How To Turn The Family-Friendly Universal Studios Into A Gory Nightmare In Under An Hour

Universal Studios Orlando is about to undergo a stunning metamorphoses. As thousands of daytime patrons are cleared out of the park for the 5 pm closing, a small army of Universal employees bursts into action to transform the park into something else entirely: A massive immersive playground filled with hordes of zombies, vampires, masked murderers, and all sorts of other grotesques. “We try to have the entire park switched over in just over a half hour,” says Michael Aiello, the event’s creative director. “It’s a really tedious process. This is a working theme park during the day, so it requires a highly choreographed dance and a huge number of people to do it in a specific order as the lighting is switched out, the audio is switched out, and the fog machines are turned on.” This is Halloween Horror Nights, a 25-year-running seasonal event that sees the popular Florida theme park skinned into a massive Halloween party. On-site: Nine massively ambitious haunted houses (or “mazes”, as the park calls them), pedestrian pathways that have been transformed into themed “Scare Zones” filled with nightmarish characters, and easy access to rides that are kept open deep into the night. Depending on the date, the Halloween event operates as late as 2 am. In case there was any doubt: This isn’t for the kids. Some of the haunted houses are shockingly graphic, and the event feels more like a Halloween-themed Mardi Gras than a quiet day at the park, where alcohol flows freely from the on-site bars, which are enjoyed by thousands of horror-loving adults who have turned the traditional down season in between Summer and Christmas into a destination.