Michael Myers returns to Universal Orlando in ‘Halloween 4’ house

Confirming leaks and rumors first reported by fansites, Universal Orlando announced that the “Halloween” franchise will be featured in one of the houses in the year’s Halloween Horror Nights.

The house will be based on 1988’s “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.” As the title gives away, Myers returned as the villain in this film after being absent from 1982’s “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” this time targeting his niece rather than his sister.

“You’ll be dropped right in the middle of Michael Myers’ path, where he is on his way to eradicating his niece,” Charles Gray, writer and show director for HHN, wrote on the Universal Orlando blog. “He takes out everyone in his way, and you’ll be right in the middle of the action.”

It’s not the first time Universal Orlando has utilized a “Halloween” film. The most recent appearance was in 2016’s “Halloween: Hell Comes to Haddonfield” house, which was based on the 1981 film “Halloween II.”

While “Halloween 4” fits into the ‘80s theme of this year’s event, the choice may strike horror fans as odd. The film was not well received critically or commercially at the time of its release and has since been erased from the series’ continuity.

It also won’t tie into the next installment in the franchise distributed by Universal Pictures. Set to be released on Oct. 19, the new film — simply titled “Halloween”— disregards all the previous sequels and picks up where the 1978 slasher classic left off.

For die-hard HHN fans, the reveal wasn’t unexpected. Just like the recently-announced “Poltergeist” house, fansite Horror Night Nightmares had correctly predicted the inclusion of the “Halloween” franchise in June. The announcement also confirmed leaked images from the Universal Studios Hollywood website and an Orlando hotel ad which featured Michael Myers.

Two more houses remain to be announced for this year’s event. The time for additional reveals is running out, as Halloween Horror Nights will begin on Sept. 14 and take over Universal Studios Florida on select nights through Nov. 3.