With spooky season racing towards us like a headless horseman, Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood are spilling some gory details on their annual fright-filled festivities. The theme parks’ Halloween Horror Nights event draws some of their biggest – and bravest – crowds, inviting patrons to immerse themselves in fan-favorite horror franchises, from Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” to Netflix’s “Stranger Things.”
Now in its 35th year, the nightmare-conjuring event is a far cry from your local corn maze or haunted hayride, as it’s essentially a total park takeover that includes horror-themed food and beverages, open-air “scare zones,” live entertainment, and plenty of chainsaw-wielding creeps leaping from the shadows. But HHN’s main event is its haunted houses, handcrafted experiences packed with Hollywood-rivaling set pieces, cutting-edge special effects, talented costumed actors, and enough fake blood and gore to put a slaughterhouse to shame.
These maze-like walkthroughs typically inhabit ten houses, with five being original concepts spilled from Universal Creative’s twisted minds and five based on popular horror films, TV series, and video games. These attractions have seen every horror heavyweight – from Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers to Chucky, Leatherface, and Art the Clown – set park patrons’ pulse racing. This year’s event aims to continue the heart-pounding trend, welcoming back some popular properties (“Stranger Things,” “Evil Dead“) while rolling out the blood-soaked red carpet for some fresh properties the event is hosting for the first time (“Hellraiser,” “Sinners”).
‘Stranger Things’ Returns to Halloween Horror Nights
NBCUniversalThe event has already transported visitors to Hawkins, Indiana four previous times (we’re still traumatized by the Season 4 maze’s “Chrissy, wake up.” scene.) But this year’s “Stranger Things” house, based on the hit Netflix series’ 5th and final season, promises to up the scream-eliciting ante with a gauntlet of Demogorgons to survive, a face-off with the Mind Flayer, and a final showdown with Vecna himself.
“The Evil Dead“ is also an HHN vet, previously cracking open its Necronomicon Ex-Mortis with houses based on the 2013 reboot film and Starz’s “Ash vs. Evil Dead” series. But it seems the Deadites are anxious to return in an all-new experience inspired by the recently released “Evil Dead Burn.”
The attraction promises to lean into the cult-favorite horror franchise’s unique blend of excessive gore and pitch-black humor, as guests will brave some of the movie’s most terrifying moments and locations, like the Price family’s cozy, but demon-infested, vacation home.
A first-timer at HHN, “Hellraiser” will breathe life – and plenty of death – into a haunted house based on Clive Barker’s 1987 horror classic, as well as its two sequels. Of course, you can’t unlock the Lament Configuration puzzle box without unleashing Pinhead, so fans can also expect to be terrorized by original Hell Priest performer Doug Bradley, who’s lending his voice to the iconic baddie’s HHN appearances. “Hellraiser” diehards will also have the pleasure – and pain – of visiting familiar, pulse-quickening locales, from Frank Cotton’s gateway-to-hell house to the unsettling Channard Institute.
‘Sinners’ Sinks Its Fangs Into Halloween Horror Nights
Finally, one of the event’s most anticipated houses is based on one of the genre’s most successful films, Ryan Coogler‘s Academy Award-winning “Sinners.” Combining the authentic period music, suffocating atmosphere, and nerve-fraying tension of the hit vampire flick, the house will turn back the clock and task parkgoers with surviving a night in twin siblings Smoke and Stack’s 1930s Mississippi juke joint.
In addition to the brothers, guests will encounter favorite characters, including Sammie, Mary, Annie, Pearline, and Cornbread. But it’s far from social hour at Club Juke, so fans should plan on meeting far more jugular-draining foes than fun-loving friends in an experience that’s promising to raise the bar, reimagining the haunted house experience in much the same way “Sinners” subverted the bloodsucker subgenre.
With just over a month before HHN emerges from the fog, Universal still has time to unleash a few more tricks and treats. In addition to the four confirmed IP-based houses, a bloodcurdling experience based on Ozzy Osbourne has been rumored. Whether you’re hoping heavy metal’s iconic Prince of Darkness inspires this year’s event or your skin is already crawling in anticipation for the “Evil Dead Burn,” “Sinners,” “Stranger Things,” and “Hellraiser” houses, you can scare up tickets for both Universal Orlando Resort’s and Universal Studios Hollywood’s fright-fests right here.
