Halloween Horror Nights turns 35 in 2026, and Universal Orlando is running its longest event ever: 48 select nights from August 28 through November 1 at Universal Studios Florida, the earliest start date in the event’s history. This year’s theme is the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares, and the event is fronted by two returning co-icons appearing together as allies for the first time: Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow. This guide tracks every house, scare zone, show, and ticket product Universal has announced so far. It’s updated as Universal makes new reveals.
Update, July 30, 2026: Universal has detailed early access. Three houses now open at 2 p.m. for Stay & Scream guests, including Scream Early ticket holders, moved up from 3 p.m. last year. The HHN 35 lineup is also complete. Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness was announced as the tenth and final house, joining all four scare zones, two shows, and four street experiences. On tickets, all four Frequent Fear passes and the new 5-House R.I.P. Tour are on sale, and Universal has discontinued the Fear with Express Pass bundles, so multi-night passes now sell standalone.
For dates, lineups, and tickets at every Universal park, see our Halloween Horror Nights 2026 all-parks guide.
Quick facts
- Event: Halloween Horror Nights 35 (HHN 2026)
- Where: Universal Studios Florida
- Dates: 48 select nights, August 28 through November 1, 2026
- Theme: Infernal Carnival of Nightmares
- Icons: Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow (first time as allies)
- Haunted houses: All 10 announced
- Scare zones: All 4 announced
- Shows: 2 announced
- Premium Scream Nights: August 27 and October 19 (from $415)
- Single-night tickets: from $88.99
- Official site: UniversalOrlando.com/HHN
Table of contents
- Haunted houses (all 10)
- Scare zones
- Shows
- Street experiences (4 announced)
- CityWalk overlay (Dead Coconut Club – Harvest)
- Tickets: what you’re actually buying
- Getting there
- Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026
Haunted houses (all 10 announced)
Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control
The anniversary’s original icon house explores the origin of the rivalry between Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow, told from Oddfellow’s perspective, including the moment the two adversaries stop fighting and join forces. Universal announced the house at a MegaCon Orlando panel with Mike Aiello, Lora Sauls, and Charles Gray of Universal Orlando’s entertainment creative development team.
Sinners
Based on the 2025 Ryan Coogler vampire horror film. The house is set inside Club Juke, the 1930s Mississippi Delta juke joint at the center of the film, with twins Smoke and Stack facing a vampire attack. Per Universal’s official description, guests “visit Club Juke on its opening night” and “Celebration turns to panic when a troupe of nefarious, red-eyed vampires crash the party.” The dedicated Sinners release names the vampires, Remmick, Bert and Joan, and promises characters lifted straight from the film, including Sammie, Mary, Annie, Pearline and Cornbread. Sinners earned 16 Academy Award nominations at the 2026 ceremony, the most for any film in Oscar history, and won four including Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan.
Read our full coverage of Sinners.
Stranger Things 5
Developed in partnership with Netflix, the house draws from the show’s fifth and final season. Guests navigate the town of Hawkins as the barrier between reality and the supernatural collapses. Familiar locations include the Wheeler House, Hawkins National Laboratory, the MAC-Z military base, the Upside Down, and the Abyss. Demogorgons hunt at every turn, and Vecna pulls guests into the final battle.
Read our full coverage of Stranger Things at HHN.
Hellraiser
Hellraiser’s first-ever appearance at HHN, based on the original Clive Barker trilogy (1987’s Hellraiser, 1988’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and 1992’s Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth). Doug Bradley, the original Pinhead, reprises the role for both coasts, lending his voice to the production. Guests enter via the Lament Configuration and move through three confirmed settings: the shadowy attic of Frank Cotton’s family home, the disturbing Channard Institute, and the Labyrinth where Pinhead and the Cenobites lie in wait.
Read our full coverage of Hellraiser at HHN.
H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!
The horror host returns after 15 years, a direct sequel to the 2011 “H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: Holidays of Horror” with the original actor reprising the role. Bloodengutz has broken out of Carey Penitentiary on Halloween Day and returned to the derelict WKNB television studio to present a marathon of straight-to-TV Halloween films. The house is structured around seven scenes tied to seven fake movies. Some are callbacks to HHN’s own past.
Read our full coverage of H.R. Bloodengutz.
Madlands: Caged Cannibals
Original concept exclusive to Orlando. A defunct zoo is now the deadly domain of warring cannibal factions that have taken their animal instincts to extremes. Rival tribes occupy the abandoned grounds and have adopted the apex-predator behaviors of the species that once lived there, learning those traits from the zoo’s old signage and exhibit remnants. Universal Orlando’s Lora Sauls called it “one of the most aggressive in the event, very bloody, very in your face.”
Read our full coverage of Madlands.
Cybergoria
Original concept exclusive to Orlando. Set thousands of years in the future, Cybergoria’s backstory centers on a corporation called Bio Immortal Bionic Intelligent Systems that offered customers cryo-frozen immortality on the condition they be frozen until the tech to deliver eternal life caught up. The company never delivered. Per Universal’s official description, humans wake from cryo-sleep to find “the machines built to make them immortal and invincible have been harvesting human flesh and replacing with synthetic parts.” Show director Matthew Flood compared the intensity to Universal’s 2024 “Insidious: The Further” house.
Read our full coverage of Cybergoria.
Invasion: Alien Abduction
Original concept exclusive to Orlando, and the first original alien-abduction house in the event’s 35-year history. A ship of Grays has descended on a remote Southwestern homestead and is tearing the property apart, snatching the family and its livestock for experiments. Senior show director Charles Gray moved the setting away from the cliche cornfield to a turquoise-and-cactus Southwest, and gave the aliens a unique shuffling movement style. The house uses a vibrating floor to make guests feel the ship overhead.
Read our full coverage of Invasion: Alien Abduction.
Evil Dead Burn
New for 2026, shared with Universal Studios Hollywood. Based on Evil Dead Burn, New Line Cinema’s sixth Evil Dead film, released in U.S. theaters July 10, 2026. Guests enter the Price family’s secluded vacation home in the woods, where the Book of the Dead has been reopened and the family is possessed by Deadites. The Evil Dead franchise’s third HHN appearance and its first movie-tie-in house in 13 years.
Read our full coverage of Evil Dead Burn at HHN 2026.
Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness
The tenth and final house of HHN 35, announced July 29 and shared with Universal Studios Hollywood. Guests pass through ancient ruins and dungeons before boarding the Crazy Train into a realm built from the cover art of Diary of a Madman, Bark at the Moon, The Ultimate Sin, and Black Rain. Universal describes the Orlando build as drawing on the heavier sound and imagery of the later years of Osbourne’s career. Osbourne died July 22, 2025, and Universal built the house with the participation of his family.
Read our full coverage of Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness.
The Orlando lineup is now complete.
Scare zones (all 4 announced)
Infernal Carnival of Nightmares
The first scare zone shares its name with the event theme itself. “Jack and Dr. Oddfellow invite you to step right up and see what horrors hide in every shadow at a sinister spectacle decades in the making,” Universal wrote in the announcement. The announcement graphic highlights the first letter of each word in red, spelling out “ICON,” a nod to the two co-icons. The zone is staged on Illumination Boulevard.
Read our full coverage of the Infernal Carnival scare zone.
Sideshow of Decay
The second scare zone is set in a carnival junkyard. Per Universal: “Cindy’s time has come. With Dr. Oddfellow’s dark sorcery, she opened a portal in the carnival’s junkyard, using it to resurrect decayed nightmares from the past that are back to haunt you.” This is the first time the Cindy and Dr. Oddfellow mythologies have been connected, and the first use of the Oddverse portal device outside the icon house itself. Universal has not named which past characters return through the portal. Read our full coverage of Sideshow of Decay.
Fortnitemares: Freaky Fields
Universal is opening a Fortnitemares scare zone at both HHN Orlando and Hollywood in 2026, tied to Epic Games’ annual in-game Halloween event. Freaky Fields is staged as a Halloween-inspired living battleground overcome by a threatening force, with the Battle Bus and familiar Fortnitemares characters plus HHN-exclusive additions. The zone is staged in the Central Park section.
Downtown Clowntown
The fourth and final zone puts two licensed clown franchises on one street: the Killer Klowns from Outer Space and Terrifier’s Art the Clown take over the New York section together, alongside unnamed “other murderous clownsfolk.” Per Universal: “The city that never sleeps becomes a waking nightmare… Don’t be fooled by the locals – survival is no laughing matter.” The Klowns are back in Orlando after a seven-year absence, and Art moves to the street after his 2025 Terrifier house won House of the Year. Read our full coverage of Downtown Clowntown.
Shows (2 announced)
Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir
The sixth annual edition of Universal Orlando’s Nightmare Fuel stunt show, and the first show revealed for HHN 35. Blood Noir trades the connected 2024/2025 circus story arc for a vampire noir setting: “a sinister spectacle of pyro, aerialists and illusions.” The Fuel Girls, the London-based fire performance troupe that has anchored the show since its 2021 debut, have confirmed they will not return this year due to a Rock Orchestra touring conflict in Europe. Nightmare Fuel’s Wildfire (2022) previously won an IAAPA Brass Ring Award, with the citation calling the franchise the highest-rated show in HHN history.
Read our full coverage of Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir.
Stranger Things: Return to Hawkins
A nighttime lagoon show staged on the Universal Studios Florida lagoon, announced July 15. Universal frames it as a 10th-anniversary tribute to the Netflix series spanning all five seasons of Stranger Things. Format uses water screens, projection mapping onto park buildings to recreate Hawkins locations, dynamic lighting, and audio pulled from the series’ original score. Per Jason Horne, assistant director of entertainment creative development at Universal Orlando, this is the first HHN lagoon show built entirely around a single franchise. The show is a separate experience from the previously announced Stranger Things Season 5 haunted house. Included with standard event admission.
Read our full coverage of Stranger Things: Return to Hawkins.
Street experiences (4 announced)
HamiKuma meet and greet
Universal Studios Japan’s Halloween mascot makes his Orlando meet and greet debut inside the Five & Dime store during event hours, after Orlando got only his merchandise in 2025. New HamiKuma merchandise arrives August 24.
Mel’s Die-In: Zombies
Mel’s Die-In is Universal’s Halloween takeover of Mel’s Drive-In, the Universal Studios Florida diner in the Hollywood Boulevard section of the park. The tagline: “Shake, Rattle and R.I.P.” Zombie carhops swarm the diner and, per Universal, “aren’t just here for the burgers.” Read our full coverage of the street experiences.
Club Horror
Club Horror takes over the San Francisco section of the park with an undead-DJ conceit. The tagline: “Party Like Your Life Depends on It.” Universal describes it as “the streets of San Francisco… transformed into Club Horror, where the DJ’s undead but the vibe is alive and well.” Read our full coverage of the street experiences.
Chainsaw Horde
Announced July 23, the Chainsaw Horde is HHN’s roaming chainsaw pack – not a fixed zone but a mobile street presence that can turn up anywhere on the event footprint.
CityWalk overlay (Dead Coconut Club – Harvest)
Universal CityWalk’s Red Coconut Club runs a Halloween overlay every year for HHN, and 2026’s is Dead Coconut Club – Harvest, themed to an alien invasion at the fictional Midweston’s 35th Annual Harvest Festival – a wink at HHN’s 35th anniversary and a tie-in to the alien content elsewhere on the event (INVASION: Alien Abduction and the returning Killer Klowns from Outer Space). It is free, all ages, and open to guests with or without an HHN ticket. Annual Passholder previews run August 26 from 7 to 10 p.m. and August 29 from 4 to 5 p.m., an early-hour window before the club opens to everyone at 5 p.m. Public opening is August 28 at 5 p.m.
Tribute Store
The Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store returns August 26, back at its original location to the left of Revenge of the Mummy at Universal Studios Florida. This year it is themed to Sideshow Obscura, a traveling sideshow that has returned to town, running from a ticket entrance through oddities, creatures, backstage spaces and a midway. Our Halloween Horror Nights merchandise guide prices the 2026 collections.
Tickets: what you’re actually buying
Ticket products announced for HHN Orlando 2026:
- Single-night tickets: from $88.99
- Express Pass: from $199.99
- Scream Early (2 p.m. early-entry add-on): from $70. It is one of four daytime admissions that qualify for Stay & Scream, and it does not include event admission. Three houses open at 2 p.m.: Stranger Things 5, Hellraiser, and Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control. You must be inside the park by 5 p.m. Annual and Seasonal Passholders already qualify and do not need this add-on. Full Stay & Scream breakdown.
- Premium Scream Night: from $415 (August 27 or October 19)
- Multi-night passes: Rush of Fear (from $229.99, up to first 18 nights), Frequent Fear (from $274.99, up to 31 nights), Frequent Fear Plus (from $324.99, up to 41 nights), Ultimate Frequent Fear (from $449.99, up to 49 event nights plus free self-parking after 5 p.m. on eligible nights; not valid on Premium Scream Night). Details and eligible nights per tier.
- New for 2026 — 5-House R.I.P. Tour ($299.99+): A shorter R.I.P. product with priority VIP entry to five pre-selected houses on a North or South itinerary, plus Universal Express Unlimited on rides. Event admission required separately.
Here’s my take. What you’re really buying is your wait time. If a house like Stranger Things runs a two-hour line on a busy Saturday, that’s what general admission gets you: the full two hours. Express Pass cuts that roughly in half. RIP Tours skip the line entirely, so zero wait. Premium Scream Night is a mix of those benefits, plus food and beverage and parking bundled in, and how well it holds up depends on how many other Premium buyers are there the same night.
The other lever is timing. Early entry with Scream Early (2 p.m.) gets you into houses before the peak crowd arrives. Staying late helps too. The middle of the night is when the lines are worst, and there’s no ticket product that fixes that except one of the tour tiers.
For the complete ticket breakdown, including which multi-night pass fits which visit pattern, see our Halloween Horror Nights Tickets 2026 Guide.
Getting there
Universal Studios Florida is at 6000 Universal Boulevard, Orlando, FL 32819. Event nights run 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. Stay & Scream early access opens three houses at 2 p.m. and is separate from event hours.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026
The West Coast event runs 42 select nights from September 3 through November 1 at Universal Studios Hollywood, with the event beginning at 7 p.m. All eight houses have been announced (Sinners, Stranger Things, Hellraiser, Evil Dead Burn, Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness, the Hollywood originals Dead, Deader, Deadest and Killceañera: Music by SLASH, and the Hollywood-only Killer Klowns from Outer Space), plus the shared Fortnitemares: Freaky Fields scare zone and the returning Purge: Dangerous Waters stunt show. For the Hollywood-specific guide, see our Halloween Horror Nights 2026 in Hollywood: Complete Guide.
This guide is updated as Universal makes new announcements. Last updated August 6, 2026.
