Universal Studios Hollywood is bringing back Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash to score an original haunted house, unleashing Art the Clown onto its famed backlot tram, and adding a Fortnite-themed scare zone as Halloween Horror Nights returns for its 2026 run beginning September 3. The event mixes big licensed properties with original concepts built around musicians, following a reveal at Southern California's largest horror convention over the weekend.
According to NBC Los Angeles, this year's eight-house lineup leans on major intellectual property, including houses based on Stranger Things 5, Hellraiser, Evil Dead Burn, Sinners, and a maze paying tribute to Ozzy Osbourne's solo work. John Murdy, creative director for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood, has helped shape the event's blend of licensed horror brands and original storytelling for years, per the outlet. As detailed by Theme Park Insider, the full slate also folds in original haunted maze concepts alongside those film and TV tie-ins.
Slash Returns With a Deadly Quinceañera
One of the season's centerpiece original houses is KILLceañera: Music by Slash, which centers on the quinceañera of a character named Lola, according to NBC Los Angeles. Lola turns her fifteenth birthday celebration into a festival of death to take revenge on everyone who wronged her, the outlet reports. Slash composed an original score for the house that includes Spanish guitar and an exclusive song titled Fifteen Candles, per the Halloween Horror Nights team as cited by NBC Los Angeles.
Slash has a multi-decade history of scoring Universal Studios Hollywood horror mazes, having previously composed music for Clown 3D in 2014, Universal Monsters in 2018, and Scarecrow: Music by Slash in 2025, according to the Los Angeles Times. Those compositions have previously been compiled into a limited-edition vinyl record sold exclusively at the park, the paper notes. This year, guests exiting KILLceañera will physically transition into El Circo de la Muerte, an original outdoor scare zone themed around a 1930s Mexican circus, as reported by Theme Park Insider.
Art the Clown Takes Over the Terror Tram
The Terror Tram, which uses the park's iconic World-Famous Studio Tour trams to drop guests onto the backlot sets, will feature Art the Clown this year, according to NBC Los Angeles. Metal band Ice Nine Kills created an original dark Christmas soundtrack reworking classic holiday songs for the Art the Clown experience, as reported by Kerrang! The band previously collaborated with the Terrifier franchise on A Work of Art for Terrifier 3, a song that garnered nearly 60 million streams, per the same outlet.
The 2026 Terror Tram takeover marks a departure for Universal Studios Hollywood, which had relied on Blumhouse properties to host the tram tour for the prior two consecutive years, according to Universal Parks News Today. Killer Klowns From Outer Space will also return to Halloween Horror Nights this season, NBC Los Angeles reports.
New Houses, a Fortnite Zone and Daytime Tours
Beyond the music-driven attractions, this year's lineup includes Dead, Deader, Deadest, which sweeps guests into a funeral home, and One Wish Willow, centered on a character carrying a terrifying curse, according to NBC Los Angeles. The Purge: Dangerous Waters will take place in the park's Waterworld area, the outlet adds. Universal also announced that Freaky Nikki, a character from the film Obsession, will appear at the park and roam its darkened streets during the event; Obsession was written and directed by Curry Barker and released by Focus Features, per NBC Los Angeles.
Universal Studios Hollywood added an outdoor scare zone based on Epic Games' Fortnitemares video game event, adapting an experience previously announced for Universal Orlando, according to Theme Park Insider. The park is also introducing a daytime Unmasking the Horror Tour Add-On for 2026, offering lights-on guided walkthroughs of select houses including Sinners and KILLceañera: Music by Slash — an offering that brings Hollywood in line with a VIP fixture long popular at Universal Orlando, the outlet notes.
Convention Reveal and New Security Screening
The lineup was unveiled at Midsummer Scream, described by NBC Los Angeles as the world's largest Halloween and horror convention, which hosted Universal's panel at the Long Beach Convention Center on August 9. During its 10th anniversary event, Midsummer Scream also announced that the convention will relocate to Anaheim in 2027, according to Theme Park Insider. Universal's presence there followed John Carpenter's own Cathedral reveal at the same gathering.
Local visitors should also plan for a changed arrival routine this fall. Universal Studios Hollywood installed a new secured perimeter with metal-detector screening hubs around Universal CityWalk in June, requiring guests to pass security screening before entering the dining district and park gates, Hoodline previously reported. That infrastructure update consolidated security checkpoints ahead of the high-volume fall event season, according to the same report.
Halloween Horror Nights runs on select nights through November 3 at Universal Studios Hollywood, with the season attribution noted per NBC Los Angeles. The park operates under the same parent company as NBC-owned television stations, per NBCUniversal, and its expansion of horror programming extends beyond the seasonal event: Universal Destinations & Experiences is also building a permanent Universal Horror Unleashed venue in Las Vegas and a 114,000-square-foot location in Chicago targeted to open in 2027, Hoodline has reported.
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