Welcome to part two of our behind-the-scenes preview of Halloween Horror Nights 2025! Here, we’ll take a look at Fallout, but if you missed part one, where we previewed Terrifier, you can also check out that article here.
Be warned that there will be spoilers ahead!
Based on the popular video game franchise from Bethesda Game Studios, Fallout became a critically acclaimed hit when the TV series debuted on Prime Video in 2024. Taking inspiration from the video game’s extensive lore and locations, the Prime series is set in the year 2296 – two hundred years after a nuclear war destroyed human civilization. Other than the citizens who take refuge underground in fallout shelters called Vaults, all that’s left of the world is a violent, barren hellscape known as The Wasteland, filled with dangerous, mutated creatures.
Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director John Murdy noted that “horror as a genre continues to evolve, as it has always done since the silent movie era. Today in particular, we’re in a period where it’s very expansive because there’s so much content from the rise of streaming, and we keep our eyes open for new opportunities in that world.”
Beyond the practical challenges of adapting less conventional horror properties for the event, a significant creative hurdle when bringing a gaming franchise like Fallout to life in a haunted house format is sifting through the overwhelming amount of content to decide what to include.
Given how faithfully the Amazon series aligns with the video games, the Halloween Horror Nights creative team ultimately chose to focus the Fallout haunted house on the journey of the TV show’s main protagonist: vault-dweller Lucy MacLean, who narrowly escapes a bloody massacre on her wedding day and must then venture out from the sheltered world of The Vault into the dangers of The Wasteland.
Guests will follow in Lucy’s footsteps, encountering the same people, creatures, and mutated humans known as “ghouls” that she faced – including the main infamous, ageless antagonist referred to as The Ghoul. The house begins at The Vault, ventures into The Wasteland, and ultimately concludes with a finale at the Super Duper Mart, keeping in mind that the TV series – and Lucy’s story – is not yet complete.
Murdy noted that one the most significant challenges in designing this house was how to convincingly bring Fallout’s larger-than-life settings to life in a walkthrough format, starting with the iconic design of The Vault. Since the world of Fallout branches out from the real world into an alternate reality – imagining what may have happened if the Cold War ultimately resulted in a nuclear Armageddon in the 1950s – much of the show’s design is characterized by retro-futuristic motifs that resemble an evolved version of ‘50s culture.
Some of these details include numerous 1950s-inspired elements meant to evoke the pre-apocalyptic world at the time of the nuclear war, alongside a variety of “what if?” sci-fi technologies. In this alternate universe, society chose to develop other futuristic innovations instead of progressing along the same technological path of computers and the Information Age that our world experienced, and keeping this deviation in mind was a crucial part of Fallout’s design.
Just as impressive as the Death Angel animated figures featured in A Quiet Place at last year’s event, Fallout also makes use of animatronic technology with a massive animatronic of Titus in his T-60 power armor. Although photos were not permitted during our tour since the figure was not yet complete, we can share that it is truly captivating to see in person – especially when considering how remarkable it is for such advanced technology to have now become commonplace in just a temporary haunted house setting.
Even more exciting is the fact that the animatronic is only one element of this scene: across the room from Titus is a massive Yao Guai mutated bear puppet that lunges out at both the live performer and the guests caught in the chaos. The puppet’s clay sculpt alone weighed over 500 pounds, making it one of the largest creatures ever crafted for a Halloween Horror Nights house in Hollywood.
We also want to highlight how Fallout once again showcases the benefits of last year’s removal of the former permanent walls from The Walking Dead Attraction, which transformed the space into an open, black-box venue. It’s clear that this change has dramatically enhanced the creative team’s flexibility, allowing them to maximize the potential of one of their few indoor venues by completely customizing the interior from the ground up to vividly realize their vision for each new property. Fallout marks the third walkthrough attraction built freely in this location – following A Quiet Place at last year’s event and Star Trek: Red Alert at Universal Fan Fest Nights – but each layout has managed to be refreshingly distinct, even to attentive fans.
Whether you’re familiar with the video games or the Prime series, Fallout undeniably adds some captivating variety to this year’s lineup with its distinctive sci-fi elements and compelling story. The use of video game-based IPs at Halloween Horror Nights has proven to be incredibly popular among fans, and we’re sure Fallout will be no exception – alongside Five Nights at Freddy’s this year.
Once again, we want to thank Universal Studios Hollywood for inviting us to this behind-the-scenes preview of Terrifier and Fallout at this year’s event, which runs from Thursday, September 4, through Sunday, November 2.
Stay tuned to Inside Universal for all the latest news on Universal Parks & Resorts and follow along on our forums & discussion boards.
Looking to book that HORROR-filled Universal vacation? We recommend using our friends at MEI-Travel to help plan your next trip to Universal Orlando or Universal Studios Hollywood.
