Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios is like no other Halloween after hours party that you have ever been to. This is NOTHING like Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party! The scares are hardcore and the vibe is very adult.
HHN features 10 movie set quality haunted houses, 5 scare zones, and 2 shows, ensuring that you will have a night full of nightmares and horrifying fun! This annual event is celebrating its 31st year and has become a Halloween lover's dream.
10 Haunted Houses
The Haunted Houses are the main draw of Halloween Horror Nights and it’s easy to see why. It’s obvious to see that Universal Studios works on these houses all year long. We scared the pants off of ourselves to bring you the inside scoop! Rating all of the houses out of 5 SCREAMS, we will help you find your must do haunted houses for your next HHN.
The Weeknd
The Weeknd is the headlining haunted house at the 2022 Halloween Horror Nights and saw the longest lines by far. This house features musician, The Weeknd, with his music and chaotic scenes from his horror music videos.
PRO TIP: If The Weeknd is a big must do for your HHN night, purchase the extra Stay and Scream ticket (scroll down) and stay in the Simpsons area Stay and Scream zone. This group is closest to this haunted house, and often is let out just before 6:30 so you get to go through the headlining house before the crowds are even let into the park!
SCARE REVIEW - 1.5 SCREAMS
This is the hardest house to rate because for people who love The Weeknd, this house is everything! But, if you’re like me and have no clue who or what he is and are Googling it in line, the house made absolutely no sense to me and you will be too confused to be scared. The Weeknd was a huge miss for me, but if you’re a fan, we heard people love it.
Halloween
We’re not sure how Michael Myers got upstaged in the promos by some weird/unknown musician, because he’s the OG horror movie bad guy! Plus, you have to have lived under a rock to not know at least roughly who he was. No matter, because this house told the whole story of Michael Myers from the beginning.
Yes! The house started when he was a kid and first killed his sister and her boyfriend! The set was designed so well that instead of just going room to room, it felt like you were leaving the house and then walking outside to the next house where we saw him kill his next victims. But then… we no longer were the fly-on-the-wall bystander, but the intended victim! Everywhere you looked, he was there. We were all but running out of the house towards the end until the last room where we were faced with a series of Michael Myers and look-alike dummies and we had to figure out which were real or fake. I almost had a heart attack and perfect strangers were clinging to each other and we all struggled to make it out of the house alive! Or at least, that’s how it felt.
SCARE REVIEW - 5 SCREAMS
Perfection. This house was perfect. Whether you knew the story or not, the house had a great flow and story line, and was insanely scary. Get ready, Michael’s coming for you…
The Horrors of Blumhouse
The Horrors of Blumhouse is a double feature haunted house because it combines two movies into one haunted house. Even though HHN considers it just one house, it really felt like you got 2, and the second was like a freebie because there wasn’t a line to wait in. Score!
Blumhouse is famous for 2 new horror movies, Freaky and The Black Phone. These houses walk you through both these stories and are loaded with jump scares. I have never seen either of these movies and that fact didn’t take away from the house at all because the storyline was there.
SCARE REVIEW - 4.5 SCREAMS
I’m surprised I didn’t lose my voice from all of the screaming! This house was the ultimate jumpscare house! I personally loved the first portion of the house that represents “Freaky” best. I really felt transported back to my old high school, and that truly is terrifying.
Universal Monsters: Legends Collide
Universal always has to pay tribute to the classics, and this year they created a house that combines the power of 3! See the Werewolf, the Vampire, and a Mummy duke it out for dominance. Who will come out the victor?
This house was so unique! It actually started outside the house while in line. There was a mini projection show on the outside of the building giving guests a backstory on these monsters and explaining their rivalry. (UNIVERSAL - WHY DON’T YOU DO THIS FOR ALL OF THE HOUSES???)
Then it was explained that there is no clear victor and that the winner is different night to night. We had fun in line betting with people who we thought would win. Just don’t forget to pay attention to the last scene as you leave the house! The last scene will have the victor holding the severed heads of the enemies, and that’s how you know who won.
SCARE REVIEW - 2 SCREAMS
The rivalry was fun and made it feel very interactive, but overall, it wasn’t scary. You weren’t the target so you were basically a bystander watching it go down room to room.
Spirits of the Coven
Who doesn’t love a witch on Halloween? But the Spirits of the Coven haunted house isn’t quite like any witch story you’ve ever heard of. The time is the 1920s during the prohibition era. You walk into a speakeasy with beautiful women trying to lure in the men. In each room you walk into you see them lure men further and further into a dungeon and then you start to hear the screams…
Pay attention to the women! As you go further and further to their dungeon they will begin to look older and uglier as you go. The witches use the men for their body parts to make elixirs and potions. By the last room you will see a classic ugly old hag over her cauldron. Bachelor beware!
SCARE REVIEW - 3 SCREAMS
I like how this was a new take on witch stories and how it came full circle to the stories that we know. Keep your men close on this one!
Bugs Eaten Alive
The concept of this house is that there is a bug extermination company that invented a new way to take care of pests with a device that you insert into your air conditioning unit. Great, right? Wrong! The chemicals react with the bugs, but it doesn’t kill them. Instead, they grow to the size of humans and are overtaking homes! Worse, when they start running out of things to eat, they begin to feed on the occupants of the home.
*Shudders* This house is grotesque-style scary. Sure, there are people with ravaged faces that jump out at you, but the bugs are huge and slimy and disgusting! I live in the south, so this is the stuff of my nightmares. Not to mention…they spit and leak water/slime/disgustingness!
SCARE REVIEW - 4.5 SCREAMS
I hated it but I loved it at the same time. It made me feel like I wanted to shower afterwards and I still shudder thinking about it. Job well done.
Fiesta de Chupacabras
The chupacabra is a Latin American legend in various folklore stories. It’s said to be a beast that attacks animals, specifically goats. (The name chupacabra literally means “goat sucker”. Fiesta de Chupacabras takes us through a Latin American village where the chupacabra is celebrated and the streets are lined with decor decorated with the blood of tourists.
SCARE REVIEW - 1 SCREAM
Sorry, little Chuppie. It felt like you were in the ending scene of Old Yeller and you’re just waiting for someone to put the dog down. The chupacabras just seemed like packs of dogs. Not every house can be a winner.
Hellblock Horror
Hellblock Horror felt like a fever dream of the Halloween Horror Nights coordinators. This house combined a maximum security prison break, alien-like beings, and demons. We felt a little bipolar in this house because we were scared, and then I would start laughing when I saw the creatures! The sound recordings were of juicy creatures getting eaten, so that really set the mood, and the strobe lights really messed with us.
The concept of a prison break, riot, and takeover is terrifying! But I really wish they kind of ended it there. Seeing basically a rolly polly alien thing with demon horns was hard not to chuckle at in the moment.
SCARE REVIEW - 3 SCREAMS
Despite how funny they looked, they were still trying to eat me. That in and of itself is terrifying. Plus, the sounds of the guards being eaten was just top notch.
Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Lake
This house fell pretty flat like the Chupacabra. The story is that undead fishermen are coming out of the water and descending on a New England village to reel them into the waves. The overall concept was there, but it was one of those situations where the story just didn’t quite click. It felt very modern day Davy Jones meets Spongebob. Just us?
SCARE REVIEW - 1 SCREAM
Descendants of Destruction
It’s like an unwritten law that you have to include post-apocalyptic zombies into any Halloween themed night, and HHN nailed it with Descendants of Destruction! You’re walking through the abandoned subway tunnels under New York City and are trying to stay away from the mutants. Once they find you, they descend! There are flickering lights, blood on the wall, and the actors' costumes and makeup are the most convincing in this house of all of the houses!
This house is the scariest house of all of the HHN haunted houses in 2022. This is our warning to use the restroom before entering, otherwise you will need new pants.
SCARE REVIEW - 5 SCREAMS!!!!
Descendants of Destruction was my other favorite house this year. It was eerie, dirty, and filled with jumpscares! The flickering lights really made you lose orientation and all but fall into the hands (and teeth) of the mutants! This is one of those haunted houses that just make you feel alive!
5 Scare Zones
Scare Zones are themed areas in the walkways of the park that you will pass through as you are making your way to the next haunted house. They are filled with actors and sets, and while they cannot touch you, they can get mighty close!
Horrors of Halloween - This is the first scare zone as you enter the park and it is hosted by Jack, the Pumpkin Lord. You will find him summoning the souls of his new followers.
Scarecrow: Cursed Soil - Jump scare alert! Let’s just say that there are lots of places to hide in and amongst that corn…
Sweet Revenge - Imagine kids all hopped up on candy. This scare zone imagines if children were given infinite amounts of evil candy and they gang up and kill the mayor.
Graveyard: Deadly Unrest - Watch your back, front, and sides in this scare zone! There are little corners carved out in the sets and these creatures blend right in until you walk by and they jump right in front of you!
Conjure the Dark - One of the only scare zones to have a great photo op other than with the Pumpkin Lord, Conjure the Dark shows a witch casting her spells with her cauldron.
2 Terrifyingly Thrilling Shows
As HHN gets more and more popular, Universal adds more things to do during the evening. One of the greatest additions over the years have been the shows.
Ghoulish: A Halloween Tale - Explore a ghoulish story told through projections, water, and iconic Halloween music on Universal Studios’ Lagoon. This isn’t the type of show that we would recommend staking out, but rather a good one to catch as you walk by.
Nightmare Fuel: Wildfire - Now, THIS is a show that you go early and stake out a seat! There are 4 showings each HHN event and the stadium will fill up each and every time. This show is sexy, raunchy, gritty, and fun where a group of talented individuals combine dancing, stilts, fire breathing, pyrotechnics, and aerial acrobatics with S&M. Don’t know what that is? Google it beforehand.
Nightmare Fuel: Wildfire is the definition of a guilty pleasure. It is so much fun and the performers are amazing! We really hope they come back again next year because it has become almost as great as the houses!
IMPORTANT Halloween Horror Nights PSA
Halloween Horror Nights is really not for kids. This is an alcohol heavy, gritty, gruesome, and at times fetishy event. Universal warns multiple times that it is for adults. Everything is slapped with warning labels. And yet, every year we see people with 5 and 6 year olds. Universal Studios will not tell you no, you can’t bring them, but they will advise against it.
If you think they can handle the scare and gore of the houses and scare zones, then by all means! BUT! Trust us, save yourself some very awkward moments and DO NOT BRING THEM TO NIGHTMARE FUEL! Sexy is not a strong enough word to describe this show.
When is HHN?
Halloween Horror Nights happens in Universal Studios Florida from 6:30 PM - 2:00 AM. Universal Studios will close to day guests promptly at 5:00 in order to switch the park over for HHN. Islands of adventure will remain open with normal operating hours.
Stay and Scream
You can purchase a Stay and Scream ticket that will allow you to stay in the park during the transition into HHN. The ticket is just $35 per person, and will allow you to enter the park at 3:00 and not be escorted out of the park.
There are 3 Stay and Scream zones where you will have to scan your Stay and Scream ticket in order to stay in the park. Once you are in the Stay and Scream zone then you must stay there until Universal employees release the zone around 6:30.
PRO-TIP!