The TikTok That Finally Got Me to Halloween Horror Nights

By Sara Dyer | Field Notes: Insights and Observations for the Travel Marketer

I’ve been to Universal Studios more times than I can count.

Growing up, my family had a timeshare in Orlando over New Year’s, which meant plenty of opportunities to visit the parks. I know Universal. I know the rides. And I certainly knew about Halloween Horror Nights.

But despite all those visits, I’d never actually gone.

Then I saw a TikTok of a DJ.

That was it. A few seconds of music and a crowd inside something called Club Horror, and suddenly I was paying attention.

Wait. There’s a whole Halloween club inside Universal?

I’d never heard of it, and now I wanted to go.

What followed was an evening of haunted houses, surprisingly short (and ridiculously long) lines, some genuinely terrifying moments, and a realization about how we convince people to experience something they think they already know.

One TikTok Changed My Plans

The first thing I did after watching the video was exactly what you’d expect.

I Googled “Club Horror Universal Studios DJ schedule.”

I couldn’t find one.

I couldn’t even figure out where Club Horror was located inside the park.

Still, that TikTok had done enough. My husband Max and I decided to go the Friday before Halloween. We’d visit a few haunted houses, explore the park, and eventually find Club Horror.

We purchased Early Scream passes, which let guests access the park before the general Halloween Horror Nights crowds arrived.

Because we both had to work that Friday, getting there at 2 p.m. wasn’t happening. But I figured if we arrived around five, we could squeeze in a couple of houses before the crowds poured in at 6:30.

We managed to do far more than that.

By the time general admission began, we’d made it through almost every house on my list, including an hour-long wait for the Ozzy house.

And then there was Sinners.

Eight Minutes Versus Two Hours

The Sinners haunted house had a posted wait time of 45 minutes.

We got in in eight.

I know because we actually timed it.

The experience itself was incredible. Everything looked like a real place you could walk into, with details that made it feel like stepping onto the actual movie set.

One of the actors looked so much like Michael B. Jordan that I did a double, possibly triple, take. I’m still not entirely convinced it wasn’t some incredible animatronic.

I loved seeing how everything was built.

I was also very interested in getting out of there.

Apparently, I spent the entire experience gripping the walls. I didn’t realize I was doing that until Max pointed it out afterward.

By the time we exited, it was approaching seven, and the wait had grown to two hours.

The line stretched around the corner and then some.

For the exact same house we’d just walked into.

The Early Scream passes had already paid for themselves.

With the houses we cared about finished, we spent the rest of the evening exploring. We rode Men in Black, found the Fortnitemares area with people performing Fortnite dances, and wandered through scare zones where I consistently failed to predict who was about to jump out at me.

I screamed almost every time.

And loved every minute of it.

Even walking between attractions was fun. Universal was completely transformed by Halloween decorations, lighting, music, and people enjoying the atmosphere.

It was a version of a place I’d visited dozens of times that somehow felt entirely new.

The Moment That Brought Everything Together

Before heading home, we finally found Club Horror.

It was still relatively early, so there weren’t many people there. But the atmosphere was exactly what I’d hoped for.

As we walked through, the DJ was playing “Hypnosis” by A Bo.

I knew the song immediately. It’s saved in my Spotify library, and I’ve seen the DJ perform live.

Of all the songs that could have been playing when I finally reached the place that convinced me to buy a ticket, it was one I already loved.

It felt like divine timing.

And it got me thinking about that original TikTok.

I’d seen advertisements for Halloween Horror Nights. I knew Universal hosted it every year. I knew there were haunted houses.

I literally live in Orlando now.

None of that had convinced me to go.

But a few seconds showing something specific, something I could actually picture myself enjoying, changed everything.

Suddenly I was checking my work schedule, figuring out when we could arrive, researching parking, and deciding which houses we wanted to visit.

One video had taken an event I was familiar with and made it feel worth experiencing.

Give People a Reason to Reconsider

This is something I think about when it comes to travel and tourism marketing.

Destinations and attractions spend a lot of time telling people what they offer.

Here are our attractions. Here’s our annual festival. Here’s what makes our destination special.

And those things matter.

But what about the person who already knows?

The local who has seen the festival advertised every year. The family that visited your attraction three summers ago. The traveler who thinks they’ve already experienced everything your destination has to offer.

What could you show them that would make them reconsider?

For me, it was Club Horror.

For someone else, it might have been Sinners.

In fact, when people ask me about my evening, Sinners is usually the first thing I mention.

If you’re a fan of the movie, seeing how Universal recreated even one recognizable scene could be enough to convince you to attend.

Same event. Two completely different reasons to go.

That’s what makes specific content so valuable.

If I were planning Halloween Horror Nights content for next year, I’d put those moments on the shot list separately.

For Club Horror, I’d want a video that captures enough of the DJ set for people to hear the music, see the room, and understand the atmosphere.

For Sinners, I’d focus on one recognizable detail that would immediately catch a fan’s attention.

Neither video needs to explain the entire event.

Each needs to make someone stop scrolling and think, “I want to experience that.”

What Happens After Someone Stops Scrolling?

There’s another part of my experience that deserves attention.

Remember how I couldn’t find the Club Horror DJ schedule?

That mattered.

The TikTok gave me a reason to go, but it didn’t give me the information I needed to plan the experience.

And when I went looking for that information, I came up empty.

I wanted answers to two fairly simple questions:

• Where is Club Horror?
• When is the DJ playing?

Those answers should have been easy to find.

For travel marketers, this is where the connection between social content, search, and AI-assisted discovery becomes important.

A video might introduce someone to an experience they’ve never considered. It might create enough interest to make them start researching.

But that interest doesn’t guarantee they’ll follow through.

They’re going to have questions.

Where is it? How much does it cost? What time does it start? Do I need a reservation? Is it included with admission?

Those questions need clear, accessible answers.

And increasingly, those answers need to be available to more than just the person browsing your website.

If someone asks Google, ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity about your event, having accurate information published in plain text on an official event page gives those systems a reliable source to find and reference.

A beautiful promotional video can create interest.

An accessible event page can help turn that interest into an actual visit.

Ideally, the two work together.

The Experience Someone Didn’t Know They Wanted

I went to Halloween Horror Nights because I saw a TikTok.

I ended up having an incredible evening, found a new favorite haunted house, screamed my way through the scare zones, and finally discovered the club that started the whole thing.

I’d absolutely go again.

I’d arrive early, get another Early Scream pass, and probably head straight for Sinners.

Maybe this time I’d manage to walk through without grabbing the walls.

Max would probably disagree.

But the thing I keep coming back to is how close I was to never having that experience.

I already knew Halloween Horror Nights existed. I’d known for years.

All it took was someone showing me one specific part of it that I hadn’t considered before.

And I wonder how many people feel the same way about the destinations and events we market.

They know we’re there.

They just haven’t seen their reason to go yet.