Universal Studios Hollywood has revealed the first three haunted houses coming to Halloween Horror Nights 2026.
This year’s event will feature houses inspired by Sinners, the final season of Stranger Things and the original Hellraiser trilogy, bringing vampires, creatures from the Upside Down and the Cenobites together for another season of fear.
Halloween Horror Nights will take place on selected nights from 3 September until 1 November 2026, with the event beginning at 7pm each night.
Universal has confirmed that the separately ticketed event will once again include haunted houses, scare zones, live shows, the Terror Tram and specially themed food and drink.
Sinners Comes to Halloween Horror Nights
One of the first confirmed houses will be based on the award-winning horror film Sinners.
The experience will transport guests to 1930s Mississippi and the Smokestack Twins’ juke joint, where music, dancing and flowing drinks are interrupted by the arrival of a group of bloodthirsty vampires.
Universal says guests will enter the juke joint as the celebration descends into violence, with the vampires testing the bonds between the characters and everyone caught inside.
The setting should give Universal’s creative team plenty to work with. A packed period juke joint, live music, dramatic lighting and a sudden vampire attack could make this one of the most atmospheric houses in the Hollywood lineup.
It also gives Halloween Horror Nights another recent horror film to translate into a physical experience, allowing fans to step directly into its world rather than simply watching events unfold on screen.
Stranger Things 5 Brings the Final Battle to Hawkins
Stranger Things will return to Halloween Horror Nights with a new haunted house inspired by the fifth and final season of the Netflix series.
The Upside Down is once again invading Hawkins, with guests joining the group for what Universal describes as one final adventure.
The house will feature some of the show’s most recognisable threats, including Demogorgons, the Mind Flayer and Vecna.
Universal is positioning the experience as the final confrontation between the Hawkins group and the forces of the Upside Down, giving the house a suitably large-scale premise for the conclusion of the series.
Stranger Things has appeared at Halloween Horror Nights several times before, with earlier houses recreating locations and creatures from different seasons of the show.
The fifth-season house should allow Universal to revisit familiar environments while also drawing on the series’ final chapters. Exactly which scenes and locations will be recreated has not yet been revealed.
Hellraiser Opens the Door to the Labyrinth
The third confirmed house is based on the original Hellraiser trilogy.
Guests will enter a realm of pain ruled by Pinhead and the Cenobites, journeying through the depths of Hell and witnessing their nightmarish rituals.
Universal has not yet provided a scene-by-scene breakdown, but the reference to the original trilogy means the house can draw from Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth.
That could give the experience a much broader scope than a house based on only the first film, potentially taking guests from the human world into the Labyrinth and deeper into the mythology surrounding the Cenobites.
The franchise’s striking creature designs and disturbing environments feel particularly well suited to Halloween Horror Nights. Pinhead may be the best-known character, but the opportunity to encounter several different Cenobites could make this one of the year’s most visually memorable houses.
The Terror Tram Will Also Return
Universal has confirmed that the Terror Tram will form part of the 2026 event.
The Hollywood-exclusive experience takes guests onto parts of Universal’s working studio backlot, where they leave the tram and continue through a themed horror experience on foot.
No theme has yet been announced for this year’s Terror Tram, while Universal is also still keeping details of the scare zones and live entertainment under wraps.
Further haunted houses are expected to be revealed as the event approaches, with the three announced experiences representing only the beginning of the 2026 lineup.
Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Tickets
Tickets for Halloween Horror Nights 2026 at Universal Studios Hollywood are already on sale.
Available options include single-night General Admission, tickets combining daytime park access with the evening event, Universal Express, Universal Express Unlimited and the guided R.I.P. Tour.
Frequent Fear and Ultimate Fear passes are also available for guests hoping to attend Halloween Horror Nights on multiple evenings during the season.
Early Access tickets can provide admission to selected haunted houses before the event officially begins, although the attractions included and their operating arrangements may vary.
Our Thoughts
This is already shaping up to be a particularly strong year for horror franchises at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Stranger Things 5 is likely to be the biggest mainstream draw, especially with the house acting as a final journey into Hawkins and the Upside Down.
Sinners, meanwhile, could provide the year’s most distinctive setting. Its combination of music, period detail and vampires has the potential to create something very different from a traditional abandoned building or laboratory-style horror house.
However, Hellraiser may be the most natural match for Halloween Horror Nights. The Cenobites, the puzzle box and the Labyrinth already feel as though they were designed for a dark, intensely detailed walkthrough experience.
There is still plenty more to be announced, including the remainder of the haunted-house lineup, the Terror Tram theme, scare zones and shows.
With three major properties now confirmed, Halloween Horror Nights 2026 is beginning to take shape - and Universal Studios Hollywood appears ready to open the doors to some very different nightmares.
