IGN has an exclusive reveal: both Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights locations in Orlando and Hollywood will feature a brand-new haunted house based on Prime Video's Fallout series, and the HHN Five Nights at Freddy's experience will take its inspiration from the film. The latter will be brought to life with assistance from the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop, the team behind the film's animatronics.
While details on the Five Nights at Freddy's attraction remain scarce, the Fallout haunted house opens at Universal Orlando Resort on August 29 and at Universal Studios Hollywood on September 4. It will allow fans to relive pivotal moments from the show's first season and beyond.
Guests will first enter Vault 33, following Lucy MacLean's desperate attempt to escape a violent massacre while uncovering a sinister hidden secret. The journey then leads outside the vault into the Wasteland, where visitors must evade attacks from Scavengers, Raiders, and even mutated cockroaches known as RAD Roaches. Throughout this trek, they'll visit the Super Duper Mart, encounter the Ghoul, and come face-to-face with Maximus in his massive T-60 power armor.
To learn more about this thrilling and terrifying trip to a nuclear wasteland, we spoke with John Murdy, Creative Director and Executive Producer at Universal Studios Hollywood, and Matthew Flood, Senior Show Director at Universal Orlando Resort, during IGN Live. As major Fallout fans, they shared how the team is pushing to create the ultimate Fallout experience.
"As you move through these environments, we want fans to think, 'I recognize this—I'm in a Fallout vault. This is incredible!'" Flood said. "Where else can you walk through a Fallout vault, step into the Wasteland, and see ghouls?
"You can grasp the state of the world just from what you pass, including the bodies Lucy sees upon exiting the vault. That level of detail works perfectly for Halloween Horror Nights—it's gruesome, which our fans expect, but also scary, with great characters, monsters, mutated creatures, and ghouls. It's ideal material for Halloween Horror Nights."
Fallout also gives the team an opportunity to explore something entirely new.
"Fallout has a retro-futuristic vibe, with strong 1950s aesthetics," Murdy noted. "Exploring the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust is incredibly exciting for us, as we've never done anything like it at HHN before. It taps into a completely different realm of horror."
Interestingly, the Hollywood and Orlando experiences will each have unique elements, even in the presentation of the T-60 armor.
"It's massive," Murdy said of the T-60 armor. "We collaborated closely with the Fallout production team, who shared an incredible number of assets. We've tackled big projects over the years, but this is arguably one of the largest. We also thought it would be great for each park to share core elements while having some differences. In Hollywood, the Power Armor is a full animatronic—a completely animated figure."
"In Orlando, we have a sort of final battle moment," Flood added. "I won't give too much away, but yes, T-60s will be part of that clash. We also managed to include Filly. Having a real-life Fallout battle unfold is pretty amazing."
Murdy also hinted that each Fallout house will feature unique "creature takes," with Hollywood's including the terrifying Yao Guai bear.
With ghouls, mutated bears, and murderous scavengers at every turn, the haunted house is designed to be chaotic. Yet Flood, Murdy, and the team have carefully crafted an experience that's more than non-stop terror. Murdy revealed that his writing treatments for the Fallout attraction averaged 100 pages, containing both a narrative guide and a detailed technical breakdown.
"It's that detailed because we need to provide clear direction for our team so they know exactly what to build," Murdy explained. "Halloween Horror Nights is known for its attention to detail. We aim to satisfy both the casual visitor and the uber-fan. We're including so many Easter eggs that some may go unnoticed by the general public but will be spotted by die-hard fans of the games and series."
Flood teased a special Pip-Boy they've been developing that will be a delight to discover, encouraging guests to peek into storefront windows and along building sides to find "little things scattered around."
"If you go through the house a second or third time and manage to glance down when you're not completely terrified, you'll notice many of those Easter eggs placed throughout," Flood said.
Finally, we asked what each was most excited to bring to life for Halloween Horror Nights.
"For me, it was definitely the Wasteland," Murdy said. "Transitioning from the claustrophobic vaults to the open desolation of the Wasteland is a great experience. But purely from a Horror Nights perspective, the Super Duper Mart is a standout."
On the subject of exciting fictional businesses, we got an additional thrilling tease about the Five Nights at Freddy's experience at this year's Halloween Horror Nights, making the wait for more details even harder!
"When you go through this, it's literally like stepping into the movie," Murdy said.
For more, check out our review of Fallout Season 1 and the tease for Season 2, take a look at the sinister poster for Five Nights at Freddy's 2, and find everything you need to know about IGN Live, starting on June 7.
