UPDATE: 2024/09/13 BY ROB KEYES
See our Ranking of Universal Hollywood’s Haunted Houses
We also visted the west coast Universal Studios to rank their 8 haunted houses. Read
here and compare
!
Halloween Horror Nights is the most wonderful time of year for horror fans visiting Universal Orlando. I was fortunate enough to be there to celebrate the opening night for the 33rd iteration of this iconic horror-themed event which, over its run, has delivered over 200 haunted houses to guests.
2024’s horror festivities launched August 30, earlier than ever, and there are 48 select nights for Halloween Horror Nights where 10 new haunted houses are ready to be experienced: four based on IP and six original story-based mazes. Below I detail all of them and share my thoughts on what I loved the most and what you need to plan for, with insights and added information from Lora Sauls, Universal Orlando’s show director of entertainment production.
HHN 33 delivers an impressive slate of IP adaptations, which may be the highlight of the set of houses this year, but some of the original stories will blow you away too. Here are the 10 haunted houses of Halloween Horror Nights 33, ranked…
10 Goblin’s Feast
Goblin version of Thanksgiving
Hordes of bloodthirsty goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and witches welcome new visitors to their village for dinner.
Goblin’s Feast takes guests through a detailed Goblin village of sorts featuring a pub, castle, and a giant hand, where you’ve been invited for what can be best described as a Goblin Thanksgiving. They have a favorite food: it’s us. They are actually welcoming guests in to be eaten and refer to you as various sorts of meat, even calling you out for trying to escape.
“We are walking into a goblin village where they are celebrating the Goblin’s Feast. And what is on the menu for this Goblin’s Feast? You as humans!” says Lora Sauls, Creative Director at Universal Orlando Resort. “You must try to escape the goblins, trolls, hot goblins and witches. As you go through this goblin community.”
There are some neat bits and the theme is consistent, like the color palette, but it lacks the cool factor or scares, and we recommend visiting this one early in your adventure.
9 Slaughter Sinema 2
A sequel to Slaughter Sinema for Halloween Horror Nights 28
Head to the Carey Drive-in for a B-movie horror marathon full of spaghetti westerns, grindhouse gore and more.
There’s something special about the original lore the teams at Universal craft and then continue and Slaughter Sinema is a fun example of this that brings guests back to Carey Drive-in for some notable frights and delights.
“In 2018 we started the first Slaughter Sinema where you went into the Carrie Drive-in, and you saw tons of B-movie horror movies. Well, Slaughter Sinema 2 is doing just that,” says Lora Sauls during the HHN 33 opening presentation. “You’re returning to the Carey Drive-in, where you’ll not only see horror B-movies, but you’re going to see some Spaghetti Westerns and a few creature features. We’re featuring slaughtering jesters. We’re featuring zombie clowns, and you may see a few killer kringles in Slaughter Sinema 2”
This Slaughter Sinema from HHN 28 features these in-lore fictional B-movies:
- Mardi Gras Murders
- Heavy Metal Hell In 3-D
- Killer Kringles
- Night of the Undead Clowns
- Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters
- Blood & Chum
- Mummy Strippers: Unwrapped
- Zyborgs
- Amazon Cannibals from Planet Hell
Great posters and costumes, some that light up, a giant shark, lots of quick-themed experiences packed into one maze make this one a must-see for ’80s retro horror aficionados, even if the maze itself lacks a story that pulls guests through. It’s more about embracing the creativity and amount of design work.
8 The Museum: Deadly Exhibits
This relic will leave you in ruins…
Transport guests to the new folklore museum, The Rolling Stone, where there is evil lurking within, ready to destroy everything in its path.
The Museum: Deadly Exhibits was my first maze of HHN 33 and it brings guests to the The Museum of International Folklore where, after yours, you’re entering to see the latest and most mysterious exhibit – The Rotting Stone. This ancient, dark object is corrupting everything around it.
“It’s folklore that wherever the rotting stone goes, it creates death and rot and destruction. And so once that new exhibit and that rotting stone enters the museum, it’s doing just that. It is causing death and destruction throughout the museum, and causing everything in the museum to come to life. And when I say everything, absolutely everything,” hints Lora Sauls in describing Deadly Exhibits.
Sauls continues: “The workers in the museum are attacking us. The tables in the museum are attacking us. The tapestries in the museum are attacking us. The exhibits are attacking us. And then you ultimately have to meet the rotting stone at the end who is coming to life and never going to allow you to leave that museum.”
Great music and a cool, consistent theme and color design make Deadly Exhibits a great maze to experience at HHN 33, even if it’s not the most memorable of the set.
7 Monstrous: The Monsters of Latin America
This haunted house introduces something never before seen at Halloween Horror Nights…
Home to the blood-sucking Tlahuelpuchi, owl-faced witch La Lechuza and bone-ripping El Silbón who can’t wait to prey upon guests.
Based on the popular house of the same name from last year at Universal Studios Hollywood, Monstrous: The Monsters of Latin America makes its debut at HHN 33 as an original for Orlando.
Guests pass through a cemetery upon entering the maze, which begins with far too much lighting but gets darker the further you get. As the light fades, the grossness increases as guests go from skeletons to hanging intestines. There are some good scares and surprising characters featured in The Monsters of Latin America, including a blood-sucking vampire creature that enjoys the blood of infants.
“We wanted to bring it to the east coast to celebrate it here in Orlando, and we’re doing just that,” says Lora Sauls. “We are taking a journey with Muerte as he tells the stories of three huge Latin folklore creatures. We’re going to see La Lechuza, El Silbón and Tlahuelpuchi. They’re all vile. They all do vile things, and you’re going to meet up with them face to face.”
A notable highlight here is that La Lechuza, an owl-witch type character that attacks womanizers and drunks, represents the first ever fully programmable animatronic used for Halloween Horror Nights.
6 Triplets of Terror
The Barmy triplets birthday parties are always ones to remember…
Guests will celebrate the Barmy triplet’s birthday and soon realize they celebrate by recreating their family’s horrifying murders.
Triplets of Terror is one of the most wild original creations for Halloween Horror Nights in years and its story begins March 3rd, 1984 where for their 9th birthday, the Barmy Triplets slaughter their family. Every 10 years they recreate this joyous event to celebrate and kill more.
Skip forward to present day and Melody, Harmony and Junior are 40, and you’re invitedT The Triplets put their masks back and get to work. Even the poor family dog doesn’t see a happy ending…
“We wanted to build an original slasher story in our event, and we didn’t want to have one slasher. We wanted to have three,” says Lora Sauls when describing Triplets of Terror. “So you are going to follow Harmony, Junior, and Melody on their journey to reenact their massacre of a birthday party, and you are going to have to try to evade those triplets everywhere you go.”
Triplets of Terror features some environmental effects but it’s the super gory ideas and set decoration that make Triplets of Terror an unforgettable experience.
5 Major Sweets Candy Factory
A prequel to Sweet Revenge…
Join a field trip to a candy factory, only to realize the free samples have transformed the kids into candy-coated killers.
Major Sweets Candy Factory is another great example of the Universal teams expanding upon their own original lore. Where Slaughter Sinema 2 is a sequel, Major Sweets Candy Factory is actually a prequel. Set before the events of the Sweet Revenge scare sone from Halloween Horror Nights 31 this new original maze sees children become the villains thanks to candy-fueled brainwashing.
“Major Sweets and Miss Treats are back, but it is a prequel, and in this prequel, they have to test the candy before they go to the Halloween celebration in the small town of New York. They invite a school on a field trip to come to the candy factory. Once the school enters, the kids are whisked away to test the candy, and we, as teachers and chaperons, are escorted into the factory,” Lora Sauls teases. “Well, their candy works, and those kids are turning into vile, candy coated killers. You’re going to see Major Sweets, Miss Treats their new friend, Taffy, who they’ve done lots of experiments for their candy on.”
You can smell the candy as you enter the Major Sweets Candy Factory haunted house which features a great theme with impressive makeup and performances. It’s super disgusting and I love the continuity Universal is building for this.
4 Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Who you gonna call?
“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” will transport fans of the film franchise to New York City where the Spengler family teams up with the original Ghostbusters who are now at the helm of a top-secret research lab for their ghost-busting enterprise. With the daunting discovery of an old relic that has set free the vengeful spirit of Garraka, who threatens to freeze everyone to death, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their city and save the world from a second Ice Age.
Fans will embark on this petrifying journey encountering iconic ghosts who slime and nefarious villains who are out for revenge – all while trying to escape an army of ghastly creatures bent on cracking bones and turning their veins into rivers of ice.
In 1984, four gentlemen came together to save New York. Many years have past since this event and we’re still busting ghosts.
Many years have past and we’re still busting ghosts. Now we face Garraka who delivers fear so intense it’ll literally free you.
“We are so excited to have the Ghostbusters franchise back in Halloween Horror Nights, and we are featuring the newest film in this amazing franchise, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, where you will see new Ghostbusters and some of those original Ghostbusters battle Garraka, as Garraka is trying to spread an ice age over New York City – the second one, mind you. He did it in the early 1900s and he’s escaped his trappings, and he’s trying to do it again, and you are in that battle,” says Lora Sauls who excitingly describes the maze.
Sauls continues: “But of course, because we love this horror franchise so much, we wanted to give you a few little Easter eggs of some of the other films. So you’re going to see Vigo, a Terror Dog, maybe a library ghost. Also, all those teeny, tiny little Mini-Pufts doing all kinds of mischievous things. We’re very excited about Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”
The Frozen Empire maze is a flagship-level Halloween Horror Nights attraction and is quite simply a must-see. And there may not be another like this ever again as it honors the legacy of the all five Ghostbusters films in the franchise, and features some impressive rooms with notable environmental and lighting effects. There’s verticality, there’s Slimer, there’s Ecto-1, and so much more that you may need to queue up a few times to fully experience it.
3 A Quiet Place
If they hear you, they will hunt you…
Fans will relive the tension that will come to life in iconic scenes from the first two films, from traveling through the farmhouse that serves as the Abbott family’s shelter and stepping into the root cellar where Evelyn Abbott escapes to give birth as one of the creatures closes in. Mirroring the silence in the films, the haunted house will embrace unique sound design, special effects and will incorporate the use of American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time ever at Halloween Horror Nights.
Where Ghosbusters: Frozen Empire embraces the fun and colorful nature of the film franchise, A Quiet Place is dark, grim, and hyper focused on accurately recreating the first movie in the John Krasinski’s epic horror franchise.
“A Quiet Place, you kind of have to hush your screams as you go through a quiet place,” Lora Sauls tells us. “You’re following the Abbott family as they try to escape these creatures, these monstrous creatures who have a keen sense of hearing. If they hear you, they will hunt you. So try to muffle those screams when you’re walking through A Quiet Place.”
A Quiet Place is scary and dark and does a wonderful job of recreating the filmic experience. It’s another must-see attraction and a shining example of Universal’s team embracing and adapting IP for Halloween Horror Nights.
2 Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines
An all-female haunted house!
This haunted house will introduce guests to an all-new terrifying storyline placing guests in the center of an epic battle for dominance, headlined by an all-female assemblage of classic Universal Monsters.
Fans will encounter Saskia Van Helsing, a new fearless huntress. She faces off with Dracula’s daughter, Countess Marya, who arose from the dead to seek revenge for her father and destroy the Van Helsing bloodline. With a mission to kill, Dracula’s daughter, from 1936’s
Dracula’s Daughter
, forms a deadly alliance with the She-Wolf, inspired by the 1946 film
She-Wolf of London
, and Anck-Su-Namun, from the 1932 film
The Mummy
– only to be intercepted by Saskia and an unlikely ally, The Bride of Frankenstein. The terrifying adventure will take guests on a journey between the hunted and the hunters in a life and death battle with only one bloodline left to survive.
Eternal Bloodlines is based on IP, sort of, but truthfully, it’s an original story featuring iconic Universal Monsters and it may be their best one at Halloween Horror Nights 33. Eternal Bloodlines follows the grim journey of Saskia Van Helsing, last of the Van Helsing bloodline, in what’s essentially a sequel to Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives from Halloween Horror Nights 30.
In the lore, Saskia’s father Abraham Van Helsing hunted and killed Count Dracula, and now his daughter Countess Marya wants revenge. As guests journey through the maze, they’ll see what happened to Frankenstein’s Monster, they’ll meet Anck-Su-Namun in Egypt, they’ll see a full moon give rise to the She-Wolf of London, and they’ll see an unlikely alliance form on the way to Dracula’s castle for the ultimate showdown.
“Every year our Universal Pictures teams allows our creative teams to curate new stories with these Universal Monsters, and this year is no different for the teams from both West Coast and East Coast. Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood came together to create Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines. Yes, it’s an all-female monster story. We are featuring the Bride of Frankenstein, the daughters of Dracula. The Brides of Dracula, Anck-Su-Namun, the She-Wolf, and brand-new character Saskia Van Helsing. And you are following her as she’s trying to defeat these monsters. You must go through the house to see how this tale ends,” Lora Sauls says about the epic collaboration.
“But not only is it an all-female monster haunted house here in Orlando, we got the great pleasure to have a female composer and a female show director working on this haunted house. We have Sara Barone as our composer. She has composed an original score for this amazing haunted house, and she just recently got nominated for an Emmy so not too shabby.”
Great performances, dynamic set pieces, and even a zipline will capture your imagination by experiencing this Universal Monsters haunted house. The gothic theme, and twists along this way, make Eternal Bloodlines one of the coolest elements of Halloween Horror Nights 33.
1 Insidious: The Further
The scariest haunted house of HHN 33…
Produced by Blumhouse Productions in association with Sony Pictures,
Insidious
tells the disturbing story of the Lamberts, a family haunted by evil supernatural forces after their son slips into an inexplicable comatose state after becoming possessed by a demonic entity. In the all-new Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, guests will follow in the footsteps of the Lamberts, encountering familiar settings and scares as they are transported directly into “The Further” – the ethereal place where ghosts and demons lurk. And just like in the films, guests will quickly learn that the paranormal creatures are here to stay…
Guests’ journey into “Insidious: The Further” begins as they step through the iconic red door, where many of the tormented spirits and demons from the franchise await – determined to ensnare humans and steal their souls. Fans will come face-to-face with The Red-Faced Demon, who will attempt to lure them into his lair; the grim KeyFace, hoping to lock his victims in this dark dimension; the ghastly and dangerous Bride in Black; and the vengeful spirit of the Man Who Can’t Breathe. As guests make their way through the haunted house, they’ll go from red door to red door – traveling deeper into a dark and timeless astral world where they must evade this collection of sinister creatures at every spine-chilling turn, or their souls will be trapped here…
forever.”
The beginning of the Insidious haunted house at HHN 33 sets the stage right off the bat as guests walk down a long and super tall corridor towards a giant red door, where banners hang from the ceiling depicting Dalton Lambert’s (Ty Simpkins) various ominous artworks.
Insidious: The Further “is just terrifying” I was told by Lora Sauls during our interview, and our tour guide for the event said the same, describing it as “the scariest house of the event.” And we agree. Not only does this take on the Insidious franchise deliver the scares, it’s also the one haunted houss that feels like an actual maze.
There are amazing performers and a super creepy setup that involves, from a technical perspective, eight triggers and three actors so you’ll never know where jump scares will come from. Normally, statue rooms like ones featured in The Further may appear in the back portion of a given haunted house but this Insidious haunted house puts one of these rooms at the beginning as well and pulls off the trick twice.
“You’re gonna meet the KeyFace demon. You’re gonna meet The Long-haired Fiend, The Man Who Can’t Breathe, The Bride in Black, and of course, you’re gonna come face to face with the Red Face Demon,” Lora Sauls tells us. “It’s one of the most terrifying haunted houses we have ever designed. Every character in that haunted house not only has one “boo hole,”, but they have three opportunities to scare you in every single “boo hole.” It is one of the most terrifying houses, like I said, we have ever designed.”
We recommend timing your HHN 33 haunted houses to save the scariest and IP-based ones for later. These may have the longer queues and likely the most interest for repeat experiences, so if you have the time, we recommend the above order. When I spoke with Lora Sauls, she recommended experiencing the scare zones first during the daytime, and then again at night when the lighting and mood changes to really see the details and performances, and feel immersed. There’s so much to do at Halloween Horror Nights, not to mention themed treats, but all the haunted houses offer something unique and special this year.
Related Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights: All 8 Haunted Houses, Ranked
Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights 2024 features eight all-new, all-terrifying haunted houses. Here all all eight mazes, ranked.
As for 2025’s Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando, Lora Sauls tell us work has already begun.
“For 2025 we started development in April. Because of earlier starts and more work processes in our process, we’re starting even earlier.”
As for what themes the 10 haunted houses for HHN 34 may embrace, they are “close to being chosen” and we can expect 4-5 IP based ones with the rest being original again as the balance.
Buy HHN tickets here
More information and tickets for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando can be found here.