Hey everybody! Halloween time is upon us once again, and we were lucky enough to be invited out to Las Vegas to check out Universal’s latest offering: Universal Horror Unleashed. This year-round haunt offers four haunted houses, four immersive entertainment areas, dining, a gift shop, and more. Watch our video above, and then keep reading to find out everything you need to know before your next (or first!) visit.
The Basics
Backstory
Universal Horror Unleashed is a year-round, fully immersive horror experience. According to the backstory, the haunt is located in “Warehouse 25,” an abandoned production warehouse filled with cursed and haunted set pieces, film props, and other mysterious items from Universal’s long-running legacy of horror.
Here, Halloween Horror Nights lore mainstays Legendary Truth: The Collective locked down the warehouse, but the haunted props and sets have thinned the veil between our world and the Shadow World, allowing the horrors to come to life.
Hours of Operation
Hours of operation are from 2-10 p.m. Thursday through Monday, with the attraction closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This experience may be too intense for younger guests, and isn’t recommended that those under the age of 13 visit.
Location
Universal Horror Unleashed is located in AREA15, an entertainment and attraction destination in Las Vegas that’s also home to MeowWolf’s Omega Mart and is located just 10 minutes from the Las Vegas Strip and Downtown Las Vegas. AREA15 does restrict access to minors at certain times of the week, and there is a chaperone policy where those under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult during their visit.
Accessibility
All of the haunted houses, queues and other areas within Universal Horror Unleashed are accessible to both wheelchairs and standard-sized ECVs without transfer required. However, there are lasers, strobe lights, synthetic fog, and high-intensity sound used throughout if you’re sensitive to those effects.
Costume Policy
If you’re a fan of “bounding” to the theme parks dressed as your favorite characters, you can do that here, too! Though costumes are allowed, they are subject to Universal’s Code of Conduct and Costume Policy.
Photo Pass
A photo pass is available for $20, which offers all of your photos from Universal Horror Unleashed for that day. Photographers walking around the venue will have QR codes available to scan to purchase photos.
Tracker Tip: Purchasing just one photo at Universal Horror Unleashed will cost you $14, so we think the $20 photo pass is the better deal.
Can You Film in the Houses?
Unfortunately, no, you are not allowed to film inside the houses; this is the same rule as the one in place for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort.
Parking and Rideshare
Parking is not included in the cost of your ticket, but if you plan on driving, parking is available at the AREA15 Parking Garage. Valet and additional parking are also available at AREA15’s Zone 1: The Bunkers. A walking path and tram will be available from the West Entry Doors.
Tracker Tip: Since parking isn’t included in the cost of your ticket, and can be subject to availability, we recommend you use rideshare to get to Universal Horror Unleashed if you can.
Tickets
All tickets are date and time specific, and could be more or less expensive depending on the time of year you’re visiting. General admission starts at $69 per person, with a Nevada resident rate starting at $59 per person. These tickets offer admission to enter each haunted house one time. An Unlimited Access ticket is also available starting at $99, and offers, you guessed it, unlimited access to the houses.
If you want the ultimate Universal Horror Unleashed experience, you can go for the VIP Experience Package, which starts at $2,750. This package includes admission for up to 6 guests for a 3-hour VIP experience with a private host, priority entry to the venue, unlimited access to the haunted houses, a VIP dining experience, and more.
Haunted Houses
There are four haunted houses to experience at Universal Horror Unleashed. They are:
- Universal Monsters
- The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Scarecrow: The Reaping
- Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer
Universal Monsters
In this house, you’ll experience the terrifying worlds of Universal Monsters, following in the footsteps of famed monster-hunter Van Helsing. As you make your way through the Van Helsing crypt, you’ll find that the forgotten monsters have clawed their way back to life, including Dracula, The Mummy, Frankenstein and The Bride, and more.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
This house, based on the 1974 film of the same name, will take you on a journey through a rotting farmhouse, where something unspeakable awaits. Every victim and aggressor from the film can be found in this house, including the infamous Leatherface. This house is mostly inspired by a haunted house from Halloween Horror Nights 2024 at Universal Studios Hollywood, dubbed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface, though it isn’t an exact copy.
Scarecrow: The Reaping
This haunted house returns from Halloween Horror Nights 27 at Universal Orlando Resort. Inside, you’ll traverse through foggy cornfields as twisted scarecrows lurk in the shadows. Set in the 1930s, farmland ravaged by farmers has been taken over by bloodthirsty scarecrows bent on revenge.
Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer
The final house in the lineup is inspired by Blumhouse’s 2023 release, The Exorcist: Believer, and ripped straight from Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Hollywood. Inside, you’ll follow the story of two girls, Katherine and Angela, who have been overtaken by an ancient evil as you try to escape before the entity claims you as its own.
Live Entertainment Areas
There are four entertainment areas outside each of the haunted houses. Those are:
- Dead Storage
- Kill Vault
- Prop Graveyard
- Jack’s Alley
Dead Storage
This immersive area leads to the Universal Monsters haunted house. In Dead Storage, guests will find themselves among forgotten set pieces and props reclaimed by creatures of the night — vampires, a werewolf in mid-transformation, and more.
Tracker Tip: Here, you can check out a real set piece from Universal’s 1943 film, Phantom of the Opera and meet the Vampire Queen (like we did, camera noise!). The set piece was originally located in Soundstage 28 on the Universal Studios lot in California. The same soundstage was not only used for filming of Phantom of the Opera, but also Dracula, The Bride of Frankenstein, and Psycho.
Kill Vault
This entertainment area leads to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre haunted house, as well as Rough Cuts, one of the dining venues at Universal Horror Unleashed. Here, you’ll be surrounded by rusty knives and machetes, as well as the creepy characters of the Kill Vault, like strange surgeons and slashers.
Prop Graveyard
This area leads to Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer haunted house. The Prop Graveyard blurs the lines between inanimate and alive, leading you to encounter collections of unsettling dolls, dismembered mannequins, and other haunted objects from abandoned film sets.
Tracker Tip: There are several Halloween Horror Nights Easter eggs to spot here, particularly from Universal Orlando Resort. Here, you can find HHN Bear, a recurring character seen at Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, as well as The Fuzzy, a giant version of the Midnight Snack creatures from the Slaughter Sinema haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights 28.
Other Easter Eggs to spot here are masks from the Fiesta de Chupacabras house at Halloween Horror Nights 31 in Orlando; a Treaks and Foons mask from the scarezone of the same name during Halloween Horror Nights: Islands of Fear at Islands of Adventure in 2002; a lion puppet used in the Scary Tales: Deadly Ever After haunted house from Halloween Horror Nights 28, the Nightingales: Blood Pit haunted house from Halloween Horror Nights 29, and the Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins haunted house during Halloween Horror Nights 32; and a cockroach from Bugs: Eaten Alive, a haunted house featured during Halloween Horror Nights 31.
Jack’s Alley
The final immersive entertainment area is Jack’s Alley, which is also home to Jack’s Alley Bar and leads to the entrance of Scarecrow: The Reaping. Set in a twisted dark carnival atmosphere, you can encounter Jack the Clown and Chance, their maniacs, jugglers, dancers, and fortune tellers during the Jack & Chance: Stay or Slay show.
Tracker Tip: More cool Easter Eggs from Halloween Horror Nights’ past can be found here — the original Lady Luck roulette wheel used in commercials for the event in 2011; the entrance sign for “Run,” a haunted house featured during Halloween Horror Nights 11 that was originally set to feature Jack’s chainsaw-wielding brother, Eddie Schmidt, but was toned down following 9/11; a Dr. Oddfellow banner; and a “Sweets” sign from Major Sweets Candy Factory during Halloween Horror Nights 33.
Dining
There are four designated food and beverage venues at Universal Horror Unleashed:
- Rough Cuts
- Premiere House
- Boiler Bar
- Jack’s Alley Bar
Rough Cuts
At Rough Cuts, you can enjoy “chainsaw” carved small plates while watching a variety of show moments, with dishes like “Ears” (fire roasted yellow corn, citrus aioli, grated cotija cheese, crushed Hot Cheetos, tajin, and micro cilantro), or “Shoulder” (torta al pastor, marinated pork shoulder, fresh pineapple, avocado, lettuce, and pickled onions).
Premiere House
This venue is a tapas bar inspired by the horrors of Blumhouse, offering signature cocktails and shareable bites. Reservations are available and recommended, though the bar itself is first-come, first-served.
You can also take advantage of photo-ops here for M3GAN, The Black Phone, The Purge, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Sometimes, characters from these films will also make an appearance.
Boiler Bar
This venue, which surrounds a massive flaming machine in the heart of Universal Horror Unleashed, offers craft cocktails only for those seeking respite from the fear within.
Jack’s Alley Bar
As we mentioned before, Jack’s Alley Bar is set inside Jack’s Alley. This bar offers themed specialty cocktails alongside views of Jack & Chance: Stay or Slay.
Merchandise
It’s not Universal without cool merchandise, and Universal Horror Unleashed has pulled out all the stops. The gift shop for Universal Horror Unleashed is located right at the exit of the attraction. Collections themed to each of the houses are available, as well as branded merchandise for the venue itself. Each item comes with a cool morgue-style toe tag as the price tag. Most of these items are exclusive to the attraction, with some exceptions we spotted that have also been sold at Universal Studios Florida (namely the Bates Motel housewares).
Tracker Tip: If you don’t want to carry your merch around while experiencing the haunts, the Team Members at the shop can hold your purchases for you while you enjoy the scares!
Limited-Time Offering
For a limited time, HamiKuma, the creepy-cute zombie bear icon of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Japan, was visiting Universal Horror Unleashed. Guests could meet HamiKuma, enjoy specialty merchandise and food, and see the character perform in a stage show similar to one offered at Universal Studios Japan. We were lucky enough to meet him during our visit, see the photo below!
Camera noise!
In his backstory, HamiKuma was a popular sideshow act in a traveling circus while he was alive. The other performers in the troupe were jealous of all the attention HamiKuma received, and were convinced that he wasn’t a real bear. One night, they trapped the bear in the big top and decided to find out for themselves — they slashed open his belly, only to find that no one was inside. They burned down the big top to cover their tracks, and HamiKuma was lost to the flames.
In the afterlife, the demon Death Bringer took hold in HamiKuma’s open belly, granting him eternal life so he could continue to perform. However, this caused his soul to be left behind.
We had a great time at Universal Horror Unleashed during their Blood Red Carpet event and can’t wait to go back! To learn more, visit UniversalHorrorUnleashed.com.
