After going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood for years, I’ve realized it takes a lot more to scare me now.

Over time, you pick up on the tricks. You start to spot where a scareactor might be hiding. When you see a dark corner or a strange gap in the wall, you can almost guess when someone will jump out.

But that doesn’t make Halloween Horror Nights any less fun for me. It just means I appreciate the event differently now.

Now, instead of just counting jump scares, I pay more attention to the production design, costumes, effects, and how well Universal pulls me into another world.

In that sense, Halloween Horror Nights 2026 might be one of the best years I’ve had.

This year, Universal Studios Hollywood features eight haunted houses. Some are based on well-known properties like Sinners, Stranger Things, Hellraiser, and Evil Dead Burn, while others are original ideas like KILLceañera: Music by SLASH and Dead, Deader, Deadest.

I went through all eight on opening night, so here’s how I’d rank them.

8. Killer Klowns from Outer Space

I don’t think I’m really the target audience for Killer Klowns from Outer Space.

I haven’t seen the movie, and cheesy 1980s clown horror just isn’t scary to me. So this ended up being the least frightening maze of the night.

Visually, though, I can’t really complain. The maze is much more colorful than almost anything else at Halloween Horror Nights. Universal does a great job bringing the movie’s weird world to life, even for someone like me who isn’t attached to it. The sensory touches, like the smell of cotton candy, are a fun bonus.

The best part comes near the end, when a Klown uses a police officer like a puppet. The scareactor’s timing, lip-syncing, and physical performance really sell the illusion. It’s fun, but since I don’t have nostalgia for the movie or a fear of clowns, this is the maze I’d skip if I came back.

7. Evil Dead Burn

I haven’t seen Evil Dead Burn, and that turned out to be both a good and bad thing for this maze. I could mostly follow what was going on, but I didn’t know enough about the movie to get the context for a lot of the scenes.

That doesn’t mean the house was ineffective. If anything, Evil Dead Burn shows you don’t have to know the movie to enjoy a Halloween Horror Nights maze. The over-the-top kill scenes are fun to watch, and a few even made me want to see the movie.

The bathroom scene stood out to me, and the house gets more violent as you go, so there’s always something to see. But since I’m not familiar with the movie, it mostly felt like walking through a bunch of scenes for fans, instead of one continuous story.

I’d do it again, but only if the line was short.

6. Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness

It’s hard not to smile when you walk into a Halloween Horror Nights maze and suddenly hear “Crazy Train.”

That might also be the main issue with Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness as a horror maze. The house looks amazing and turns Ozzy’s music and style into a wild walk through his songs. Even though I mostly know his music, there was a lot to enjoy.

The giant bat animatronic was my favorite thing to see in the house. And of course, the soundtrack is unbeatable.

But some of the scares don’t really fit with the music. Sometimes scareactors pop out with Ozzy’s famous laugh, but it sounds more like someone having fun than something scary. Instead of thinking, “Something scary is about to happen,” I just thought, “Awesome, it’s Ozzy.” That’s probably not what a haunted house is going for.

But as a celebration of Ozzy Osbourne inside a Halloween Horror Nights maze, it works really well. If you’re a fan of his music, you should definitely check it out.

5. Stranger Things

Stranger Things was the biggest letdown of my night.

That might sound harsh, but the maze actually looks amazing. The set design is an easy 10 out of 10, and as someone who knows the series well, it’s impressive to see places and moments from Stranger Things 5 brought to life. There are even little details to look for, like Eleven’s Dungeons & Dragons stat sheet at the end.

However, in terms of scare factor, the Stranger Things maze is the least scary of them all. Even worse, our walkthrough had some big pacing issues. We had to stop a few times because too many people were ahead of us. Haunted houses really depend on timing, and when that gets thrown off, it’s easier to see the scares coming or to see the same scene over and over again. Sinners made me feel like I was inside the movie; Stranger Things just felt like familiar scenes strung together.

Fans will still find a lot to enjoy. I just wouldn’t wait in a long line to do it again.

4. KILLceañera: Music by SLASH

KILLceañera has something the houses based on big franchises can’t copy: it feels familiar culturally, but you still don’t know exactly what’s coming next. Universal’s original story is about Lola’s quinceañera turning into a deadly revenge plot, keeping HHN Hollywood’s tradition of houses inspired by Latin American culture and myths. SLASH wrote an original score with Spanish guitar, including the song “15 Candles.”

That cultural influence makes the house feel more real than a lot of the other mazes. It was also my pick for the best-looking maze and the best atmosphere at the whole event.

My biggest complaint, which goes for HHN in general but stood out here, is the mannequins.

When a maze mixes real scareactors with fake bodies, you’re supposed to wonder which ones will move. But some of the dummies in KILLceañera looked so fake that the illusion was gone right away.

Still, the atmosphere makes up for those issues, and I’d gladly go through this house again.

3. Dead, Deader, Deadest

This was the big surprise of Halloween Horror Nights 2026. Universal describes Dead, Deader, Deadest as an original haunted house taking guests through an abandoned funeral home where disturbing acts once occurred.

Going in, I didn’t expect much. The name says “dead” three times, so I figured there would be zombies. And yes, there are definitely zombies. The story wasn’t super clear as I walked through, though. I got that it was a funeral home run by a weird owner, with chemicals that brought the dead back to life. But honestly? It didn’t really matter.

Dead, Deader, Deadest had the best scare sequence of my whole night. Near the end, zombies attack from almost every direction. Animatronic bodies move on the floor while live scareactors come at you from other spots, making it feel like an all-out assault on your senses.

For someone used to HHN’s usual jump-scare rhythm, this was one of the few times that actually surprised me. It’s my pick for the scariest maze of 2026, the best original maze, and the biggest surprise of the event.

2. Hellraiser

I didn’t think Hellraiser would end up this high on my list. I know the franchise and have seen the movies that inspired the maze, but I’ve never really been a big Hellraiser fan. However, this maze was really good.

Universal based the house on the original trilogy—Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth—and sends guests through the Lament Configuration into the world of Pinhead and the Cenobites.

Universal starts building the atmosphere even before you go inside. As you get closer, you see the Lament Configuration, and Pinhead appears outside, talking to people waiting in line. It’s a great way to make you feel like you’re about to leave Universal Studios and step into a freaky, nightmarish world.

Inside, the sets and costumes look amazing. The best moment was when I saw what looked like a Pinhead statue. But it wasn’t actually a statue. A scareactor was perfectly hidden and suddenly revealed himself, giving me one of the best jump scares of the night because it broke the usual HHN pattern.

That’s the kind of thing I want to see more often. Hellraiser didn’t just copy the movie’s look. It actually used those visuals to surprise and scare guests. Even though I didn’t expect much, this is the maze I most want to go through again.

1. Sinners

Nothing else was going to take the top spot. Sinners was the house I was most excited to see before Halloween Horror Nights, and it still lived up to my expectations. I’ve watched Ryan Coogler’s film several times, so I know the characters, locations, and style really well. Universal doesn’t just show you scenes from Sinners. It makes you feel like you’ve stepped into Sinners.

That feeling starts before you even enter the maze. The loading room itself sets up the world, which is something I hadn’t really experienced at HHN in this way before. Once you’re inside, the mix of costumes, sets, lighting, and practical effects is amazing.

My favorite part is the scene where vampires attack Club Juke. Instead of scareactors just popping out from the walls, the attack comes from all sides. Vampires show up above you in the rafters and below you, making it feel much more chaotic. There’s even a part where a vampire comes down on cables.

Another small but effective detail is the glint in the vampires’ eyes. It might seem minor compared to a huge animatronic or fancy room, but those little touches make the illusion work.

Was Sinners the scariest house this year? No. But that’s why I don’t think Halloween Horror Nights should be judged only by scare factor anymore. Sinners was my favorite maze because it shows off everything Universal’s designers do best. The sets, costumes, and effects were amazing. Most importantly, everything worked together to make me feel like I was inside a movie I already knew really well.

If you only have time for one maze at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood this year, make it Sinners.

Final Thoughts

After years of going to Halloween Horror Nights, I know it’s hard for these mazes to really scare me anymore. There are only so many ways to hide a scareactor around a dark corner before regulars start to notice the pattern.

Jump scares are still fun. Darkness can still get to me, especially when I’m walking through an area without a crowd. And Dead, Deader, Deadest showed that Universal can still surprise me when they mix different effects in new ways.

But fear isn’t really why I keep coming back anymore. I want to see what Universal’s creative teams come up with. I want to see cool practical effects, great costumes, and settings that make me forget I’m just in a theme park for a little while. Plus, I’m eager to see how well they can recreate a movie I’ve watched over and over. By those standards, Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2026 is a great year.

It might not be the scariest year I’ve had. It is, however, one of the best-looking. And honestly, that might matter even more to me now.