Halloween Horror Nights season is upon us, and Universal Studios Hollywood invited us to preview two of this year’s new houses: Sinners and Killceañera: Music by Slash.

Both houses are located in the Upper Lot, with Sinners in the Fallout location from last year and Killceañera in the Parisian Courtyard, where the Monstrous Trilogy was located.

Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights John Murdy guided us through both houses so we could give you a sneak peek at what’s to come this Halloween season.

SINNERS

Ryan Coogler’s groundbreaking horror film Sinners not only grossed over $300 million at the global box office but was also deservedly nominated for a record-breaking 16 Oscars and won 4, including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Original Score.

When Murdy took on the arduous task of bringing Sinners to Horror Nights, his take on Coogler’s story drew from two sources: Robert Johnson’s Cross Road Blues and the Jim Crow South. On top of that, Murdy realized that with this house, he needed to change how they design the experience, and it started with the queue itself. As you progress through the queue, you enter Club Juke. For the first time in the event’s history, a portion of the queue is used to set up the story with live actors and special effects. This creates a seamless transition from story to scares. This semi-preshow has so much going on that repeat visits are a must just to take it all in.

One of the incredible effects that will set the mood that something is afoot is the glowing eyes. During filming, the actors had to wear specialized contact lenses, and the cast complained about how hard they were to wear. Because of that knowledge, the team at Universal came up with a clever solution: “a fake eyebrow that is an appliance that you wear over your real eyebrow with a tiny little wire that leads to a grain-of-rice-sized LED light”.

From there, you enter the woods, where the scene is set with silhouettes with glowing eyes whispering, knowing you are being hunted. Suddenly, you see Remmick singing Rocky Road to Dublin, dripping in blood after claiming his victim. As you make your way through the woods, be on the lookout for Bert, Joan, and Mary, now that she has been turned. One thing Murdy tries to keep in mind when taking on IPs is ensuring the director’s messaging and details are clear. One note is the imagery of buzzards in the film. “Whenever the Smoke Stack twins are driving down the highway, you always see buzzards circling, and whenever they land, that means someone is going to die.” Be mindful if you see buzzards in the house.

As you avoid Remmick and his followers, you’re hastened back to Club Juke for “safety.” You wind through portions of the passageways, avoiding Remmick, and make your way to another iconic scene from the film, where you enter the storage room where Mary bites Stack. In speaking with Murdy, one of the fascinating things you see not only in this house but in all of them is that whenever you see a product of any sort, specialized labels must be created to avoid trademark infringement. For the props team, that means creating fake labels for bottles and products that seem legit, but not so fake that it takes away from the environment. Creating something for people to see but not be “seen” is part of the tone-setting that is part of the giant undertaking of these events.

Another important moment for Halloween Horror Nights is that, for the first time, they’re working alongside Action Horizons, which Universal works with for WaterWorld and The Purge Dangerous Waters. The famous “Sammy” scene, with Remmick walking across the Catwalk, only to jump down and then fly back up to the Catwalk, will be recreated. From there, you’ll enter the finale and be in the middle of an all-out battle.

During the tour, Murdy made sure to point out that, even though Orlando and Hollywood share some of the same IPs, they share only the same storyline and “hero” characters, then carve out their own paths from there. “Doing that allows marketing to do a piece of key art or video; they don’t have to do it differently for both coasts,” says Murdy. Last year’s Five Nights at Freddy’s was the first time they truly did a copy-and-paste to both coasts, with some minor differences.

Killceañera: Music by Slash

After three incredible years of the Monstrous trilogy, Murdy has turned his attention to a new storyline while bringing back some monsters from the past. Murdy told Inside Universal that in 2018, he was standing near the former Infusion Lounge in CityWalk, overlooking the lower level, when he noticed a “Quinceañera parading down the main thoroughfare with all of the girls wearing beautiful dresses.” That moment sparked an idea for a horror house. While the idea may have started in 2018, it wasn’t until now that Killceanera came to fruition.

The premise of Killceanera is that “a girl named Lola, when she was 5 years old, her parents died in a terrible fire… it left her horribly burned and an orphan. And because of this, it left her as an outcast, and throughout school she was horribly teased and abused,” says Murdy. Since she has no parents, Lola decides to throw her own Quinceañera and, in turn, invites the very people who mistreated her throughout school. Lola feels the only way for her to exact revenge is to “conjure” all the monsters from the myths and legends her parents shared stories about.

Because of the story’s lengthy setup, Murdy reached out to longtime collaborator Slash, and together they created a new score and intro song to help tell what will happen. As guests approach the house entrance, they will see Lola singing a new song called “Fifteen Candles.”

As you enter the house, the first scene you encounter is an ofrenda (a temporary altar built to honor and welcome loved ones who died). This occurs during Día de los Muertos, which also happens to be Lola’s birthday. If you look carefully around the room, you’ll notice the names of the monsters Lola is conjuring written in blood.

Be on the lookout for candles… The song “Fifteen Candles” is more than just a song. You will see fifteen candles throughout the house. Each candle will be held by a victim… fifteen candles, fifteen victims.

As mentioned before, this house will bring back monsters from years past, and the first monster you’ll encounter is El Cucuy, just before you enter Lola’s closet. As you continue to travel through, you’ll encounter a new monster called La Mala Hora, as well as some returning favorites like La Lechuza, La Llorona, and El Silbon. This house felt very much like a “Carrie” meets a monstrous house.

As you enter one of the final scenes, you’ll step into a graveyard, but Murdy wants to leave the guests wondering whether Lola is dead or alive. That is for you, the guest, to figure out. As you make your way out, you’ll enter what Murdy described as “a ruined crypt and what might be the most exit scares in one house.” Inside Universal asked Murdy what he felt was the scariest monster in the house, and he said, “La Llorona, due to the source material about a woman who drowns her kids.”

Once you’ve exited the house, you’ll enter a scare zone that usually ties into the house itself, and this year you’ll enter El Circo de la Muerte. The setting is a 1920s/1930s Depression-era traveling sideshow. One new aspect of this area is a sidewalk walkthrough experience with its own mini-scare zone at the end of the street, next to Mel’s Diner.

These are just two of the 8 houses and the Terror Tram you’ll experience at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, running September 3 to November 1, 2026. Thank you to Universal and John Murdy for inviting us out and giving us a sneak peek at what’s in store.

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