Halloween Horror Nights 35 is set to kick off next Friday at Universal Studios Florida, but eager fans who can’t wait for the fog were able to get a first look at three of this year’s original houses by reserving a Unmasking the Horror tour.
The Unmasking the Horror Tour is a VIP tour that offers guests a lights-on, behind-the-scenes look at select Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses. This year, the 3-house tour lets guests learn more about Hellraiser, INVASION: Alien Abduction, and H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!
Since we are avid fans of Horror Nights, we eagerly booked a tour to learn more about the houses. Please keep in mind, these tours offer a light-on, actor-free look at the haunted houses, so this does not reflect the final look as show elements are missing or are not finished.
As part of the tour, guests received a special Unmasking the Horror lanyard along with an exclusive three-house tour button. Universal will also offer a different button for guests taking the six-house tour, which begins next week.
BE WARNED! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Hellraiser
Hellraiser pulls from the first three films in the franchise, though the overwhelming focus is on the first 2: Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II. The 3rd film, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, is represented through a few scenes, but this is very much a house built around the imagery established by those first two films.
The house starts a little differently, as the opening serves as a brief introduction to Frank Cotton, one of the original film’s antagonists, trying to solve the puzzle box, a.ka. The Lament Configuration. As you make your way through the attic, you are eventually welcomed into the hellish dominion of the Cenobites, where a massive Lament Configuration welcomes us in, chains erupting from it, and a mutilated Frank hanging amongst the chains.
And, fittingly for Hellraiser, the house certainly isn’t shy about the franchise’s reputation for gore. There is flesh. There are chains. There are bodies in various states. There is a lot of blood.
Designed by Dylan Kollath, the house brings the Labyrinth of Hellraiser to life, leaning into the surreal, almost M.C. Escher-like depiction of Hell seen in the films. Kollath’s signature maze design is also on display, with sightlines throughout the house offering glimpses into scenes still to come, creating a somewhat disorienting effect.
Hellraiser isn’t a “book report” house that recreates the film’s scenes scene-for-scene, but it does follow many of the franchise’s major beats in its own way. It should make the experience a little easier for guests who may not be as familiar with Hellraiser and its lore, especially since the films are a unique brand of horror, built around a mythology and visual style that can be more… abstract… than a traditional slasher.
Our guide explained that the house will truly shine once all the effects are in “show mode”, especially with the music and lighting setting the tone.
The franchise’s most well-known character, Pinhead, will be featured throughout the house. Rather than constantly popping out of traditional boo-holes, most of his appearances will take place on platofrms, creating a looming, larger-than-life presence.
The other Cenobites will handle much of the up-close scares, including Chatterer, Butterball, and the famously named “Female Cenobite”.
Dr. Channard and The Engineer, as well as J.P. Monroe, also make cameo appearances in the maze.
Did we mention this house is bloody?
Invasion: Alien Abduction
Invasion: Alien Abduction follows a family whose home has been invaded by an alien mothership. Rather than accepting their impending abduction, however, the family fights back.
The house itself is well designed, but there isn’t necessarily anything remarkable about the farmhouse with the lights on. That’s not a dig at the house. It’s supposed to look like a normal Southwestern home where something very abnormal is happening.
Invasion will be a house that will rely heavily on its special effects. Lighting, sound, floor vibrations, and projections will all play a role in selling the alien invasion, and because the house wasn’t operating in “show mode” during our tour, much of what will ultimately make the experience work couldn’t really be appreciated yet.
It was also the house where photographs were a bit more restricted than in the other 2.
The aliens themselves take inspiration from the traditional “Gray” aliens most people picture when thinking about extraterrestrial encounters – just considerably scarier. Universal’s versions have much more aggressive facial features and sharp claws.
We won’t get too far into spoilers, but things don’t go particularly well for everyone inside the farmhouse.
Guests will see victims, not all human, being beamed up into the mothership, and in some cases, only parts of them make the trip.
The tour also gave us some insight into the codenames used during the development of this year’s houses. For Halloween Horror Nights 35, the codenames were based on transportation, with the connection to the actual house sometimes very loose and other times incredibly obvious.
Hellraiser, for example, was known as “Tractor.” The connection? Tractors are metal and use chains – something the Cenobites are known for.
Invasion: Alien Abduction was much more straightforward: “Shuttle”, because… space shuttle.
And that brings us to “Wagon.”
H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!
After going to prison for his infamous Holidays In Hell stunt, H.R. Bloodengutz manages to escape his prison transport and makes his way back to WKNB. That prison transport also explains the house’s codename, “Wagon,” referencing the prison wagon that our titular horror host escapes from.
Bloodengutz takes over the television station again for another movie marathon. This time, rather than celebrating the holidays, H.R. presents an assortment of Halloween B-movie schlock.
The house reintroduces H.R. as our host, where he’ll be waiting to greet guests. The scene features multiple triggers that can produce different introductions, meaning guests may not necessarily get the exact same encounter every time they walk through the house. A guest-activated trigger, aka GAT, can also be found in the room.
From there, we’re off to see the movies.
The films featured throughout the house cover a wide range of B-movie horror. Some are played relatively straight – or at least as straight as a B-movie can possibly be – while others completely embrace the cheese.
For example, Conjure the Funk features a demon who dances disco before sucking out your soul, while The Madness of Pumpkin Spice has a mad doctor trying to create the Frankenspice Monster. Other films are callbacks to Horror Nights, with cameos from the Pumpkin Lord and the Terra Cruentes Skool children.
The entire house is packed with Easter eggs and references. Some are obvious, while others are things you’d probably never notice while walking through the house during the event. That’s where the Unmasking the Horror Tour is worth the money, as it shows just how much detail Universal puts into these houses to expand their stories.
With the lights on, you get to slow down and actually look around. Props help explain what happened or add context, and jokes hide in places most guests will never look. It isn’t required to enjoy the house, but it adds a fun layer to understanding the story they are trying to tell.
As is tradition, the scenic team also likes to hide small animals throughout the houses as Easter eggs for guests to find. Past years have featured snails, frogs, and, last year, lizards. For HHN 35, the tradition continues with snakes, although they hadn’t made their way into the houses yet during our tour.
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