Universal continued today its gradual unfolding of new information and additional details on its Horror Unleashed attraction in Las Vegas, its first-ever permanent horror exhibit that will bow on August 14. After letting Scarecrow: The Reaping, the only original haunted house on the docket, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, that ‘70s stalwart, have their moments in the Nevada sun, the company has now turned its sights to The Exorcist: Believer, what was supposed to be the grand kick-off to a brand-new, half-a-billion-dollar trilogy of films but what instead ended up being a one-off entry (you can read all about that interesting history – along with what the company will next be attempting with the hallowed property – in our brief-but-comprehensive write-up). And while today’s update was on the slim side, it still managed to contain an interesting nugget or two, specifically in regards to the attached entertainment and culinary offerings that will be on hand for Believer.

First, though, is the haunt itself. It seems that the experience will mostly be a port of the Halloween Horror Nights Orlando entry from 2023, which more or less offered up a “book report” of the source movie, retelling its story in a linear fashion, starting with an earthquake in a Haitian marketplace and ending, of course, with the climatic exorcism scene of the two possessed girls, Angela Fielding and Katherine West. It’s in this finale, though, that we get a hint of the plussing that Universal has in store for this year-round rendition; in the announcement video, Nate Stevenson, one of Horror Unleashed’s show directors, proclaimed that:

[D]uring the actual exorcism scene, we actually make a wall disappear and, behind it, you see this hellscape, and it gives you an idea of what these girls are fighting with, and also what they’re trying to escape.

This is in line with the revealed extras from the first two Vegas mazes, in which Scarecrow will whip up a dust storm and Texas Chainsaw will allow guests to explore environments only briefly glimpsed (or implied) in its cinematic counterpart.

Now, then, comes the good stuff. Believer’s associated immersive zone, which functions as a type of hybrid between a traditional HHN scare zone and show, will be the “chillingly Instagrammable” Prop Graveyard, and it’ll be populated with a collection of (you guessed it) possessed props – specifically, “unsettling dolls, dismembered mannequins, and other haunted objects” from abandoned film sets. These inanimate items will have hints of movement – just enough, it would seem, to paint an unsettling scene for visitors as they mill about.

And as they work up an appetite, of course; located next door is Premiere House, a tapas bar that is, unsurprisingly, devoted to all things Blumhouse Productions, one of Universal’s biggest partners in both the worlds of Hollywood and theme parks – even more props, this time from some of the studio’s more recent fare, will form a backdrop against which patrons can imbibe signature cocktails and share small plates. (Blumhouse’s presence has become almost rote at this point, with it helming the Exorcist: Believer production, and with all of its other properties, from M3GAN to Five Nights at Freddy’s, becoming mainstays at Universal Orlando Resort during the Halloween season, whether that be in the more traditional form of haunted houses or scare zones or the more esoteric manifestation of photo ops, film festivals, or, most memorably, flash-mob dance routines.)

Follow Horrors Untold on Instagram and Facebook, and be sure to sign up below for our monthly email newsletter for exclusive content and insights.