How Universal turns its daytime Studio Tour into the Halloween Horror Nights Terror Tram

By day, guests aboard Universal Studios Hollywood’s Studio Tour are taken via tram onto the studio’s famous backlot for a leisurely behind-the-scenes look at real working studio sets and various attractions like Fast & Furious—Supercharged and King Kong 360 3-D.

But during the theme park’s annual Halloween Horror Nights, once the sun sets, the backlot is taken over by monsters and the trams and tour guides only take patrons so far before kicking them off into the darkness to brave the elements. Each year there’s a theme and for this haunting season the attraction has been dubbed Terror Tram: The Exterminatorz.

ALSO SEE: Halloween Horror Nights: A closer look at Universal Studios’ scare zones

Insects and rodents, led by sharp-tongued salesman Larry Larva, have started an extermination company and they’re out to get rid of all of the humans for destroying the planet.

Bugs have taken over on the Terror Tram at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights Wednesday, September 7, 2023. Halloween Horror Nights is now open through October 31st. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

On the “Nope” set at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights Wednesday, September 7, 2023. Halloween Horror Nights is now open through October 31st. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

Visitors pass by the “Psycho” house at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights Wednesday, September 7, 2023. Halloween Horror Nights is now open through October 31st. (Photo by David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)

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“I invented Larry specifically for this,” HHN creative director and executive producer John Murdy said during an interview while previewing the mazes for this year’s event, which takes place select evenings through Oct. 31.

“In my research, I watched bad infomercials from the ’80s that you’d see on late night cable and I was like, well this guy should be the head of the company,” he continued. “There’s a little environmental message here, too. I like to play with the existential crisis of the day, much like the horror genre does. I was tapping into the idea that humans have been here for x amount of years, but insects have been on the planet for millions and millions of years, but look what the humans have done. They’ve poisoned the air and water and the insects are like, game over, this is done.”

Rats, flies, caterpillars, ants, spiders and a lot of other creepy crawly characters are scattered throughout the backlot as guests walk through the set of the “Psycho” Bates Motel and up by the famous “Psycho” house, where Norman Bates is posing for photos with his sharp kitchen knife. Don’t worry, the bugs will leave you alone long enough for a photo op.

The experience continues through the “War of the Worlds” plane crash site and onto the set of Jupiter’s Claim from director Jordan Peele’s suspense-thriller, “Nope.” There aren’t many bugs in this area, but in the ultimate horror crossover moment, The Teathered from Peele’s film “Us” have invaded the set.

“The Terror Tram presents fun opportunities, but also challenges,” Murdy said since his team have to work around these pre-existing sets each year for HHN and the daytime Studio Tour is routed to other areas of the backlot. “You have to come up with ideas that are umbrella concepts that can work with all of this, so for this year, we went back to a scare zone we did in, I want to say, 2015 called Exterminators. It was always one of my favorite scare zones and it just worked with this.”

So how are the insets luring in the humans for extinction? Larry Larva invented a humancide he calls “sqwooge” that will melt their skin right off.

“Humans can’t resist it,” Murdy said, noting that he made up the word “sqwooge” and went with it because it sounded funny. “It looks like a milkshake, it smells like a cheeseburger and it tastes like warm apple pie.”

Halloween Horror Nights

When: Select evenings through Oct. 31

Where: Universal Studios Hollywood, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City

Tickets: General admission tickets start at $74; Universal Express start at $209; Universal Express Unlimited start at $249; After 2 p.m. Day/Night combos are $149-$329; the new separate Early Access Ticket, which provides access to select haunted houses before the event opens starting at 5:30 p.m., start at $10 (regular ticket purchase required); R.I.P. Tours are $379 and up; Frequent Fear passes start at $209 and Ultimate Fear passes start at $329. All ticket types are available at universalstudioshollywood.com.

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