The first original concept haunted house for Halloween Horror Nights 29 at Universal Orlando will put guests in ghoulish gladiator games set in Ancient Rome.
The story behind Nightingales: Blood Pit is a Roman emperor has ordered gladiatorial contests to continue nonstop to end Rome’s worst drought in centuries. All that bloodshed, however, has attracted some sinister creatures.
“As the blood soaks into the earth, the nightingales feed on the dead and dying,” Universal content development representative Denielle Ricci wrote on the Universal Orlando Blog. “The nightingales are a grisly race of creatures that have been here since the dawn of time. You may think you’re familiar with their past feeding frenzies, but you haven’t seen them like this. You’ll try to survive alongside the gladiators as the ravenous nightingales tear into their victims and notice that fresh blood has come into their midst.”
Longtime Halloween Horror Nights fans remember these shape-shifting predators from a HHN 21 house called Nightingales: Blood Prey. That 2011 story saw the creatures preying on the wounded during World War I by disguising themselves as nurses. They were last featured in 2015 inside the Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem house which recreated past HHN scenes.
The house is the second to be revealed for HHN 29, along with the return of a house built around the Netflix series “Stranger Things.”
Horror fans can expect plenty more announcements to come, as Universal has confirmed the event will again feature 10 houses and five scarezones, the same number as 2018.
The 29th edition of Halloween Horror Nights will begin at Universal Studios Florida on September 6. It will the longest HHN ever, lasting 41 nights through November 2.
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Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2019 will last 41 nights