By Jim Carchidi
May 29, 2026
Universal Orlando Resort will celebrate 35 years of scary good times when Halloween Horror Nights kicks off on August 28. But for the cast and crew behind each experience, production began more than a year ago. Universal Orlando Assistant Director of Creative Development Lora Sauls took The Orlando Real on a deep dive into the process of frightening the masses.
Scary stories
Lora Sauls joins Universal Orlando Senior Director of Creative Development Mike Aiello (left) and Senior Show Director for Creative Development Charles Gray (right) for the HHN 35 panel at MegaCon Orlando. Photo by Jim Carchidi
Halloween Horror Nights began in 1991 as a three-night event and evolved into three months of interactive experiences with popular intellectual properties (IPs) and original stories. Sauls, a 30-year member of the Universal Orlando team, has 28 years of experience creating HHN events. She says development begins 18 months before opening night with sets going into production during the holiday season.
“Hammers start swinging on the haunted houses in December and January and costuming starts in January.”
Before set builds and sewing can begin, all IP partnerships and original story content need to be approved. And the latter can't begin without the former.
“If we have a slasher (film) as an IP we don’t want to have a slasher for an original content house. If we have monsters as IPs we want to steer away from having too many monster houses in our original content. The object is to diversify, so there is something for everyone.”
Intense moments
Jack the Clown and his nemeses, Dr. Oddfellow, will be the focus of an original content house at HHN 35 while the horror film "Sinners" is the first announced IP for the event. Images courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort
HHN 35 will feature 10 themed houses. The first original content house was announced in March at MegaCon Orlando and will feature event icons Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow. The first of this year's IPs to be announced is the Academy Award-winning horror film, “Sinners.” Sauls says houses are designed to place fans into the most intense moments of each story and “Sinners” will be no different.
“We’re really focusing on the second half of that film, where they go into the juke joint and all the craziness starts to happen.”
IP partnerships are approved in August for the following year's event. In other words: as one event goes into set and costume production, the following year is in the design phase. IP designs are reviewed by studio representatives, both in person and virtually via digital illustrations and photos. Specific theming and 48 days of wear and tear make reusing finished pieces next to impossible. However, basic clothing and set materials are separated and saved at the end of each event for future use.
Original content can be built on brand new ideas or unfinished stories from past creative meetings. Staff place no limits on their potential, save one.
“We do not lean on anything from real-world society,” Sauls said. “We try to stay disconnected; this is our world that we’re focusing on.”
As the environments take shape, the task of filling them with the right cast - aka scareactors - becomes its own creative process.
Becoming a scareactor
Scareactor casting went from in-person auditions to recorded presentations with some performers filling multiple roles. Image courtesy of Universal Orlando Resort
Each house is staffed by a standard number of scareactors and costumes are created and approved well before the casting process begins in March. Prospective scareactors can apply on the official audition page where they receive a series of questions to answer and directions to follow. In-person tryouts would number in the thousands, so the process was upgraded about six years ago to digital video submissions. Sauls says the format allows more flexibility for everyone involved.
“The future team members are in control of what we see. They can take and retake to make that audition video the best it can be. It’s all about personality."
Meanwhile, directors have the benefit of recorded auditions to rewatch as the casting process moves forward. Once hired, scareactors are given a number that corresponds to their costume. Assigned houses and characters are kept secret until costume fittings begin in late July.
“Once orientation is done and they come in for fittings, that’s when the performers find out what house they’re in,” Sauls said. “They all get real excited when they hear their house and the role they'll play.”
Required scares are taught during rehearsals and most scareactors are assigned a specific space and role. But some, called scare spares, can be assigned as needed. "It's a months-long event and people need days off. The scare spares might fill different roles throughout a night."
A living, breathing thing
The production process doesn’t end with opening night. Sauls and fellow creative team members will gauge audience responses during the first week of performances to find ways of improving the experience.
“We like to stand at the end of the houses to see people’s reactions as they’re coming out. That’s great feedback,” she said. “Halloween Horror Nights is a living, breathing thing and it changes as the event moves on. If we see something that needs to be tweaked, we tweak it.”
One-upmanship
The Universal creative team had the chance to work with new and classic versions of HHN icon Jack the Clown for this year's event, Photo by Jim Carchidi
Success can breed its own monsters as the expectation of improving on past events may weigh on current development. But Sauls says overlapping productions and a department full of creative talents keep her moving forward.
“That thought is just a thought. It gets quickly tossed to clear the way for the creative process for the very next year.”
Halloween Horror Nights will run on select nights, August 28 through November 1. Check the event page for updates and ticket sales.
Sponsor: The Orlando Real is sponsored by the Pozek Group — the #1 real estate team in Orlando and the Official Real Estate Team of the Orlando Magic.
About the Author
Jim Carchidi is an Orlando journalist and photographer with previous work at the Orlando Sentinel and Orlando Business Journal. He covers development, arts, culture, and local stories for The Orlando Real.
Enjoy this blog post? Click here to subscribe for updates
Leave A Comment