‘Terrifier,’ ‘Fallout’ haunted house secrets with creative director John Murdy | Halloween Horror Nights 2025
As Halloween Horror Nights celebrates its recent kickoff at Universal Orlando and nears its opening at Universal Studios Hollywood, here’s a look behind the scenes of the “Terrifier” and “Fallout” haunted houses. Warning: there are some gruesome and graphic images to follow.
Illustrated artwork courtesy of Universal
Our reporting for this story took place at Universal Studios Hollywood (west coast), but both the “Terrifier” and “Fallout” haunted houses also exist at Universal Studios Florida. For a look at all haunted houses and scare zones, check out our full guides to Halloween Horror Nights 2025 in Hollywood and Orlando.
‘Terrifier’ haunted house
If you’re unfamiliar, “Terrifier” is one of the latest torture slasher franchises to hit the big screen. This low-budget film released in 2018 made shockwaves through the horror industry. Its great success prompted two sequels in 2022 and 2024.
The façade of the “Terrifier” haunted house at the west coast’s Halloween Horror Nights is a replica of a haunted house seen in “Terrifier 2.” But unlike in the movie, this is a life-size version guests can walk into as opposed to the one in the film which was created using a miniature.
The beloved villain of the franchise is Art the Clown. “He’s the new face of horror,” states Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood Creative Director John Murdy. “I think he is equivalent of what Freddy, Jason, Leatherface, and Michael Myers were back in the ‘70s and ‘80s. … It’s really been a long time since there’s been an iconic horror movie slasher that horror fans have embraced, and Art is certainly that.”
Art the Clown has become so iconic that guests won’t just find him inside the “Terrifier” haunted house. Art will be running all over Halloween Horror Nights, so nobody is safe from the havoc he wreaks.
Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood has a long tradition of spraying water on guests to add to the scare factor. The “Terrifier” haunted house uses this more than ever before as guests are sprayed with “blood,” “bleach,” and more in nearly every scene. Unlike the haunted house’s Orlando counterpart, Hollywood does not have an option to take a dry or wet route. How wet it all gets remains to be seen.
This haunted house features recreations of kills from all three of the franchise films. As we were walking through the house, there was still some wet paint on the walls and ground. It was interesting to learn that Halloween Horror Nights has created its own unique blood formula to use for the set pieces and actors.
As guests have been known to touch set pieces and props as they walk through the haunted houses, certain items throughout the event have been made to trigger effects when touched. One example is the heart in the hatbox in the “Terrifier” haunted house.
Here are highlights from the Orlando version of the “Terrifier” haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights:
‘Fallout’ haunted house
Another new haunted house this year is based on the “Fallout” Amazon series. The world of “Fallout” features a retro futuristic style. A war has ended in nuclear Armageddon. If you’re able to afford it, you live in an underground vault. If you’re not so fortunate, you’re living on the surface, and the side effects of radiation turn you into a ghoul.
The “Fallout” haunted house does an impressive job recreating the underground vault and various other locations seen in the series. Even the creators of the show said it was like walking back on set.
The “Fallout” haunted house is just another example of how the horror genre continues to evolve. Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director John Murdy notes how his definition of horror has had to expand through the years. When he brought the event back in 2006, those early years were all about the classic horror movies like “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street.” Now the scope of what qualifies as acceptable content for Halloween Horror Nights includes video games, musicians, and more.
Here are highlights from the Orlando version of the “Fallout” haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights:
‘Poltergeist’ returns
One of the returning houses this year is based on the horror movie “Poltergeist.” When asked about bringing back a house, Murdy explains that everything needs to be rebuilt. This house originally debuted in 2018, but none of it had been saved. In addition to rebuilding, the time is taken to rethink certain aspects and learn from the past for the chance to add in some extra scares.
Before leaving our tour, I took the opportunity to ask Murdy about the “Deathly Afraid” necklaces being offered in Orlando this year for guests who want a bit of scare protection in the scare zones. He said that Hollywood isn’t going to offer them at the west-coast park, but they’ll be keeping their eyes on how the rollout works for Orlando. The two coasts entertain different audiences, but they’ll consider whether it makes sense for the future of Hollywood based on Orlando’s experiences.
Halloween Horror Nights opens at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sept. 4, 2025, and runs on select nights through Nov. 2. Learn more in our guide to Halloween Horror Nights for the west coast.
Jeff DePaoli is an event producer living in Los Angeles. He is the producer and host of “That Halloween Podcast” and works throughout the year with Halloween events including Midsummer Scream and Creep It Real OC, as well as the event he founded, Wicked New England. Learn more and claim free gifts at DePodcastNetwork.com.
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