Latest news with #UniversalStudiosHollywood
Forbes
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Halloween Horror Nights Welcomes ‘Five Nights At Freddy's' And WWE
Halloween Horror Nights unleashes all-new haunted house 'Five Nights at Freddy's.' Iconic titans of terror, Five Nights at Freddy's and WWE's The Wyatt Sicks, are heading to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. The immersive houses for both massive IPs will feature at both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort. Fans of Five Nights at Freddy's, or FNAF as it is also known, will venture through an all-new haunted house inspired by the 2023 hit film, following in the footsteps of Mike, played by Josh Hutcherson in the movie, after he take as the night security guard in the abandoned themed entertainment center, Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. That's where terrifying chaos ensues. As brave ticket holders find their way through the corridors, they quickly learn that nothing is what it seems. As they move through the building, they will "encounter the supernatural and become lured into the black heart of an unspeakable nightmare," coming face-to-face with full-scale replicas of the eerie characters from the film - Freddy Fazbear, Chica, Bonnie, Foxy, and Mr. Cupcake. They will stalk guests as they pass through recreations of classic scenes and locations such as the security room and the showroom where the characters performed. Much like Xanathar in the Dungeons and Dragons: Secrets of Waterdeep experience during Universal Studios Hollywood's inaugural Fan Fest Nights, FNAF's larger-than-life characters have been created in collaboration with Jim Henson's Creature Shop. They also masterfully produced the animatronics and costumes for the fan-favorite film, so it doesn't get more authentic than that. Blumhouse's Five Nights at Freddy's movie, based on another widely popular videogame IP that inspired a hit movie, grossed $291.49 million at the worldwide box office in 2023. The sequel will land in theaters on Friday, December 5, 2025. WWE Enters The Halloween Horror Nights Ring When fans have taken a break after scaring themselves silly in Five Nights at Freddy's, they can head to WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks. That's where they will "go head-to-head with Uncle Howdy in an experience that not only features The Wyatt Sicks but honors the legacy of Bray Wyatt." Fans will already be aware of this, but for those who aren't, with its portrayal of dark and twisted characters, the five-strong crew has quickly emerged as one of the most disturbing and disruptive groups in WWE history. Those nightmarish figures are going to manifest at Halloween Horror Nights this spooky season. According to a release, "horror fans brave enough to travel through the light of the lantern will find themselves transported into the maniacal minds of The Wyatt Sicks, where each member reigns supreme within their horrific domains." "There, Uncle Howdy, together with Ramblin' Rabbit, Mercy the Buzzard, Abby the Witch, and Huskus the Pig, will be waiting to take bloody retribution on a world that has abandoned them. Along the way, guests will be stalked by the eerie presence of The Fiend, Bray's sadistic alter ego, who looms within the shadows and beckons them to let him in." Five Nights at Freddy's and WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks are the final two haunted houses to be announced for this year's bicoastal event. Both join an incredibly strong offering that fans are already predicting will be a vintage year for the seasonal scarefest that traditionally draws visitors from around the world. Nightmares Come Alive At Halloween Horror Nights Among the previously announced nightmarish experiences is a blood-soaked haunted house inspired by the gory Terrifier film franchise. It'll feature supernatural entity Art the Clown terrorizing the fictional town of Miles County, New York, and torturing his victims in creative but cruel and "sickeningly sinister ways." Promising "an unfathomable level of gore," guests can expect "a grisly haunted house oozing with a new sense of terror." Elsewhere, legendary slasher icon Jason Voorhees is the star of Jason Universe, which sees the seemingly indestructible killer from the Friday the 13th franchise get his own haunted house at both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. The all-original experience will take guests back on "a vengeance tour through the summer camp to see where it all began, from the creaking floorboards of Jason's ramshackle cabin to the decaying main lodge and the eerie forest that offers no refuge for his victims." Also featuring at this year's Halloween Horror Nights is a house inspired by Fallout, Prime Video's acclaimed smash hit show. Ahead of the series' second season premiere, the immersive Fallout attraction will transport fans into iconic scenes and put them face-to-face with their characters on a journey from Vault 33 to the Wasteland. Terror returns in 'Scarecrow: Music by Slash' and 'Monstruos 3: The Ghosts of Latin America' at ... More Universal Studios Hollywood. Fan Favorites Get A Terrifying Refresh At Halloween Horror Nights In Hollywood In terms of original mazes not based on IPs, two fan-favorite mazes evolve this year. At Universal Studios Hollywood, 2022's Scarecrow: The Reaping gets a revamp and a new name, returning as Scarecrow: Music by Slash. Set to a soundtrack created by the rock icon, his seventh consecutive year providing a score for a Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, Mother Nature "seeks vengeance on the homesteaders for their sins of the past that will be carried out by farmland scarecrows, mute witnesses who have become the guardians of destruction for anyone who crosses their path." Meanwhile, La Llorona headlines the final entry in a trilogy of terror, Monstruos 3: The Ghosts of Latin America, a haunted house with a narrative based on Latin American folklore. In addition to the legendary Weeping Woman, the Colombian female boogeyman, the sharp-toothed La Muelona, and the horse-headed La Siguanaba will also feature to scare the bejesus out of visitors. We're now in gushing distance of Halloween Horror Nights. It kicks off at Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday, September 4, 2025. However, Universal Orlando Resort gets the ball rolling a little earlier on Friday, August 29, 2025. Tickets are now on sale.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
This Michelin-starred S.F. restaurant's quirky format made it famous. Now it's just distracting
For one glorious summer, my grandma bought season passes to Universal Studios Hollywood for my cousins and me. I became close associates with the 'E.T.' — nice guy — and visited every attraction multiple times. But that much exposure to a good thing brings downsides: The surprises of the grounds tour no longer moved me, the 'Back to the Future' ride became a high-tech arcade game. The illusion was shattered. More recently in San Francisco, I've felt a similar shift at State Bird Provisions. When it opened on New Year's Eve in 2011, State Bird set a new standard of creativity for Bay Area restaurants. Chefs Nicole Krasinski and Stuart Brioza introduced a novel dim sum-style presentation of small plates, emulsifying California's bounty with French, Italian, Japanese and Chinese flavors and technique. It earned State Bird nearly every national honor: Bon Appétit's Best New Restaurant in America, multiple James Beard awards, a Michelin star. The staff, carrying trays or pushing carts, pirouette through the dining room, tempting tables with tiny salads, gleaming riblets and potato chips with aerated dip. Steamy siu mai? Not in this building. This spirited exhibition was fun and endearing on my first visit. Now, it's my least favorite thing about the restaurant. Extra! Extra! San Francisco Chronicle critics MacKenzie Chung Fegan and Cesar Hernandez are dueling this week over one restaurant: State Bird Provisions. Don't miss Fegan's response on Friday — sign up for the Chronicle Food newsletter to make sure it lands in your inbox. The dim sum schtick feels more customary than essential, more cute than efficient, more showy than delicious. The dim sum plates can feel like a roller coaster on a day where the weather won't make up its mind; sunny and thrilling one moment, gray and dull the next. I gleefully gnawed on immaculate ribs, lacquered in a fiery, tart passion fruit sauce ($16), then puzzled over a bland wedge salad of yellowing golf ball-sized lettuces ($6). Avocados in Caesar dressing ($8), wearing a fuzzy fur coat of cheese curls, failed to delight like the cherries accompanied by a cloud of savory-sweet whipped cheese ($10). Egg tofu custard ($9)? Beautifully silky. But the burrata-capped garlic bread ($13) was dense enough to give your mandibles a workout. This aspect of the experience may be the initial draw, but it does not actually represent the restaurant's best efforts. Instead, State Bird's spoils are on the printed dinner menu. If the roving snacks are a jam session, built on and stymied by improvisation, the standard menu dishes are albums: expressive, precise, fleshed-out thoughts. Toothsome, hand-cut noodles ($30) come doused in a peppery pumpkin seed salsa macha, with an egg on top that melts into pudding. A treasure chest of a donabe ($30) contained chewy tofu cubes, ready-to-burst beans and springy mushrooms in a slightly viscous, unctuous green broth; each sip felt like a massage for my soul. The restaurant's namesake specialty is always on the dinner menu: juicy fried quail (half for $24) lording over lemony, stewed onions. These entrees are in the major leagues. The small plates are playing varsity. On one visit, I had my eye on roti with lentil hummus off the printed menu. But I abandoned that plot for a couple of dim sum bites with lower price tags. The next outing, I ordered the flaky flatbread, and I realized the gravity of my mistake. I was constantly in this conundrum of choice, where the implied ephemeral state of the dim sum compelled me to act fast or miss out like a loser. When I rejected the servers' edible propositions, I saw a flicker of defeat on their faces, and felt as though I was letting them down. Not to Penn & Teller the magic trick, but the appetizer scarcity is artificial, as you can order the dim sum items a la carte. In fact, there's a printed version of the menu, if you want to skip the tableside advertising and cherry-pick your snacks. The dining room — a veritable vortex of hors d'oeuvres — is constantly animated, if a bit chaotic. The cart and tray circulation contributes to the commotion. The lanes between tables are already tight, and traffic is stalled by servers giving neighboring tables their best Don Draper sales pitch. If you visit the facilities, be prepared to play human Tetris to get back your seat. The staff is well-informed on the menu, but their ample responsibilities can impact service: the occasional forgotten drink, a tardy entree, tables crowded with empty plates. While hordes of patrons no longer camp outside of State Bird, as they did for years, demand is still high. Prime time reservations evaporate swiftly. If you don't book weeks in advance, you're likely to only find slots past 8 p.m. Or you can try showing up early: The bar is reserved for walk-ins. I don't question State Bird's aptitude for brilliant cooking. I'm interested in seeing State Bird evolve. While the dim sum-style presentation brought the restaurant glory, today it seems to be an albatross, an inescapable presence, an unskippable ad. Noise level: Loud. Meal for two, without drinks: $75-$150 What to order: Fried quail (half for $24), pork ribs ($16) Drinks: Beer and wine. Exceptional house-made non-alcoholic drinks like shiso-yuzu soda ($9) and Raspberry Julius ($10). Best practices: Skip the dim sum-style plates. Instead, order a starter on the dinner menu like roti or pancakes and an entree like donabe or quail. Peanut milk ($4) is non-negotiable.
UPI
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- UPI
Slash contributes music, mazes and food to Universal Halloween L.A.
1 of 5 | Slash is contributing to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights. File Photo by David Silpa/UPI | License Photo July 22 (UPI) -- Universal Studios Hollywood announced additions to this fall's Halloween Horror Nights lineup. Guitarist Slash will contribute to several experiences. The haunted house Scarecrow: Music By Slash will return featuring a new original score. Slash will also release an album of music from his previous six years of Halloween Horror Night scores, joining last year's sold out album. Slash: The Music of Universal Studios Hollywood - Halloween Horror Nights, Vol. 2 includes tracks from 2021's The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, 2018's Frankenstein Meets. the Wolf Man, 2022's Universal Monsters: Legends Collide and more. Scarecrow takes visitors through a story of scarecrows who punish homesteaders for their sins against the land. A Slash bar will be at Jurassic Cove near the Jurassic World ride, featuring cocktails named after Danse of the Dead, Beautiful Dangerous and the non-alcoholic Slash's Snakepit. They will also serve Slash's picks up Chicken Satay, Thai Beef and Thai Curry Tacos along with a Hat Cake for dessert. Universal Studios previously announced Jason Voorehees, Fallout and Terrifier exhibits at this year's Halloween Horror Nights. UPI previously reviewed exhibits of Chucky, M3gan and Evil Dead. Halloween Horror Nights begins in Hollywood September 4.
Thrill Geek
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Thrill Geek
SLASH: Music of Universal Studios Hollywood – Halloween Horror Nights, Volume 2 Vinyl Coming To Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood
Halloween Horror Nights will also celebrate the vinyl-only album release of SLASH: Music of Universal Studios Hollywood – Halloween Horror Nights, Volume 2 . The scary soundtrack will complement last year's sold-out vinyl-only album with a slate of original music that SLASH has created over the past six years for a variety of Universal Studios Hollywood haunted houses. The album, which includes a tribute by John Murdy, Creative Director and Executive Producer of Halloween Horror Nights, will be available for purchase at Universal Studios Hollywood. The score for SLASH: Music of Universal Studios Hollywood – Halloween Horror Nights, Volume 2 , is as follows: SIDE A 'The Hunted Becomes The Hunter' 4:21 (Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives 2021) 'Monsters, Maniacs, and Madmen' (Universal Monsters Medley 2021) 5:08 (Universal Monsters 2018) 'The Blood is Life' 3:38 (Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives 2021) 'The Collection Room / Dracula's Lair' 2:45 (Universal Monsters 2018) 'The Ossuary' 1:47 (Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man 2019) SIDE B 'Cycles of the Moon' 3:02 (Universal Monsters: Legends Collide 2022) 'Immortal Curses' 4:26 (Universal Monsters: Legends Collide 2022) 'Alucard' 2:21 (Universal Monsters: Legends Collide 2022) 'Bloodline Drawn' 5:02 (Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines 2024) 'Unholy Alliance' 3:15 (Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines 2024) 'As a longtime fan of Halloween Horror Nights, it has been incredibly rewarding to not only have experienced the event as a guest, but to have partnered with Universal Studios Hollywood for so many years to create an array of original music that intensifies the storylines of these haunted houses,' said SLASH. 'This year's collaboration with Halloween Horror Nights and the chance to become one of the event's marquee experiences is truly humbling and I can't wait for the guests to join me when they step into the terror.' 'SLASH has been an important creative partner for years creating memorable music that has completely elevated our Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses,' said John Murdy, Creative Director and Executive Producer of Halloween Horror Nights. 'Creating a series of SLASH-inspired interactive experiences was a natural progression for the event, and it's an honor to headline Universal's horror legacy with SLASH.' A variety of Halloween Horror Nights ticket options for Universal Studios Hollywood are now available, including General Admission, Universal Express, After 2 P.M. Day/Night, the Early Access Ticket, which provides entry to select haunted houses beginning at 5:30 p.m. (subject to change), in advance of the scheduled 7:00 p.m. event opening time, the R.I.P. Tour and popular passes, Frequent Fear Pass and Ultimate Fear Pass, which enable guests to experience the scares again and again. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood will run select nights from September 4 to November 2, 2025. Click here to purchase tickets and for Terms and Conditions. Make sure you're following ThrillGeek across all of our social media platforms for the latest updates from Universal Studios Hollywood. Clint Gamache is the owner of ThrillGeek. He started ThrillGeek to share his love of theme/amusement parks and pop culture with the world. You can find him at Halloween Horror Nights. Also, be sure to follow him on Twitter/X, Instagram @iamcg83
Buzz Feed
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Universal Just Announced "Terrifier" Is Coming To HHN
Well, fellow Horror Nights fans, I have some exciting news for those who celebrate. Universal just announced that a Terrifier haunted house is coming to both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort as part of this year's Halloween Horror Nights, and I ALREADY KNOW it's going to be gory AF. According to Universal, "Guests will experience an unfathomable level of gore as they try to escape becoming Art the Clown's next victim." And here's a tease of what you can expect... The Terrifier maze will take you into Art the Clown's gruesome Funhouse, straight out of Terrifier 2. As you make your way through the claustrophobic corridors, you'll encounter familiar (and horrifying) faces, including Vicky... ...and the Little Pale Girl... ...as well as iconic kills from the franchise. All, of course, while being overwhelmed by horrific sights, sounds, and even SMELLS. You'll then make your way to the Clown Café, where you'll encounter a revolting bathroom... ...and, finally, a ~deadly~ Christmas nightmare. All I have to say is, "It's Artin' Time!" The torment kicks off at Universal Orlando Resort on Friday, August 29 and at Universal Studios Hollywood on Thursday, September 4. you love SCARY stuff? Subscribe to the That Got Dark newsletter to get a weekly post just like this delivered directly to your inbox. It's a horrifyingly good time you won't want to miss.
