Halloween Horror Nights runs on select nights from September 3 through November 1, 2026, and it needs its own ticket. A regular park ticket does not get you in.

I grew up in Southern California and have been going to Universal Studios Hollywood my whole life. The first decision is whether you also want the daytime park that day, because only a few of the event tickets include it.

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Dates

The night-by-night calendar is on Universal’s event page. Event nights start at 7 p.m., closing times vary by night, and single-night tickets are valid only on the date you select.

Which Halloween Horror Nights Ticket to Buy

1. Halloween Horror Nights General Admission

Best Deal For: Anyone who wants one night at the event and nothing else.

This is the event ticket on its own. It covers the date you choose, and the daytime park and early access are not part of it.

We sell it through aRes Travel, an authorized Universal Studios Hollywood seller based in San Diego that I have worked with for years. The price below is for the cheapest nights on the calendar, and it rises on busier dates the same way Universal’s own price does.

Universal’s event tickets are nonrefundable. Through our store, you can add ticket insurance for $25 at checkout and get a full refund if plans change.

2. The 2PM Day/Night Ticket

Best Deal For: Visitors who want the rides in daylight and the houses after dark on one ticket.

This ticket gets you into the park from 2 p.m. and covers the event the same night. It also includes early access to select haunted houses before the 7 p.m. start, which General Admission does not.

With General Admission, you enter at 7 p.m., so this is the version to buy if you want the daytime lineup on the same day.

Every Halloween Horror Nights Ticket Universal Sells

Universal’s own store lists nine event tickets and five add-ons for 2026. The two above are the ones our store sells. Everything else is sold by Universal at the prices in this table, each a starting price for the cheapest nights.

Add-ons Each of these requires separate event admission for the same date, which our tickets provide.

Universal also sells hotel-and-ticket packages through its vacations division.

Universal Express at Halloween Horror Nights

Best Deal For: Seeing every house in one night.

Express access is a separate, shorter line at each haunted house and participating attraction. The standard version works once per house and attraction for the night, and Unlimited removes that limit. Neither includes early access.

Universal sells Express two ways:

• As a ticket. Event admission and the Express access bundled together, from Universal only.
• As an add-on. Express access attached to any event admission for the same date, including ours. Our General Admission plus Universal’s add-on comes out to about the same total as Universal’s own Express ticket.

The Express Select add-on is the budget version. It covers only the Terror Tram, The Purge: Dangerous Waters, and Killceañera, and it skips the other seven haunted houses, so it fits a night built around those three.

Whether Express pays off comes down to how many of the eight houses you want in one night and how much you mind waiting.

Going More Than Once: Frequent Fear and Ultimate Fear Passes

Best Deal For: Three or more event nights.

Only Universal sells its two multi-night passes. The Frequent Fear Pass covers up to 35 select nights, and the nights available depend on the first visit date you pick at purchase. The Ultimate Fear Pass covers every event night.

Against Universal’s lowest single-night price, the Frequent Fear Pass pays for itself on the third night and the Ultimate Fear Pass on the fourth. Neither includes daytime park admission or early access.

Pass Member, Military, and Membership Pricing for Halloween Horror Nights

Special pricing for the event is available online from Universal and through a few memberships.

• Buy online, on the cheaper nights. Universal prices every night separately and says online tickets save up to $40 against its front gate on select nights.
• Pass members. Universal offers special online pricing to annual and season pass holders on General Admission, Universal Express, and the After 2 pm Day/Night ticket. Platinum Annual Pass members get one General Admission night included in the pass’s first year, on select nights with an advance online reservation. After the first year, members on monthly FlexPay get one each year. The friends-and-family admission discount that pass members get on daytime tickets does not apply to this event.
• Military. Universal’s military page lists special pricing for the event, verified through ID.me online. It is not sold at the ticket booth.
• Sam’s Club. The member ticket portal lists 2026 event tickets, with prices behind the member login.
• Costco. Costco’s Universal Studios Hollywood listing is a season pass, and no daytime pass includes the event.
• AAA. AAA’s member ticket site lists both the General Admission and After 2PM tickets, with no fees at checkout.
• Go City and CityPASS. Both include daytime Universal admission on certain passes. Neither includes the event, because it is separately ticketed.

The 2026 Haunted Houses and Terror Tram

Eight houses and the Terror Tram make up this year’s lineup. Every house is a walk-through, and the Terror Tram is the backlot ride, themed for the event.

• Stranger Things 5. Based on the final season of the series, with the Hawkins characters, Demogorgons, and Vecna.
• Sinners. Based on the film, with its vampires.
• Hellraiser. Based on the original trilogy, with Pinhead and the Cenobites.
• Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness. A house built around the musician.
• Evil Dead Burn. Based on the new film, with Deadites in a family home.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space. Based on the film, with its alien clowns.
• Killceañera: Music by SLASH. An original house set at a quinceañera.
• Dead, Deader, Deadest. An original house set in the Deville Family Funeral Home.
• Terror Tram starring Art the Clown. The backlot tram, taken over by Art the Clown for a Christmas-themed scare.

Scare Zones, Shows, and What Stays Open

Between the houses, Universal runs scare zones and roaming characters in the streets: a Fortnite zone called Fortnitemares, a chainsaw gang, a traveling circus, a swamp bog, a sideshow, a flock of crows, and Art the Clown loose in the park.

The Purge: Dangerous Waters is the stunt show. In the Wizarding World, Death Eaters roam Hogsmeade.

These daytime rides run during the event, according to Universal:

• Mario Kart: Bowser’s Challenge, with SUPER NINTENDO WORLD open from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
• Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, and Flight of the Hippogriff
• Revenge of the Mummy
• Transformers: The Ride-3D
• The Simpsons Ride

Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift runs during the event only for R.I.P. Tour guests. The daytime Studio Tour is not on that list, and the Terror Tram runs on the backlot instead.

Themed food and drinks are sold at select locations, and some of them serve alcohol with ID checked. The Dining Pass in the table above covers two entrées and four smaller items for the night.

Know Before You Go

Arrival The rules Universal publishes for the gate and the houses.

• There is no minimum age. Universal recommends the event for mature audiences and not for anyone under 13.
• If you have daytime park admission the same day, you do not need to leave and come back. Show your event ticket at the front turnstiles for a wristband, and bring photo ID in case you are asked.
• You can upgrade a General Admission ticket to Universal Express or Express Unlimited on the day at the ticket booths or the Box Office inside the park, subject to availability.
• No outside food or drinks. No food, drinks, bottles, recording, flash photography, flashlights, or laser pens inside the houses.
• Line jumping gets you removed from the park, and holding places in line is not permitted. Do not touch the scareactors.
• Parking is not included with any event ticket. Gold and Platinum pass parking is not valid for entry after 6 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in September and October.

Costumes Allowed on event nights, within Universal’s costume policy.

• No costume masks, and nothing that covers the face. Face paint on no more than half the face, and no prosthetic makeup.
• Nothing that looks like a weapon or a uniform, nothing that imitates emergency personnel, and nothing that could be mistaken for part of the show.
• No smoke, fog, or sound effects, and no veils, trains, stilts, or oversized pieces. Costumes must fit through security screening, within 25 inches wide by 80 inches high.
• Universal can ask you to change or remove a costume at the gate or before a ride.

The full policy is on Universal’s policies page, and it can change without notice, so read it the week you go.

Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood FAQs

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