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SYFY WIRE Halloween Horror Nights

Universal Studios Orlando gears up for return of 'Halloween Horror Nights' with Jack the Clown

By Josh Weiss
Jack Returns to Halloween Horror Nights 2021

After being canceled last fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Halloween Horror Nights is set to make its grand return to Universal Studios Orlando this fall.

To celebrate tickets going on sale this week, the Florida-based theme park gave us some pure nightmare fuel with the promise of Horror Nights' red-nosed mascot: Jack the Clown, who wouldn't miss the event's 30th anniversary for all the tasty, terrified children in Derry, Maine. In fact, he'll be waiting on "every corner of this year’s event with unsuspecting 'Jack Attacks' that will send guests running for their lives," reads the official release.

Watch the announcement:

Once you've got your fill of the killer clown, be sure to check out 10 haunted houses, five scare zones, and two live shows. Information is still being released, but Universal has confirmed that one of the first haunted house of the season is based on everyone's favorite “Bio-Exorcist," Beetlejuice. The iconic character (originally played by Michael Keaton) was the OG Horror Nights host when the annual event launched back in 1991 (at the time, it was called Fright Nights).

Visitors to the Burton-inspired experience will "shadow Beetlejuice’s every move through artfully recreated scenes from the popular film. From the infamous haunted attic within the Maitland home, to the model graveyard and Dante’s Inferno Room, guests will have the extraordinary chance to enter the movie surrounded by its most iconic characters."

Say the uncouth demon's name three times and watch as teaser images appear below!

Beetlejuice Halloween Horror Nights
Beetlejuice Halloween Horror Nights
Beetlejuice Halloween Horror Nights
Beetlejuice Halloween Horror Nights

While SYFY WIRE couldn't visit the park last October, we were still able to take an exclusive virtual tour alongside VFX wizard, Greg Nicotero, who took a stroll through Puppet Theater: Captive Audience.

"There's just something about things that you have seen in movies or seen on TV shows and then it's right in front of you," he said at the time. "You have that opportunity to experience what it's like and with the original mazes, you get taken on an entirely new journey and you don't know where you're going, which I think makes them a little more fun in a different way. With the other mazes that are based on IP, you kind of know, 'Oh yeah, I know what this gonna be.' It's still cool to walk through those moments, but with the original mazes, people are walking unaware of what's gonna happen."

Halloween Horror Nights crawls out of the dark void Saturday, Sep. 4 and runs through Sunday, Oct. 31. More information on the spook-tastic experience will be announced in the coming months.

(Universal Studios theme parks and SYFY WIRE are both owned by NBCUniversal.)