Halloween Horror Nights Orlando has been going strong every year since 1991. Since the beginning, we’ve seen a whole host of original characters and movie monsters spawn haunted mazes that both terrify and amaze. Universal Studios spares no expense to bring our most terrifying nightmares into reality, from original IPs such as Jack the Clown to horror movie favorites like Michael Myers.
As someone who loves horror movies, attending Universal Studios’ yearly Halloween event is a no-brainer. Add in the fact that my birthday takes place in the fall, and it becomes a yearly journey of sorts for me. Part of the preparation starts around this time of the year, once the official Halloween Horror Nights Twitter account starts teasing us online, the games begin!
This series of articles will follow the teasers, announcements, and the thought process behind planning my yearly birthday pilgrimage to the spookiest place on earth, where horror movies come to life, and you get to live in them, sorta.
First things first, Halloween Horror Nights starts this year on September 2nd and runs through October 31st. September may seem far from now, but these trips take time to plan out, and still, no matter how well planned they are, it seems like you never have enough time to see or do everything these parks have to offer.
On Thursday, March 24th, the official HHN Orlando Twitter account released the following teaser, advising us to summon our scream squad, and never go alone. Not only did they release a promo image, but they also began selling HHN tickets. Unfortunately, it looks like no multi-day tickets are yet available. But according to a representative, they will be available at a later date. Universal Studios also didn’t waste any time releasing their first round of merchandise, and began selling a series of shirts, and… Christmas tree ornaments? Weird choice of items to launch their spooky season with, but hey, I’m here for it.
With the first announcement made, the countdown begins for the rest of the mazes, and there have been quite a few rumors kicking around. The first is the possibility that we’ll get a Fear Street themed maze. At first, I thought this was unlikely, but with Universal working with Netflix to bring us Stranger Things in the past, who knows! The Fear Street trilogy was one of my favorite movies from 2021, so however unlikely, I’d still love to experience it. I’m still sad we never got to experience The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina as a themed maze, but I’ll take what I can get.
The next rumored house is Nope, which would probably be a lot of fun. I don’t know much about the movie itself, but I expect it to be great. At this point, Jordan Peele has solidified himself as a great director, and I would blindly watch any project he’s attached to. I also have faith that Universal will be able to bring it to life in a way that would surprise and terrify me.
And finally, we have a wild card. The Last of Us. I can’t imagine Universal Studios would actually do it, but if they do… I will be SO EXCITED about it. The Last of Us is one of my favorite video game franchises of all time. Experiencing the game as a haunted maze would bring me so much joy, while surely terrifying me. With HBO working on a TV show based on the game, I find this one to be the least likely to happen. But like I said, Universal was able to bring us a series of Stranger Things themed haunted mazes, so maybe it’s possible. We can hope!
Of course, these wouldn’t be the only haunted attractions at the event, but they’re the big ones that I’ve been hearing about. None of them actually confirmed mind you, but every year the rumor mill starts up, and fans get whipped up into a frenzy waiting for announcements. Maybe we’ll get to see Joel fighting zombies, or maybe we’ll get to see a floating cow in the Nope maze. The teasers that have been kicking around have people even thinking we’ll get to see Ghostface in his own haunted maze, a first for Universal Orlando.
Either way, it’s time for me to start planning my vacation days before hotels sell out, and keep my fingers crossed that I’ll get to see clickers, or maybe even deadites at Halloween Horror Nights. One can only dream!