Universal Studios Singapore is back with its 14th round of Halloween Horror Nights, running on selected nights from 25 September to 1 November 2026. The event packs 4 haunted houses, 2 scare zones and 3 live shows into the park, and this year's centrepiece is a very Singaporean nightmare: a karang guni (rag-and-bone man) whose hoard of secondhand goods has possessed him.
After walking the houses before opening night, we'd put Karang Guni: The Cursed Collection at the top. The facade is a replica of a cluttered old shophouse filled with hundreds of props — cursed dolls, mirrors, a toyol, even the hat of a dead Samsui woman — and you'll encounter three progressively demonic versions of the collector himself. It earned a scare factor of 8/10 mostly on the strength of its obsessive set design and animatronics.
Close behind at 7.5/10 is Singapore's Most Haunted: ON AIR, the third entry in the series, set in a defunct TV studio where a murdered news anchor's ghost forces trapped souls to re-enact local legends on different sets. Five familiar horror stories unfold as you pass through, including the Yellow Tower and Devil's Bend. The clever twist: the TV Ghost grows stronger each time his stories are watched, so by touring the house you're feeding him. Chatterbox Charlie's Vaudeville Horrors (7/10) brings back last year's viral ventriloquist scare-actor for a tale of blurred lines between puppet and master — bring courage if you fear dolls. The least scary but still solid Made in Hell: XL Robotics (6/10) drops you into a rogue-AI uprising at an immortality-selling robotics firm.
Outside the houses, the two scare zones lean atmospheric rather than terrifying. The Raveyard turns the New York street into a neon cemetery party with undead revellers, a zombie selling Fanta and tombstone photobooths that draw long queues. Necropolis: The Serpent's Crossroads covers the Ancient Egypt zone in fog, with ghouls who stare rather than lunge — unnerving precisely because the jump scares never come. If you want protection, an $18 Kia Si Amulet wards off scare actors in the zones, though it does nothing inside the houses.
For shows, Club PanDEMONium at the Pantages Hollywood Theater is the standout: a cabaret in hell presided over by the soul-judging demon KHAOS, with 7 acts themed on the deadly sins. There's also the opening Scaremony, and Nail The Beat, a dance battle bringing Universal Studios Japan's fan-favourite Hamikuma bear against Pontianak-inspired rocker Ponti-Ana.
Tickets run from $68 (non-peak) and $78 (peak) for standard admission, down to $64 and $74 per person in student bundles of four. Heavy hitters include the $156 Frequent Fear Pass for unlimited visits, the R.I.P. Tour at $290 with guided express access, and early-access pairs from $250. Peak nights cluster around late October and Halloween weekend, so going in late September or mid-October saves money and crowds.
One practical note: the scares are concentrated on the right side of the park, so expect dense crowds there — and use Far Far Away or Jurassic Park as your recovery zones. Wear comfy shoes and go with friends who won't abandon you at the first animatronic.
