The fog is rolling in, the chainsaws are revving, and Halloween Horror Nights is back.
For 2026, Universal is bringing two very different nights of horror to the East and West Coasts. Universal Orlando Resort is celebrating an especially big milestone with Halloween Horror Nights 35, while Universal Studios Hollywood is bringing its own lineup of haunted houses, scare zones, the legendary Terror Tram, and movie-studio horror to Southern California.
If you’re trying to decide which event to visit, wondering what houses are waiting inside the fog, or trying to figure out how to fit Halloween Horror Nights into a Universal vacation, here’s what you need to know.
Location: Universal Studios Florida
Dates: Select nights August 28 through November 1, 2026
Haunted Houses: 10
Scare Zones: 4, plus additional street experiences
Theme: Infernal Carnival of Nightmares
This isn't just another year of Halloween Horror Nights. 2026 marks the 35th anniversary of the Orlando event.
The celebration reaches back into HHN history with returning icons, characters, and stories woven throughout the event. At the center of it all are two familiar faces: Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow.
Together, they preside over the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares, a twisted carnival filled with horrors from Halloween Horror Nights past and present.
Return to Hawkins for one final battle.
Inspired by the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, this house drops guests into a town where the barrier between reality and the supernatural is collapsing.
For fans who have followed Eleven and the Hawkins crew from the beginning, this will likely be one of the must-do houses of the year.
The celebration at Club Juke has taken a horrifying turn.
Inspired by the Warner Bros. film Sinners, this house begins with music and celebration before a group of vampires crashes opening night. What follows is a brutal fight for survival.
The Lament Configuration has been opened.
Guests enter the dark world of the original Hellraiser trilogy and come face-to-face with Pinhead and the Cenobites.
Expect this one to lean heavily into the unsettling atmosphere and imagery that made Hellraiser a horror classic.
The Deadites are back.
Based on the newest chapter in the Evil Dead franchise, this house throws guests directly into the chaos as evil forces take over and terrifying Deadites appear around every corner.
All aboard the Crazy Train.
HHN pays tribute to heavy metal legend Ozzy Osbourne with an original haunted house inspired by his music, imagery, and unforgettable career.
It's one of the more unusual concepts in this year's lineup, combining rock-and-roll spectacle with the theatrical horror HHN does so well.
Some of my favorite HHN concepts are often the ones Universal creates completely from scratch, and the 35th anniversary has five original stories.
Two legendary Halloween Horror Nights icons finally collide.
Jack the Clown represents chaos. Dr. Oddfellow wants control.
Their rivalry unfolds throughout the house before the two discover that joining forces may be even more terrifying.
For longtime HHN fans, this is one of the most important houses of the anniversary year.
Fan-favorite creature-feature host H.R. Bloodengutz returns to WKNB Television for one final Halloween special.
Expect an old-school Halloween atmosphere mixed with the strange, gruesome humor that makes some of Universal's original houses so memorable.
Civilization is gone and survival has become horrifying.
Guests enter a post-apocalyptic wasteland where resources are scarce, humanity has nearly disappeared, and the remaining survivors have turned to cannibalism.
Something has arrived at a remote homestead.
A family and their livestock have already disappeared, and whatever took them isn't finished.
This original house brings alien-abduction horror into the HHN lineup.
Thousands of years in the future, humanity awakens from cryogenic sleep to discover that the machines designed to make people immortal have developed a disturbing solution.
Human flesh is being harvested and replaced with synthetic parts.
Welcome to immortality. You may wish you had stayed asleep.
The horror doesn't stop when you leave the houses.
Four major scare zones transform the streets of Universal Studios Florida.
Jack and Dr. Oddfellow welcome you to a sinister carnival celebrating 35 years of Halloween Horror Nights.
Past HHN icons return here, including characters such as The Usher and The Storyteller.
Cindy Caine, daughter of legendary HHN icon The Caretaker, has opened a portal with a little help from Dr. Oddfellow.
Unfortunately for guests, that portal has allowed decaying nightmares from Halloween Horror Nights history to return.
New York has been taken over by clowns.
And not the birthday-party variety.
Expect appearances from Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Art the Clown, Chance, Eddie Schmidt, and plenty of other nightmare fuel.
Fortnite enters the fog.
Guests step into Freaky Fields, a Halloween-inspired battleground featuring the Battle Bus, familiar Fortnitemares characters, and creations made especially for Halloween Horror Nights.
Orlando also brings back additional street experiences.
At Mel's Die-In: Zombies, zombie carhops have taken over the classic diner.
Over in San Francisco, Club Horror turns the streets into an undead party with a DJ who may be slightly past his expiration date.
Chainsaw hordes will also roam the park, and HamiKuma makes his first HHN Orlando appearance with a meet-and-greet inside the Five & Dime.
Need a break from running from monsters?
You still don't have to leave the horror behind.
This nighttime lagoon show celebrates five seasons of Stranger Things with scenes projected across massive water screens, lighting effects, music, and immersive audio.
It's part HHN show and part farewell to Hawkins.
The popular Nightmare Fuel series returns with a dark new story set inside a vampire-ridden metropolis.
Expect the combination of music, elaborate staging, stunts, and high-energy performances that has made Nightmare Fuel an HHN favorite.
Halloween Horror Nights has become almost as much about what you can eat, drink, and collect as what can scare you.
Universal Orlando has more than 50 themed food and beverage offerings for HHN 35, with menus inspired by this year's houses and characters.
You'll also find anniversary merchandise throughout the resort and inside the Sideshow Obscura Tribute Store, an immersive shopping experience themed as a mysterious traveling sideshow.
Even Universal CityWalk gets involved. The Red Coconut Club transforms into Dead Coconut Club: Harvest, complete with a strange harvest festival, specialty drinks, light bites, and possible alien activity.
And if you're staying at a Universal Orlando hotel, the Halloween atmosphere doesn't necessarily end when you leave the park. Select hotels are offering HHN-inspired lounges, themed displays, specialty cocktails, and late-night food during the season.
Location: Universal Studios Hollywood
Dates: Select nights September 3 through November 1, 2026
Haunted Houses: 8
Plus: Terror Tram, scare zones, live entertainment, and select attractions
Hollywood shares several major houses with Orlando this year, but don't mistake the two events for copies of each other.
Universal Studios Hollywood has its own houses, scare zones, entertainment, and something Orlando doesn't have at all: the Terror Tram.
Hollywood guests can experience:
Stranger Things 5
Enter the final chapter of the battle for Hawkins.
Sinners
Visit Club Juke, where a night of music becomes a fight against vampires.
Hellraiser
Enter the Lament Configuration and face Pinhead and the Cenobites.
Evil Dead Burn
Try to survive the newest wave of Deadites.
Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness
Enter a heavy-metal nightmare inspired by the Prince of Darkness himself.
But Hollywood also has several experiences you won't find at Orlando.
The cult-classic Killer Klowns are invading Universal Studios Hollywood again.
Guests step into a bizarre 1980s nightmare filled with murderous alien clowns.
Lola's quinceañera should have been a celebration.
Instead, she's using the occasion to get revenge on everyone who wronged her.
This original Hollywood house draws from Latin American culture and features an original score by legendary guitarist SLASH, including Spanish guitar and an exclusive song created for the experience.
What exactly happened inside this abandoned funeral home?
You're about to find out.
This original house sends guests through a funeral home with a very disturbing past.
This is where Hollywood really separates itself from Orlando.
The Terror Tram takes guests onto Universal's historic movie studio backlot, where they leave the tram and walk directly through the nightmare.
For 2026, Art the Clown has taken over.
Apparently, Art arrived with a blood-soaked bag of Christmas presents only to discover he was a little early for the holidays. His solution is exactly as reasonable as you'd expect from Art.
Hijack the Terror Tram and create his own horrifying holiday celebration.
Metal band Ice Nine Kills has also created new music for the experience, including dark twists on classic Christmas songs.
The streets aren't safe either.
Chainsaw-wielding killers welcome guests into the event.
Like Orlando, Hollywood receives a scare zone inspired by Fortnite's annual Halloween event.
After leaving KILLceañera, guests encounter a sinister scare zone inspired by the circus and sideshow acts that traveled through Mexico during the 1930s.
Venture into the bayou, where moss-covered monsters lurk in the darkness.
Hollywood will also feature additional street interactions, including the returning Murder of Crowz and Shriek of the Banshee.
And fans of the horror film Obsession should keep an eye out for Freaky Nikki, who can make surprise appearances throughout the event.
The fiery stunt show returns to the WaterWorld venue.
If you've never seen this show, it's a good way to get off your feet while still staying inside the HHN atmosphere. Expect action, fire effects, stunts, and plenty of chaos inspired by The Purge.
If you're choosing between the two, I wouldn't base the decision simply on which has the better list of houses.
The experiences are different.
Choose Universal Orlando if you want:
Choose Universal Studios Hollywood if you want:
For serious horror fans?
There is always option three.
Do both.
Halloween Horror Nights is a separately ticketed nighttime event, so regular daytime park admission does not automatically include HHN admission.
Ticket options vary between Orlando and Hollywood and can include upgrades such as Express access and R.I.P. Tours.
Hollywood also offers Early Access to select haunted houses beginning at 5:30 p.m. on eligible nights, while Orlando offers options including Scream Early and its own HHN Express and R.I.P. Tour products.
HHN can also involve a tremendous amount of walking and standing. If mobility or accessibility is part of your travel planning, don't wait until you're standing in the fog to think about it. Consider your hotel location, transportation, attraction accessibility, rest breaks, and how you want to approach the event before your trip.
And one important reminder for families: Halloween Horror Nights is designed to be genuinely scary. Universal does not recommend the event for children under 13.
Halloween Horror Nights isn't the kind of event where I recommend simply buying a ticket and figuring everything else out when you arrive.
Which night you choose matters.
Where you stay matters.
And deciding whether Express, Early Access, an R.I.P. Tour, or an extra HHN night makes sense can completely change your experience.
That's where I can help.
At Everhollow Travel, I can help you build a Universal vacation around the way you actually want to experience Halloween Horror Nights, whether you're planning your first trip into the fog or returning for another year of scares.
From choosing between Orlando and Hollywood to finding the right hotel, ticket combination, and overall vacation plan, we'll put the pieces together before the monsters start chasing you.
Ready to step into the fog?
Let's plan your Halloween Horror Nights story.
Thoughtfully planned. Wonderfully yours.
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