As we approach summer and halfway to Halloween, now is a great time to start gearing up and preparing for Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights, starting at select dates, being September 4th through November 2nd. A quote from Universal Studios’ Hollywood website quoting “You never feel more alive than when you’re scared to death at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, Southern California’s scariest Halloween event. Bring your friends, and you might survive.” This is one of Southern California’s coolest Halloween events with themed haunted houses, scare zones, live performances, special shows, and tons of treats and food to choose from. 

I have been attending Halloween Horror Nights for around three years now, and I will say that it is a fun treat yearly. I always have a blast with the haunted houses and scare zones. Starting in the summer, they release announcements every other week on their Instagram page for the haunted houses and scare zones, along with some cool teaser concept art. You can also check out their YouTube channel for exclusive haunted houses and scare zones trailers. Their other most popular attraction is the terror tram, along with popular podcasts with the set designers, directors, and the amazing creative teams. The creative team will talk about why they chose to bring selected horror movies to life within the mazes, the inspiration, and the design process. There are a total of 8 themed haunted houses, 2 live shows, one terror tram, and an every hour scare-a-mony that takes place, along with a couple of scare zones to walk through with scary awesome scare actors in such great makeup and costumes. Now, as for 2025, announcements haven’t started yet, but make sure to stay tuned in to catch these announcements.

I’d like now to point out a couple of houses from the years prior, starting from when I first went in 2022, starting with the Halloween house with Michael Myers, I remember being so scared and filled with adrenaline walking into the house, the flashing lights, haunting theme song, and added on screams really get the heart pumping. Along with a haunted house featuring the weekend for his “nightmare trilogy,” a super innovative haunted house with the use of his music playing, and the neat house design as well. Along with the scare actors within the houses, to really make these haunts come to life. You can’t skip out on the haunted houses containing the original Universal Monsters themselves, it always feels so nostalgic, and seeing the monsters I grew up watching come to life in front of me. Now moving onto 2023 with houses from Chucky the TV series, The Last of Us, Stranger Things, Evil Dead Rise, and The Exorcist: Believer. Such an iconic lineup with all these new horror movies, video games, and TV shows. I honestly urge people to go see it in person for themselves, as seeing it on YouTube doesn’t even come close to comparing to walking through it and experiencing the jump scares all throughout the houses. Moving on to the most recent Horror Nights event from 2024. Another amazing lineup being Ghostbusters, A Quiet Place, Insidious, Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines, and so much more, such an amazing lineup and stellar houses as always. They had two live shows, one being an interactive late night with Chucky where you can submit your questions to Chucky and have him answer, and the next being the purge dangerous waters at Waterworld on the upper lot of the theme park, so much fun!

If you plan on attending this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, please let me share some tips to help add on to your own amazing experience. Number 1: wear comfortable shoes, as you will be doing a lot of walking. Number 2 don’t be shy when getting tickets, I recommended the express pass as it is a quicker way to explore all the park has to offer. Number 3, be safe, and of course, have fun! Don’t be shy to get pictures with some of the horror icons to create very fun memories to look back on and plan another trip to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights!