The Weird History of Halloween Horror Nights

in Universal Orlando

The Universal arch lit up for Halloween Horror Nights

Credit: Universal

One of the country’s most popular and celebrated theme park Halloween events has a strange and storied past!

Excitement for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Orlando continues to gear up. There are rumors aplenty, with fans speculating which horror properties will get represented in houses, as well as what original concepts Universal Creative is cooking up. Even though there have been few official announcements made outside of the confirmed Chucky house, construction has already begun, auditions are happening, and the rumor mill is turning rapidly.

Some of the rumored properties, though, have some fans scratching their heads, especially the inclusion of the popular Japanese anime Demon Slayer. While this smash hit show has many excited to see Universal potentially bring it to life, others see it as a pretty out-there IP (or Intellectual Property) for Halloween Horror Nights. However, what they may not know is that Halloween Horror Nights has had its fair share of strange and bizarre houses, scare zones, and offerings in the past.

Let’s go through the history of the event and some of the weirdest Halloween Horror Nights houses and scare zones at Universal Orlando!

Universal Halloween Horror Nights 2023 New Merchandise
Credit: Universal Studios

The History of Halloween Horror Nights

What is Halloween Horror Nights?

For the uninitiated, Halloween Horror Nights is an annual theme park Halloween event held at Universal Studios parks and resorts around the world. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be zeroing in on Universal Orlando, where the event began and has the longest history. Held on select nights throughout August, September, and October (and occasionally November 1), this separately ticketed event transforms the park into a place of horrors. Attraction queues and soundstages are turned into terrifying haunted houses based on popular horror properties (such as Stranger Things, Killer Klowns From Outer Space, and more) or original concepts from Universal Creative. The park at large is split up into scare zones, also separately themed, where roving scare actors wait for you in the shadows and fog.

The event is often hosted by an Icon who symbolizes the horror of that year (a popular pick is Universal’s iconic Jack the Clown, or popular film characters like Freddy Kreuger and Michael Myers), and the event also provides a slew of entertainment offerings, including the extremely popular Halloween Nightmare Fuel stage show. Of course, there’s also plenty of specialty food, drink, and merchandise to be had. The event is also held annually at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Studios Japan.

Universal Halloween Horror Nights 2023 New Merchandise
Credit: Universal

When Did Halloween Horror Nights Start?

The first Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort was actually called Universal Studios Fright Nights and was a 3-night event in 1991 with one haunted house, The Dungeon of Terror. The event expanded in the following years and was renamed to Universal Studios Florida Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. The event’s first-ever official icon was the Crypt Keeper from Tales From the Crypt and the first original icon was Jack the Clown in 2000. The event was held at Universal Studios Florida for several years before moving to Islands of Adventure in 2002, happening in both Parks in 2004, and back to Universal Studios Florida in 2006.

The event gets bigger every single year and 2022’s event, Halloween Horror Nights 31: Never Go Alone, featured ten haunted houses, five scare zones, a stage show, and a lagoon show. Halloween Horror Nights 32 is coming to us with the tagline “See You in the Fog”.

The Weirdest Halloween Horror Nights Houses

While many house themes are expected; scary clowns, ghosts, vampires, or based on popular films, Halloween Horror Nights have certainly had some weird house themes in the event’s history. Here are some of the houses that packed a scary punch but came in a strange package.

Penn & Teller New(kd) Vegas 3-D

Penn & Teller at their Halloween Horror Nights House
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

Now that’s a duo you didn’t expect at HHN, right? This house was a part of Halloween Horror Nights 22 in 2012 and was a collaboration between Universal and famous magicians Penn & Teller. The 3-D (achieved with special paint and colored glasses) experience took Guests on a journey to a Las Vegas that had accidentally been nuked by the magicians in a trick gone wrong. The haunted house featured classic Vegas staples with a radioactive twist, including irradiated casinos, mutated showgirls, fused-together wedding couples, a stomach-churning buffet, and of course, Elvis. There’s even a jab at Sigfriend & Roy in there.

Bugs: Eaten Alive

Bugs: Eaten Alive at Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

Speaking of radioactivity, let’s go back to Halloween Horror Nights 31 just last year for Bugs: Eaten Alive. This haunted house took Guests back to the fabulous 50s where they were to view a demonstration of Extermin-Air, a pine-scented bug exterminating device. However, it turns out that the device actually mutates the bugs to enormous sizes, and scientists and Guests alike are terrorized by enormous cockroaches, spiders, maggots, and more. This was a campy maze with a humorous flair, but we’re sure that any Guest afraid of bugs didn’t find it very funny.

Revenge of the Tooth Fairy

The facade of Revenge of the Tooth Fairy at Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

When you think about it, teeth are pretty terrifying, and that was exactly the concept behind this Halloween Horror Nights 30 house in 2021. The haunted house created a horrifying answer to the question; what happens if I don’t want to give my tooth to the Tooth Fairy? The Victorian mansion was overrun by goblin-esque Tooth Fairies who feasted upon children and grown-ups alike. The maze also had a unique storybook-style design concept, with a beautiful facade reminiscent of ink drawings on paper.

H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror

The Christmas scene from H.R. Bloodengutz at Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

Sure, Halloween is scary, and maybe Christmas can give you a fright under the right circumstances, but what about Easter? Valentine’s Day? Arbor Day? This was the concept behind H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror at Halloween Horror Nights 21 in 2011. This maze told the story of creature feature host H.R. Bloodengutz who becomes so obsessed with his role that when his show gets canceled, he tortures the producer on camera through a plethora of holiday-themed horror. Guests encounter evil Cupids for Valentine’s Day, presidential zombies for President’s Day, and poor grandma roasted like a turkey for Thanksgiving.

The Weirdest Halloween Horror Nights Scare Zones

Haunted houses aren’t the only things that can get some strange theming at Halloween Horror Nights. In fact, a scare zone can be even weirder than a house! Let’s take a look at some favorites.

Island Under Siege

Carnage at Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

While you may think of Walt Disney World or Disneyland when you think of Marvel, Universal Studios still has the East Coast theme park rights to the superhero universe – but they almost lost it after this scare zone! Set in Marvel Super Hero Island at Islands of Adventure in 2002, the zone was themed around supervillain Carnage taking control of Marvel Super Hero Island, and remnants of (probably dead) superheroes were everywhere, including Captain America’s blood-stained shield and Thor’s abandoned hammer. Marvel was upset with Universal after this zone for implying everyone’s favorite heroes were dead, so Universal never touched the universe again for Halloween Horror Nights.

Boo-Ville

Seuss Landing
Credit: Universal

What’s a worse property to turn horrifying than Marvel Superheroes? Why, the world of Dr. Seuss, and Universal has done them both. However, it would be generous to call Boo-Ville a scare zone. Set in Seuss Landing in 2002 and 2003, this scare zone ran into the problem of Audrey Giesel (the widow of Dr. Seuss) forbidding Universal from putting anything remotely scary in Seuss Landing for Halloween Horror Nights. Instead, Universal Creative filled the land with fog and creepy music, with the storyline that all the Whos had locked themselves inside their homes for fear of the Grinch, which several Guests reported they saw lurking in the fog.

JP Extinction

A Triceratops head prop from Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

Man, the Islands of Adventure years were strange years for scare zones, right? With an area as heavily themed as Jurassic Park, following the theme seemed to be the best course of action, which resulted in JP: Extinction. As if the regular Jurassic Park wasn’t scary enough, with free-roaming dinosaurs ready to eat you, the streets were also packed with dinosaur-scientist hybrids and velociraptors camouflaged in the lush greenery.

Vanity Ball

Vanity Ball at Halloween Horror Nights
Credit: Halloween Horror Nights Wiki

Not all of the weird scare zones were at Islands of Adventure, though! This scare zone at Halloween Horror Nights 29 in 2019 was located in the Hollywood section of the Park. The scare zone showed a version of Hollywood where extreme plastic surgery is the height of fashion; the more disturbing and bloodier, the better. Doctors and nurses roamed the streets, ready to perform operations and turn their patients into works of art. It was also popular due to its queer undertones and its emulation of drag and ballroom culture, which provided for a unique and highly themed experience!

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