Inside Universal's year-round haunted house opening soon in Las Vegas
Walking through Universal Horror Unleashed's scarecrow-themed haunted house should have been a piece of cake. After all, I was raised in Iowa – I'm no stranger to corn fields.
But, while walking through the haunted house's dark maze, pushing past the stalks of corn blocking my path, I could just barely make out the shape of something lurking around the corner, ready to leap from the shadows.
I debated turning around. Then, I heard a scream and decided rejoining the monsters lurking in the dark farmhouse behind me wasn't a better alternative.
As soon as I took a step forward, a scarecrow lurched at me and made me jump, his clawed hand and ghastly mask illuminated by the flashing lights overhead.
"Scarecrow: The Reaping' is just one of four haunted houses available at Universal Horror Unleashed, a new experience located at the Area15 entertainment district just off the Las Vegas Strip.
While the space won't open to the public until August 14, USA TODAY was able to take a sneak peek at the event space in early August. Here's what horror fans can expect.
One attraction, four haunted houses
There are four haunted house options scattered across the attraction, which is made to resemble an abandoned production warehouse:
Universal added special touches to fully immerse its guests in each scene. The restaurant inside the 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' haunted house smells like barbecue, while the woods inside "Blumhouse's The Exorcist: Believer" smell like a real forest. In 'Scarecrow: The Reaping," guests push their way through a corn field and get blasted by wind from a dust storm, while ropes hanging from the Hunchback's bell tower block guests' path inside "Universal Monsters."
There are even water effects in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" house, meant to mimic splattering blood during a particularly gruesome reenactment.
'We realize that we can't reach out and actually grab the guests,' said show director Nate Stevenson. 'But we need to reach out and touch the guests in every other sense that we possibly can.'
More than just haunted houses
The horror isn't over once you escape the haunted houses. Guests can also explore four immersive areas staged between the houses with their own themes, like '80s slasher flicks and classic Universal monsters.
Here, original characters like a menacing set of twins and a bug monster are available to chat with guests or give them a fright.
'Our guests can approach these characters, and they'll actually tell you about their story and who they are and they'll interact with you,' Stevenson said, as a vampire queen and mad doctor lingered nearby, adding that it's 'very much immersive theater.' (I made the mistake of asking Stevenson a question about the characters in front of one and got called out for it. 'I'm right here!' said one of the spooky twins, looking like she was ready to tear my head off.)
Jack's Alley Bar, another themed area in the warehouse, features a 15-minute show starring Jack the Clown and his sidekick, Chance. Two 'victims' are brought to a stage to perform in Jack's game show, 'Stay or Slay.' (Spoiler: the contestants' dancing and hula-hoop performances were impressive, but did little to win the killer clowns' sympathy.)
And in the middle of it all sits The Boiler bar, an enormous machine where guests can take a break to drink craft cocktails.
'The Boiler bar definitely has a spirit of its own, so bear with us. Sometimes he gets a little upset,' said Kim Scott, general manager of Universal Horror Unleashed, as the machine let off steam with a roar in the background.
Universal's Las Vegas horror experience: What to expect.
Dining options at Universal Horror Unleashed
Universal Horror Unleashed offers several dining options to guests who have worked up an appetite from any horror-induced adrenaline rush. Fast-casual stops like Rough Cuts offer themed dishes like Parts of Pieces, a spicy sausage sandwich. There's also a sit-down tapas bar, Premiere House, decorated with movie props and decor representing more recent horror films from Blumhouse.
At the latter, guests can dine on small plates inspired by the surrounding houses – including a Texas Chainsaw Flatbread shaped like a saw blade and 'Scarecrow: The Reaping'-inspired dessert called The Haybale, a pecan kataifi roll served on a shovel.
Drink options include the Green Dread – a bright green gin concoction served from a beaker – and the Bloodsucker, a rum and blackberry liqueur drink served with a dollop of dark red jello meant to look like a glob of blood.
TJ Mannarino, vice president of entertainment, art and design, said attractions would have turned up their noses at the idea of adding grotesque themes to food in the not-too-distant past. But as guests increasingly look for more immersive offerings, he said that's no longer the case.
'Now, people love that,' he said. 'That's another step in this new world.'
Horror is no longer just for fall
The day I visited was a 100-plus-degree day in the middle of a Las Vegas summer. Not exactly the backdrop that comes to mind when you think of the typical fall spooky season.
But that's the point: The team behind Universal Horror Unleashed says horror fans don't disappear once the clock strikes midnight on October 31. Mannarino said that's why Universal's Horror Nights pushed back its opening date from mid-October to late August, and why horror movies and horror-adjacent shows like 'Stranger Things' have success with spring or summer releases.
'Horror has a place year-round now,' Stevenson said. 'People love this group experience. ... There's a lot of real horror in the world, and this offers an escape. It's a way to laugh at horror.'
Tickets start at $69 for one-time entry to each house and $99 for unlimited access to houses, with a discount offered to Nevada residents. A second location in Chicago is set to open in 2027.
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