'No place safe' promised at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights

"Those characters are so well-known, we've got to get them dead-on," says Art & Design Team makeup designer Michael Burnett.

For the Silent Hill characters, "we actually had some airbrush classes where everybody learned to get that exact look of the different veining and modeling so it will match the look that our guests have seen in the movies," he says.

Fresh frights

Universal reached into its original bag of tricks for three other houses.

Gothic stars overprotective gargoyles that guard a sanctuary.

House of Horrors calls upon classic Universal creatures such as the Bride of Frankenstein and presents them in a "lightning-flash design style," Timon says.

In Dead End, horrifying rumors about the goings-on in a family's house get a life of their own.

T.J. Mannarino, director of art and design, says Dead End is one of the scariest houses Universal has done in the 16 years he has been associated with Halloween Horror Nights.

"It's stuff that people have always fantasized of as 'classic haunted house.' … For me, that is a combination not just of the scenery, it's a mixture of the sound design that we have in there and some of the wonderful special effects that we have that really puts this on edge," he says.

"We do houses that are spectacle, we do houses that are comical, we do houses that follow a wonderful story," Mannarino says. "This one is truly scary."

dbevil@tribune.com or 407-420-5477

Halloween Horror Nights

Where: Universal Studios, intersection of Interstate 4 and Kirkman Road, Orlando

When: Sept. 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 30, Oct. 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31

Cost: One-night ticket is $88.99, but there are discounts available for multiple nights, Florida residents, annual pass holders and online purchases.

Phone: 407-363-8000

Online: HalloweenHorrorNights.com/orlando