The fog is beginning to roll back into Universal Studios Hollywood, which means Halloween Horror Nights is almost here!
Halloween Horror Nights has become one of Southern California’s biggest Halloween events, transforming Universal Studios Hollywood into a collection of haunted houses, scare zones, live entertainment, themed food, and plenty of chainsaw-wielding maniacs. Hollywood also has one major experience that separates it from the Orlando event: the Terror Tram, which allows guests to walk through portions of Universal’s historic backlot.
There are still several announcements to come, but Universal has already revealed some exciting haunted houses and our first scare zone for 2026. Here is everything you need to know about Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 so far.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Houses Revealed So Far
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood will once again feature a combination of major horror properties and original concepts created specifically for the event. Six houses have now been announced, including the newly revealed Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness, but additional reveals are still expected before the event begins.
Sinners
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners is bringing Club Juke to Halloween Horror Nights.
Set in 1930s Mississippi, the house will place guests in the middle of the Smokestack Twins’ new juke joint as music, celebration, and community give way to a bloody vampire attack. Remmick and his followers have arrived, and guests will have to find a way through the club while familiar characters from the movie fight to survive.
Sinners feels like a perfect choice for Halloween Horror Nights. The movie has an incredibly distinct setting, fantastic music, and a group of vampires that should translate beautifully into a haunted house.
Stranger Things 5
Stranger Things is returning to Halloween Horror Nights for one final trip into the Upside Down.
Based on the fifth and final season of the Netflix series, this house will send guests back to Hawkins as Vecna prepares to finish what he started. Along the way, guests will encounter Demogorgons, the Mind Flayer, and other creatures from the Upside Down while joining the Hawkins crew for their final battle.
Stranger Things has already inspired several Halloween Horror Nights houses, but adapting the show’s last season gives Universal an opportunity to make this the biggest and most intense version yet.
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser
It is time to open the puzzle box and enter a realm of pure pain.
The Hellraiser haunted house will draw from the original film trilogy, bringing Pinhead and the Cenobites into Halloween Horror Nights. Guests will witness the Cenobites’ nightmarish rituals while journeying through a version of Hell filled with chains, hooks, and plenty of suffering.
I went hands-on with Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival during Summer Game Fest, so I am already deep in my Hellraiser excitement this year. Seeing the original trilogy represented at Halloween Horror Nights makes this one of my most anticipated houses of the entire event.
Evil Dead Burn
The Book of the Dead has been opened once again, and an entire family is about to pay the price.
Based on Evil Dead Burn, this house will take guests inside a family home consumed by an infernal force. Expect plenty of possessed Deadites, gruesome practical effects, and the excessive amount of blood that has become a defining part of the Evil Dead franchise.
Evil Dead and Halloween Horror Nights have worked well together in the past, and this new house sounds like it will continue that wonderfully disgusting tradition.
Dead, Deader, Deadest
The first original house revealed for Hollywood is Dead, Deader, Deadest, which is technically a sequel to the Universal Horror Hotel house featured at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood in 2022.
The connection comes through the Deville family. Universal Horror Hotel introduced Maximilian Deville, the hotel’s murderous owner, while the new house continues that story inside the Deville Family Funeral Home. This time, the family has started using Ambrotox, a supposed miracle drug that can restore a corpse’s appearance without embalming.
Unfortunately, the drug has some serious side effects. After Ambrotox backfires, a century’s worth of corpses rises from the grave and begins terrorizing anyone unfortunate enough to enter the funeral home.
I love that Universal is returning to one of its original concepts and expanding its story instead of leaving it as a one-year experience. Original houses are often where the Halloween Horror Nights creative team gets to be at its strangest, and a failed mortuary drug unleashing generations of decaying bodies has plenty of potential.
Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood is celebrating 45 years of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo career with Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness.
Created in collaboration with the Osbourne family, the house will take guests on a nightmarish journey through Ozzy’s life, music, and constantly evolving collection of stage personas. His music will remain at the heart of every room, while the environments draw from the imagery found throughout his career.
Hollywood’s version will begin with Ozzy’s childhood in Birmingham, England, before following his transformation into the Prince of Darkness. Guests will enter the Osbourne Asylum, inspired by Diary of a Madman, and encounter different versions of the legendary musician, including Madman Ozzy, Werewolf Ozzy, and the Prince of Darkness himself.
I love the music-based houses at Halloween Horror Nights. They are some of the best embodiments of the creative freedom that makes this event special. Universal is not restricted to recreating scenes from a movie. Instead, the team can take an artist’s music, album artwork, public persona, and career and combine everything into an entirely new horror experience.
Ozzy is also one of the most natural choices Universal could make for this type of house. His career is filled with dark fantasy, monsters, madness, and decades of horror imagery. More than just another haunted house, Prince of Darkness sounds like it will be a wonderfully loud and fitting celebration of Ozzy’s legacy.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Scare Zones Revealed So Far
Scare zones transform the streets of Universal Studios Hollywood with detailed sets, atmospheric lighting, special effects, and roaming scareactors. Unlike the haunted houses, there is no queue or escape route. You simply have to walk through and hope you are paying attention to everything lurking in the fog.
FORTNITEMARES
Fortnite is dropping into Halloween Horror Nights with a live-action FORTNITEMARES scare zone.
Guests will enter Freaky Fields as the Storm spreads across the area and unleashes a collection of frightening enemies. The experience will feature recognizable elements from Fortnite, including the Battle Bus, familiar FORTNITEMARES characters, and some new additions created exclusively for Halloween Horror Nights.
I have been incredibly excited by almost every Halloween Horror Nights announcement this year, but FORTNITEMARES is the first one that has left me feeling a little unsure. Fortnite has certainly featured plenty of horror characters and Halloween-themed events, but it does not immediately feel like the best fit alongside properties such as Hellraiser, Sinners, and Evil Dead Burn.
That being said, Universal has described Freaky Fields as an evolving, high-stakes environment rather than a traditional static scare zone. If it takes full advantage of that idea, FORTNITEMARES could still surprise me. For now, this is one I will need to see in action before I am completely sold.
Additional scare zones are expected to be announced before the event begins.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Terror Tram
The Terror Tram will return for Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026, although Universal has not revealed its theme yet.
During the Terror Tram, guests board a tram before being dropped off on the Universal Studios backlot. From there, they must continue on foot through several themed areas filled with sets, scareactors, and characters.
The Terror Tram is one of the biggest reasons to choose Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights. It provides the rare opportunity to walk through areas normally seen during the Studio Tour, including portions of the backlot used in actual film and television productions.
Universal has teased that this year’s Terror Tram will take a “disturbing new turn.” We will update this section once its complete theme and story have been announced.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Dates
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 will run for a record 42 select nights from September 3 through November 1, 2026.
The currently scheduled event dates are:
September 3–6
September 10–13
September 17–20
September 23–27
September 30
October 1–4
October 7–11
October 14–18
October 21–25
October 28–31
November 1
The event officially begins at 7:00 p.m. each night, although select ticket options provide earlier entry. Dates, hours, and available experiences remain subject to change, so check Universal’s official calendar before planning your visit.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Tickets
Halloween Horror Nights is a separately ticketed event, meaning standard daytime admission to Universal Studios Hollywood does not automatically include access.
Several different ticket options are available for 2026:
General Admission — Starting at $77
General Admission provides entry to Halloween Horror Nights on one selected event night. It includes access to the haunted houses, scare zones, Terror Tram, entertainment, and participating attractions, but it does not include Early Event Access or Express privileges.
One important restriction for 2026 is that General Admission does not include access to the new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster during Halloween Horror Nights.
Early Access — Starting at $20
Early Access is an add-on that allows guests to enter select haunted houses beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m., before the event officially opens at 7:00 p.m.
This can provide a major head start, especially if some of the year’s most popular houses are included in the early-access lineup. A separate Halloween Horror Nights admission ticket for the same date is still required.
After 2 P.M. Day/Night — Starting at $117
The After 2 P.M. Day/Night ticket combines daytime admission to Universal Studios Hollywood after 2:00 p.m. with admission to Halloween Horror Nights that same evening. It also includes early access to select haunted houses beginning at approximately 5:30 p.m.
Unlike standard General Admission, this ticket includes limited access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift during Halloween Horror Nights.
After 2 P.M. Day/Night Universal Express — Starting at $309
This option combines daytime park admission after 2:00 p.m., Halloween Horror Nights admission, Early Event Access, and one-time Express access to each participating haunted house and attraction.
It also includes access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift during its designated Halloween Horror Nights operating window.
Universal Express — Starting at $249
Universal Express includes Halloween Horror Nights admission and one-time Express access to each participating haunted house and attraction.
Wait times can become extremely long on busy nights, particularly during October. Express is significantly more expensive than General Admission, but it can make it much easier to experience the entire event in a single night.
The 2026 Universal Express ticket also includes access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift from 7:00 p.m. until approximately 11:30 p.m., subject to availability and change.
Universal Express Unlimited — Starting at $289
Universal Express Unlimited allows repeated Express access to participating haunted houses, rides, and attractions throughout the night.
If you want to revisit your favorite houses without spending most of the event standing in line, this is one of the strongest options available outside the R.I.P. Tour. Access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift is also included during its designated event hours.
Frequent Fear Pass — Starting at $179
The Frequent Fear Pass provides General Admission to Halloween Horror Nights on up to 35 eligible event nights.
Your first visit is selected when purchasing the pass, with the remaining visits restricted to participating dates. Early Event Access, Express privileges, daytime admission, and access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift are not included.
Ultimate Fear Pass — Starting at $299
The Ultimate Fear Pass provides General Admission to all 42 scheduled Halloween Horror Nights event nights in 2026 without blockout dates.
It does not include Early Event Access, daytime admission, Express privileges, or access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift. However, for local guests who plan to visit several times, it can offer significantly better value than purchasing individual tickets.
Ticket prices and included benefits remain subject to change. The latest options can be found through the official Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood ticket page.
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood R.I.P. Tour
The Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood R.I.P. Tour starts at $439 per person and is the event’s premium guided experience.
Guests receive admission to Halloween Horror Nights, access through a dedicated VIP entrance, and a guided walking tour in a shared group of up to 12 people. While accompanied by the guide, guests receive one-time priority R.I.P. entry to each haunted house and select attractions included in the itinerary.
The tour also includes:
Universal Express Unlimited access to participating haunted houses, rides, and attractions for the remainder of the night
A gourmet dinner inside the private VIP dining room
An exclusive backlot Halloween experience with VIP trolley transportation
Reserved VIP seating at a live show, depending on the tour itinerary
Special themed photo opportunities
Access to select cash-bar locations
A commemorative R.I.P. Tour credential and lanyard
Complimentary valet parking for one vehicle
Access to Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift from 7:00 p.m. until approximately 11:30 p.m.
Daytime theme park admission and Early Event Access are not included. Guests must also arrive at the R.I.P. Tour reception approximately 30 minutes before their scheduled departure time.
What Changed About the R.I.P. Tour in 2026?
The biggest addition to the 2026 R.I.P. Tour is access to the new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster. Standard Halloween Horror Nights General Admission and the multi-night Fear Passes do not include the coaster, making the R.I.P. Tour one of the ticket options that will let guests ride it during the event.
The starting price has also increased from $419 in 2025 to $439 in 2026. Otherwise, most of the major R.I.P. benefits remain familiar, including the guided tour, gourmet dinner, VIP trolley transportation, priority house entry, Unlimited Express access, and complimentary valet parking.
It is a $20 increase, but the addition of Hollywood Drift gives the tour at least one major new perk. The R.I.P. Tour is still easily the most expensive way to experience Halloween Horror Nights, but it is also the closest thing to a stress-free night at the event.
Final Thoughts
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 is already shaping up to have an incredibly varied lineup. Sinners, Hellraiser, Stranger Things 5, and Evil Dead Burn bring four very different styles of horror, while Dead, Deader, Deadest gives Hollywood its first wonderfully gruesome original concept of the year.
There are still more houses, scare zones, entertainment, and the full Terror Tram theme left to reveal. We will continue updating this guide as Universal Studios Hollywood announces everything waiting for us in the fog.
