June 30, 2026
Universal is bringing a haunted house based on the original “Hellraiser” trilogy to Halloween Horror Nights 2026 at both Universal Orlando (Orlando, FL) and Universal Studios Hollywood (Universal City, CA). The Orlando event runs a record 48 select nights from Aug. 28 through Nov. 1, 2026, and Hollywood’s event runs a record 42 select nights from Sept. 3 through Nov. 1. Universal announced the house on June 30.
The Haunted House
The house draws from the original “Hellraiser” trilogy rather than the 2022 reboot. Universal says this is the first time the franchise has come to Halloween Horror Nights. Guests enter through the Lament Configuration, the franchise’s puzzle box, and walk through settings pulled from the films, including Frank Cotton’s attic, the Channard Institute, and The Labyrinth. Original Pinhead actor Doug Bradley will reprise his character and lend his voice to both houses. It is a voice performance only, and it marks his first return to the role since 2005’s “Hellraiser: Hellworld.” Recent films recast the part, most recently with Jamie Clayton in the 2022 reboot.
Universal’s published description reads: “Enter a realm of pure pain in a haunted house based on the original ‘Hellraiser’ trilogy. You’ll journey through the depths of Hell and bear witness to Pinhead and the Cenobites’ nightmarish rituals. Then hope you don’t get trapped in your own.”
About the Film
Clive Barker wrote and directed “Hellraiser” (1987), adapting his own novella “The Hellbound Heart.” The film introduced Pinhead and the Cenobites, who are summoned through a puzzle box. The trilogy the house adapts continues through “Hellbound: Hellraiser II” (1988) and “Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth” (1992).
How It Fits Into HHN 2026
Orlando’s event marks the 35th anniversary of Halloween Horror Nights and carries an “Infernal Carnival of Nightmares” theme built around Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow. Hellraiser joins the announced Orlando house lineup, which so far includes:
- Sinners
- Stranger Things
- Jack and Oddfellow: Chaos & Control
- INVASION: Alien Abduction
- H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!
- MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals
- Cybergoria
Hellraiser brings the announced count to eight of the 10 houses planned for Orlando.
In Hollywood, the event begins at 7 p.m. on select nights, and Hellraiser joins Sinners and Stranger Things 5 on the announced slate of the park’s eight houses. Universal says it will reveal more of the Hollywood lineup at Midsummer Scream, running Aug. 7 through 9 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Universal took the same both-coasts approach with its Sinners haunted house, based on the 2025 horror film.
The house also lands inside a wider Hellraiser revival. The video game “Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival,” which also features Bradley as Pinhead, releases Oct. 8, 2026. And Universal’s own fall calendar keeps growing, including Universal Nights, a new after-hours event coming to Epic Universe in Orlando this October.
