UniversalParksBlog News for September 7th, 2025

Universal Orlando Resort has started Halloween Horror Nights 2025. This is NOT a drill!!!

So, this week’s UniversalParksBlog News update is simple. We’ll take you inside every House.

I know you’re all shaking with excitement. So, let’s get started!

Welcome to the Party, Pal

The head of Universal’s theme parks division recently spoke at a business conference.

During his Q&A session, this individual backhandedly dismissed Halloween Horror Nights (HHN).

He didn’t even mean it, as his comments were more about how this event is niche.

In terms of Universal’s bottom line, HHN helps, but it’s not a big number on a spreadsheet.

So, a top executive would focus on the bigger picture more than a party that happens a few nights a year.

I totally get that, yet the interview irritated me in that it missed the point about HHN.

For many of us, Universal Studios and HHN are inexorably linked. Sure, the event only happens two months per year.

However, for diehards, we start looking at speculation maps as early as January! For us, HHN is a lifestyle.

Thankfully, management at HHN gets that and treats the Halloween parties like an event.

Sometimes, they get it a bit wrong, though, and that has regrettably happened this year.

Universal overbooked Premium Scream Night, which led to a LOT of complaints.

This year’s Scream Night cost $25 more than last year…initially. Universal raised the prices as the event approached.

For a price of $350-$400 per person, guests got early access to the Houses as well as “free” food.

The 2024 version of Scream Night proved wildly successful in terms of fan reception.

That bit of positivity created an unexpected impact on 2025, as more people wanted to go.

So, the big advantage of 2024, the short waits for Houses, turned into a massive disadvantage in 2025.

Fans paid a premium for this event, only to discover that the lines weren’t much shorter than a regular HHN night.

About the Houses

As usual at this time of year, I’ll link you to videos of every House at HHN 2025.

We’re only doing Orlando this week, as we’ll save Universal Studios Hollywood’s event for next time.

Due to the timing of my writing, it would have been difficult to squeeze in this time anyway.

So, let’s start with THE best House this year, which is Five Nights at Freddy’s.

Before I link a video, I’ll add an important caveat. This won’t make much sense if you don’t know the brand.

For people who have played the video game or watched the movie, it’s a masterpiece.

For everyone else, well, you’d need to have had a bad experience at Chuck E. Cheese to get it.

Yeah, there’s just no topping that. It’s Audio-Animatronics gone awry in the best possible way.

Then, we have the buzziest House this year, which is based on the suddenly ubiquitous Terrifier franchise.

These films are delightfully low rent, and Universal definitely got the tone right. Also, it’s pretty gross.

The House I prefer is Jason Universe, as I’m a pretty big fan of the Friday the 13^th franchise.

Seriously, I even saw Jason X in the theater on opening night, and that’s the ridiculous one set in outer space!

So, I love everything about this House, which has Jasons seemingly coming out at you from everywhere!

Then, we have one of the new Houses, El Artista: A Spanish Haunting. If gothic beauty is a thing, this House has it:

More Houses

The two most divisive Houses this year aren’t a surprise. Fans have been split on them since they were announced.

What do you think of Dolls: Let’s Play Dead?

Yeah, I don’t know about that, either. Similarly, the WWE House doesn’t seem to have many fans.

Universal based it on the Wyatts Sicks faction, which doesn’t have the same pizzazz as the late Bray Wyatt.

I think the problem is that I watch pro wrestling, yet I barely get a lot of this.

Someone with no familiarity with the product wouldn’t find much interesting here beyond the jump scares.

Of course, I haven’t gotten to this year’s top brand yet. Here’s the highly anticipated Fallout House:

As someone who loves the video games and the television series, this one’s pitch-perfect in tone and vibe.

I especially love how claustrophobic it is and the way Universal uses the radioactive monsters.

Then, we have perhaps the most pleasant surprise of this year’s HHN. Here’s Hatchets and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters:

If Universal can’t have KPop Demon Hunters this year, this one will do nicely.

Besides, the other would be too upbeat for HHN.

Since we don’t have a Classic Monsters House this year, Grave of Flesh will have to do:

A lot of those people need a shower, don’t they? Also, some skin.

Finally, we have the House with the strangest name in 2025. Here’s Gálkn: Monsters of the North.

That’s the kind of creativity I love to see at HHN. It has a little bit of everything.

More about HHN

Universal dialed down the Scare Zones this year while adding more experiences.

 

Here’s the Origins of Horror Scare Zone that features moving gargoyles and chainsaw-wielding maniacs:

Then, we have Masquerade: Dance with Death, which is Eyes Wide Shut gone awry. Well, even more so.

Mutations: Toxic Twenties isn’t sponsored by that certain movie remake, but it very well could be:

Finally, we have my favorite and the most visually interesting of the bunch.

Check out the special effects for The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane.

We watched that window video loop about 20 times because we were so impressed by it.

As for the experiences, Mel’s Die-In Zombies will understandably receive most of the attention.

Still, don’t miss the sheer insanity of Club Horror:

This really makes me miss Ibiza after dark, moments before the foam dropped.

You’ll also find some Chainsaw-Wielding Carnies at Springfield, aka Simpsons Land:

Finally, Art the Clown from Terrifier roams the streets, so you may randomly bump into him (?) during HHN.

So, there you have it. Halloween Horror Nights 34 has officially opened, and it’s pure joy!

 

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