Smoke and Stack take on Jack at Halloween Horror Nights
For the first time, a major category Oscar-winning film has inspired a haunted house at Universal Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights. Sinners might lead the big names at this year's 35th anniversary haunt event. But once again, it's Universal's original concept houses that steal the show.
Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" won Academy Awards this year for Best Original Screenplay for Coogler, Best Original Score, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, and - breaking one of Hollywood's final glass ceilings - Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to win that award. Universal here presents a book-report retelling of the story for its haunted house, starting with our arrival at the Mississippi train station on our way to the opening night party at Smoke and Stack's juke joint.
It's an handsomely presented house, highlighted by that first music scene in the juke joint. But as impressive as the visuals in the house might be, they just can't measure up to an attentive filmgoer's memory of Arkapaw's amazing cinematography or the twists and symbolism in Coogler's clever script. If you've not seen Sinners, perhaps Universal's house will inspire you to give the film a watch. It should. But fans of the film, while delighted with the chance to step into Smoke and Stack's world, likely will leave a bit frustrated by this abbreviated visit.
Beyond Sinners, Universal's next most popular IP house this year might be Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness, a tribute to the late rock singer. Authorized and supervised by Sharon and Jack Osbourn, this definitely is the love letter to the late singer that fans would expect. Filled with fan service, including a ride on the "Crazy Train," this walk through inspired by Ozzy's stage character ends with an intimate moment with the legend himself. This is another house that works for fans and those unfamiliar with the source IP.
But my pick for house of the year at 2026's Halloween Horror Nights is Universal's backstory set-up for this 35th anniversary event. Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control tells how HHN icon Jack the Clown joined fellow icon Dr. Oddfellow's circus. But Jack's murder habit got in the way of Oddfellow's soul-stealing side hustle. When Oddfellow decided to off Jack (with a delicious pun as he does it), it all goes terribly wrong after Jack draws Oddfellow's enchanted blood while fighting back. That makes Jack immortal and sets up an eternal battle between the two.
Listen carefully for the "Pop Goes the Weasel" tune, which signals Jack's return. In the end, Jack and Oddfellow decide that fear divided is fear diluted and choose to join forces to create the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares - which just so happens to be the theme of this year's event. This house is a visual feast, filled with gags and treats to delight any HHN fan.
My second-favorite house this year was H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!, a callback to a decade-old original HHN house. This time, H.R. is out of prison and has taken over a TV station in HHN's favorite town of Carey, Ohio, to host a Halloween marathon of Universal Orlando made-up silly horror flicks that I would 100% percent watch in real life. Universal has produced plenty of anthology houses like this over the years. (Cinema Scare, anyone?) But every gag lands in this one, especially "The Madness of Dr. Pumpkinspyce," a mad scientist/barista who has infected millions. Watch the walk through video.
Other IP houses this year include Stranger Things 5, which leans into the series' monsters rather than deal with any of the emotional resolutions that frustrated so many fans about this Netflix's series final season. The demogorgons look better than ever here, and Vecna sets in a couple of jump scares. But the awe and wonder that this series inspires in its first go-around long has faded. Again, here is a video.
Universal's longest house this year is its tribute to Hellraiser, which is all fan service with its visual callbacks to the first three films. There's also Evil Dead Burn, a tribute to that franchise's most recent film, which delivers on its title's promise by turning up the heat - literally - in the house's final scenes.
This year's other original concept houses are Invasion: Alien Abduction, in also does exactly what its title says, with aliens abducting a family from their farm house. There are some nice gags in the farm house kitchen here, but your enjoyment of this one will correlate with your affinity for slasher aliens. Madlands: Caged Cannibals employs a punk metal soundtrack to envision a post-apocalyptic Old LA Zoo, where people continue to resist eating a vegetable even in a world where all animals are extinct, so they've turned to cannibalism. Just for the LOLs, they decide to cosplay extinct animals depicted in the ancient zoo's exhibits. All this provides an excuse for some impressively creative costuming.
Finally, Universal offers Cybergoria, a blood-splattered gore fest where the robots charged with figuring out to make human beings immortal just decide to thaw the cryogenic stiffs and flay them to access and plug into their nervous systems.
Gee, even in the year 3535, AI is gonna be making a mess of our lives. Talk about a horror night.
Thanks to Universal Orlando for inviting Theme Park Insider out again to cover the event.
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Replies (2)
That's the way that Universal promoted it, but you're right. But I think it's fair to say major Oscar winner, so I will change to that.
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It's not accurate to say that Sinners is the first Oscar-winning film to be turned into a house at HHN. The Wolfman, The Exorcist, and American Werewolf in London have all won an Academy Award.