Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 2025 just got creepier. The fifth haunted house announced for this year’s event is Dolls: Let’s Play Dead, an original concept that plunges guests into a child’s nightmare come to life—one where toys don’t just play with you, they hunt you.
With two major IP houses (Fallout and Jason Universe) and two strong original entries already on the lineup (El Artista: A Spanish Haunting and Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters), this fifth addition leans heavily into the deeply unsettling fear of dolls and distorted childhood memories. Think Annabelle meets Toy Story—but drenched in dread.
Welcome to the Playroom of Terror
In Dolls: Let’s Play Dead, guests are shrunken down to doll-size and thrown into the deranged world of a little girl with a cruel imagination. Her once-innocent playthings have been disfigured, melted, sewn together, and filled with malicious intent. Fashion dolls with scorched faces, crude stitching, and dead eyes hunt you through dollhouses, bedrooms, and the shadows beneath the bed.
And it only gets worse.
The final stretch takes you through a dilapidated Victorian dollhouse—one that might as well be a mausoleum for the toys that didn’t make it out. Here, undead horrors lurk behind delicate wallpaper and cracked porcelain walls, waiting to make you part of the permanent collection.
A House That Pushes Psychological Buttons
Universal is no stranger to doll-based horror—past houses have flirted with similar concepts—but Dolls: Let’s Play Dead feels like it’s upping the stakes. The blend of scale manipulation, nostalgic references, and uncanny valley imagery is designed to mess with your head. The house is expected to feature oversized props, tight crawl-like corridors, and intensely detailed scenic work that flips the comfort of childhood into pure nightmare fuel.
Fans of Dead Silence or the Dollhouse of the Damned (from HHN past) will likely find this house to be a chilling spiritual successor.
Halloween Horror Nights 2025 House Lineup So Far
- Fallout – A nuclear-fueled descent into the chaos of the Wasteland, based on the beloved video game franchise.
- Jason Universe – A multidimensional slasher frenzy through the bloody legacy of Jason Voorhees.
- El Artista: A Spanish Haunting – A ghostly tale of cursed paintings and malevolent spirits in 19th-century Spain.
- Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters – An explosive Western showdown against lava-born demons.
- Dolls: Let’s Play Dead – A twisted trip into the world of possessed playthings and stitched-up nightmares.
With five houses now revealed, Halloween Horror Nights 2025 is already showcasing a diverse blend of story-driven originals and crowd-pleasing IPs. Dolls: Let’s Play Dead adds a sinister new flavor to the mix, tapping into childhood fears and transforming them into one of the year’s most unsettling experiences.
The countdown continues as Universal Orlando prepares for its biggest Halloween season yet. Stay tuned for more house announcements, scare zone details, and special offerings as opening night creeps closer.
