Universal Horror Unleashed: A Vegas Haunt Review

Universal Horror Unleashed in Las Vegas is a game-changer for year-round horror fans, offering a permanent, high-production-value haunt experience. Located in the Area15 immersive district, it’s a departure from the seasonal Halloween Horror Nights (HHN), trading in the park-wide chaos for a more contained, curated, and highly atmospheric event.

We were recently invited to the Blood Red Carpet Celebration to experience this brand new haunt and we left wanting more. The core of the experience lies in its four haunted houses, each with a distinct theme and scare style.

Universal Monsters: This house is less about jump scares and more about theatrical horror and atmosphere. It’s a visually stunning journey through the classic Dark Universe, featuring larger-than-life set pieces and iconic characters like the Bride of Frankenstein and Dracula’s Brides. The design is beautiful and meticulous, making it a great house for those who appreciate story and artistry as much as they do terror.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: For pure, relentless terror, this is the house to visit. The attraction plunges you into the hyper-realistic, claustrophobic world of the 1974 film. The sets are incredibly detailed, and Leatherface is a constant, terrifying presence, appearing around every corner with his chainsaw roaring. This house is a high-octane, heart-pounding experience that will have you screaming from start to finish.

Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer: This maze leans heavily into psychological horror. Instead of relying on traditional jump scares, the house creates a deeply unsettling feeling with scenes designed to get under your skin. You’ll move through hospital corridors and defaced homes, with an impressive design that manages to be beautiful and unsettling at the same time. The experience focuses on the slow-burn terror of demonic possession.

Scarecrow: The Reaping: Widely praised as one of the best houses (and it was our favorite as well), this haunt transports you to a Dust Bowl-era farm of the 1930’s. The design is spectacular, with a heavy, misty atmosphere and barren fields. The scarecrows themselves are terrifying and seem to be everywhere, emerging from the fog-choked cornfields to deliver sudden and effective scares. This house successfully blends beautiful set design with an exceptionally high scare density.

Atmosphere, Dancers, and Talent

The talent and atmosphere outside of the houses are a major selling point. The entire venue is a meticulously themed warehouse filled with props and artifacts. Roaming scare actors freely mingle with the crowd, adding to the sense of constant dread.

They are not just there for photo ops; they actively stalk and interact with guests, making you feel unsafe even in the supposed “safe zones.”

The entertainment extends to live performances, including a show featuring fan-favorite icons Jack the Clown and Chance. The performances are high-energy and entertaining, adding a carnival-like feel to the proceedings. Overall, the talent is top-notch, with performers who are clearly skilled and dedicated to their craft.

Food and Beverage

The food and beverage offerings are “elevated” compared to a typical theme park, designed to be part of the immersive experience. You’ll find a variety of themed bars and dining areas, like The Boiler Bar and the Premiere House. The drinks are creative and have spooky, thematic names like the “Graverobber” and “Severed Pear” cocktails.

The food menu includes items like “Boiler Bread” and “Twisted Tater Tacos,” offering a range of shareable and unique bites that feel a step above standard quick-service fare. While some items can be pricey, the quality and theme integration make them a worthy part of the night.

The themed areas at Universal Horror Unleashed are set in an abandoned production warehouse, placing guests in the center stage of horror with many opportunities to interact with the characters, plus electrifying performances. These are also home to the food and beverage locations.

Jack’s Alley is set in a twisted dark carnival atmosphere, featuring acrobatic performances and more in a circus-like hellscape where the deranged Jack the Clown and his evil sidekick Chance reign. This themed area also features Jack’s Alley Bar, offering specialty cocktails.

In Kill Vault, guests will be surrounded by rusty knives, machetes, and an array of eerie characters – from a strange surgeon to psychotic slashers – who are lurking in the shadows attempting to lure their next victim. This area also features Rough Cuts, where guests can feast on “chainsaw” carved small plates as they witness a variety of show moments.

At the Prop Graveyard the line between inanimate and alive blurs, as guests face a supernatural collection of unsettling dolls, dismembered mannequins and other haunted objects from abandoned film sets that seem to move as guests walk through.

Premiere House is a tapas bar featuring the horrors of Blumhouse, serving a variety of signature cocktails and a surprising selection of signature shareable bites set in an eerie atmosphere filled with movie props and twisted décor representing some of Universal’s most recent Blumhouse horror films.

Dead Storage will envelop guests in a shadow-filled sanctuary with forgotten set pieces and eerie relics that have been reclaimed by night-dwelling creatures – vampires, a werewolf in mid-transformation, and others that emerge without warning.

At the heart of Universal Horror Unleashed, The Boiler is equal parts hellish spectacle and welcome reprieve, offering guests a perfect vantage point for those seeking momentary respite while remaining immersed in the action, enjoying craft cocktails underneath a monstrous flaming machine.

And for those who love to shop, check out the all new Universal Horror Unleashed retail store, offering exclusive merchandise inspired by Universal’s legacy as the masters of horror and four haunted houses. You can also shop for a variety of scientific and supernatural artifacts and curiosities including apparel, collectibles, jewelry, accessories and more.

Take the horror home by purchasing the terrifying collection dedicated to the most chilling franchises in history, including Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Blumhouse’s The Exorcist: Believer and Universal Monsters. Fans of Chucky who is always lurking nearby is represented via a zipper jacket, hat and notebook donning the iconic overall pattern along with a vintage assortment of merchandise honoring the killer doll himself.

Universal Horror Unleashed is a must-do for horror enthusiasts. It’s a premium, year-round attraction that brings the high-quality production of HHN to a standalone, permanent location in Vegas, making it a different, but equally terrifying, experience. For more info and to buy tickets click here: https://www.universalhorrorunleashed.com/en/us