The best and scariest Halloween Horror Nights food

We visited Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort on all three opening weekend evenings and made our way to all the Halloween Horror Nights food options. After trying everything (some a few times), we devised a list of the best food options at HHN this year. Of course, since it is Halloween Horror Nights, we found some scary food also.

Universal Orlando Resort offers many options like Pizza Fries or Twisted Taters, but many of the park’s quick service locations are open too. Still, the stars of the Halloween Horror Nights food lineup will be found at the specially-themed food & beverage booths and bakery cases.

Words of advice regarding Halloween Horror Nights food

We have two pieces of advice for this year’s Halloween Horror Night event. First, do not overlook HHN items at places like Today Cafe, and while none of those made our best list this year, we still enjoyed many of those options.

Second, queues for food and beverages will be longer than you would prefer, so we hope this list helps you avoid a long wait followed by lower quality food than expected.

Best Halloween Horror Nights Food

The following menu items made our best list:

Sour Apple Pie Funnel Fries ($9.99)

Sour Apple Pie Funnel Fries are available at the Dr. Oddfellow-themed food trailer by Universal Music Plaza Stage. Last year, the covered funnel fries treat for Halloween Horror Nights was “Petrified Rat Tails”, which were certainly divisive as some enjoyed them but others despised them.

Even though the idea of sour apple may be unappealing to some, we think most people will enjoy tthese topped funnel fries described as “sour sugar-seasoned funnel fries topped with apple pie filling, sour apple ice cream, and streusel.”

In fairness, we voiced concerns about anything coming from a food booth themed to Dr. Oddfellow’s carnival; however, we enjoyed this year’s version of topped funnel fries far more than last year’s. Unless you dislike sour apple flavor, this is a great addition to this year’s event. Just be prepared for strong flavors and a HHN level of sweetness.

Left Behind Ravioli ($9.99)

One of the most positively-reviewed items appears at The Last of Us food location in Sting Alley. The Left Behind Ravioli contains mini cheese ravioli with marinara, truffle cream, garlic bread, and tempura fried enoki mushrooms. This item also comes with a souvenir: a FEDRA ration can. This themed container is an inexpensive keepsake for fans of The Last of Us.

The puffy cheese-filled ravioli pairs well with the marinara sauce and the truffle cream enhances the other components nicely. The ingredients of the Left Behind Ravioli should not be creating this above-average Halloween Horror Nights dish, but somehow it does, so we confidently recommend this food item with a built-in souvenir can for around ten dollars.

Cordyceps Corndog ($11.49)

A twisted tater stand in the Gramercy Park area continues The Last of Us theme. As frightening as this sounds, this corn dog creation builds on the framework of the Korean Corn Dog from the Chucky food booth at last year’s event.

The Cordyceps Corndog description indicates the connection to that previous HHN corn dog. It reads, “Korean cheese dog with cordyceps, crispy potato sticks, truffle cream sauce, and daikon sprouts.”

The truffle cream sauce makes this version of the corn dog far better than last year’s. You will need to enjoy cheese for this item, but if you do, you’ll find that flavor works well. Even the odd addition of potato sticks provides good texture.

We have some concerns about this item being prepared as well in future weeks. Still, based on our two experiences with it, this updated item makes our best Halloween Horror Nights food list.

Best Halloween Horror Nights Vegan Item

Vegan diners have plenty of choices for Halloween Horror Nights food. While the vegan walking taco from the Day of the Dead location should receive consideration based on portion size, we selected a different vegan choice for our “best of” Halloween Horror Nights list.

Our favorite vegan option from the Yeti: Campground Kills food and beverage location is the Vegan Burnt Ends Poutine consisting of fries topped with beefless burnt ends gravy, vegan cheeses, and scallions.

For theme park cuisine, we felt the price point balanced with the portion size. We found the thicker, crispy fries held up nicely with the toppings for this poutine creation. The texture of the fries also heightened this HHN item. The vegan burnt ends worked well with this dish; however, we would have preferred more seasoning. The vegan cheese and scallions also helped with the overall quality. Our friends who dine exclusively vegan thought this poutine tasted excellent.

The scariest Halloween Horror Nights Food

Now, we move on to the scariest Halloween Horror Nights food. Both items make this list based on components used, appearance, and lower value than other items.

Universal Orlando chefs take some chances with seasonal food items, and while we love that, not every brave attempt at a highly-themed Halloween Horror Nights food item can be a winner. We found a few we define as “scary” for taste (and appearance in some cases).

Dr. OddFellow’s Carn “Evil” Dog ($10.49)

Few things sound like authentic carnival food more than a hot dog. The Dr. Oddfellow food trailer has a wonderfully themed hot dog for Halloween Horror Nights guests; however, the menu description for Dr. Oddfellow’s Carn “Evil” Dog shows why it made our scary list.

This HHN item includes a red hotdog in a confetti hot dog bun, Kool-Aid pickles, bubblegum mustard, and potato sticks. Yes, you read that correctly.

The preparation checks all the right boxes; however, our group found the pickles lacked a genuine Kooi-Aid flavor and we expected more confetti flavor with the bun (it tasted like a bun with just a few sprinkles added in). Though the bubblegum mustard did have a bubblegum-like taste, the rest of Dr. Oddfellow’s Carn “EVIL” Dog tasted like a basic hot dog. But, if you love hot dogs with unusual toppings, you should definitely give it a try.

Peanut Blooder Burger ($ 13.49)

With Mel’s Drive-In closed for Halloween Horror Nights 2023, a unique Mel’s Die-In food and beverage location has been set up in the Battery Park area. At this location, guests can buy a typical hamburger or cheeseburger, but the Peanut Blooder Burger stars as the marquee food item here.

The menu description for the Peanut Blooder Burger reads, “Smash burger with peanut sauce, raspberry jelly, cheddar cheese, shaved onions, jalapeño bacon, and cherry peppers on a vampire bun.” In preparation for this event, we declared this food item the one we most wanted to try.

Unfortunately, our interest in the Peanut Blooder Burger dropped after Universal Studios Florida’s Taste of Terror dining preview event, yet we still tried it on the opening weekend of Halloween Horror Nights.

We found all the unique components individually tasted okay, but the merging of the ingredients failed to amplify this burger as much as we hoped. Therefore, our main reason for placing this on the scariest Halloween Horror Nights food list involves something besides the unique ingredients: the portion size. This burger qualifies as a slider-sized burger and does not come with a side, making it scary due to the lack of value. Nonetheless, if you crave a unique burger, this fulfills that need nicely.

For those looking for “safer” options you can always dine on Pizza Fries, Twisted Taters, and the returning Pizza Skull – and don’t forget that many regular quick service locations are open during Halloween Horror Nights evenings.

We hope this list helps with your Halloween Horror Nights food planning. We also put together a valuable resource with information about the houses and scare zones for this year’s event. For video coverage of the event, please visit our YouTube channel. We wish you a spooky time at Halloween Horror Nights this year.