September 6, 2025, 5:41 PM ·
Now that Halloween Horror Nights has opened for 2025 at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, let’s ask that enduring question: which one is better?If anyone wants to select the world’s best Halloween Horror Nights, of course we also ought to consider the events at Universal Studios Singapore and Universal Studios Japan in Osaka. But I do not have the budget to jet myself across the Pacific to these events right now, so I will limit our question to the U.S. theme parks.(Of course, I would love to post a trip report from either of those events this year for Theme Park Insider readers, so if you have attended either – or both! – and would like to send us one, please email me.)Speaking of budget, I don’t think that the gap in quality and experience between Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood is great enough that you should blow your budget to attend one over the other. Whichever one is more convenient and affordable to attend is the best one for you, and don’t let anyone talk you out of that.The easiest path to compare the events in Florida and California starts with the five haunted house concepts that they shared this year – the IP houses. Let’s go one by one.Terrifier: Hollywood wins this one, thanks to a fun false ending as well as outstanding scareactor performances. The only way that a most people could accept this incredibly violent slasher franchise is by embracing its sarcastic absurdity. The Art the Clowns in Hollywood deliver, with over-the-top hamming for the audience. They practically demand that you cheer and applaud their cruelty, which almost everyone does. Which then might draw some people into thinking about why they are so willing to applaud a serial killer, but that’s part of the appeal of the slasher genre, which embraces the chaos of horror to provide a relief that helps us feel alive. Watch: Hollywood v. Orlando.Fallout: I am giving the nod to Hollywood again, but with a caveat. If you are not familiar with this retro-futuristic, post-apocalyptic video game turned TV show franchise, Hollywood does a better job of making this feel like a narrative, starting in the vaults where the well-to-do escaped a nuclear war and then moving above ground for a battle with mutants. Yet if you are a Fallout fan, Orlando packs its house with far more detail and references, making it a rewarding Easter egg hunt for fans. It’s all too confusing for non-fans, though. Watch: Hollywood v. Orlando.Jason Universe: This is the biggest blow-out win for Hollywood, which presents a greatest-hits hall of fame of Jason Voorhees kills, where Orlando instead sticks Jason’s backstory in the middle of a repetitive series of Jason jumpscares that loses its effect too quickly. Watch: Hollywood v. Orlando.Five Nights at Freddy’s, however, is as close to a draw as we have this year. The creative teams in California and Florida work with each other throughout the year, and with the two teams contracting the development of puppets and animatronics with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, we ended up with near duplicates of this franchise on both coasts. But Orlando does offer a bigger opening scene with more characters, giving it the narrow win here. Watch: Hollywood v. Orlando The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks provides the biggest contrast between the coasts this year. In short, if you are a pro wrestling fan, Orlando’s is the house for you. That installation starts where The Wyatt Sicks began, with a recreation of the “Raw” episode that introduced the characters. But for non-fans, Hollywood is the pick, for it ignores the wresting connection to focus on an original haunted house story starring Bray Wyatt’s characters. Watch: Hollywood v. Orlando.Original houses: Universal Studios Florida again offers five original concept houses this year, while Hollywood offers two plus an extra IP house. That one is Poltergeist, a retread of a 2018 house. Hollywood’s other two houses are a reinstallation of 2022’s Scarecrow, this time with a soundtrack by Slash, as well as the third installation of its Monstrous concept, depicting Latin American horror myths. That’s a good house, but nowhere near as good as the top original houses in Orlando, which offer jaw-dropping production design. That’s convenient, because it leaves your mouth open to scream in response to all the great scares contained within each. The big winner here is Orlando.Now we also can consider the scarezones and shows available at each park. I would give the narrow win to Hollywood for scarezones if we consider Terror Tram in that category, as I believe one should. This year’s collection of Blumhouse villains beats the reduced line-up in Orlando this year, despite Florida’s amazing effort with The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane.Orlando wins shows, however, with Nightmare Fuel back for another high-volume, high-energy twisted cirque-style performance, as well as a new lagoon projection show in Haunt-O-Phonic. Hollywood offers a return of The Purge: Dangerous Waters as well as the movie Chainsaw Man: The Chaos from Japan. That’s a draw outside the houses, so it comes down to the houses to pick an overall winner. And, for me, Orlando’s superiority in quality and quantity on original concepts more than overcomes the Hollywood’s slight edge this year with IP houses.So my choice is Universal Orlando for the better Halloween Horror Nights again this year, even though both events remain excellent choices for horror fans who want a special night in the parks.
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