Universal Orlando Resort made a lot of fans happy today when they revealed the complete lineup of haunted houses and scarezones for Halloween Horror Nights 32. However, if the descriptions of each nightmarish offering aren’t enough for you, the Discover Universal Podcast shared some more insights as to what horrors await guests at this year’s event.
The Discover Universal Podcast released three episodes shortly after today’s reveal, with each episode providing more information on houses based on intellectual property, original concept houses and scarezones. The podcasts feature hosts Kari and David getting all the details from Lora Sauls, Kelly Malik, Charles Gray and Matt Flood of Universal Creative.
Fair warning, these details do contain what some might consider to be spoilers for Halloween Horror Nights 32. Read ahead at your own risk.
IP Haunted Houses
Universal Monsters: Unmasked
Continuing the recent tradition of bringing the classic Universal Monsters to the event, this house will feature the Invisible Man, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Phantom of the Opera and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Guests will be taken underground, into the Paris Opera House and into the city of Paris itself all within this house.
“It’s going to be huge. The scenic is beautiful.” – Charles Gray
The Exorcist: Believer
This house will not be based on the classic horror film, but rather the upcoming film from Blumhouse, which hits theaters on October 13th.
“The film itself does not come out until this event is almost over. So we’re walking through, getting a sneak peek, a living trailer if you will, for the film as we go through.” – Charles Gray
The Last of Us
As the announcement already let us know, this house will be based on the beloved video game. Guests will encounter clickers, stalkers and bloaters as they traverse post-apocalyptic locations like Pittsburgh.
“I got to play it on a big screen, you know, with surround sound and that type of feeling is what we’re going to be delivering to the guests in a very practical way. Of feeling like they could be coming at you from any angle.” – Matt Flood
Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count
While the iconic horror doll is no stranger to Halloween Horror Nights, it turns out he’s not so happy with what the event has become. Chucky is disappointed that nobody is actually being killed at Halloween Horror Nights. So he killed the creators of the house and possessed the dolls that were made for the house to boost his own kill numbers.
“He is not bashful about telling us how much he hated the fact that we didn’t put the horror nights.” – Matt Flood
Stranger Things 4
Not much more was shared about this house during the podcast, but the excitement level was through the roof for everyone involved. We know we’re going to see Vecna and several of the big moments from the recent fourth season of the hit Netflix series.
“In the first episode, he kills Chrissy. So we kind of start there, take us through all the way to where we are feeling those four chimes of the clock.” – Matt Flood
Original Concept Haunted Houses
Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins
This is where things get really interesting. Several elements of this year’s event will create a timeline for an original character known as Dr. Oddfellow (check out that timeline below). The character has had a small role in HHN lore in the past, but now we get to learn a lot more about him.
Set in the 1930s, Oddfellow invites guests to his circus after hours. Guests will enter through the side of the tent, under the bleachers, and will be greeted by a couple of “not-so-pleasant clowns.” They’ll soon see that the acts in this after-house circus are not exactly professional. In fact, the whole thing has been set up so that Oddfellow can take their souls to make himself immortal.
However, Oddfellow’s origins are tied to a beloved HHN icon of years past: Jack the Clown. Jack will actually have a role to play in this house, as we see the moment in which he fights Oddfellow, scarring the ringmaster’s face before he himself becomes immortal and is captured in the infamous box.
“Jack killed Dr. Oddfellow, taking his cane of souls, wearing his jacket, he comes back, right? So we know this story. But who was Dr. Oddfellow?” – Matt Flood
The Darkest Deal
Again, not a whole lot more was shared about this house, aside from the facts that music will play a big role and the being known as The Collector will follow guests through their journey, even possessing other patrons of the various locales.
Yeti: Campground Kills
First, we’ll not that this house will be set in the ‘50s. Not much was made of that, but we’ll come back to it later. Interestingly, it was mentioned that this house stems from the popular “Slaughter Sinema” house from a few years back. It will be a “dark humor” house that will play off of the Swamp Yeti section of that house as well as the more recent “Yeti: Terror of the Yukon house.
“It’s hilarious and gross all at the same time. Some bad stuff even happens to some yetis and we may even get to see a family of yetis as we go through too.” – Charles Gray
Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate
This is one that has a lot of people very excited. As it turns out, this house will not just bare the name of the old Islands of Adventure coaster, but will actually be a continuation of the story. Guests will be caught in the middle of a battle between two warlocks who eventually get turned into dragons. And the best part, this house will have four different endings!
Blood Moon: Dark Offerings
There weren’t many new details about this house and it was simply referred to as focusing on a Colonial kill cult. If you don’t worship the blood moon, those who do will be coming for you.
Scarezeones
Dr. Oddfellow’s Collection of Horror
Located right at the entrance to the park, this will be the zone that serves as the table of content for the whole event, as we’ve seen in years past. Guests will be greeted by creatures from the rest of the park that tell the story of Oddfellow’s past.
Dark Zodiac
In Hollywood, guests will encounter “elemental horrors” as Oddfellow has unleashed twisted dark versions of each zodiac sign.
Jungle of Doom
Dr. Oddfellow’s story will truly begin in this Central Park scarezone. Set in the ‘20s, guests will venture into the jungle where they will see Oddfellow find his power in the form of a mysterious glowing skull.
Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged
Jumping ahead to the 1940s, guests in San Francisco will see the continuation of Oddfellow’s story after “Twisted Origins.” His creatures are being shipped here to this shipyard and, of course, they've escaped. Interestingly though, the zone will feature both familiar monster creations and brand new ones, implying that Oddfellow may have had a larger role in HHN lore than we’ve previously known. When walking through the various scarezones, guests may even encounter a version of Dr. Oddfellow. And remember, after his fight with Jack in the ‘30s, he may have a telling scar in this zone.
“This is how we’re connecting a lot of our history. Oddfellow, we don’t know, for all of Halloween Horror Nights history, might have been dropping in monsters, because that’s what he likes to do.” – Lora Sauls
Vamp ‘69: Summer of Blood
There weren’t a whole lot of new details on this zone, aside from the fact that it will be located in New York and will connect to the previous zones: Vamp ‘55 and Vamp ‘85. More of the story of these Vamps can be heard in the “Halloween Horror Nights: Hunted Tales” podcast, which also dives deeper into Oddfellow’s story.
The Timeline
1920s – Dr. Oddfellow finds a mysterious glowing skull in the jungle, where he did horrific experiments on nature and let his resulting creatures run wild. This will be seen in the Jungle of Doom scarezone located in Central Park.
1930s – Oddfellow hatches a plot to invite unwitting guests to his circus after hours in order to steal their souls, thus making himself immortal. However, Jack Schmidt, one of Oddfellow’s employees, gets into a fight with Oddfellow, horrifically scratching his face, leaving him scarred. Oddfellow’s immortal blood drips onto Jack, creating the HHN icon before he is trapped in his Jack in the Box for years. This will all be seen in the Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins house.
1940s – Now immortal, Oddfellow continues his experiments, creating horrifying creatures and shipping them to a San Francisco shipyard. Familiar faces here will beg the question: how many of our favorite HHN nightmares have been created by Oddfellow? The demented “doctor” may have even transformed himself though he will always be recognized by his telltale scar. This will all be seen in the Shipyard 32: Horrors Unhinged zone in San Francisco.
1950s – A campground is horrifically attacked by Yetis. What is Oddfellow’s role in this? That’s unclear right now, but he has created all kinds of nightmarish creatures in the “past.”
1960s – Oddfellow unleashes a cult of vampires on unsuspecting guests at a music festival in New York. Again, more of this story can be hear in the first “Halloween Horror Nights: Hunted Tales” podcast as well as another upcoming episode.
There’s a whole lot to look forward to at Halloween Horror Nights 32, including the chance to be a part of the terrifying story of Dr. Oddfellow as it unfolds across the park. Halloween Horror Nights 32 begins on September 1st and runs on select nights through November 4th. Tickets are available now.