HHN: Smiles, Screams, and a Darker Edge 🎃👻🔥

Angie Franklin
Sep 2
6 min read

Updated: Sep 5

Halloween Horror Nights 2025 has returned to Universal Orlando, and with it comes a fresh mix of screams, spectacles, and surprises. From blockbuster haunted houses to eerie scare zones, from over-the-top food creations to full-on neon zombie diners, HHN continues to reinvent itself while honoring the traditions fans love most. This year feels bolder, a little darker in places, but still packed with that unique energy that makes HHN more than just a Halloween event. It’s an experience.

Scare Zones: Laughter and Screams Collide 👀🧛‍♂️🐈

First let me say, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando has always been more than

just a haunted house event. Scare zones have always been the connective tissue of HHN. Those open-air stretches where the event feels alive between houses. Some, like Vamp ’69: Summer of Blood, leaned into music and campy energy. You could dance a conga line to Sweet Caroline while dodging

groovy vampires, and it was as much party as it was fright. But others are pure terror. This year’s Cat Lady of Crooked

Lane proved just how unsettling a scare zone can be. With glowing eyes, feline-inspired scare actors, and eerie meows woven into the soundtrack, it turned trick-or-treating into a nightmare. Guests never knew if they’d simply admire the elaborate costumes and set design details or jump when a feral “stray” pounced out of the fog. That’s the beauty of HHN scare zones. You never know if you’ll laugh, scream, or both within just a few steps, and we crept through every fog-filled street to give a glimpse into the scare zones in our HHN Scare Zones Guide ↗️

Folklore Roots, Slasher Icons, and Darker Turns: HHN’s Houses 🌲🔪

The heart of HHN has always been its haunted houses, and 2025 continues that tradition with a lineup that feels both nostalgic and bold. In recent years, HHN has leaned into an

edgier tone. Some houses and shows explore darker, more intense themes than the cheeky slashers and campy B-movie homages of the past. And yet, 2025 reminded fans that the classics still have a place. Jason Universe brought back that nostalgic slasher vibe, reconnecting HHN to its roots in pop culture icons like Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers. That mix of old and new is part of what keeps the event fresh, and it’s reflected across the lineup. Pop culture crossovers shine this year with Five Nights at Freddy’s, Terrifier, Fallout, and even WWE Presents: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks adding variety to the roster. But it’s often the original houses that leave the deepest mark. The ones built from the ground up by Universal’s creative team.

But not all houses are built on pop culture; some of the most unforgettable HHN experiences are rooted in folklore!

Folklore Still Shines 🌲👹

The event can pull inspiration from anywhere - folklore, legends, monsters, and pop culture. Some of the most beloved houses of all time (Dead Man’s Pier: Winter’s Wake, Scarecrow: The Reaping, Universal Monsters) weren’t about endless dread. They leaned on atmosphere, immersive storytelling, and chills that linger long after you left. This year, Gálkn: Monsters of the North carries on that tradition, weaving its own mythic creatures into a setting that feels pulled from ancient legend. That’s the beauty of HHN’s approach to folklore. It isn’t always drawn from stories you’ve heard before. Often, Universal creates its own twisted myths, original tales that feel like they could have been whispered around campfires for generations.

While there are houses that push boundaries with darker visuals, HHN continues to deliver folklore-driven experiences that feel eerie, timeless, and sometimes even beautiful in their design. We braved every terrifying house inside this year’s HHN Houses Guide ↗️

Beyond the Houses: Sets, Snacks & Surprises 🏚️🍔✨

Even if the scares aren’t your main draw, HHN delivers plenty to love. The sets remain a cinematic masterpiece with detail packed in every corner. Walking through a house feels like stepping into a film set, and that spectacle hasn’t changed, but what has changed over the years are the food booths. It is a whole experience in itself. They don’t just serve snacks, they serve themed performances on a plate. Menus change every year (with the exception of a couple of fan favorites), which keeps it fresh, but the creativity is always dialed up to 11. Guests come as much for the Instagram-worthy food as for the scares, and it’s become one of the event’s most beloved traditions. Since food has become its own tradition at HHN, with booths rivaling the houses in creativity, we rounded up this year’s most outrageous bites in our HHN Food Guide ↗️.

New This Year: Zombies Take Over Mel’s Die-In 🧟‍♂️🍔

Mel’s Drive-In gets in on the fun. During HHN, the neon diner turns into a zombie hangout, with the iconic retro building glowing eerily while undead carhops shuffle and snarl outside. It’s part spooky, part hilarious. More than anything, the zombie takeover at Mel’s captures what HHN does best: balancing frights with fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet it still adds to the atmosphere. Whether you’re grabbing a bite, snapping photos in front of the glowing sign, or just laughing as a zombie carhop lurches by, Mel’s Die-In proves you don’t always need fire and brimstone to make HHN memorable. Sometimes, a little retro diner camp is the perfect scare.

Stage & Lagoon: HHN’s Live Entertainment 🎤💀🌊🎭

And when you’re ready to take a break from houses and scare zones, don’t miss the live entertainment. From fire-fueled stunts to eerie music drifting over the lagoon, HHN’s performances bring a whole different kind of energy. Catch all the details in our HHN Shows Guide ↗️.

We made the decision to skip Nightmare Fuel: Circus of Decay at HHN this year. Not because the talent isn’t there. The fire, aerial stunts, and music are still jaw-dropping, but because the show has shifted into darker territory over the past few years. When Nightmare Fuel first debuted in 2021, it felt like a wild, high-energy circus fever dream. Each new version has turned up the intensity, and now Circus of Decay leans fully into the “nightmare.”

Brand-new this year, Haunt-O-Phonic: A Goulish Journey, takes over the lagoon with a projection-and-music spectacular that mixes classic Halloween imagery, eerie soundscapes, and pulsing visuals across the water.

🛍️ Merch & The Tribute Store

No HHN trip is complete without shopping for merch & souvenirs, and usually Universal makes it an event all its own. The Tribute Store transforms every year into an immersive retail experience. Think part shop, part walk-through attraction that is filled with photo ops, themed rooms, and shelves of limited-edition merch.

This year’s theme was framed as an “Occult Artifacts of the World Opening Night Gala” but in practice it leaned much more into mythology than actual occult imagery. Think statues, relics, and artifacts with a mythic flavor rather than anything ritualistic or heavy. It was a big swing, but the execution felt flat compared to the jaw-dropping detail of earlier years. That miss is a relief if you’re not into occult theming. What’s really left to shine here is the merchandise itself. The store still delivered a solid selection of shirts, pins, posters, and collectibles. Scattered throughout the park you’ll also find merch booths and the Five and Dime also carries HHN specific merchandise.

Even if it doesn’t quite live up to the Tribute Stores of the past, it’s still worth a walkthrough for the atmosphere and a chance to snag a few souvenirs.

👉 We rounded up our favorite finds and tips in our HHN Shopping Guide ↗️.

Final Take 🎃👀🔥

Halloween Horror Nights is still a can’t-miss Orlando tradition. It’s true that the event has evolved, with some themes leaning heavier than in decades past. But HHN continues to balance the old and new. From nostalgic slashers like Jason Universe to folklore chills and jaw-dropping sets, there’s still something for every kind of horror fan.

That said, the realism and intensity of certain themes like occult, ritualistic imagery, and witchcraft means that some guests may want to be mindful as they participate. It’s not about avoiding the event, but about being aware that certain houses and shows lean into content that may feel heavier or more immersive than others. With a little discretion, HHN can still be enjoyed as the creative, over-the-top spectacle it has always been.