returned with a vengeance.  For within the walls of a Spanish fort, a maelstrom has brought from the depths....death itself.

H.R. Bloodengutz Presents:

Holidays of Horror

Join creature feature host, H.R. Bloodengutz, in his final televised broadcast as he presents a SCARE-athon of holiday-based horror that is guaranteed to cleave you screaming for more.

The Thing

Paranoia spreads like an epidemic among a group of researchers in an isolated Antarctic outpost as they are infected, one by one, by a horrifying creature from another planet. In a place where there is nothing, they found something.

Saws N’ Steam: Into the Machine

Spinning blades and massive, crushing pistons await you around every corner as you are forced deeper into the bowels of a mechanical nightmare. Give yourself to “The Machine.”

The In-Between

An ominous portal reveals a 3rd dimension where all is not what it seems: a realm where our world and another collide.  Surrounded by fiendish creatures, your eyes will deceive you with every step through this phantasm of terror.

Winter’s Night:

The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery

As snow falls on this normally serene gothic cemetery, the deceased souls that occupy its confines have their sights set upon you, insuring that the chill you feel up your spine is more than just the cold of night.

Nightingales: Blood Prey

Within every war, the Nightingales have appeared.  Able to transform themselves to fit any setting, these savage banshees feed on the weak and the helpless.  Patrolling WWI era trenches, you discover that you are more than just at war…you’re being hunted.

The scare zones have also returned. Those are the areas that guests must travel to get from one part of the park to another.

This year’s six scare zones include:

Acid Assault

For decades now the city has been degrading from the effects of Acid Rain that still falls today, caused by factories which sprung up on the city’s edges during the 20th century.  Those that have lived and survived the blistering decay are all alone in the city.

Canyon of Dark Souls

Upon entering into the Canyon of Dark Souls, you will feel like a small spec of humanity as the overwhelming sense of death surrounds you. Creatures that dwell within the Canyon are not welcoming so walk slowly as to not disturb them.

Grown Evil

Enter, if you dare, into the garden where Evil grows. Nature has taken this once well manicured sanctuary back from the humans who once kept it.  Now the creatures that inhabit the garden are making any human that enters their prey.

NightMaze

Journey through the ever changing maze of darkness.  This all black maze will morph and change as you walk through it. You will not be scared the same way twice.

7

As daylight shines upon our Temptresses, their appearance, though evil, allows you the spectacle of beauty.  As night falls, these 7 temptresses will show their true colors and take on their true Fatal Evil forms. Beware of your own temptations.

Your Luck Has Run Out

Enter if you dare into the lair of the LUCKY! Your choices will determine if you make it out alive. Witness luck’s deadly wrath, will she choose you to be her next victim.

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There also are two live shows, the return of Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Halloween Adventure and Death Drums, a movable feast of extreme drumming.

For some family time, try SeaWorld Orlando’s Halloween Spooktacular.

The event features trick-or-treating, silly and spooky shows, sea-themed arts and crafts and more.

SeaWorld’s Halloween Spooktacular takes place every weekend in October: 1-2, 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, and 28-30. This daytime event runs from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. For all ticket information visit SeaWorldOrlando.com.

Spooktacular Highlights Include:

Penelope’s Party Zone

New this year, a lively underwater environment im-merses children in the wonders of the sea through kid-friendly music, games, and colorful characters. Located at SeaWorld’s Bayside Stadium.  

Apple Decorating Post

Children and parents alike can create their own sweet treats at this new decorating station. Tasty apples can be dipped – for a nominal fee – with the decadently-flavored sauce of choice: white chocolate, fudge, or caramel, and then topped with sprinkles to finish them off.

Spooky Sand Art Station

Another new element this year, children (and adults too) can make a multi-colored sand souvenir at this interactive arts and craft area where sea-themed glass bottles – in the shape of dolphins, turtles, starfish and more – are filled with an array of vibrantly colored sands.

Sesame Street’s Countdown to Halloween Show

Count Van Count is on a quest to find his friends, Elmo, Zoe and Telly in this live musical stage show. Along the way, The Count meets dancing skeletons. It is at the SeaPort Theatre.

Trick-or-Treating

Under the Sea

Offering more than 1 million pieces of trick-or-treat goodies, costumed youngsters can search for hidden “sea” treasures using their Spooktacular maps at more than a dozen different locations. Each station features an assortment of sweet treats, including a variety of candies and healthy-choice options.

Strolling Entertainment

Penelope Pumpkin fish, Shamu, Dolly Dolphin, Shivers the Polar Bear, Pete and Penny Penguin, a mermaid, and a walking-talking spider-crab are among the many fanciful sea creatures that will join the colorful, playful schools of pumpkin fish welcoming trick-or-treaters as they stroll through the park.

More SeaWorld

Halloween Fun:

Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast “Booffet” features one Sesame Street’s favorite residents, The Count, and he gets into the Halloween spirit with his friends from Sesame Street at Count Von Count’s Spooktacular Breakfast.  Following the breakfast, children can get their photos taken with the characters for memories that will last forever. Reservations can be made online, at the Information Counter or by calling 1-888-800-5447.

SeaWorld’s Holiday Family Sleepovers (6 p.m. – 9 a.m. on Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29)

Families can snuggle into a spooky slumber surrounded by exotic fish, rays, and sea dragons inside the floor-to-ceiling aquariums at Manta. Cost is $78 per person or $103 (includes next-day park admission). A pizza dinner and breakfast are included. Program is for children in grades K-5 and their families. Sleepover reservations can be made by calling 1-800-406-2244.