Halloween Horror Nights 35 Food Review

Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights is celebrating 35 years with 10 haunted houses, a massive lineup of themed food and drinks, and some of the most creative dishes I’ve seen at the event.

Halloween Horror Nights is officially back at Universal Orlando Resort, and this year is a big one. The event is celebrating its 35th anniversary with 10 haunted houses, new scare zones, live entertainment, returning characters, and more than 50 food and beverage options spread throughout Universal Studios Florida.

I recently attended a Halloween Horror Nights 35 media event, where our night started in probably my favorite possible way: trying a huge selection of the food. And while I am definitely going to have plenty more to say about the entertainment separately, the food deserved its own spotlight.

Halloween Horror Nights has always gone beyond putting spooky names on regular theme park food, but this year’s lineup was extremely impressive. The dishes pulled elements from the houses, characters, and overall carnival theme into everything from tacos and egg rolls to red velvet cake that looked like it had just gone through a meat grinder.

Halloween Horror Nights celebrates its 35th anniversary

Halloween Horror Nights 2026 runs for 49 select nights through November 1 at Universal Studios Florida. The event started as the three-night Fright Nights in 1991 with only one haunted house. Thirty-five years later, HHN has grown into an enormous production.

This year’s event takes place within the Infernal Carnival of Nightmares, with Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow serving as the ringmasters. There are 10 haunted houses, including Stranger Things 5, Sinners, Hellraiser, Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness, Evil Dead Burn, Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control, INVASION: Alien Abduction, H.R. Bloodengutz Presents: A Halloween Fright-Tacular!, MADLANDS: Caged Cannibals, and Cybergoria.

There are also four major scare zones, additional street experiences, two live shows, and a lot happening outside the park at Universal Orlando hotels and CityWalk. At our media event, we got to hear from some of the creators, show designers, and house designers before getting a preview of several characters aka scare actors.

Then we headed into four of the haunted houses ourselves. As fun as all of that was, there was a lot of food to get through first. Some dishes looked creepy, some were elaborate, but everything was fun to try. Here’s a breakdown of what we had.

Chow’s Southern Eggroll

One of my favorite savory dishes of the night was Chow’s Southern Eggroll, made with BBQ pulled pork and cabbage inside a crispy egg roll. This was exactly what I wanted from an HHN food item. It was easy to eat, packed with flavor, and had a really good crunch. The amount of pulled pork inside was just right, with a nice balance between the filling and crispy shell. The BBQ sauce added a little sweetness and worked perfectly with everything else. This was an easy favorite for me.

Annie’s Juke Joint Catfish & Grits

Annie’s Juke Joint Catfish & Grits is tied into the Sinners theme and comes with crispy catfish, Lowcountry grits, Tabasco, and crunchy garlic. The catfish had a really nice crispy coating without tasting overly fishy, which I appreciated, and the grits were mild and creamy. Overall, it was a simple, good-quality dish that felt dependable. With so many elaborate options on the menu, having something a little more straightforward worked really well.

Pecan Whiskey Bread Pudding

Now for one of my favorites of the entire tasting: Pecan Whiskey Bread Pudding. This is warm bread pudding with pecans and whiskey caramel sauce, and it was SO good. The middle was warm and soft, while the outside had that slightly firmer, caramelized texture that made it even better. The pecans added the perfect amount of crunch against the softer bread pudding. This is absolutely the type of dessert I would order again. In fact, I wish this one stayed on the menu year-round.

Bloody Bones

Bloody Bones are smoked and charred BBQ ribs topped with crispy jalapeños. The ribs were really tender, and the BBQ sauce added plenty of flavor, but the crispy jalapeños were probably my favorite part. They added a nice crunch and a little extra pepper flavor without making the ribs too spicy. This is a good pick if you want something a little more familiar while still trying one of the event-specific menu items.

Meat Grinder Red Velvet

The Meat Grinder Red Velvet may have been one of the more disturbing-looking desserts I tried, which is exactly what makes Halloween Horror Nights so fun. It consists of freshly “ground” red velvet cake with cream cheese icing and puffed rice “maggots.” Visually, Universal fully committed to the theme, but the flavor was surprisingly good, too. The red velvet came through right away, while the cake had a soft, almost mashed texture and the puffed rice added a nice crunch. There was also a drizzle across the top that tasted slightly fruity to me and added another layer of flavor. It was messy-looking, creepy, and actually delicious. Definitely one of my favorite desserts.

Rigatoni Ritual Pie

Rigatoni Ritual Pie combines a garlic butter cheese pizza with baked rigatoni alla vodka, crispy sausage, and pesto, and this was easily one of my favorites of the entire night. It was genuinely one of the best slices of pizza I’ve ever had. The crust was fantastic, with a buttery garlic flavor that made it just as good as all of the toppings. The rigatoni stayed perfectly soft on top, the crispy sausage added a little texture, and the pesto was subtle enough that it added another layer of flavor without overpowering everything else. There is obviously a lot happening on one slice, but it all worked. This is one HHN food I would absolutely pay for again.

Frito Walking Taco

The Frito Walking Taco is made with vegan chili, Daiya shredded cheese, vegan sour cream, and shredded lettuce. It tasted exactly like you would expect from a walking taco, and that is why I liked it so much. It was easy to eat, satisfying, and made perfect sense for an event where you’re walking from house to house for hours. It also seemed to be a crowd favorite at our tasting. HHN has plenty of dishes that lean heavily into the theme, but if you’re looking for something familiar and classic, this is a great choice.

Ely’s Battery Jerky

Ely’s Battery Jerky combines creamy mac and cheese with garlic bread and battery jerky pieces. To me, this tasted more like a lightly cheesy garlic pasta, especially when eaten with the garlic bread underneath, and I was so happy with it. My sister doesn’t even like cheese and still liked this one, which says a lot about how mild the cheese flavor was. This was much better than I expected and ended up being one of the bigger savory hits of the tasting.

Pleasure and Pain Brain

The Pleasure and Pain Brain might be the dessert you order simply because you need to see it in person. It’s a brain-shaped custard served with ripped “teeth,” vanilla cake “skin,” and strawberry sauce. The strawberry was the strongest flavor for me, and the dessert itself was light, fluffy, and not overly filling, which can be a very good thing when you’re trying several treats throughout the night. The look is what really makes this one stand out. There is no mistaking that this is a specialty dessert made specifically for Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando.

Jack and Odd Dog

This is a Nathan’s all-beef footlong hot dog loaded with peppers, onions, Tostitos cheese sauce, and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, all served inside an Oddfellow ube bun. There are so many components that I expected them to compete with each other, but this was actually really good. I especially liked the texture of the bun, which had a little more bite and crunch than I expected. The cheese sauce and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos also worked really well with the hot dog. It fit the theme of the night and tasted great, which is a huge win.

Lasagna Burn

Lasagna Burn is pork pot sticker lasagna served with chili crisp. This one looked really good, but it was simply too spicy for me. The heat hit almost immediately, and after one bite, I was done. I drank about half my water right away. Someone who loves spicy food may have a completely different reaction, but this would not be my personal pick from the menu.

Steve’s Snuggled Peanut Butter Bites

Steve’s Snuggled Peanut Butter Bites were another favorite. These had creamy peanut butter inside with a chocolate coating and crunchy chips around the outside. The combination was fantastic. The creamy center and crunchy exterior gave them a lot of texture, while the chocolate and peanut butter flavors were perfectly balanced. They were easy to eat, really tasty, and definitely a dessert I’d recommend.

The Ultimate Sin-Amon

One of the specialty drinks we tried was the Ozzy Osbourne-themed Ultimate Sin-Amon. It combines Fireball cinnamon whisky, lemon juice, apple juice, spiced brown sugar syrup, and red beet powder. Considering Fireball is involved, I expected a much stronger cinnamon flavor, but it was actually really nicely balanced. The cinnamon didn’t overpower the apple or the rest of the drink, and I could have very easily had more than one. There was also a little chocolate bat garnish that made it even more fun. This was easily one of my favorite drinks from the event.

Carn “Evil” Smash Tacos

Carn “Evil” Smash Tacos are smashed cheeseburger tacos topped with American cheese, shredded lettuce, pickles, secret sauce, and toasted sesame seeds. They truly taste like a smash burger turned into a taco. The secret sauce was especially good, and all of those familiar burger toppings made it such a fun mashup. It’s another example of HHN taking familiar comfort food and giving it just enough of a twist to fit the theme.

Then came even more food

After our initial food tasting and presentation, we headed out to experience four haunted houses. Then came an intermission with even more food. There were mini hot dogs, chips, and pretzel bites, but the desserts were where Universal really leaned into the Halloween Horror Nights theme.

Clown Sugar Cookie Sandwich

We tried a Jack the Clown Sugar Cookie Sandwich, and it was gigantic. It featured a large sugar cookie decorated with Jack’s face, buttercream, sprinkles, and another sugar cookie underneath. The flavor was orange, which admittedly isn’t my favorite dessert flavor, so this one wasn’t going to win the night for me based on taste alone. Visually, though, it was wildly impressive. It looked like a true specialty dessert and fit perfectly with the circus theme of the event.

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake

The Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake was another highly themed dessert, with a chocolate mousse-like texture and a red coating around the outside. My favorite part, though, was the eye-shaped chocolate truffle on top. I ate the entire thing because the chocolate was sensational, and it ended up being the standout part of the dessert for me.

Hellraiser Chocolate

The Hellraiser Chocolate was probably the most interactive sweet we saw. It was a chocolate cube covered with edible printed decorations, and once you smashed through the outside, there were mini candy skulls hidden inside. I worked at a chocolate factory for 13 years, so I especially appreciated the construction of this one. We used edible printed sheets frequently, and I know how much detail can go into creating something like this. I would think of it more as a fun chocolate experience than something you order because you’re craving a traditional chocolate dessert. You’re really getting it for the experience of smashing open a Hellraiser-themed chocolate cube and finding skulls inside.

The creativity of the Halloween Horror Nights food is what impressed me most

After trying this many dishes, the biggest thing that stood out wasn’t one specific flavor, but how much thought went into all of it. Universal could easily rely on the haunted houses to carry Halloween Horror Nights, but the food is astoundingly creative. With more than 50 food and beverage offerings available this year, there is far more to explore than we could possibly try in one media preview.

Overall, I was beyond impressed with what Universal Orlando did with the Halloween Horror Nights 35 food lineup. Nothing felt like an afterthought. With an event this large, the food could easily feel like something you simply stop for between haunted houses, but instead, it feels like part of the experience. This year, Universal absolutely nailed it.