An invited preview of Halloween Horror Nights 2026 at Universal Studios Hollywood revealed a live-actor setup inside the Sinners queue and new story details for KILLceañera: Music by SLASH.
Both houses sit in the Upper Lot. Sinners uses the former Fallout location, while KILLceañera occupies the Parisian Courtyard, where the Monstruos trilogy was staged.
Sinners turns the Club Juke queue into a live pre-show
Halloween Horror Nights Creative Director John Murdy guided the walkthrough reported by Inside Universal. The Sinners queue enters Club Juke, and live actors and special effects use part of the line to establish the house’s story before guests reach the main scenes.
The house draws on Ryan Coogler’s film and begins with woods where glowing eyes signal that guests are being hunted. Murdy said the production replaced difficult contact lenses with a fake eyebrow appliance connected to a tiny LED, creating the same effect on the performers.
The walkthrough also includes Remmick singing “Rocky Road to Dublin,” the storage-room scene where Mary bites Stack, and the catwalk moment in which Remmick appears to leap down before flying back up. Universal is using Action Horizons, a team that also works on WaterWorld and The Purge: Dangerous Waters, for the Sammy sequence.
KILLceañera uses Lola’s 15 candles to build its story
KILLceañera follows Lola, an orphan who was badly burned in a childhood house fire and later decides to hold a quinceañera for the people who bullied her. She summons monsters from the stories her parents told her, including El Cucuy, La Mala Hora, La Lechuza, La Llorona and El Silbón.
Slash composed the house’s score with Murdy, including the “Fifteen Candles” song that Lola sings near the entrance. The first scene is an ofrenda for the dead, and fifteen candles appear throughout the house with a victim holding each one.
The path ends in a graveyard before sending guests into El Circo de la Muerte, the neighboring scare zone.
HHN Hollywood opens its 2026 season September 3
Halloween Horror Nights runs at Universal Studios Hollywood on select nights from September 3 through November 1, 2026. Ticket options and current visit information appear on Universal’s event page, and the CrowdLevels HHN Hollywood guide collects the season dates and planning details.
Sources: Inside Universal’s August 25 invited preview and John Murdy interview, Universal’s 2026 lineup and Universal Studios Hollywood ticket and event information.
Image: Universal Parks media.