Hey! Who are you calling a clown?
Universal's Halloween event looks to be terrifying
Sure, you may be stewing in a puddle of sweat amid summer’s heat and humidity. But before you know it, fall will be here–or at least the fall haunt season at theme parks, which seems to be staring earlier and earlier each year. Case in point: Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando will kick off August 29 and run through November 2. Ghouls will start galumphing at sister park Universal Studios Hollywood’s HHN beginning September 4 and continuing on select evenings through November 2. The parks haven’t revealed all the gory details yet, but they have dished out a lot. Here’s what we know so far.
Art the Clown (no relation) of Terrifier fame will slash his way through haunted houses on both coasts. Guests will enter the demented bozo’s funhouse and be subjected to an R-rated heaping of grisly gore. The silent clown (I always knew there was something creepy about mimes) has an ample bag of tricks and enjoys torturing his victims in creative ways. He will be setting his beady, black-lined eyes on the folks who visit his house. Expect literal rivers of blood, including a platelets-filled Tunnel of Love. Intrepid HHNers will be able to choose between a wet path and a dry path. Regardless, they won’t be able to avoid getting soaked by blood.
One of cinema’s modern-day slasher pioneers, Jason Voorhees, will also be out for blood in both Hollywood and Orlando. The Jason Universe haunted houses will feature plenty of opportunities to confront the machete madman from the classic Friday the 13th flicks. Universal says that there will even be multiple Jasons in a single scene, so there will be no avoiding the guy who has given hockey masks a bad name. Guests will get to visit Jason’s original stomping ground, Camp Crystal Lake, and witness some of his infamous kills.
The post-apocalyptic hellscape from the Amazon Prime Video series, Fallout will be on display at both HHN events. In this haunted house, guests will start their journey in Vault 33 and witness the show’s heroine, Lucy MacLean, narrowly escape a massacre. The fun doesn't end there however, as folks will follow Lucy to the wasteland surface where creatures such as large mutated cockroaches known as Radroaches lurk. A word of warning: Be prepared to get drenched in Radroach guts. I hear it will pair well with the voluminous blood from the Terrifier haunted house.
Universal will be announcing more headlining houses for both the Florida and California HHN events. Guests will also be able to board the Terror Tram in Hollywood. The repurposed Studio Tour trams will transport visitors onto the backlot where they will disembark for some yet-to-be-revealed freaky fun. Both of the HHNs will offer haunted houses with original content as well. While the houses featuring brand-name movie and TV franchises resonate with horror fans and help sell tickets, the homegrown houses often end up being the best of the bunch.
Universal Orlando has announced a number of additional houses, including Hatchet & Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters. Folks who have experienced Slaughter Cinema, a past haunted house, may recognize the title as one of the films that was playing at the macabre movie theater. Grave of Flesh has an interesting premise. Guests who brave this house will get to attend their own funeral and then experience what it’s like after they die. Since it’s HHN, we’re not talking about the pearly gates or any other aspirational afterlife scenario; we’re talking about getting buried in a cemetery and enduring flesh-eating creatures. Yikes!
In Dolls: Let’s Play Dead, guests will enter the bedroom of a twisted girl who likes to dismember, burn, and otherwise abuse her dolls. There’s one catch: Visitors will be shrunk to the size of the playthings and will be at the mercy of the little sicko. Universal promises there will be loads of blood and gore when the dark side of Nordic fairy tales comes to life in Gölkin: Monsters of the North. Following HHN tradition, the 2025 event will include a Latin-themed house. Set in a manor in the 1800s , the statuary of a mad artist will come alive and terrorize guests in El Artista: A Spanish Haunting.
Among the scare zones at the Orlando event will be The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane, at which feral cats will abound, and Masquerade: Dance with Death, which will feature vampires attempting to conceal their identities by donning masks.
Will you be heading to Halloween Horror Nights this year? What house are you most anticipating?
We just made reservations for a Universal Florida vacation the last week of September this year. My daughter and I will be attending our very first HHN on a Wednesday night. We are really looking forward to it! As well as visiting Epic Universe for two days!
I haven't found ending times yet for HHN Florida this year. Do you happen to know, Arthur? Is it usually midnight or later?