Universal's Horror Make-Up Show Is Coming Back, Now Featuring Blumhouse and 'An Entire Visual Reimagining'

Universal Orlando Resort announced on Friday, October 9 that its Horror Make-Up Show at Universal Studios Florida will return, rebranded as the Universal Horror Make-Up Show featuring Blumhouse. The announcement came through the resort's official social accounts, and Universal attached its own copy of the news in a post that offered almost no hard information: no opening date, no lineup, and no explanation of what changes for guests.

What Universal did confirm is the framing. In its announcement, the resort described the show as covering more than a century of Hollywood special effects, running from Universal's own classic monsters through to Blumhouse's modern horror: "In this live show, discover how Hollywood's top special effects artists have terrified moviegoers for over 100 years — from Universal's classic monsters to the modern horrors of Blumhouse." The post closed with the words "Details coming soon."

Michael Aiello, a longtime creative leader at Universal Orlando, added the most concrete detail of the day on X, describing the production as "an entire visual reimagining from floor to ceiling." Aiello said he had wanted to see the venue updated for years and that Universal's leadership backed the project. Much of what guests enjoyed about the original show is staying, he said, joined by new surprises and that visual overhaul. He framed the production as a tribute to a century of Universal horror, built with Blumhouse while keeping the show's mix of horror and humour.

The attraction is old enough to have been there from the start. The Horror Make-Up Show opened with Universal Studios Florida in 1990 and is staged in the park's Pantages Theater, styled after the Hollywood house of the same name. Its original format combined comedy with live demonstrations of prosthetic makeup and practical effects, alongside audience participation — and for most of its run, the most recent film clips in it came from the 2017 version of The Mummy.

Universal announced on May 3 that the show would close on May 12 for a reimagining. The reopening target has already moved once: it was first described as late 2026, and then refined to "winter 2026," a window that in practice gives the resort room to slip into early 2027. Because the show has been closed since May, it was absent for the whole of Halloween Horror Nights 35 this autumn — the first year since 1990 that guests could not see it during the Halloween season it is most associated with.

Asked directly when it will open, Universal Orlando replied on X that guests should "stay tuned for more information." Attractions Magazine noted it remains unclear how much of the original format survives into the Blumhouse version, and that it is not yet known which, if any, Blumhouse titles will appear. Blumhouse's catalogue is a large one, spanning Five Nights at Freddy's, M3GAN, The Purge, Insidious, Paranormal Activity, The Black Phone, Get Out and the 2018 Halloween revival.

The partnership is a natural extension of an existing relationship. Blumhouse has become one of the defining forces in modern horror and a fixture at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights, where it has built scare zones in recent years. Folding that catalogue into a year-round daytime attraction gives Universal a permanent showcase for contemporary horror sitting alongside its own monster legacy, and gives Blumhouse a presence in the parks beyond the few weeks of the fall event.

For regulars, the show has rarely been about scares. It is a funny, air-conditioned half-hour in the middle of the Florida heat, and one of the few Universal attractions that lands as well with people who have no interest in horror as with the converted. Universal's promise is that the irreverent, comedic tone survives the rebuild intact.

Not yet confirmed: the opening date, the running time, which Blumhouse properties will appear, how much of the original comedy and audience-participation format carries over, and whether the hosts will change. Universal has said only that more information is coming.