ORLANDO, Fla. — Universal Studios Florida has kicked off its annual Halloween Horror Nights event earlier this year with a "record-breaking" 48-day lineup of after-hour scares.
Fox News Digital got a preview of what visitors can expect when they stop by the Orlando theme park between 6:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. each night, from interactive horror sets to live entertainment, a unique limited-time menu and more.
This year, park guests can test their bravery at 10 haunted houses and five scare zones, where trained actors do their best to frighten visitors.
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"We are always paying attention to our guests, paying attention to fans, paying attention to pop culture," said Matthew Flood, a senior show director for entertainment, creative development and art and design at Universal Studios Florida, in an interview with Fox News Digital.
"This event does want to deliver something — a wide variety of things for guests to find the thing that they love," he continued. "We are always looking for the best properties, the best original houses, the best scare zones, so that everybody who comes will have the thing that terrifies them that they're a fan of. That's what makes this fun."
Guests can walk through 10 different haunted houses. Some are based on popular horror movies and TV shows, while others are original creations dreamed up by Universal staff.
Horror movie fans who enjoy the 1973 supernatural cult classic "The Exorcist" will be able to preview the sixth installment of the horror franchise, "The Exorcist: Believer," which is slated to bow Oct. 13.
Visitors walk through a Haitian street market and find a doll that leads them to a demonic portal where sinister spirits possess two girls. The original film has been dubbed the scariest horror movie of all time by many in the last 50 years.
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"The Exorcist: Believer was definitely both intense and gross as promised, but it was still a good haunted house and definitely the scariest one so far," wrote one theme park visitor on X, formerly Twitter, on Sept. 8.
Fans of Netflix’s hit series "Stranger Things" get to walk through pivotal moments of the show’s fourth season, which aired in summer 2022.
Guests get to face terrifying creatures, including demogorgons and demobats, and season four’s main antagonist, Vecna, who doles out deadly curses through his blood-red Mind Lair.
Video game fans and newbies can experience the award-winning action-adventure video game "The Last of Us" (2013), which has been turned into a live-action HBO series starring Pedro Pascal as Joel and Bella Ramsey as Ellie. The first season debuted in January of this year.
Haunted house visitors get to walk through post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh as a fungal virus has overtaken the city and watch as the game’s protagonists, Joel and Ellie, fight their way through the violent and mutated infected.
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The "Child’s Play" horror comedy franchise comes to life with the "Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count" haunted house — a first-time takeover for the killer doll.
Guests try to escape from Chucky as he executes murders from the cult classic films and comes up with new ways to slaughter all in the name of regaining fearsome respect. The haunted house debuts one year after the "Living with Chucky" documentary.
Twentieth-century horror film buffs get to witness a battle between four iconic villains from Universal movies, including "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1913), "The Invisible Man" (1913), "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923) and "The Phantom of the Opera" (1943).
Visitors are transported to an underground labyrinth below the streets of Paris and see the collateral damage left behind by the feuding foes.
Universal’s iconic Halloween Horror Nights character Dr. Oddfellow makes his return with a haunted house that reveals the evil circus ringmaster’s dark start.
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Visitors walk through Dr. Oddfellow’s Carnival of Thrills, set in a rural Midwest town during the Dust Bowl, and get to see how the soul-stealing ringmaster first gained his immortality with "Dr. Oddfellow: Twisted Origins."
Universal brought back its fan-favorite abominable snowman haunted house with "YETI: Campground Kills," a sequel to the theme park’s "YETI: Terror of the Yukon" (2019).
Visitors are transported to a 1950s campground in the Rocky Mountains where a family of bloodthirsty yetis attack as they seek vengeance.
Longtime visitors of Universal Islands of Adventure can go down memory lane with "Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate," a haunted house modeled after the theme park’s retired Dueling Dragons rollercoaster, which operated from 1999 to 2010.
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Guests can get to watch the nostalgic battle between the park’s fire and ice dragon and choose their own sinister end.
A celebrity-inspired urban legend becomes reality with Universal’s "The Darkest Deal," where the fictional character, Pinestraw Spruce, a 20th-century blues musician from the Mississippi Delta, sells his soul for musical glory.
Unfortunately, for Spruce, he and the guests that witness his story quickly learn that some deals are more than you bargain for.
Visitors walk through a Colonial-era village of moon worshipers with the "Bloodmoon: Dark Offerings" haunted house.
Members of the bloodmoon cult attempt to kill nonbelievers during a fall harvest festival, and guests try to escape their clutches.
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Guests get to walk through five scare zones, which are immersive event spaces where scare actors taunt and spook visitors in themed areas of Universal Studios Florida.
This year, Dr. Oddfellow plays a central role in each scare zone.
On Illumination Boulevard, which is located near the front of the park, Dr. Oddfellow welcomes visitors while his carnival followers — the Oddfellow Oddities — intimidate all those who walk past.
In the New York section of the park, visitors stumble upon "Vamp '69: Summer of Blood," a scare zone where hordes of vampires take over a 1969 music festival.
The area is filled with thirsty vampires, terrified concertgoers and vampire slayers.
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In the Central Park section of Universal Studios is "Jungle of Doom: Expedition Horror," a scare zone where visitors navigate their way through a jungle temple that’s filled with terrifying animal and plant creatures.
In the Hollywood section of the park, guests enter a dark dimension and come face-to-face with malevolent zodiac signs. Doomed fates are foretold through the representations of the 12 horoscope characters.
Visitors also have to watch out for chainsaw minions who aid the evil zodiac.
In the San Francisco part of the park, visitors stumble upon "Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged," a scare zone that depicts a 1940s shipping yard where nightmarish monsters are housed in crates. Some escape and menace guests.
Universal Studios Florida is offering "Specialty Eats n' Drinks" for Halloween Horror Nights, which are themed after the haunted houses, original Universal characters and the overall spooky-fall season.
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Fox News Digital previewed 10 of Universal's Halloween-themed menu items, including:
The FEDRA Ration Bar and the Left Behind Ravioli, two dishes based on "The Last of Us" video game.
Yuri’s Favorite, a peanut butter jar inspired by Yuri Ismaylov from "Stranger Things."
Dr. Oddfellow’s Carni"EVIL" Dog, a colorful hot dog that’s topped with unexpected ingredients.
Other meals include the new Al Pastor Torta, a sandwich inspired by the Day of the Dead; the Surfer Boy Vegan French Bread; the Cheddar Jalapeno Hellfire Club; and the African Lentil and Potato Sambusa Coffin. Cocktails and desserts are also available.
Universal Studios Florida’s Halloween Horror Nights event will run through Nov. 4 on select nights, while Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights event will run through Oct. 31, also on select nights.
Universal Studios Florida’s Halloween Horror Nights event will mostly operate from Wednesday to Sunday, while Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights event will mostly operate from Thursday to Sunday.
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