#HHN27: ‘Trick ‘r Treat’ and ‘The Purge’ Join Halloween Horror Nights 2017

Universal Studios theme parks continue to unveil the horror franchises to be featured at the upcoming season of Halloween Horror Nights, today announcing a number of additions, including a new scare zones inspired by Trick ‘r Treat and The Purge.

From the official website: This Halloween Horror Nights, we’re inviting you to join the celebration of blood and bone at what can only be called The Festival of the Deadliest – an ancient tradition from the depths of where nightmares are born. 

A gathering of the most unearthly, hellish terrors has emerged from the darkest corners of despair. It calls to those who long for the thrill of the scare and wish to have their fears made real. You’ll be drawn like moths to a flame, and once you join this hallowed celebration, your nightmares will never end. 

You’ll find the heart of the Festival on the streets of Hollywood in Universal Studios Florida, but its claws have spread throughout Horror Nights. Here’s what awaits you every night… 

First up, it’s time to make sure everyone understands the rules of our haunted holiday. Get a proper Halloween education in our Central Park scare zone inspired by the film Trick ‘r Treat. We’re excited to have Sam visit and make sure we follow the rules of Halloween. 

As a longtime fan of classic horror anthology films, Trick ‘r Treat is a favorite of mine that pays perfect homage to that genre. In this zone, you’ll have the opportunity to come face-to-face with several characters from the film, and learn for yourself what happens when you don’t follow the rules. 

Next up, we have a returning story to our New York streets with The Purge. This time, our approach was to create a zone that showed how we think the events of a Purge night might play out in our streets. 

There are some fan favorites returning such as our auction and a very polite gentleman. We also have some new surprises in store. For example, how do you clean up all the mayhem on the streets during a Purge night? Visit the clean-crew up crew with their trusty wood chipper to find out. Just don’t get too close… 

Near the front gate, on Avenue of the Stars, we have our Altars of Horror. For me, this zone is very exciting because we’re bringing something to the streets for our horror fans that we have never done before. 

In this zone, we’re taking some of the larger than life characters featured in this year’s houses, and letting them have their own scare zone. A lot of work goes into bringing these iconic film characters to life in our houses. Now you’ll have the opportunity to get an even better look at them. 

Set in a time decades ago, our docks in San Francisco find themselves the victim of an INVASION! Visitors from far beyond have crashed their vessel, and are now wreaking havoc on the streets of San Francisco. 

They aren’t just here to destroy; these invaders are also on a mission to learn everything they can about us humans. Careful, or you may find yourself on the experiment table at the mercy of an alien scientist. 

Lastly, no Halloween Horror Nights would be complete without Roaming Hordes. This time, it’s the smell of the greasepaint, the roar of the chainsaw. Unhappy with how popular culture has made clowns scary, this grotesque gang of gigglers has risen from the grave, determined to show the world that if you want scary clowns, they’re going to make sure you get your worst nightmare. 

But wait! There’s more. The question is, “can you handle more?” I’m happy to share ACADEMY OF VILLAINS: AFTERLIFE will be returning to put on an all-new killer performance. This group of powerhouse artists will make you bear witness to what happens after we leave this life. They’re going to give you one mind-blowing and shocking dance performance that will escort you from this world to the great beyond. 

It was also announced earlier this week that this year’s event will be the “Farewell Tour” for the long-running Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure show.

It was previously announced that American Horror Story is coming to Orlando with characters from three of the anthology show’s seasons, Asylum (Season 2), Coven (Season 3), and last year’s Roanoke (Season 6), and a different Roanoke-specific maze is coming Hollywood, as well as the Titans of Terror Tram, Saw, Ash vs Evil Dead and The Shining at both parks.

You can check out the official announcement video below, and keep watching Halloween Daily News as we bring you more updates on this year’s Halloween Horror Nights at both Universal Studios parks in Orlando and Hollywood, as they are announced in the coming weeks.

Halloween Horror Nights takes place at Universal Studios in Orlando and Hollywood on select nights from Sept. 15 through Nov. 4, 2017.

Click here for more on Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights 2017!

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Matt Artz

Founded Halloween Daily News in 2012 and the Halloween International Film Festival in 2016. Professional writer/journalist/photographer since 2000.