Halloween Horror Nights Gets Haunted Houses Based on Freaky, The Black Phone, and Halloween

The chills keep coming, as Universal continues to reveal this year’s lineup of Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses. The latest announcements feature three horror movies—one a recent hit, another an all-time classic, and then a movie that hasn’t even come out in theaters yet. The first and last are both part of Universal’s ongoing relationship with modern horror factory Blumhouse, so let’s start with those two.

Halloween Horror Nights’ latest Horrors of Blumhouse maze will focus on two Blumhouse movies, 2020’s Freaky and, uh, this Friday’s The Black Phone. Freaky, of course, was the comic slasher twist on Freaky Friday, with Kathryn Newton as a high schooler who magically changes bodies with Vince Vaughn’s serial killer The Butcher. The well-reviewed movie from the director of the Happy Death Day series is fertile turf for a haunted house—yeah, it’s bloody and gory and all of that jazz, but it’s also a funny, comparatively light romp that’s really easy to watch. The Black Phone, meanwhile, is a supernatural mystery murder thriller about child abuse and abductions in the late ‘70s and stars Ethan Hawke as a villain named The Grabber, which feels like the writer just went with their very first idea for a name. It’s getting good reviews too (although not from us) but it doesn’t hit theaters until tomorrow, so it might be a little premature to devote (half) a haunted house to it. Either way, Universal guests will be able to walk through both movies during Halloween Horror Nights this year, at both Universal Orlando and Universal Hollywood.

Earlier this month Universal also announced a new house on the way based on a horror classic that hasn’t just stood the test of time, but also influenced one of the most popular subgenres of horror more than probably any other movie. With the current Halloween trilogy ending with Halloween Ends this October, Universal is going all the way back to the beginning with a new house based on John Carpenter’s original Halloween from 1978. Take a trip to Haddonfield, Illinois, as a misunderstood young man named Mike returns to the childhood home he was prematurely cast out of, and then watch him kils, like, a lot of people. The original Halloween is about as good as slashers get, and Michael Myers remains uniquely frightening in a way subsequent slasher villains like Jason Voorhies and Freddy Krueger can’t quite match. That means this house is probably going to be pretty tough to get through. I’m just looing forward to the hedges, myself.

You’ll be able to scream your way through The Horrors of Blumhouse and Halloween haunted houses at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort during Halloween Horror Nights this year. It starts in Florida on Sept. 2 and in California on Sept. 8 and will run on select nights at both parks through Oct. 31. You can find more info, including ticket and travel packages, at the official Halloween Horror Nights website.