Whereas many other theme parks do Halloween theming, no-one does it like Universal. The legacy of Univeral Monsters right back to Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula ensures that the scares here are always more intense than many other parks. Although there will be plenty of Halloween decoration throughout the park, the really scary stuff is reserved for the ticket-only Halloween Horror Nights event which takes it’s cue from the fall of darkness…
History
Horror events started at Universal Studios Hollywood in 1986.
Universal Orlando launched ‘Fright Nights’ in 1991, then renamed it ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ in 1992, and it’s been going strong ever since.
Universal Studios Hollywood held the event in 1992, then again in 1997 through 2000. It had a five year break, then relaunched in 2006, and has been going strong, and getting bigger and more ambitious ever since.
In 2001, Universal started a series of year-round ‘Haunted House’ scare attractions, following on from the success of Halloween Horror Nights.
The first two, The Mummy Returns: Chamber of Doom (2001 – 2004) and Van Helsing: Fortress Dracula (2004 – 2006) were based on recently released Universal movies.
Then came Universal’s House of Horrors (2007 – 2014), a celebration of Universal horror movies and characters which was a great success.
As part of a redevelopment plan to coincide with the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the former Victoria Station restaurant building in which these attractions had been based was demolished. In March 2016, a new year-round attraction was announced, The Walking Dead to continue the tradition
In 2007 a unique deal was setup between Universal Studios and New Line Cinema to make use of their classic characters (Jason Voorhees, Leatherface and Freddy Krueger) alongside the Universal monsters. Since then, each year new characters and movie franchises have become part of the Halloween Horror Nights world.
Current Events
As the event changes every year, it’s not possible for this website to keep up with everything, so for the most up-to-date current information on Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, see Halloween Horror Nights official website
Details of past HHN Events
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