Orlando, FL — The Horror Make-Up Show at Universal Studios Florida is coming back as Universal Horror Make-Up Show featuring Blumhouse, Universal Orlando Resort announced on October 9. The live show has been closed since May 12, and Universal has not given a reopening date.
Top photo: the Horror Make-Up Show’s stage in 2020, before the theater’s update. (Photo: Kevin Kolczynski, Universal Orlando Resort)
Classic Monsters and Blumhouse
“In this live show, discover how Hollywood’s top special effects artists have terrified moviegoers for over 100 years,” Universal Orlando wrote in the announcement on its social accounts, “from Universal’s classic monsters to the modern horrors of Blumhouse.”
The announcement names no Blumhouse film, no opening date and no showtimes, and it ends with the words “Details coming soon.” Blumhouse is the studio behind M3GAN, The Black Phone and Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Michael Aiello on the Theater’s Update
“Having performed in this show for years, it has always been a dream of mine to convince leadership to give this entire venue a well deserved update,” Michael Aiello, senior director of entertainment creative development at Universal Orlando Resort, wrote on X the same evening. “Well they said yes! And we did!”
“Much of what you’ve always loved about this show has remained but new surprises await and now, more than a fresh coat of paint, an entire visual reimagining from floor to ceiling!” Aiello wrote.
Aiello called the new version “this tribute to 100 years of Universal Horror along with our @blumhouse partners.”
A Comedy Stage Show Since 1990
The Horror Make-Up Show is a comedy stage show about how horror film effects are made: two actors play a host and a make-up artist, run film clips and gags, and improvise around the script. It opened on June 24, 1990, “just a couple of weeks after Universal Studios’ grand opening,” according to Universal’s blog.
The show’s temporary closure began on May 12 “to make way for a reimagined experience,” a note on the same blog post says. FOX 35 Orlando reported before the closing that Universal said the reimagined version would debut later this year.
Blumhouse at Universal’s Horror Attractions
Universal announced the name on the day of BlumFest, Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s panel at New York Comic Con, where the first trailer for The Exorcist: Martyrs debuted and three 2027 films got release dates. My BlumFest coverage has every date.
Blumhouse films have been in Universal’s horror attractions since at least 2022:
- 2022: The Horrors of Blumhouse, a Halloween Horror Nights haunted house in Orlando and Hollywood built on The Black Phone and Freaky.
- 2023: Blumhouse: Behind the Screams at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood, a walk-through of film props, costume displays and character encounters from Five Nights at Freddy’s, The Exorcist: Believer, M3GAN and The Black Phone.
- Since August 2025: Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer, one of the four permanent haunted houses at Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas.
Universal Orlando has not announced an opening date for the show, and Halloween Horror Nights 35 runs at Universal Studios Florida on 49 select nights through November 1. My Orlando guide lists every house, scare zone and show. Universal Orlando posted the announcement on its X account, and the show’s history is on Universal’s blog.
