Fallout Haunted House Debuts at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights

IGN has exclusively revealed that both Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando and Hollywood will feature a new haunted house based on Prime Video's Fallout series, and that the event's Five Nights at Freddy's attraction will draw inspiration from the film. The latter will be brought to life with help from the legendary Jim Henson's Creature Shop, which also created the animatronics for the movie.

While details on the Five Nights at Freddy's experience remain scarce, the Fallout haunted house will debut on August 29 at Universal Orlando Resort and on September 4 at Universal Studios Hollywood. Visitors will get to relive standout moments from the first season of Fallout and more.

Guests will begin by entering Vault 33 and following Lucy MacLean as she attempts to escape a violent massacre while uncovering a "dark, concealed secret." From there, the journey leads outside the vault into the Wasteland, where attendees must evade attacks from Scavengers, Raiders, and mutated cockroaches called RAD Roaches. As they traverse the Wasteland, they will explore the Super Duper Mart, face the Ghoul, and encounter Maximus in his imposing T-60 armor.

To learn more about this thrilling journey through the 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 dedicated fans of Fallout, they shared how their teams are striving to create the ultimate Fallout experience.

“As guests move through these environments, we want them to think, 'I recognize this—I’m inside a Fallout vault. How awesome is that?'" Flood remarked. “Where else can you walk through a Fallout vault, step into the Wasteland, and come face to face with ghouls?

“You'll see and grasp the state of the world just by observing your surroundings, like the bodies Lucy encounters right after leaving the vault. That level of detail is perfect for Halloween Horror Nights—it’s gruesome, which our fans love, but also genuinely frightening. We’re delivering memorable characters, terrifying monsters, mutated creatures, and ghouls. It’s all perfect material for Halloween Horror Nights.”

Fallout also gives the team an opportunity to explore a setting they’ve never tackled before.

“Fallout has a retro-futuristic vibe, with a lot of 1950s-inspired aesthetics,” Murdy explained. “Dealing with the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust is incredibly exciting because we've never done anything like this at HHN. It’s like opening the door to a whole new kind of horror.”

Another interesting aspect is that the Fallout experience will include unique features in Hollywood and Orlando, including variations in the T-60 armor.

“It's enormous,” Murdy said of the T-60 Armor. “We’ve worked very closely with the producers of Fallout, and they've shared an incredible number of assets. Over the years, we’ve created some massive elements for Horror Nights, but this is definitely one of the largest. We also thought it would be interesting for each park to share core elements but also have distinct differences. In Hollywood, the Power Armor is a fully animatronic figure—we built it as a fully articulated character.”

“In Orlando, we have a climactic battle moment,” Flood added. “I don’t want to give away too much, but yes, T-60s will be part of that conflict. We also managed to incorporate Filly, and I think having a live Fallout battle play out is incredibly exciting.”

Murdy also hinted that each Fallout haunted house will have its own “creature moments,” with Hollywood’s including the terrifying Yao Guai Bear.

With ghouls, mutated bears, and hostile scavengers at every turn, this haunted house is designed to be chaotic—but Flood, Murdy, and their teams have taken care to deliver more than just non-stop scares. Murdy shared that his writing treatments for the Fallout experience averaged 100 pages, including both narrative guidance and a full technical breakdown.

“That level of detail is essential so our team knows exactly what to build,” Murdy noted. “What Halloween Horror Nights is known for is meticulous detail. Along with casual visitors, we’re aiming to impress the superfans. We want to include so many Easter eggs that some guests might miss them, but die-hard fans of the games and the show will catch every reference.”

Flood teased that a specially designed Pip-Boy will be a fun discovery, and encouraged guests to check the windows of storefronts and building facades, where “tiny details are tucked away.”

“If you go through the house a second or third time, and you get a moment to look around when you’re not completely terrified, you’ll spot plenty of those hidden treats,” Flood said.

Finally, we asked both what they were most excited to bring to life for Halloween Horror Nights.

“For me, it was definitely the Wasteland,” Murdy replied. “It’s exciting to transition from the claustrophobic vaults out into the open Wasteland. But thinking purely in terms of what Horror Nights does best, I’d say the Super Duper Mart.”

On the topic of memorable fictional locations, we received one more exciting tease about the Five Nights at Freddy's experience at this year’s Halloween Horror Nights—and the wait for more details just got harder!

“When you go through it, it’s like stepping right into the movie,” Murdy commented.

For more, check out our review of Fallout Season 1 and a look ahead at Season 2, take a peek at the chilling poster for Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, and get all the details on IGN Live, starting June 7.