Long Beach, CA — Art the Clown is taking over the Terror Tram. At the Halloween Horror Nights panel at Midsummer Scream, creative director John Murdy revealed that the Terrifier villain stars in the 2026 Terror Tram at Universal Studios Hollywood in a Christmas-gone-wrong overhaul called “Every Day Is Artmas.” He also turns up twice more across the park, which makes him this year’s unofficial mascot.
The Terror Tram takes guests out onto the Universal backlot on the studio’s tram and drops them into a walking scare experience. Here is last year’s version for reference:
An Art the Clown “Book and Record”
Murdy said the team wanted Art at the event but with a fresh spin. “We wanted Art to be part of our event this year, but we wanted to make it something new, something different, something you guys have never seen before. So we decided to have Art take over the Terror Tram,” he said.
Art the Clown never speaks, which is the storytelling problem the team had to solve. Murdy’s fix was a vintage “book and record,” the kind of illustrated storybook with a chime that told kids when to turn the page. “When I was a kid, we used to have book and records,” he said. “What book and records always had was that iconic sound. When you hear this sound, turn the page.” The framing lets the book-and-record intro narrate Art’s story without giving the silent clown a voice.
The story leans on a feeling every shopper knows. “There’s one guy at Universal who loves Christmas so much that he wants every day to be Christmas,” Murdy said. In the storybook, Art wears a Santa suit he stole from an old man at a bar and boards the tram to hand out a present, only for the tour guide to tell him it is not Christmas yet. That makes Art sad, then mad, so he decides the guests are naughty and builds his own Christmas out on the backlot. The character illustrations are by the team’s Lucas Culshaw.
The Seven Zones
Guests walk the backlot through seven zones, each a classic Christmas image twisted into Art’s world.
- Scary Artmas, the drop-off, where Vicki Heyes hands Art a fresh chainsaw, the Little Pale Girl takes his severed doll head, and Nutcracker characters rev their own saws to the Nutcracker Suite.
- Art’s Christmas Tree Farm, whose motto is “we slice ’em, chop ’em, trim ’em, top ’em,” with intestines strung as garland and heads used as tree toppers.
- The 12 Slays of Christmas, the Bates Motel redecorated as a Christmas party Art crashes, ending in a chainsaw showdown with a Snow Angel version of Sienna Shaw.
- Art’s Christmas Cafe, where a Maitre D Art and his sous chefs plate holiday horrors alongside a Christmas Ham and a Christmas Turkey.
- Hell for the Holidays, a blacklight zone at the War of the Worlds set full of Clockwork Orange-style evil snowmen.
- Santa Art Is Coming to Town, where Art and the Little Pale Girl shoot down Santa’s sleigh with a World War II flak gun, surrounded by Jack Frost, the Snow Queen, a Christmas Death Angel, and toys escaped from Santa’s workshop.
- Art’s Workshop, a gingerbread house on the outside and a gory parts shop on the inside, its doors labeled dismemberment, decapitation, and disembowelment, where Santa’s corpse is taken apart.
The cast pulls straight from the Terrifier films, with Art joined by Vicki Heyes, the Little Pale Girl, and Sienna Shaw. The concept art shown at the panel:
Ice Nine Kills Scores a Death-Metal Christmas
The Terror Tram’s soundtrack is its own reveal. Spencer Charnas, lead vocalist of Ice Nine Kills, joined Murdy on stage to announce the band is writing original music for the attraction. “Ice Nine Kills are creating completely original music for the 2026 Terror Tram,” Charnas said, reworking classic carols into death metal.
Charnas framed the collaboration as a natural one. “Ice Nine Kills combines two of my favorite things in the world: heavy music and horror,” he said, describing the score as “the juxtaposition of the happiest time of year with death.” Murdy played a preview of the band’s take on “Joy to the World” and said it would be the attraction’s most intense score yet: “Terror Tram is going to have the most intense music score it’s ever had in its entire history.”
A preview of the “Joy to the World” rework played at the panel:
Art the Clown Is Everywhere This Year
The Terror Tram is only the start. Art also returns as a roaming stalk-around character in several versions, including a blood-soaked Santa Art, and he gets a dedicated photo op at the Hollywood Sign. Murdy said that one is a direct answer to last year’s crowds. “Last year we had all these Arts running around the park, and a lot of you wanted a picture with Art, but it was like the Pied Piper trying to keep up with him,” he said. “So we’re going to do that for you this year.” Between the tram, the stalk-around, and the photo line, Art is effectively the face of the 2026 event.
The Clown Cafe: Art the Clown Gets His Own Food
Art’s takeover reaches the menu this year. On the Lower Lot, a new Clown Cafe serves Art the Clown-themed food, and Art also runs a Christmas-themed Tinsel Bar near the Animation Studio Store, based on an early preview from Inside Universal.
Clown Cafe (Lower Lot): the Death by Cheese Stick, a giant fried mozzarella stick coated in crushed Ruffles and served with spicy marinara, plus Bloodbath Brisket Fries, Clown Cafe Cauliflower Bites topped with Flamin Hot Cheeto sauce and Fritos, the Gut Wound chocolate raspberry croissant pull-apart, and a Christmas Tree Glasses Sandwich Cookie. Drinks include Root in Evil and Art’s Killer Cold Brew, topped with a chocolate Art the Clown hat.
Art the Clown’s Tinsel Bar (near the Animation Studio Store): a Christmas-slasher cocktail bar with the Silent Night Slasher, the Mistletoe Massacre, the Frosty Fright, and Art’s Killer Cold Brew.
Where to Find the Full 2026 Lineup
The Terror Tram is one of several 2026 reveals from Universal’s Midsummer Scream panel, joining the houses already announced for the event. For dates, tickets, and the full lineup, see our Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 guide.
