Just two weeks ago, Universal finished – at long last – revealing the entire lineup for Halloween Horror Nights 34, and in another mere two weeks, the event will kick off (both officially, on the opening night of August 29, and unofficially, with the separately ticketed Premium Scream Night, on August 28). That means it’s the perfect time to take stock of where we’re at: how does the roster of experiences shape up compared to recent years? And just what do we make of the changes to Stay and Scream, the process by which those guests with daytime tickets can remain in Universal Studios Florida while it resets for the nocturnal Halloween festivities? (Little details like these, after all, can really make or break one’s night at HHN, which, in turn, can have an outsize influence on how he views the entire event [just look at how the Express debacle from last year, in which the number of multi-night passes with Express access were significantly limited without any advance warning, colored the whole season’s proceedings for a great number of attendees].)

To get to the bottom of all this, I asked a number of experts from across the Horror Nights community:

• Duff – co-host of the HHN 365 podcast
• Shamus – co-host of the Fear and Beer podcast
• Scott – HHN Twitter personality extraordinaire
• Drew – long-running presence in the theme-park community

(And before we get started, if you need a quick refresher of just what Halloween Horror Nights 2025’s lineup consists of, you can find our rundown of the scare zones here, the shows here, and the haunted houses starting here.)

Marc N. Kleinhenz, creative lead of Horrors Untold:

Now that we know the entirety of the HHN 34 event lineup, including the return of those pesky Death Eaters in merry ol’ England (well, Universal Studios Florida’s version of it, at least), what do we make of it? Just on paper, does it sound good, bad, or somewhere in between? How are your personal feelings stacking up compared to this point in the past few years?

(Bonus points if you want to include your most- and least-anticipated experience, whatever those may be.)

Shamus, dwagon wrangler:

From my perspective, as someone who has only been actively attending HHN since 2019 (so relatively recent), I think on paper this might be the best event I’ve ever attended, and I’m comfortable making that call already. I would assume some of the more seasoned veterans of the event may feel differently, but I think this event will eventually be remembered as one of the best ever.

I haven’t completely hammered out my final “hype” list, as we like to call it, but as of right now, I believe my most anticipated experience is Fallout (close second for The Cat Lady of Crooked Lane 😄), and the least is Five Nights at Freddy’s, but solely because I’m not a fan of the movie, nor do I have much experience with the games/lore.

Drew, HHN fiend:

I tend to agree with Shamus, as I personally think this is one of the best years on paper in recent memory.

I have been attending HHN since 2007, and I think my pre-event hype for this season rivals any that I have attended! This is such a diverse lineup of intellectual properties, there’s truly “something for everybody,” but I also think Universal should be praised, as there’s also so many risks and not really any “safe” IPs besides Jason Universe.

It’s funny – normally, I’d have Jason super-high on my hype list (huge Friday the 13th fan!), but this year is different. I cannot wait to see how they pull some of these houses off. The vibe of Fallout can be so hard to replicate. The gore of Terrifier? We’ve never seen anything like that at HHN. The character design for Five Nights at Freddy’s? A spectacle on their own, [and] mix in that Chuck E. Cheese-style setting… there’s potential for an all-timer. Then there’s WWE, telling a story rooted in horror but not your typical franchise for something like this. As a wrestling fan for life, I am beyond excited to see this – but I can understand the uncertainty that people unfamiliar with the product can have with it. I can give a million reasons why this one excites me!

Oh, yeah… and I haven’t even mentioned the originals, which also look incredible.

We are in for absolute horror cinema in a mere two weeks!

Scott, blinky cup enthusiast:

I will say this: this will be the absolute worst year… the absolutely worst… for my wallet. This year already has me buying more merchandise than previous years at this point of the event. I may need to mortgage my house after buying a few extra tickets, as well, and I am stoked for the upcoming Premium Scream Night event.

Not every IP is for me, but every one has a significant following and can easily pull in some mega fans of it. I think many WWE fans could be horror fans, but even those who would not consider themselves a fan may attend this historical first house. I really feel they have made something for everyone. I am paraphrasing Mike Aiello from Spooky Empire: “We consider something for everyone – the mega fan, the first timer, etc.”

The IPs this year really show a wide spread of options – classics like Jason, new up-and-rising independent films like Terrifier, the less-horror-movie-and-more-game-based products like Fallout and FNAF, and, now, WWE.

Moving into the scare zones and “street experiences,” they continue to show that wide range of options. Again, for the HHN megafan, some items sound familiar or close to previous lore items. BuzzCon or Bzzzcon. Classic Halloween tales, including pumpkins in trees. The return of large scarezones. I am most excited for the entrance zone being expanded back into Minions and the really extended zone from Central Park – often too tight to enjoy, but bringing it out, in front of Animal Actors, is a brilliant design.

I absolutely love the idea of Mel’s for a street experience. As someone who attended in the early years, I remember a lot more entertainment options, and this sounds like something old school. Smaller, street experience-type areas to see a little show, take some pictures, eat up some of the crowd… all very welcome for me.

I also love that they used Slaughter Sinema 2 items in the park for original houses and scare zones. I just love the hidden items and how Universal plants Easter eggs for us. Speaking of which, those [announcement] videos this year – I have a feeling the flowers are just the beginning, and some of the items will have been revealed in the posters. When we start seeing Orange Meat served at a Fallout food location, we know they did place that in the video with purpose.

We have not yet observed how New York will be dressed [as of the time of this roundtable], but I have heard some interesting rumors. And if true, there should be a fun new option or two for us to experience.

HHN 34 seems to be a mega year – one would even call it epic – and the irony is that for the year Epic Universe joins the world, HHN needs to share the name of epic to describe the journey ahead.

The only thing I have some serious reservations about is the extreme changes to Stay and Scream, partly for fear of the loss of strategy. I am sure I am not the only one who had figured out the cheat codes and how to do so much with so little time. Last year, I had it down to walking into my eighth house before general guests arrived at the area. But the other reason I think this could be a serious issue this year: day guests can stay in the park, filling up space the rest of us paid for. Follow me for a moment. The only things I cannot do without a wristband are getting into a house and, allegedly, buying food, drinks, and merchandise (I say BS – they are not going to turn away money). But even then, let’s say I go with a large group, and some of us have paid entry and wristbands, while others don’t. Those without can just have a friend go buy that food for them. They’ll take up space, be in scare zones, eat and drink, take up seats, and fill up already-congested areas. Will Universal check wristbands all night, or just for an hour or so after change-over?

Now, they have done this for some of the Grad Bash nights as a test. It worked there, but who would want to voluntarily be in the park with a bunch of teenagers high on sugar with no or minimal adult supervision? I also realize I just described HHN sometimes, but seriously, no one would want to sneak into the park for a grad night – they have no need to police it like they’ll need to for HHN.

Marc N. Kleinhenz, creative lead of Horrors Untold:

Yeah, I think there is reason to be worried about Stay and Scream, specifically, but also, more generally speaking, it’s interesting to take a step back and see how Universal is viewing/dealing with the always-increasing crowds – we have to state the first date of our multi-night tickets, for example, or there’s the existence of Premium Scream Night. I absolutely think HHN 34 will be looked back upon as a transition year, for sure.

Duff, Stay and Scream purveyor:

I think the sentiment that this event looks incredible on paper is undeniable. The originals all have captivating concepts, some drawing back to adored houses from the past. The IP lineup might be the best example of “something for everyone” we’ve ever seen. However, what may be most exciting is the addition of street experiences and expanded zones. It feels like we’re returning to this being a true celebration of Halloween.

On the discussion of the alterations to the Stay and Scream process, I honestly think it could be for the better. We’re fairly confident the queue setup will have to look quite different due to the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit construction, some of which is already visibly using previous HHN queue space. If these queues ended up shifting backstage, as expected, this free-roaming Stay and Scream experience could allow those who want to wait in line for the houses to do so while not obstructing any in-park spaces (also, potentially in areas with more shade?), leaving other guests an open park where they don’t have to navigate the maze of corrals. It’s a wait-and-see situation, but I’m hopeful this could be a beneficial change for both guests and ops.

Drew, HHN fiend:

I’m really curious as to how these Stay and Scream changes go. I am confident that opening weekend will likely be a mess, but I do think it’s going to work well in the long run!

One of the biggest complaints for non-HHN guests is the park’s early closing time, and in recent years, the growth of the event has led to the Stay and Scream holding areas growing more and more. Operationally, it’s shutting down a section of the park that’s already closing early and hindering the guest experience. It’s also hindering the HHN guest experience, in my opinion. I’d much prefer the ability to roam the park freely and choose to queue for a house if I wish or take advantage of potentially shorter food lines.

Shamus, dwagon wrangler:

I am cautiously optimistic about S&S updates because I always felt like penning everyone in and attempting to force normal park-goers out of Universal Studios Florida before opening the houses never looked particularly efficient. I also prefer not having to be forced to stay in my outdoor line when the Florida skies inevitably open up and dump water on my head.

Scott, blinky cup enthusiast:

I also get the appeal of being able to move around freely rather than being “stuck” in a single corral. That said, I’ve witnessed (and heard from others) some pretty tense guest-on-guest interactions when it comes to unofficial lines. One example I personally witnessed at HHN was for Halloween Nightmare Fuel. Guests started forming their own lines well before the actual queue opened, despite team members clearly stating that the line wasn’t open yet. Then, when the official queue did open, the guests who formed this fake line were yelling at those who did not join in on the unofficial line. And the fake line was fully blocking the walkway.

There’s been some mention, possibly in a letter sent to travel agents, that houses might have staggered queue opening times. Even if that’s the case, I worry it won’t matter to many guests. I fear that will be how each house will be – guests will do their own thing if not provided for them.  For anyone lining up in Epic Universe during previews, and then going recently, ops had to adjust and change how they did it. I am sure HHN will be adjusted and updated, as well.

Looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds, and Universal does listen to feedback and surveys… this could very well be the attempt to correct some issues from the past.

Drew, HHN fiend:

I think no matter what operational changes are in place, we can all agree on one thing: this year is looking fantastic!

This diverse lineup has something for everyone young and old, in terms of HHN fandom. Personally, last year was a down year for me. I can’t really put a finger on it, but I just didn’t visit as often as I did in the past. This year, I am busting at the seams with excitement. The next two weeks can’t move any faster!

Scott, blinky cup enthusiast:

Andrew, you are so right… this year is going to be absolutely epic!

I’m beyond stoked. Honestly, my hype list? Completely wrong. None of these houses deserve 10th place. Most of them feel like they’re tied for first, second, and third! Okay… maybe one is in last place for me, but only because I never played the game and didn’t love the movie (sorry, FNAF fans!). But hey, that’s what makes these rankings fun – every list is different, and that just means there’s something for everyone.

And can we talk about the scare zones?! Every single one sounds amazing. Usually, I read through the descriptions or see the early builds and think, “Eh, I could skip that one.” But this year? Nope. I’m pumped for all of them. Throw in the street experiences and two shows? It’s just ridiculous… in the best way.

What’s even crazier is that this is just the pre-anniversary year. If HHN 34 is coming in this hot, I can’t even imagine what madness they’re planning for HHN 35.

The HHN creative team is on fire. Seriously – unchained, unleashed, and out to blow our minds. And I am so here for it.

Shamus, dwagon wrangler:

This is, by far, the most excited I’ve been for anything theme park-related in recent memory, and maybe even longer. It feels like Mike and his team heard the noise from the last couple of years and said, “Hold my blinky cup.”

The podcast and I just recorded our hype-list episode to be released the morning of opening night, and I can’t wait for everyone to get to hear our final preliminary thoughts before the big grand opening. But I can attest to the scope of variety available at this year’s event, as all three of us (myself, Nick, and Jamie) have wildly varied lists, and there was some “playfully heated discussions” amongst ourselves.

For even more on the expansion and evolution of Halloween Horror Nights Orlando, be sure to check out Horrors Untold, the HHN guidebook/immersive horror mystery. You can read samples and buy your copy here.