History Theatre / HalloweenHorrorNights

** In ''YETI: Campground Kills'', guests also have to deal with attacks from a bear and poisonous snake in addition to the rampaging yeti.

* DaylightHorror: The event starts at least an hour before nightfall, giving plenty of time for the sun to shine over the scarezones.

* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: 2019's ''Yeti: Terror of the Yukon'' was set in a remote Canadian forest, filled with deadly Yetis.

* [[Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter Death Eaters Encounter]][[note]]Universal typically runs spooky {{Hallowen special}}s in ''Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter'' concurently with Horror Nights, but were forbidden by executive mandates to associate the land with Horror Nights in previous years. 2023 was the [[https://archive.ph/0fI9V first year]] where Universal could officially declare a Wizarding World event as a part of Horror Nights.[[/note]]

Halloween Horror Nights actually began in 1986 at Universal Hollywood to compete with Knott's Scary Farm at [[Ride/CedarFairEntertainment Knott's Berry Farm]], a rivalry that endures to this day; after a grisly FatalMethodActing accident where a scareactor was run over by a tram, Hollywood canceled the event. Universal would not revive their Halloween events until the introduction of Fright Nights in Orlando in 1991, an event designed to compete with the local "Terror On Church Street" haunt that lasted for one weekend in October and included one house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a large number of shows, musical acts, and street performers. Fright Nights was massively popular, with the house achieving wait times of over 2 hours, and the name was changed to Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. '92 also saw the introduction of the ''Franchise/BillAndTed's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' show, which continued on every year until 2017.

Halloween Horror Nights actually began in 1986 at Universal Hollywood to compete with Knott's Scary Farm at [[Ride/CedarFairEntertainment Knott's Berry Farm]] (the two events remain local rivals to this day); after a grisly FatalMethodActing accident where a scareactor was run over by a tram, Hollywood canceled the event. Universal would not revive their Halloween events until the introduction of Fright Nights in Orlando in 1991, an event designed to compete with the local "Terror On Church Street" haunt that lasted for one weekend in October and included one house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a large number of shows, musical acts, and street performers. Fright Nights was massively popular, with the house achieving wait times of over 2 hours, and the name was changed to Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. '92 also saw the introduction of the ''Franchise/BillAndTed's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' show, which continued on every year until 2017.

The event has only grown since then: in 2019 at its peak, for Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 29, there were 10 houses, 5 scarezones, and two shows. The event has gone from running a mere three nights to, at its 2019 peak, running 42 select nights from September 6 to November 2. The biggest competitor for the event at the moment is Theatre/HowlOScream at Ride/BuschGardens. Hollywood's event would eventually catch back up with the Orlando event in terms of scope and has been well received by fans and by the creators of the franchises that Hollywood bases their mazes on. Hollywood's event is under the direction of John Murdy, who originally worked on the Orlando event, who is known not only for his fan interaction but his ability to get the biggest names in horror to contribute to the scares.

Halloween Horror Nights actually began in 1986 at Universal Hollywood; after a grisly FatalMethodActing accident where a scareactor was run over by a tram, Hollywood canceled the event. Universal would not revive their Halloween events until the introduction of Fright Nights in Orlando in 1991, an event designed to compete with the local "Terror On Church Street" haunt that lasted for one weekend in October and included one house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a large number of shows, musical acts, and street performers. Fright Nights was massively popular, with the house achieving wait times of over 2 hours, and the name was changed to Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. '92 also saw the introduction of the ''Franchise/BillAndTed's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' show, which continued on every year until 2017.

The event has only grown since then: in 2019 at its peak, for Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 29, there were 10 houses, 5 scarezones, and two shows. The event has gone from running a mere three nights to, at its 2019 peak, running 42 select nights from September 6 to November 2. The biggest competitor for the event at the moment is Theatre/HowlOScream at Ride/BuschGardens. Hollywood's event would eventually catch back up with the Orlando event in terms of scope and has been well received by fans and by the creators of the franchises that Hollywood bases their mazes on. Hollywood's event is under the direction of John Murdy, who originally worked on the Orlando event, who is known not only for his fan interaction but his ability to get the biggest names in horror to contribute to the scares. The biggest competitor for Hollywood at the moment [[note]]in fact, Horror Nights kicked off in 1986 to compete directly with them[[/note]] is Knott's Scary Farm at [[Ride/CedarFairEntertainment Knott's Berry Farm]].

Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both have their own versions, with members of the Orlando event's Art & Design Team providing guidance. Singapore's event weaves in both common Horror Nights staples (the use of Icons and common HHN maze/scarezone themes) mixed in with haunted attractions based on Singaporean culture. Japan's event focuses on licensed properties, both American (such as ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' and ''[[Film/TheMummyTrilogy The Mummy]]'') and domestic (including J-horror & supernatural mainstays ''[[Literature/TheRing Ring]]'', ''Film/{{Juon}}'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro''); it's also notable for having the first "extreme" house in the event's history worldwide[[note]]"Extreme" houses differ from regular haunted houses due to being a more "personalized" horror experience. Usually it means guests have to go in alone or with a small group and they have to sign up for it in advance, including legal waivers. There's a lot of focus on sensory deprivation and, most notably, a lot of the rules that scareactors would usually have to follow are off the table ''including'' them not being able to touch you. HHN Orlando has had ideas for extreme houses for years but they've never made it to the events themselves. Orlando's 2016 upcharge experience, ''The Repository'', is the closest to an extreme house the event has had... but while the experience was more personal and the scareactors could touch people, it wasn't any scarier than a regular house.[[/note]], with 2015's ''Trauma''.

The event has only grown since then: in 2019 at its peak, for Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights 29, there were 10 houses, 5 scarezones, and two shows. The event has gone from running a mere three nights to, at its 2019 peak, running 42 select nights from September 6 to November 2. The biggest competitor for the event at the moment is Theatre/HowlOScream at Ride/BuschGardens. Hollywood's event would eventually catch back up with the Orlando event in terms of scope and has been well received by fans and by the creators of the franchises that Hollywood bases their mazes on. Hollywood's event is under the direction of John Murdy, who originally worked on the Orlando event, who is known not only for his fan interaction but his ability to get the biggest names in horror to contribute to the scares. The biggest competitor for Hollywood at the moment [[note]]in fact, Horror Nights kicked off in 1986 to compete directly with them[[/note]] is Knotts' Scary Farm.

[[caption-width-right:350: Prepare to run like the dickens in 3...2...late.]]

* [[Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter Death Eaters Encounter]][[note]]Universal typically runs thematic spooky events in ''Ride/TheWizardingWorldOfHarryPotter'' concurently with Horror Nights, but were forbidden by executive mandates to associate the land with Horror Nights in previous years. 2023 was the [[https://archive.ph/0fI9V first year]] where Universal could officially declare ''Harry Potter'' as part of Horror Nights.[[/note]]

* XtremeKoolLetterz: Common for scarezone names for some reason. Most blatant example: ''Klownz''.

* ''Film/ThePurge: Dangerous Waters''

* ''Toyzz''

[[folder: Houses, Scarezones, and Immersive Content for 2022 at Orlando]]

* ''[[Music/TheWeeknd The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare]]''
* ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''
* ''[[Creator/BlumhouseProductions The Horrors of Blumhouse]]''[[note]]Based on ''Film/{{Freaky}}'' and ''Film/TheBlackPhone''[[/note]]
* ''[[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal Monsters: Legends Collide]]''[[note]]Featuring [[Film/TheWolfMan1941 The Wolf Man]], [[Film/Dracula1931 Dracula]] and [[Film/TheMummy1932 The Mummy]][[/note]]
* ''Spirits of the Coven''
* ''Bugs: Eaten Alive''
* ''Fiesta de Chupacabras''
* ''Hellblock Horror''
* ''Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake''
* ''Descendants of Destruction''

* ''Horrors of Halloween''
* ''Scarecrow: Cursed Soil''
* ''Sweet Revenge''
* ''Graveyard: Deadly Unrest''
* ''Conjure the Dark''
[[AC:Shows]]
* ''Halloween Nightmare Fuel: Wildfire''
* ''Ghoulish! A Halloween Tale''[[note]]Currently suspended indefinitely due to damages from Hurricane Ian[[/note]]

* Tribute Store[[note]]Styled as a classic Halloween-themed dark ride, and linked to the adjacent ''Sweet Revenge'' scarezone[[/note]]
* Universal Monsters Gallery of Legends
* [[Series/{{Chucky}} Chucky's Good Guys Toy Box Photo Op]]

* Universal Monsters: Dead Coconut Club

[[folder: Houses, Scarezones, and Immersive Content for 2022 at Hollywood]]

* ''[[Music/TheWeeknd The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare]]''
* ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''
* ''[[Creator/BlumhouseProductions The Horrors of Blumhouse]]''[[note]]Based on ''Film/{{Freaky}}'' and ''Film/TheBlackPhone''[[/note]]
* ''[[Franchise/UniversalHorror Universal Monsters: Legends Collide]]''[[note]]Featuring [[Film/TheWolfMan1941 The Wolf Man]], [[Film/Dracula1931 Dracula]] and [[Film/TheMummy1932 The Mummy]][[/note]]
* ''Killer Klowns From Outer Space''
* ''La Llorona: The Weeping Woman''
* ''Scarecrow: The Reaping''
* ''Universal Horror Hotel''

* ''El Pueblo del Terror''
* ''Sideshow Slaughterhouse''
* ''Clownsawz''

* ''Jabbawockeez''

* ''Terror Tram''[[note]]Based on ''Film/{{Us}}'' and ''Film/{{Nope}}''[[/note]]
* Haunted Forest
* Dia De Los Muertos Plaza
* The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare Bar

Hollywood's event is predominantly movie-centric, and as such, doesn't have Icons and focuses on characters from the house/scarezone properties in the event and marketing. [[note]]Despite Hollywood's focus, Orlando icons have appeared at the 2006 and 2007 events, although only one of them (The Director) served as an Icon in the traditional sense. While the Director is notable for being the first Icon to have served in full capacity at Orlando, Hollywood, ''and'' overseas in Singapore, the first Icon to have the honors of going overseas is The Caretaker for the shortlived HHN event in Spain back when Universal still owned the [=PortAventura=] theme park.[[/note]] One of the other distinctions that Hollywood has over Orlando is the ''Terror Tram'', which goes through many of the same sights as the distinctive ''Ride/StudioTour''... only for one reason or another, guests were forced off the tram and onto the the Backlot sets, with rethemed paths and scareactors galore.

Hollywood's event is predominantly movie-centric, and as such, doesn't have Icons and focuses on characters from the house/scarezone properties in the event and marketing. [[note]]Despite Hollywood's focus, Orlando icons have appeared at the 2006 and 2007 events, although only one of them (The Director) served as an Icon in the traditional sense. While the Director is notable for being the first Icon to have served in full capacity at Orlando, Hollywood, ''and'' overseas in Singapore, the first Icon to have the honors of going overseas is The Caretaker for the shortlived HHN event in Spain back when Universal still owned the [=PortAventura=] theme park.[[/note]] One of the other distinctions that Hollywood had over Orlando is the ''Terror Tram'', which goes through many of the same sights as the distinctive ''Ride/StudioTour''... only for one reason or another, guests were forced off the tram and onto the the Backlot sets, with rethemed paths and scareactors galore. However, this aspect of the event was discontinued in 2019.

* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Orlando's event in 2009 had a house for ''Film/TheWolfman2010'' months before the movie actually came out.
** Two houses at the Orlando and Hollywood events had scenes depicting moments in films that had not yet come out. The final room of ''Saw: The Games of Jigsaw'' featured one of the new traps from ''Film/{{Jigsaw}}'', and scenes from ''Film/InsidiousTheLastKey'' were depicted in ''The Horrors of Blumhouse'' at Orlando's event and in ''Insidious: Beyond the Further'' at Hollywood's event.

** Hollywood has the "Log Bunny", a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin a log with bunny ears on it]] that serves as an unofficial mascot among the crew and is always hidden somewhere on the Terror Tram. One time, Log Bunny was kidnapped. As one would would expect, this was seen as SeriousBusiness.

* NeverSleepAgain: Both Hollywood and Orlando have included ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' in various years, with Orlando's 2007 house, ''A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dreamwalkers'', had the premise of the guests being given a drug that puts them into a long Freddyless sleep...that doesn't work.

* NothingIsScarier: Though maybe not ''scarier'' per se, almost every year has one or two "dead zones", where there are no scare actors, and instead thick fog and extremely unsettling music is used to still give off the feeling that you're never safe. Examples of this include Seuss Landing during every year the event was at [=IoA=] as well as half of USF during the 2005 year.

* AdaptationAmalgamation: 2019's ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' house primarily followed the story of the [[Film/Ghostbusters1984 original film]], but also included appearances from ghosts that were in ''Film/GhostbustersII'' and ''Film/Ghostbusters2016''. It also employed the black slime portals - rifts to the ghost world - from ''VideoGame/GhostbustersTheVideoGame''.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In some scarezones and houses, characters who weren't villains or even malicious in their source material are antagonistic towards visitors. The Punisher, an antihero, was one of the villains in the ''Maximum Carnage'' house, while in both ''Die-In'' scarezones, RJ [=MacReady=], the closest thing to a hero in ''Film/{{The Thing|1982}}'', joined the title monster in terrorizing guests. In the ''Nevermore: The Madness of Poe'' house, the vulture-eyed man from ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' and the narrator's wife from ''The Black Cat'' attacked guests while in their respective stories they were the innocent victims of AxCrazy narrators.

* CreepyCrows: Several houses have employed the use of them, but most notably the ''Nevermore: The Madness of Poe'' house with its section for ''Literature/TheRaven''.

** ''Port of Evil'', a seaside town filled with psychopaths.
** ''Island Under Siege'', a city where Carnage assembled a massive legion of super villains and successfully killed all of the Marvel superheroes and took over everything.
** ''Treaks and Foons'', an island filled with demented-looking cartoon characters.
** ''JP Extinction'', an alternate Jurassic Park where a science experiment gone awry created mutant dino/human hybrids that broke free, with the ensuing chaos also letting all of the park's dinosaurs loose.
** ''Island of Evil Souls'', a realm overrun with evil orcs and ruled by a creature known as "Nightmare".
** ''Boo-Ville'', an empty Who-Ville where the Grinch roams (based on the TV special, ''WesternAnimation/HalloweenIsGrinchNight''). [[note]]Per the demands of Dr. Seuss' widow, this island had no scare actors (although the Grinch would occasionally make appearances). It was only allowed to have creepy carnival music, fog, and a couple of props.[[/note]]

** The ''Bill & Ted'' show has one of these at the beginning of the show every year, with the no videotaping rule being especially enforced. [[note]]The reason for the no videotaping rule is to prevent the show from going online and getting Universal into legal trouble for the various pop-culture parodies they have in the show.[[/note]]

** 2006: "Horror Comes Home"

*** "This year the thing you most have to fear is...Fear himself."

** 2012: "Once you're inside...there is no way out!"

* TakeThat: ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' often has these kinds of moments, but perhaps the biggest instance of it occurred in its 2014 show, where it dedicated a huge chunk of the show to mocking [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney World]]'s usage of the "[=MagicBands=]", its heavy use of ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'', and its long-delayed ''Ride/PandoraTheWorldOfAvatar'' at Animal Kingdom.

** 2015 shows that HHN can agree with Disney on one thing: the promotional gift given to press was a chopped off limb still firmly grasping a ''selfie stick'' with Jack's writing in the flesh demanding that they not bring one when they come to the event. Said selfie stick still has a phone attached. When the press connected it to their computers, they found a wide assortment of pictures from the unfortunate guy that presumably got killed by Jack and Chance for sneaking into the backstage area...but not before they took a few selfies themselves.

** To go along with the '80s theme for 2019's event, the arcade next to ''Ride/RevengeOfTheMummy'', which normally hosts modern arcade games and claw grab machines, was converted into an '80s-era arcade complete with games like ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' and ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''.

* VivaLasVegas: 2012's ''Penn & Teller New(kd) Vegas'', in which an attempt by the titular magic duo to pull off the ultimate extreme magic trick -- [[TooDumbToLive catching ICBMs with their teeth]] -- [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes predictably wrong]] and results in the nuclear destruction of UsefulNotes/LasVegas, the ruins of which are now locked under a radiation containment dome and overrun by [[NuclearMutant radioactive mutants]].

Halloween Horror Nights actually began in 1986 at Universal Hollywood; after a grisly accident where a scareactor was fatally run over by a tram, Hollywood canceled the event. Universal would not revive their Halloween events until the introduction of Fright Nights in Orlando in 1991, an event designed to compete with the local "Terror On Church Street" haunt that lasted for one weekend in October and included one house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a large number of shows, musical acts, and street performers. Fright Nights was massively popular, with the house achieving wait times of over 2 hours, and the name was changed to Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. '92 also saw the introduction of the ''Franchise/BillAndTed's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' show, which continued on every year until 2017.

''Halloween Horror Nights'' is one of the largest annual UsefulNotes/{{Halloween}} events in the world. Halloween Horror Nights is hosted by the Ride/UniversalStudios theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood every year, with Singapore and Japan joining the yearly fun in the 2010s. The event usually runs from the start of September to the end of October[[note]]occasionally extending to the first day or two of November[[/note]]. While the Orlando event is the biggest, all events revolve around several key similarities: haunted houses[[note]]sometimes referred to as mazes, though they all have a predefined path[[/note]], scarezones[[note]]sections of the park themed with props and effects and populated with actors[[/note]], and shows. The houses and scarezones are populated with "scareactors", dressed in costumes and makeup and positioned to scare the bejeezus out of passerby.

Halloween Horror Nights actually began in 1986 at Universal Hollywood; after a grisly accident where a scareactor was run over by a tram, Hollywood canceled the event. Universal would not revive their Halloween events until Orlando (to compete with the local "Terror On Church Street" haunt) introduced Fright Nights in 1991, an event that lasted for one weekend in October and included one house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a large number of shows, musical acts, and street performers. Fright Nights was massively popular, with the house achieving wait times of over 2 hours, and the name was changed to Halloween Horror Nights in 1992. '92 also saw the introduction of the ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure'' show, which continued on every year until 2017.

As a Universal Studios event, houses and scarezones based on movies are quite common, to the point where 2009's Orlando event included 6 movie houses out of 8 total. Universal Hollywood often has almost exclusively film-based events beginning in 2006, and ''Film/HouseOf1000Corpses'' even got its start as a Hollywood house. It does have the occasional original property, however, such as ''La Llorona'' in 2011[[note]]which got a sequel house in 2012 and a house at the Orlando event in 2013[[/note]]. One of the key points of the Orlando event is its use of icons: beginning with the [[Series/TalesFromTheCrypt Crypt Keeper]] in 1995, there's been a number of icons (as well as a great many unused concepts) that have been used to provide a face for the year. Orlando also uses the event website to expand upon the backstory of the icons, houses, and scarezones for each year, often mixed in with games (such as "Horror Unearthed" which had an online and an in-park component and the AlternateRealityGame Legendary Truth).

Due to the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic, both the Orlando and Hollywood events were canceled due to safety concerns involving the event due to it's close up and interactive nature. 2020 would have been the 30th year for the Orlando event. More details about the cancelation can be found [[https://wdwnt.com/2020/07/breaking-halloween-horror-nights-cancelled-due-to-covid-19-pandemic-concerns-at-universal-studios-florida/ here.]] Though the event proper was cancelled, Orlando would still put on three houses for daily visitors with social distancing parameters in place, consisting of ''Revenge of the Tooth Fairy'', ''Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives!'' and a last minute ''Film/{{Beetlejuice}}'' house running only on Halloween and November 1st.

Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan both have their own versions, with members of the Orlando event's Art & Design Team providing guidance. Singapore's event weaves in both common Horror Nights staples (the use of Icon characters and common HHN maze/scarezone themes) mixed in with haunted attractions based in Singaporean culture. Japan's event focuses on licensed properties, both American (such as ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' and ''[[Film/TheMummyTrilogy The Mummy]]'') and domestic (including J-horror & supernatural mainstays ''[[Literature/TheRing Ring]]'', ''Film/{{Juon}}'', ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' and ''Manga/GeGeGeNoKitaro''); it's also notable for having the first "extreme" house in the event's history worldwide[[note]]"Extreme" houses differ from regular haunted houses due to being a more "personalized" horror experience. Usually it means guests have to go in alone or with a small group and they have to sign up for it in advance, including legal waivers. There's a lot of focus on sensory deprivation and, most notably, a lot of the rules that scareactors would usually have to follow are off the table ''including'' them not being able to touch you. HHN Orlando has had ideas for extreme houses for years but they've never made it to the events themselves. Orlando's 2016 upcharge experience, ''The Repository'', is the closest to an extreme house the event has had... but while the experience was more personal and the scareactors could touch people, it wasn't any scarier than a regular house.[[/note]], with 2015's Trauma.

* ''Film/{{Halloween}}''

* ''Film/{{Halloween}}''

''Halloween Horror Nights'' is one of the largest annual UsefulNotes/{{Halloween}} events in the world. Halloween Horror Nights is hosted by the Ride/UniversalStudios theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood every year, with Singapore and Japan joining the yearly fun in the 2010s. The event usually runs from the start of September to the end of October[[note]]occasionally extending to the first day or two of November[[/note]]. While the Orlando event is the biggest, all events revolve are several key similarities: haunted houses[[note]]sometimes referred to as mazes, though they all have a predefined path[[/note]], scarezones[[note]]sections of the park themed with props and effects and populated with actors[[/note]], and shows. The houses and scarezones are populated with "scareactors", dressed in costumes and makeup and positioned to scare the bejeezus out of passerby.

* GiantEyeOfDoom: The 2007 ''Franchise/ANightmareOnElmStreet'' house at HHN Hollywood recreated the Roach Motel scene from [[Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet4TheDreamMaster the fourth movie]], complete with a screen in the window to simulate giant Freddy looking in through the window.

* ExcitedShowTitle: Done with a couple of houses and scarezones:
** ''Hide and Shrieeek!''
** ''Creatures!''
** ''Invasion!''

* BodyHorror: Was there any doubt?