When it comes to theme park haunts, no one does it like Universal Orlando Resort. The theme park complex throws one of the biggest and scariest Halloween events of the season: Halloween Horror Nights. And this year, the event runs on 48 select nights through November 3. The 33rd Halloween Horror Nights season brings 10 new haunted houses, five scare zones, a live show, and, of course, great sweet and savory snacks that are exclusive to the event. 

“Here at Universal Orlando Resort, we are blessed to be able to work with some iconic franchises and IPs, and when ideating our offerings for this year’s Halloween Horror Nights, we took inspiration from the movies or shows to enhance the overall storytelling through our food and beverage offerings. It’s a fun event, so we get to have fun with it and not take ourselves too seriously all while still delivering on presentation and flavor,” says Chef Jens Dahlmann, vice president and executive chef of operations at Universal Orlando Resort. 

With food offerings scattered around the park, it’s hard to try it all in one night. Luckily, Universal offers a Frequent Fear Pass so you can see all of the houses again and again, plus get your fill of some of the best treats created by the food and beverage team at Universal Orlando. And don’t worry, there are plenty of pop-up bars and drink stations around to get something to sip on out of a blinky cup too. 

Who you gonna call?

“To coincide with our Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire haunted house, we drew inspiration from Slimer’s love of Cheetos. From that, we created a Korean-style corn Dog, Slimer’s Korean Corn Dog, that has green sage derby cheese and a hot dog on the inside, battered and dusted with Cheetos dust. When our guests bite into it, they get an oozy green cheese pull and the taste of Cheetos, creating a multisensory experience for them,” says Dahlmann. 

For a sweet take on a Korean corn dog, try the Frozen Death Chill, which has a mint-cheesecake filling coated with Bugles and edible glitter. 

One of the most talked about treats this season is the Mini Stay-Puft S’more from Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire near Park Plaza Holiday Shop. The classic campfire treat gets a made-for-the-movies makeover as an open-faced s’more topped with chocolate and a marshmallow that looks like the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man. 

“We make the marshmallows from scratch and have an entire team in our production kitchen and bakery producing thousands of them daily, just to keep up with demand,” explains Dahlmann.

Before being served to guests, the marshmallow is charred to perfection, so you can still see all of the cute details, but is perfectly melty and crispy after biting in. 

Drive-in, movie-style snacks

Based on summer camp meals and drive-in movie snacks, the food booth themed to the Slaughter Sinema 2 house has savory bites for every taste. Here, you can try the Summer Camp Hot Dog, which is a Nathan’s hot dog that’s been deep fried, then topped with nacho cheese, baked beans, pepper relish, and crunched up Doritos. There’s also two walking tacos, a savory-spicy ropa vieja or vegan chili style. And don’t skip the Sinema Popcorn, which is flavored like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. 

More savory snacks worth the hype

One of the scariest houses at Halloween Horror Nights is Insidious: The Further, which features an iconic red door. The food and drink team at the park has turned that door into a snack called The Red Door, which is a potato and onion-filled hand pie with red pastry. The savory filling and carb-loaded snack will help to keep you going from house to house until the late hours of the night. 

For something a little more filling, try the Bloody Goody Bag from the Triplets of Terror booth. The bag is filled with a mix of crispy chicken chunks, fries, onions, peppers and a creamy sauce tying it all together. 

Sweet bites to brave the ‘Scare Zones’ for

The Bride’s Cake from Twilight Tavern near Minion Cafe is one sweet treat you do not want to miss. The miniature three-tiered cake is made with vanilla cake layered with raspberry jam and covered In chocolate. If you love chocolate and fruit flavors together, do not skip this cake. 

Another sinister chocolate dessert that Horror Nights really knocked out of the park is the Wooden Board Eclair, which is themed to A Quiet Place in the New York section of the park. The pastry is filled with a sweet and spicy chocolate pastry cream and dipped in chocolate ganache. The eclair is then topped with a chocolate plank that has a woodgrain pattern and an edible knife surrounded by a dollop of jelly in the middle. 

In the San Francisco area of the park, you’ll find the Major Sweets Candy Factory booth. Grab the Cyclops Cup, a frozen peanut buttercup topped with a candy eyeball. On those warm Florida evenings, this will cool you down and give you a sugar rush. 

It’s not Halloween Horror Nights without these snacks

One of the most iconic snacks to ever come out of Halloween Horror Nights is the Twisted Tater. This year, it can be found at Gramercy Park. The spiralized then fried potato on a stick can be topped with your choice of seasoning: seasoning salt, garlic-parmesan, or sour cream and chives. And let’s be honest, everything tastes better when it’s on a stick and fried. 

The other returning snack that everyone raves about is Pizza Fries, which are exactly what it sounds like. Golden French fries topped with cheese and other pizza toppings like pepperoni. This year, Classic Pizza Fries and Vegan Pizza Fries can be found at DreamWorks Imagination Cafe. 

Sounds like Halloween Horror Nights isn’t just for jump scares anymore. It’s a real culinary feast for ghouls and goblins alike.