Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando has a reputation for bringing the scares to those people brave enough to buy a ticket to the event. Thanks to its themed haunted houses, scare zones, and scare actors just waiting to make people scream, some folks might be a little too afraid to actually give the event a chance, which is understandable.
The thing is… there actually IS more to Halloween Horror Nights than being terrified, and for those who want to experience the event without the jump scares and scare actors in their face, there’s an option to avoid that: the Deathly Afraid lanyard. We tested out the Deathly Afraid Lanyard to see if it actually works.
So what is a Deathly Afraid Lanyard? Well, it’s a lanyard that you can buy at one of Universal’s shops for $20 that you can wear around your neck during Halloween Horror Nights. The lanyard has a bright red disk that lets scare actors know that you are off-limits. So it basically signals to scare actors to leave you alone in scare zones and other common areas. However, it does not protect you in haunted houses — but you can easily avoid those if you don’t want to be scared.
We purchased a Deathly Afraid Lanyard at the Universal Studios Store to see if it really does work. So we put it around our neck and walked through some scare zones. In our experience, scare actors did not approach us at all, and we were, more or less, left alone. So in that sense, it does exactly what it’s supposed to.
We struggled in FORTNITEMARES, where we were scared by a few scare actors. But in every other scare zone, the Deathly Afraid Lanyard worked extremely well!
As far as the battery life goes on this thing, it lasted all evening, so we didn’t have to worry about it running out of juice and leaving us at the mercy of scare actors.
Overall, if you’re someone who wants to experience Halloween Horror Nights without being targeted by scare actors, the Deathly Afraid Lanyard will be your best friend. It gives you a chance to explore everything else the event has to offer without having to be afraid someone is going to jump out and try to scare you when you least expect it. Like we said, there are other ways to enjoy Halloween Horror Nights, including watching some of the unique entertainment and eating the event-exclusive snacks and drinks.
However, if you’re still a little worried about how scary this event could be, you could always get tickets for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom instead. This event is more family-friendly, and the only thing that might scare you is the ticket price (just kidding…we think it could be totally worth it!).
We’ll be continuing coverage of Halloween Horror Nights, so stay tuned to DFB for more.
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What do you think of this lanyard? Let us know in the comments.









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Hi DfB does the necklace not work in the fortnight scare zone or do you think they didn’t see it ? My son and I are going in a couple of weeks and relying on these things to work lol
It’s possible they just didn’t see it. The first night of HHN is incredibly crowded because everyone wants to get a first look at the houses. You can also avoid the scare zones if you stay on the sidewalks and try your best not to walk through them.