ORLANDO, Fla. — This year’s Infernal Carnival of Nightmares theme at Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 35 draws on the event’s history of icons and midway horror, turning the annual event’s 10 haunted houses and surrounding scare zones into a sensory explosion of fear, taste and smell.
Research and Development executive sous chef Christopher Colon; Jens Dahlmann, vice president and executive chef; Robert Martinez Jr., director of culinary and executive chef at Universal Orlando Resort; and a team of gastronomic artisans have created a menu that goes considerably further than slapping a gruesome new name on old theme-park fare.
In fact, many of the dishes extend the storytelling onto the plate.
“We get to do over-the-top, kind of crazy food that people get to enjoy and love,” says Mr. Colon. “Thanks to the leadership team, we are allowed to spread our wings and have fun with these events.”
Found at themed food stops throughout the park, this year’s offerings include several surprisingly ambitious culinary creations well worth the theme-park prices. And, while no mortal digestive system could reasonably manage even one bite of everything, a few dishes demanded to be devoured.
In honor of the “Hellraiser” house comes one of the strongest choices as well as flavors of the event, starting with Pinhead’s Skin and Meatballs ($11.99) with its torn pasta mimicking strips of flesh, served with spicy pork-and-beef meatballs and marinara; and the particularly gruesome Skin and Chips Nachos ($10.99), crispy pork rinds covered with cheese sauce and peppered jerky.
Both seem considerably more disturbing after walking through a house featuring the sadomasochistic Cenobites taken from Clive Barker’s original novella and first trilogy of films.
HHN’s relationship with “Stranger Things” continues and has extended beyond the haunted houses from the beginning.
In 2018, Universal introduced foods pulled directly from the show’s mythology, including the Triple Decker Extravaganza, Fudge Dipped Waffle on a Stick, Benny’s Burgers, and the Syrup and Waffles frozen drink.
This year, foods created for the “Stranger Things 5” house experience offer El’s Battery Jerky ($16.99), Upside Down Chicken and Waffles topped with sriracha aioli and chopped chives ($12.99) and, a personal favorite, the chocolate-covered Steve’s Smuggled Peanut Butter Bites ($9.99).
“’Stranger Things’ offerings are really cool,” says Mr. Colon. “El’s Battery Jerky is based off the first episode of season five, where Hopper throws El (who needs a battery charge) beef jerky. In the beginning, she’s kind of like, ’Huh,’ about it, not excited.
So, we went and added some things that give you some substance by adding a creamy mac and cheese, a crunchy piece of garlic bread and then, of course, it’s garnished with beef jerky.”
The open canned packaging on El’s Battery Jerky also makes it perfect walking scare-zone fare.
One of the sweetest, and most caffeinated, musical references at HHN 35 comes courtesy of the Prince of Darkness himself.
Named for Ozzy Osbourne’s 2007 release Black Rain ($19 in a 20-ounce souvenir cup, $15 for a 12-ounce single serve or refill, and $10 as a mocktail), the dark coffee-based specialty drink is available both with and without alcohol. The cocktail combines Cazadores Cafe tequila, ruby port, cold brew concentrate and agave syrup beneath a dramatic dark foam and black sprinkles.
The nonalcoholic Black Rain may be the better choice for anyone planning several more hours of haunted houses. It delivers the sweet coffee flavor and a welcome burst of caffeine without the alcoholic drag, useful when another Demogorgon, Cenobite or chainsaw-wielding clown is waiting around the next corner.
While the HHN 35 menus are exciting and designed to tickle all your taste buds, the singular standout treat came from the CarnEVIL Smash Taco ($14.99) found near Downtown Clowntown and at Jack’s Circus Surplus.
“The CarnEVIL Smash Taco is essentially a cheeseburger reconstructed to become exciting walking food,” says Mr. Colon. “We have American cheese on a freshly made flour tortilla, little onions, lettuce, secret sauce. Then we smash it in front of the guests. It’s a burger and a taco together and really delicious.”
Both for the quality of the movie and the authenticity of Universal’s adaptation, the vampire-slathered “Sinners” may offer the clearest example this year of food becoming another chapter of an HHN haunted house.
Set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, director Ryan Coogler’s film follows twins Smoke and Stack as they return from Chicago to open a juke joint for the local Black community. Music, especially the blues, is central to everything that follows, including inside Club Juke, and attracts something considerably more deadly.
The music becomes both celebration and warning as Irish immigrant Remmick and his vampire followers arrive outside the club.
But “Sinners” also tells another story of the Mississippi Delta, one involving the relationship between its Black and Chinese American communities. In the film, shopkeepers Grace and Bo Chow help supply the twins’ juke joint.
That history makes Chow’s Southern BBQ Eggrolls ($10.99) considerably more than pulled pork wrapped in something crispy.
“We wanted to stay true to the South and then bring a little movie flair at the same exact time, celebrating the Asian and the African American communities,” says Mr. Colon. “So, we blended those two together: a little cabbage, an eggroll, barbecue pulled pork, with a little barbecue dipping sauce as well.”
The resulting eggroll may be one of the simplest-looking foods on the HHN menu, but it also may be one of its smartest: Southern barbecue folded quite literally inside an Asian culinary tradition, turning an important relationship from “Sinners” into something guests can hold in their hands.
Other standout offerings from Sinners include Annie’s Juke Joint Catfish and Grits ($11.99), served with garlic and tiny bottles of Tabasco. Guests looking for a sweet treat will enjoy the Pecan and Whiskey Bread Pudding ($8.99), which is sticky and hot, much like a steamy night in the Delta, with a silky-smooth pecan-and-whiskey caramel sauce.
Those taking time to find the most gruesome fare around the park will appreciate Bloody Bones ($12.99), which consists of smoked and charred barbecue pork ribs topped with crispy jalapeno bits; the Torn to Shreds Pork Sandwich ($12.99) made with smoked, shredded barbecue pork shoulder, jalapeno slaw and served on a pretzel roll; and the Meat Grinder Red Velvet ($8.99) featuring freshly ground red velvet cake squeezed out from a meat grinder with cream cheese icing and finished with puffed-rice “maggots.”
Guests may come for the Halloween Horror Nights’ monsters, but they will develop a monstrous appetite along the way, and this year’s varied menu is sure to satisfy.
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