There’s been a lot of huge news that has been dropping for Universal fans in recent months. Both Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood are getting a slew of fun, new content for spooky season, but the interesting piece to me is that a lot of rumors are really panning out for the anniversary year. First, people thought there might be a Sinners house at Halloween Horror Nights this year; the Oscar-winning movie is, in fact, coming to HHN in 2026. A separate rumor indicated that Fortnite might get a Scare Zone, and I can officially confirm that is true, as well.
Fortnitemares Is Coming To Halloween Horror Nights
Universal Orlando announced today that Fortnite’s popular seasonal event, aptly named Fortnitemares, is heading to Halloween Horror Nights. The seasonal gaming event unveils new ideas and characters often based on pop culture, and it runs through the entire month of October. In comparison, the HHN version of Fortnitemares will be a scare zone unleashing on August 28th at Universal Studios and September 3rd At Universal Studios Hollywood. So, fans of the spooky season spectacular can get in on the fun at the theme parks well before the event rolls out online.
Fortnite is known for its major collabs with brands and pop culture figures. (I mean, once even Kim Kardashian was involved and that included a classic reference to her lost diamond earring.) None are specifically listed on Universal’s official announcement about the new scare zone, but there is one line that has me very intrigued: “plus a few new additions.”
Guests will enter Freaky Fields, a Halloween-inspired living battleground overcome with a threatening force. Throughout the scare zone, fans will encounter the BattleBus along with familiar Fortnitemares characters – plus a few new additions exclusive to Halloween Horror Nights – as they work to escape and claim victory.
So, it does sound as if the theme parks have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to this zone.
A Fortnite-Themed Scare Zone Had Been Rumored For A While
If you’ve been around the theme park world for a while, you will know rumors sometimes come out of left field. The rumors themselves aren’t the fun part, as many don’t end up happening, but what is fun is when one does pan out. In fact, when the Fortnite rumors hit the Internet a few months back, it was exactly the type of thing that came with the qualifier “take with a grain of salt,” but it looks like the powers that be at Universal made the magic happen.
When this was rumored, some fans thought the move would mean the parks were working toward a more inclusive demographic at the late night event, as Fortnite is most popular with older kids and young adults. The event typically runs in Florida late night until 2 a.m. (hours are different in California), and it’s long been considered to be more of an adult event with scares and smells. There’s gonna be some “interesting” ones at Madlands: Caged Cannibals this year, for example.
As someone who is less into the gore factor, I do think spooky season has room for lots of different types of content, and I’m interested to see how this one pans out. It’s coming at a good time, as HHN turns 35 this year, and the theme parks really seem to be ramping up a notch.
Anyway, if this is the sort of thing that’s up your alley, merch is already available, including acrylic nails and more. And if you’d like a rundown of the recently-announced Evil Dead Burn haunted house and what else is coming in 2026, we have you covered.
