Post Summary
Coming out like a rockstar to his adoring fans, John Murdy, the Creative Director for Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood, had 13 announcements to make to the packed, sold-out, standing-room-only crowd at Midsummer Scream 2026. The vibe was insane in the room (and outside of it, as people lined up almost two hours early to get in). Fans were expecting a lot but Universal delivered even more than that to close out Midsummer Scream 2026.
The Terror Tram Switchup For Art The Clown/Terrifier
People online thought that because the house facades for the Terror Tram were the same shape as the Blumhouse logo that we’d be getting that for another year in a row. John Murdy made sure to rub it in that we were tricked and that those facades were in fact for a Terrifier Terror Tram.
We started off with the promotional video that Universal Studios Hollywood and Horror Nights put out right as the panel was happening of Art taking over the Terror Tram with Christmas. Then Murdy guided guests through what they can expect for the Tram this year. The most interesting aspect of it was about how they’d get around Art not being able to talk. He doesn’t speak a lick in the movies, so they had the idea to make the narration like those old Christmas records we had as kids.
The Terror Tram guide makes Art mad, he starts killing people, and Santa Claus gets caught in the crossfire. You can expect appearances on the Terror Tram route from Art, Vicky, the Little Pale Girl, and even Sienna Shaw as a snow Valkyrie fighting Art with a chainsaw.
My favorite bit was how they explained the plane crash scene on the Tram route. Well, Art has an anti-aircraft gun from WW2 and shot down Santa Claus and another aircraft with presents for people on Christmas, DUH!
Ice Nine Kills And Spencer Charnas Make For A Musical Horror Nights
We were then treated to an appearance from Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills to announce that they’re doing all-new original music for the Terror Tram. The panel turned into a bit of an impromptu interview between John Murdy and Spencer, talking about how they’ve been introduced to one another and how they got Ice Nine Kills to lend their song from Terrifier 3 for the opening scare-a-mony last year.
They then played a snippet of one of the many songs that Ice Nine Kills did for the Tram, and if you’re a fan of their music mixed with Christmas music, you’ll get right along with these new tracks.
Killceañera: Music By Slash Is The Final House For Horror Nights 2026
We knew that there was one last haunted house announcement, and we got a big one with Killceañera: Music By Slash. The new house is in the Parisian Courtyard and follows up on the trilogy of Latin Monsters houses we’ve had in recent years. This time, though, there’s a new original story that brings those same monsters back to take revenge on people who have wronged Lola for her 15th birthday.
Slash wanted to do a song with lyrics, and they gave us a taste of it with “15 Candles”. The new song plays throughout the haunted house, and this feels like a great addition to the event.
Scare Zones, Unmasking The Horror, And More
Now for some rapid fire announcements because they were running out of time in the panel itself. We got a huge announcement that Unmasking The Horror was coming to Hollywood for Killceañera and Sinners. This is a behind-the-scenes lights on experience going through the haunted houses with details about how they were made. It’s something that guests have been asking for FOREVER to come over to the West Coast park, and we finally have it.
Then we were treated to some details about scare zones in the park, including the Paris street scare zone El Circo de la Muerte, the accompanying band of Chainsaw-wielding freaks Hackerz, Blood Bog right outside the Studio Tour entrance, and finally the Murder Of Crowz make their comeback with a 100% approval rating from guests.
Oh, and they finished off the panel with an announcement that Halloween Horror Nights would be collaborating with Obsession to bring Nikki to the park for guests to meet. But that wasn’t it, Art the Clown will also be in the park roaming around for guests to find and interact with as well.
Halloween Horror Nights Shapes Up Nicely After Midsummer Scream 2026
If you were waiting to see the full lineup of events, scare zones, haunted houses, and more for Halloween Horror Nights, this is it. I’m absolutely stoked for the event with plenty of varied houses and scare zones for people to enjoy. That’s the beauty of Halloween Horror Nights, if there’s one thing that’s not for you, there are tons of other things for you to go through.
You can get tickets for Horror Nights right now, with it running from September 3rd to November 1st on select nights.
For more on Horror, make sure to check back to That Hollywood Show.
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