The VIP tour that lets you explore Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights in the daylight

Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort is one of the biggest haunt events of the year in Orlando (though not the only one). I have friends who attend the frightfully fun event every year, sometimes multiple times a season, but I’ve always been too scared to make my way into the fog at Universal Studios Florida. Let’s say my fear level is more “Charlie Brown Halloween with sheet ghosts and animated characters” than bloody mannequins and scare actors chasing after me with chainsaws. 

But last year, I wanted to get into the Halloween spirit differently, especially after I heard all of the hype about the Ghostbusters-themed house at Halloween Horror Nights. And if I’m being honest, Ghostbusters isn’t that scary, right? Then I remembered that Universal Orlando offers daytime tours of some of the haunted houses. It’s called Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour. As a scaredy cat, it was the perfect way for me to dip my toes into the murky waters of Halloween Horror Nights. Here’s how it went. 

Booking the Halloween Horror Nights tour

Unmasking the Horror is a daytime, lights-on VIP tour of select haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights. The tour, which is also offered this year, can include three or six houses. I booked the three-house tour. What I was looking forward to the most about this tour is that all of the lights in the tents and soundstages are on and there are no scare actors in the house. The tour is scare-free unless you are startled easily by bloody mannequins that lurk around corners. The tour also includes the opportunity to take photos in select areas of each house.

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The tour ticket includes a walking tour with a VIP guide, who is a goldmine of information about each house and Halloween Horror Nights. The three-house tour is about two and a half hours, and the six-house tours are about five hours. There are no more than 12 people per group, no matter what length of tour you book. Each person gets a tour-specific lanyard that’s yours to keep, plus you’ll listen to the guide with a transmitter device and an earpiece. 

What I loved most about the booking process is that I didn’t need to buy an additional park ticket or Halloween Horror Nights admission to take the tour, a rarity for theme park tours that walk into an open and operating park. 

Arriving for my lights-on Halloween Horror Nights tour

Because I drove to Universal Orlando Resort the day of my tour I gave myself plenty of time to park, get lunch, and get to the check-in station for the tour. Parking took about 30 minutes on a sunny Sunday morning, and it was about a 15-minute walk from my car to Universal CityWalk, including going through security. 

After having lunch at CityWalk, I went to Soundstage 18 via an open gate entrance from CityWalk near the last loop of the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit attraction at Universal Studios Florida. There was a large sign near the gate with an arrow claiming the path was the right one for the Behind the Screams: Unmasking the Horror Tour. 

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Once inside the soundstage, check-in was a breeze and I was led to a table to hang out at until my tour guide arrived. The table had my listening device and headphones, plus the tour-exclusive lanyard. The waiting had a cute photo op with some costumes from Halloween Horror Nights. 

Scary secrets unveiled

The tour guide picked my group of seven adults up from Soundstage 18 right around 12:30 p.m., but since everyone was there we left a little earlier than our assigned 12:45 p.m. departure. Our guide let us know that we could ask as many questions as we wanted while we walked from house to house and going through the houses. She was a wealth of knowledge, and I loved all of the details she pointed out along the pathways through the houses. 

The houses your group will go through are random, though a few days before my tour I got an email listing the three I would be going through. They were Slaughter Sinema 2, The Museum: Deadly Exhibits, and Triplets of Terror. 

The Museum: Deadly Exhibits at Halloween Horror Nights

We started at The Museum: Deadly Exhibits, which follows the story of a museum that’s taken over by a cursed rock that releases an evil spirit. At first, I was nervous to enter the house, especially since I had never done anything remotely as scary as Halloween Horror Nights before. My guide assured me that everything would be okay and nothing in the first house was too scary. Even though my apprehension was still palpable, I went into the museum lobby surprised by all of the intricate details that go into the houses. 

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In this first house, our guide said each Halloween Horror Nights event has an 18-month planning process that starts in February the year before a house or scare zone debut. To keep things under wraps, this year the houses all got desert code names so internet lurkers who like to look up construction permits don’t know what the house themes will be before Universal is ready to announce them.

Fun fact: The Museum: Deadly Exhibits’ dessert code name was baklava. Inside the museum lobby, there’s a plate of baklava as a nod to its code name. 

As we continued through the house I appreciated the deep level of storytelling, even if nighttime guests would never see every detail. 

Halloween Horror Nights’ Slaughter Sinema 2

The second house we went through was Slaughter Sinema 2, which I had heard from friends was a must-see house, so I was excited it was on our tour. Each room showcases a different horror movie from the Carey Drive-In. The code name of the house is cobbler, which is in the Mardi Gras scene of the house. This room also features plenty of beads, which are actual beads from Universal’s Mardi Gras celebration in the spring. 

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Between each big show scene, small hallways have movie posters that showcase what made-up movie you would be entering next. Seeing the movie posters up close and looking at the details without being rushed through was nice. 

This house also featured a very detailed Christmas-themed room and a clown cave, the latter of which was very claustrophobic since there was little light coming from the house lights being on. Our guide had a small flashlight and we were encouraged to use our phone lights to see all of the details. In the clown cave, we saw props from the 2023 Dr. Oddfellow house. 

Triplets of Terror

The last house my group went through was Triplets of Terror, and honestly, I was glad this one was last. Not only was it the most scary, but also fairly gory since it’s a Universal Orlando original slasher story. Working my way up to the more intense house was helpful for me. 

As the story goes, the Barmy triplets are celebrating their birthday, but the party includes recreating the murder of their entire family. The outside of the house featured the address 3324, a reference to Halloween Horror Nights 33 taking place in 2024.

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Going through the different rooms of this house was a little unsettling for me. While I still appreciated the storytelling elements, the murder narrative weighed heavily on me. By the time my group got halfway through, I had to zone out and focus on something else completely to keep my mind occupied. 

My overall experience on the Halloween Horror Nights tour

While I loved a lights-on tour and ended up learning to appreciate what Halloween Horror Nights has to offer, I still don’t think I would be able to do the actual nighttime event. Some of the houses were scary and creepy with the lights on and no scare actors, so I can’t imagine what they would be like in full show mode with people popping out of what our guide called, “boo holes” to scare me as I walk through. 

Would I book the tour again? Yes, but I would want to go with a group of friends who love Halloween Horror Nights to see their excitement and passion for the event while walking through the houses too. And maybe so I could hold their hands while going through some of the scarier scenes in the houses. 

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