Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director and Executive Producer John Murdy took the stage at Midsummer Scream this past weekend, offering fans a closer look at what’s coming to Universal Studios Hollywood for Halloween Horror Nights 2026.
While much of this year’s lineup had already been announced, Murdy used the annual panel to pull back the curtain on several of the event’s upcoming experiences, with a focus on this year’s Terror Tram and the new original haunted house, Killceañera: Music by Slash.
Murdy also saved one surprise for the end of the presentation, announcing that Nikki from Curry Barker’s Obsession will be joining this year’s event as a roaming character.
Terror Tram Starring Art the Clown
After making quite an impression at Halloween Horror Nights last year, Art the Clown is getting an even bigger playground in 2026, thanks to this year’s Terror Tram.
Murdy acknowledged Art’s popularity during last year’s event, which, in case you missed the several viral moments that came out of it, proved to be very popular. Murdy also spoke highly of the working relationship Universal developed with Terrifier creator Damien Leone during last year’s collaboration, which helped pave the way for Art’s return this year.
Rather than simply bringing guests back into the world of the Terrifier films, the team is giving Art the Universal Backlot to wreak havoc on with an original Christmas-themed concept.
Murdy revealed that the narrative for the experience is titled “Every Day is Artmas!”, which will set up the story through the video guests watch aboard the Studio Tour tram before heading onto the Backlot.
Art arrives to celebrate the Holidays a bit too early, but decides he’s going to celebrate the Holidays anyway, making the experience a mishmash of Christmas havoc as Art puts his own bloody spin on familiar holiday traditions and imagery.
Among the areas Murdy previewed are a Nutcracker-themed section and a Christmas Tree Farm. The Bates Motel will transform into Art’s “12 Slays of Christmas,” while another section will introduce Art’s Christmas Cafe.
“Santa Art is Coming to Town” will draw inspiration from A Christmas Carol. Even the War of the Worlds plane crash is explained in the story: exactly how did Art manage to cause that much destruction?
According to Murdy, Art has a flak gun to take down Santa’s Sleigh.
Music will also play a significant role in bringing “Artmas” to life. Ice Nine Kills is providing original takes on several classic holiday songs for the experience, including “Joy to the World,” “O Christmas Tree,” and “Carol of the Bells.”
Ice Nine Kills lead singer Spencer Charnas joined Murdy onstage to discuss how fans have long requested the band’s involvement in the event. Charnas also shared a brief sample of their new take on the holiday classic “Joy to the World.”
Following last year’s popular interactions, Murdy also announced that Art the Clown will once again stalk the streets of Universal Studios Hollywood throughout the night, so you’ll never know where or what version of Art you’ll encounter.
Killceañera: Music by SLASH
Murdy then shifted the panel to Killceañera: Music by Slash, but first took time to look back at the history of Latin American horror at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood.
Over the past several years, Latin American horror at the event has largely been represented by the Monstruos series of haunted houses, which brought creatures and legends from Latin American folklore to the event. Murdy confirmed that the Monstruos series has now come to an end, with Killceañera serving as the next chapter for Latin American horror at Halloween Horror Nights.
Surprisingly, Murdy revealed that a 2018 visit to Universal CityWalk was one of the inspirations for the house, particularly when he saw a large group dressed for a quinceañera enter the area.
Set in the Parisian Courtyard, Killceañera centers on Lola, a 15-year-old girl preparing to host what Murdy described as the “party to end all parties,” though her celebration is actually an elaborate plan for revenge against everyone who has ever wronged her.
Murdy shared Lola’s backstory during the panel, revealing that her story begins years earlier on November 2, during the Día de los Muertos festival, which is also Lola’s birthday.
A tragic fire destroyed Lola’s childhood home and killed both of her parents. Lola survived but was orphaned at an early age and left with severe physical and emotional scars from the fire. Badly disfigured and frequently bullied, Lola found refuge in the stories her parents had once told her about malevolent spirits and supernatural entities.
As her 15th birthday approached, those stories became the inspiration for her revenge. Lola decides to hold her own quinceañera in the ruins of her childhood home, inviting the bullies and others who had wronged her over the years. She also plans to invite the ghosts, spirits, and other malevolent entities from her childhood stories to help carry out her revenge.
Lola will make her presence known before guests even enter the house, appearing on the facade’s balcony.
Music will also play an important role in telling her story. Longtime Halloween Horror Nights collaborator Slash composed an original song for the house, titled “15 Candles,” with lyrics by Murdy. Lola herself will perform the song during the experience.
Because the performer playing Lola needs to sing while portraying the character, her design requires prosthetic makeup rather than a traditional character mask.
Murdy also revealed that Killceañera will be part of another first for Universal Studios Hollywood this year.
For the first time, the park will offer Unmasking the Horror tours, giving guests a behind-the-scenes, lights-on look at select Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses. The Hollywood version of the tour will feature two houses, Killceañera and Sinners.
Murdy quickly went over the remaining scare zones and experiences to be featured, including Hackerz, which features a group of chainsaw-wielding killers and ties into Fortnitemares, an immersive scare zone inspired by Fortnite’s annual Halloween event.
After exiting Killceañera, guests will enter El Circo de la Muerte, inspired by the circuses and sideshow acts that traveled throughout Mexico in the 1930s. Rounding out the scare zones is Blood Bog, where moss-covered monsters lurk throughout the bogs and bayous near the Studio Tour entrance.
Several roaming experiences will also be featured throughout the event. The popular Murder of Crowz returns with dad, mom, and baby crow, while Shriek of the Banshee introduces a carnival barker traveling through the park with his talking skeleton.
Obsession
As the panel wrapped up, Murdy made one final announcement, revealing that Nikki from Curry Barker’s Obsession will appear at Halloween Horror Nights 2026.
The reveal drew arguably the loudest reaction of the night.
Nikki will appear as a roaming character during the event, and Murdy noted that the addition came together remarkably late in this year’s Halloween Horror Nights development.
Murdy admitted it was probably the latest addition the creative team has ever integrated into the event.
“It really was our fans,” Murdy told Inside Universal during our post-panel interview. “They sent me a video of Curry Barker talking about Halloween Horror Nights, and he said it would be his dream to have Nikki at Halloween Horror Nights… so, we really rallied really fast, of course.”
Despite the panel’s enthusiastic response, the announcement has drawn some pushback from fans because of the nature of Nikki’s story and the film’s horror.
Unlike many of the slashers and monsters that typically appear at Halloween Horror Nights, Nikki is a more complex character. While she is the antagonist in the film, she isn’t the villain. The horror surrounding Nikki begins with her loss of free will after Bear uses the One Wish Willow to make her fall in love with him, and the wish ultimately drives her to increasingly disturbing extremes that are completely out of her control.
During our post-panel interview, we asked Murdy specifically about bringing Nikki into the event and about the decision to focus on her appearance at the film’s conclusion.
“It’s a specific choice of which version of her we wanted to really focus on, and it’s the version at the very end of the film where she’s all bloody, she’s taken her friend’s dress, and she’s drawn the tattoos all over her body,” Murdy said.
While it may not ease some fans’ concerns about Nikki’s inclusion, both Barker and Navarrette have publicly expressed enthusiasm for seeing the character represented at Halloween Horror Nights. Judging by the reaction inside Midsummer Scream and on social media, there are plenty of fans excited to see her there, too.
Halloween Horror Nights 2026 begins September 3 at Universal Studios Hollywood and runs select nights through November 1.
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