Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2025

Halloween Horror Nights 2025 is here, and you know I’ve been counting down the days until those fog machines fire up and the scare actors hit the streets. Usually, this is the point where I’d dive right into every house, scare zone, and show, dissecting every bloody detail like it’s a final exam. But this year, I want to switch it up a little! Instead of getting granular on each piece, we’re going to zoom out and talk about the bigger picture: the ticketing and experience options worth your time (and money), where you can actually find vegan-friendly bites in the middle of the madness, and of course, our take on this year’s IPs /houses. If you just want to know how they rank, jump to the TLDR here!

Okay, you’ve decided you’re going to HHN, now here’s what to know before you even step through the gates!

TICKETING. This year, we decided to follow advice of my friend over at The Hauntline (check him out for ALL haunt updates and coverage, all year long!) and go with a GA ticket with early admission. Granted, we also had a couple of large international trips we were paying for, so the cheaper option with a little trust felt like the way to go. We arrived at the park around 4pm on a Sunday in order to view the merch in City Walk and ask about what time they were opening Early Entry that day. This is pretty key, as it shifts from day to day by a bit. And if you are getting Early Entry you want to be queued up with everyone or it can add up to A LOT of people ahead of you. My advice would be to head past Hogwarts for Terrifier and Poltergeist, and then take it from there based on wait times. Now, for us, with some strategic planning, we would have been able to do all the houses, the terror tram, and probably stopped for drinks and food. That being said, we did wait for 2 hours for Five Nights at Freddy’s and at midnight the wait time for Monstruous was 60 minutes and I just didn’t have it in me any more to wait. We tapped out without doing that house, or the Terror Tram. We both felt like the atmosphere was lacking because when you enter the park so early, the scare zones aren’t going yet, it is daylight out and some of the houses have open ceiling elements, and it really just did not hit the way we would like it to. So is the Early Entry with GA worth it? In our opinion, no. Not unless you are going more than once in the season, or that financially that is the only way for you to experience and you feel you can’t fully miss out. We were lucky enough to go a couple weeks later on someone’s employee Express pass and it was just SUCH a better experience. I have heard because of the strong IPs this year, the Express has been selling out so if you are thinking of going and don’t have the Express locked in, do that now! Your expectations just become so high waiting for SO long for something, and nothing will live up to those 60+ wait time expectations. This also really shaves off the amount of time you can spend in the scare zones, which may not always be a deal breaker, but this year in particular I think the Clownz zone is SO fun. Those actors are absolutely BRINGING the energy, the music is fun, and the vibes are really hitting.

VEGAN FOOD. I can make this quick, as always, because Universal Hollywood refuses to give me more than scraps. BUT we have improvement in the year 2025! There are TWO labeled plant-based options on the HHN menu, and I will take it! Unfortunately, we tried to get the option at the Fallout place near the entrance and they were sold out. Whether that was sold out for the night, temporarily, or for the season, I unfortunately can’t say! I was really excited to try it as I heard great reviews, but alas. At the Slash Bar in the Lower Lot, you will also find some plant-based Thai Curry tacos that are tasty! They are about a 6/10 but there was no wait and they also have tasty drinks and places to sit/stand and eat.

IP THOUGHTS. This year is definitely a banger when it comes to franchises and IP. I LOVED what they did with Five Nights at Freddy’s; the puppets are all so amazing and it is an immaculate set. Yes, I have heard Orlando is better, but when isn’t it? I also had a GREAT time with the wandering Art the Clown, he is ALL over the Hollywood footprint doing fun interactions and tiny scares. I also enjoyed the Terrifier house, although because I sat in on the Midsummer Scream panel for HHN my expectations were really high for this and fell somewhat short of what I feel was promised in that panel. Poltergeist was also a heavy hitter, and an underrated one at that, I feel. The only one I was excited for and ultimately incredibly disappointed was Jason! I LOVE Jason and was really excited for this, and I feel the story was a bit muddy, and the walk through itself was so disappointing both times I did it. The WWE thing I still have no idea what is going on, nor do I really care enough to look into it. If you were a fan of the late wrestler, I’m sure this is special, and it certainly is not a bad house by any means, just very confusing on what is going on if that is something that matters to you in a haunt! Also just to note, this iteration of Scarecrow fell very short of what they are doing at Horrors Unleashed so if you plan to go to Horrors Unleashed and are running short on time at HHN, I think you can safely skip that one.

So, there you have it! Our quick-and-dirty guide to HHN 2025 without getting lost in every single scare. If you’re planning your trip, nail down your tickets first (Express if you can), manage your expectations around wait times, and know that vegan options are limited but improving. And when it comes to the mazes and IPs, there’s plenty to geek out over but also a few misses that will make you glad you didn’t wait in line forever. Overall? This year has some absolute standouts, some “meh” moments, and enough heavy hitters to make it worth the visit, just plan smart, pace yourself, and soak up all the chaos without letting the lines kill the vibe.

TLDR

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TLDR 〰️

Boo’s Review:
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 4
Atmosphere Rating: 4 (2 if no Express)
Vegan Food Rating: 2.5
Costume & Makeup Rating: 4
Scare Actor/Cast Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2
Value for Money Rating: 3

Individual Attraction Name: Terror Tram: Blumhouse
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 2
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 2
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Five Nights at Freddy’s
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 0

Individual Attraction Name: Terrifier
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1.5

Individual Attraction Name: Fallout
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Jason Universe
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3.5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: .5

Individual Attraction Name: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Poltergeist
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4.5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2

Individual Attraction Name: Scarecrow
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Monstruos 3: The Ghosts of Latin America
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2

Killer K8’s Review:
Overall Haunted Attraction Rating: 4
Atmosphere Rating: 4
Vegan Food Rating: 2 (because one was sold out…)
Costume & Makeup Rating: 4
Scare Actor/Cast Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2
Value for Money Rating: 3

Individual Attraction Name: Terror Tram: Blumhouse
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 2.5 (let it die!)
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: .5

Individual Attraction Name: Five Nights at Freddy’s
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Terrifier
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2.5

Individual Attraction Name: Fallout
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3.5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1

Individual Attraction Name: Jason Universe
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 3
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1.5

Individual Attraction Name: The Horrors of the Wyatt Sicks
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 2.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 3

Individual Attraction Name: Poltergeist
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 3

Individual Attraction Name: Scarecrow
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 3.5
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 3.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 1.5

Individual Attraction Name: Monstruos 3: The Ghosts of Latin America
Individual Attraction Overall Rating: 4
Character & Story Cohesion Rating: 4.5
Set Design & Special Effects Rating: 4.5
Scare/Intensity Factor Rating: 2.5

* out of a possible perfect 5