Treaks And Foons

Universal's Halloween Horror Nights or Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights is an annual chain of Halloween-themed event at Universal Studios theme parks in Orlando, Hollywood, Japan and Singapore. A similar event at Beijing titled Scares @ Universal' is also held around the same time. The longest-running and most successful iteration of the event, in Orlando, Florida, began as Universal Studios Fright Nights in 1991 as a 3-night event at Universal Studios Florida. The following year, it was re-branded as Halloween Horror Nights, advertised as the "second annual event". Since then, it has evolved into a scare-a-thon event filled with themed haunted houses, scare zones and shows that runs over the course of select nights from late August/early September until late October/early November, inspiring offshoots at other Universal Studios locations across the globe.

The Orlando event was held at Universal Studios Florida from 1991 until 2001, after which Halloween Horror Nights moved to neighboring Universal Islands of Adventure for 2002 and 2003. In 2004, a dual-park format was tested, which opened parts of both parks, before returning exclusively to Islands of Adventure in 2005. The Orlando event returned to Universal Studios Florida in 2006 where it has remained since then. The Orlando event has been held yearly with the exception of 2020, when it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was the first year that the event was not held since its inception. The event later resumed with its 30th year in 2021.

A year after the opening of Universal Studios Florida in 1990, Universal set out to create a Halloween event for its new east coast park. Universal Studios Fright Nights began as a 3-night event held at Universal Studios Florida on October 25, 26, and 31, 1991, featuring one haunted house, The Dungeon of Terror, and a collection of shows.

The event was renamed in 1992 and advertised as the second annual Halloween Horror Nights. There were two haunted houses, with The Dungeon of Terror returning and The People Under The Stairs making its debut in Soundstage 23. The event ran five nights, October 23–24, 29–31. In its third year, the event saw an increase to seven nights and the number of haunted houses increased to three, with the third at the Bates Motel film set.