Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights features unexpected frights with animatronics, cats and more

In the haunted houses at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, you will undoubtedly run into Jason the relentless serial killer and see plenty of gore for full shock value.

But at this year’s HHN, one house’s original storyline depicting a tortured artist stood out, said Taylor Strickland, owner of the Orlando Informer.

El Artista: A Spanish Haunting begins as HHN visitors walk up to a full-scale gloomy manor with creepy paintings on the walls and sinister sculptures, while the painter loses his mind at his easel. Look up, and a gargoyle soars by.

Speaking about Universal’s detail-driven storylines and special effects, “I’ve never seen at another haunt anywhere,” Strickland said. “No one else in the world can do that.”

Strickland is a theme park fan who has been going to HHN since 2008 and visits other scares around the country. 

The 34th year of HHN is in full force and runs through Nov. 2 on select nights at Universal Studios.

You can expect to see lots of blood — more than Universal has ever deployed before, according to Lora Sauls, the Assistant Director in Creative Development, Entertainment Art and Design at Universal Orlando Resort.

“This year we have brought more immersion than ever before, affecting the entire park, so nowhere is safe,” Sauls said.

Among the houses generating a buzz this Halloween is “Terrifier,” a haunted house based on a clown slasher film franchise,

One of the movie’s memorable moments takes place in a bathroom, a scene Universal recreates in the haunted house, dirty underwear and all.

“We always want to stay true to the stories we’re immersing our guests into, so for Terrifier we needed to go as far as we could to stay true to the films,” Sauls said when asked whether there are any lines too far to cross.

The Terrifier house ends with a choice: Do you go left or right in order to make your escape? Take the dry path or the wet path, with water simulating blood spatter.

It’s a choose your own adventure that Universal has offered HHN attendees before.

“A few years back we did have our ‘Dueling Dragons’ haunted house (based off a very popular ride from Universal Islands of Adventure’s early years) that gave guests a choice at the end — fire or ice,” Sauls said. “Each ending had another layer of storytelling that was different for each path. The multiple endings had our guests returning multiple times to see how the story they chose ended.”

Another popular haunted house this year is “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” where the setting is a kid-friendly pizza parlor. Inside, you won’t find normal scare actors either. 

“This year for our ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ haunted house we had the pleasure of working with the Jim Henson Creature Shop to bring the 8-foot-tall deadly animatronics to life,” Sauls said.

“This was a truly special opportunity for us to be able to work with the best in the puppet industry to bring these characters to life for our guests. The technology is groundbreaking! This year we also have a lot more special effects throughout our haunted houses.”

HHN features 10 houses, live entertainment and four scare zones spread throughout the park — including Strickland’s favorite, the Cat of Lady of Crooked Lane, an unexpected and creative story that was a favorite this year, he said. The storyline features a witch turning kids into feral cats.

Even though this year’s Halloween is weeks away, Sauls and the team at Universal are already hard at work for next year’s HHN for the 35th year.

Strickland can’t wait.

“The anniversary years always have a little extra juice,” he said.