REVIEW: Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights

September 17, 2025

REVIEW: Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights

The influence of Universal Studios Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) is undeniable. Since 1997, this annual event has awakened the Halloween spirit in Southern California and inspired generations of creatives—some going on to build their own haunts, become mask makers or professional makeup artists, pursue careers in the film industry, and much more.

Before taking a deep dive, it’s important to acknowledge the heartbeat of HHN: the creatives. The actors, puppeteers, stylists, makeup artists, and countless others are the true power of the event. Without them, HHN simply wouldn’t exist. Unfortunately, their work often gets overshadowed by poor decision-making at the top that creates a lackluster event for those brave enough to shell out money for a general admission pass.

In recent years, HHN Hollywood has devolved into an overcrowded, chaotic mess. Guests often face hours-long waits, bottlenecked walkways, and staff struggling to control rowdy crowds. The result is a tense, unpleasant atmosphere where frustration snowballs, creating a domino effect of bad energy that impacts both guests and employees. This crush of bodies also ruins the flow of the mazes themselves—guests are pushed through so quickly that many never get the chance to appreciate the artistry and detail the creative teams poured in. A great example would be the incredible Jim Henson Creature Shop life sized puppets made for Five Nights At Freddy’s. These were beautifully operated puppets that were often missed as we went through, due to hundreds of bodies being rushed in per minute.

Compared to its Orlando counterpart, HHN Hollywood consistently falls short. Orlando and Hollywood HHN have separate creative directors, with the latter being helmed by John Murdy—a man with a puzzling obsession with Slash. In the pre-COVID Twitter era, Murdy routinely bragged about being “friends” with the guitarist, despite the fact that much of HHN’s younger fanbase had no clue who Slash even was or that he also co-authored the offensive 1988 track One in a Million, with its racist and homophobic lyrics. Slash has since tried to distance himself from the song but he nevertheless is listed as a writer on it.

While Slash himself does have a pull in the world of guitarists, Murdy’s fixation is bizarre—and it bleeds into HHN’s creative direction. Murdy even inserts his own name or likeness into mazes, a cringeworthy attempt at self-memorialization that cheapens the experience.

Even worse, Murdy leans heavily on IP-driven mazes instead of trusting his team’s original ideas. This year’s “WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks” maze, based on a WWE wrestling faction, is a perfect example. Orlando’s version embraces the concept, incorporating a possessed Raw control room and creative staging. Hollywood’s, meanwhile, reuses props dating back to Universal’s long-closed House of Horrors (2014). These IP mazes often lack the punch of original concepts, like this year’s Poltergeist maze—essentially a retread from 2018—being full of empty space and flat storytelling. We brought up these same issues back when they did it almost a decade ago, but evidently that feedback was unheard.

Even when HHN does attempt something original, Murdy often sabotages it. The Scarecrow maze, for example, had strong design work but was ruined by Slash’s musical contribution: generic blues riffs that sounded like a throwaway track from GNR’s much-maligned The Spaghetti Incident? At least Murdy spared us from sticking Slash himself inside the maze, though this didn’t stop him from including sports bar-like video loops of the guitarist signing autographs inside the Slash Bar. What that has to do with Halloween is anyone’s guess.

Then there’s the influencer invasion. HHN has become a playground for self-styled “content creators” with inflated follower counts who clog the park with poorly shot videos or selfies. They praise HHN and its gimmicky food offerings to maintain access, not because they believe in the product, but rather because they need to be approved to get VIP passes from its often pushy media team. This cheapens the event, further frustrating paying guests. Instead of prioritizing the true fanbase, Universal has chosen optics and ad revenue over authenticity.

To be fair, not everything is grim. This year’s Monstruos 3 was one of the best mazes HHN Hollywood has ever produced. Its vignettes of Latin American folklore—featuring terrifyingly effective takes on La Llorona and La Muelona—were breathtakingly executed. It’s proof of what HHN’s teams can achieve when they’re allowed to lean into original storytelling. Sadly those victories are rare. As long as Universal’s leadership prioritizes profit margins, influencers, and Murdy’s self-indulgence over creativity, HHN Hollywood will remain a shadow of what it could be.

But we try to remember that in the end, cash is king. Slash is Halloween. Murdy will remain on the screens. And the real talent—the artists, performers, and designers—linger stuck in the background of a park pocketing millions from hard working Angelenos. Here’s to another few decades of Horror Nights disappointment.

VC

September 17, 2025

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