{"id":385153,"date":"2026-08-30T08:26:17","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:26:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/385153\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T08:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T08:26:17","slug":"halloween-horror-nights-35th-year-kicks-off-in-orlando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/385153\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween Horror Nights’ 35th year kicks off in Orlando"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The freak frenzy fest of the year is back in Orlando. <\/p>\n

Friday is the first of many terror-filled nights to come in the next few months, as the 35th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights takes over Universal Orlando until Nov. 1. Universal promises this year\u2019s event will blend legacy with blood-curdling scares \u2014 all culminating in the 2026 theme \u201cInfernal Carnival of Nightmares.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about this year\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n

Halloween Horror Nights houses<\/p>\n

As always, the event boasts 10 haunted houses comprised of a mix of original concepts and franchise-themed madness. <\/p>\n

New this year are houses themed after the films Sinners, Hellraiser, Evil Dead Burn and the final season of Stranger Things. We\u2019ll also slink our way through an Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness tribute house.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Sinners<\/a> house will be themed around Club Juke, referencing the club created by the main characters of the film, twins Smoke and Stack, and will feature vampire scare actors. Guests will go through the house, trying to evade the vampires and make it to morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the first time ever, Hellraiser<\/a> makes a HHN appearance with a haunted house that will feature scenes and beloved characters from\u00a0Hellraiser,\u00a0Hellbound: Hellraiser 2 and\u00a0Hellraiser 3: Hell on Earth. Longtime fans will also be excited to hear that Doug Bradley (Pinhead) will voice his character for the haunted house.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Evil Dead Burn<\/a>\u00a0house is themed after the horror franchise\u2019s sixth film of the same name, which was released this year. It\u2019ll immerse fans in the horrors of the Necronomicon, the film\u2019s demonic book made of human flesh, and its terrifying grasp over the world of\u00a0Evil Dead.<\/p>\n

The Stranger Things 5<\/a>\u00a0house covers the conflicts and battles of Season 5 of the decade-long Netflix original series. Sets inside the house include the Wheeler residence, laboratory, military base, Upside Down and The Abyss, all featured in the fifth and final season of\u00a0Stranger Things.<\/p>\n

Honoring the legendary rocker, Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness<\/a> will take fans through 45 years in the life of one of rock music\u2019s biggest icons. The house will serve as a \u201cnon-traditional memorial,\u201d the park says, taking guests on a journey through his solo career. Fans will be taken through dungeons and ruins before boarding the \u201cCrazy Train\u201d into the world of Osbourne\u2019s musical oeuvre. Scares and frights are inspired by the covers of Osbourne\u2019s\u00a0Diary of a Madman, Bark at the Moon, Black Rain\u00a0and\u00a0The Ultimate Sin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control<\/a> house brings guests face-to-face with the ringmasters Jack the Clown, one of Horror Nights\u2019 original icons, and his long-running rival Dr. Oddfellow, as it details the icons\u2019 feud and a constant battle for power. The two eventually realize that more disorder can ensue if they work together to terrorize guests.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The H.R. Bloodengutz<\/a> house brings a returning HHN character back from the grave. H.R. Bloodengutz made its first appearance at HHN in 2011 and has yet to make a return, other than for special events at Universal Hollywood. For the first time in 15 years, Lawrence \u201cLarry\u201d Kurtzberg, a late-night horror reality-show host who was a star until he began playing his role a bit too seriously, is back.<\/p>\n

Other houses include Cybergoria, Madlands: Caged Cannibals, and Invasion: Alien Abduction.<\/p>\n

Halloween Horror Nights scare zones<\/p>\n

New scare zone Fortnitemares<\/a> promises to drop park attendees into a Halloween-inspired battleground called Freaky Fields, originally featured in Fortnitemares 2024. Sprinkled throughout the zone will be familiar characters and objects like the Battle Bus. New characters, exclusive to Halloween Horror Nights, will also be making their debuts.<\/p>\n

Have clown trauma? Still have nightmares about the 2016 clown sightings? Oh boy, do we have a spot for you! The Downtown Clowntown scare zone is exactly what it sounds like: filled with clown-themed panic and horror. <\/p>\n

Halloween Horror Nights happens select nights Aug. 28 through Nov. 1, 2026. Tickets and expansion packs, including a deeper look into frights and the making of HHN, are available at\u00a0\u00a0halloweenhorrornights.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Stay<\/p>\n

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\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The freak frenzy fest of the year is back in Orlando. Friday is the first of many terror-filled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1623,2664,134419,56986,139,154311,141,140,2042,39165,119343,11362,3434],"class_list":["post-385153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-apple-news","tag-halloween-horror-nights","tag-hellraiser","tag-hhn","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-haunted-houses","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-orlando-theme-parks","tag-ozzy-osbourne","tag-sinners","tag-stranger-things","tag-universal-orlando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}