Great news for fans of Universal Monsters this Halloween season!

During an Epic Universe panel at New York Comic Con, Gregory Hall, creative director of Dark Universe, announced exciting new details about the monster themed attractions coming to their new theme park.

Dark Universe is one of five new lands being created for Epic Universe. The horror-themed land blends the iconic stories of unearthly legends like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, and more with a new generation of monsters and characters, including Dr. Victoria Frankenstein — the great-great-granddaughter of the infamous Henry Frankenstein who has continued his misguided experiments.

Gregory Hall surprised guests at the comic con panel by announcing that the queue for “Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment” will feature jump scares. The future attraction is a highly anticipated ride among Universal Monster fans.

Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment 

Universal Orlando’s most terrifying attraction yet, this state-of-the-art dark ride takes guests deep into the catacombs of Frankenstein Manor, where Dr. Victoria Frankenstein conducts her twisted experiments. In a vain display of her genius, she invites guests into her laboratory to witness a demonstration of her ability to control monsters – but her plans go awry when her attempts to control the most dangerous of monsters, Dracula, fails, unleashing a horde of enraged monsters. Guests are then thrust into an intense ride through the darkness as they try to evade the grasps of The Wolf Man, The Mummy, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Brides of Dracula and others.

The inclusion of jump scares is an exciting concept that fits well into the theme of the land. It’ll be fun to discover if Universal incorporates scare actors and programmed effects for guests in the queue.

Meeting the Monsters

As guests venture through Darkmoor — the ravaged village within Dark Universe — they’ll encounter the characters and subjects of those experiments within a first-of-its-kind theme park environment.

Universal has already announced that guests will be able to have meet and greets with Universal Monsters at the upcoming Dark Universe section of Epic Universe. But now they have extended the lineup!

Phantom of the Opera and the Creature From the Black Lagoon will also be available for meet-and-greets in Dark Universe.

These previously unannounced characters will join Dracula and Ygor, Frankenstein’s Monster, Bride of Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, and the Wolfman.

Epic Universe is set to open on May 22, 2025. The new theme park will feature four lands, including Dark Universe, set around Celestial Park, the theme park’s hub.

Concept Art by NBCUniversal