Is Halloween Horror Nights Appropriate for Kids? What to Know About the PG-13 Event at Universal Orlando

Halloween Horror Nights has been delighting fans of spooky thrills for more than three decades, but one key question still plagues park visitors: Is the event suitable for children?

Starting in 1991 — first ace Scary Nights of Universal Studios — Halloween Horror Nights (or HHN) contains many scary elements that are generally considered more suitable for mature audiences. There are haunted houses featuring various original concept horrors and creatures from well-known intellectual properties – this year it includes The Exorcist: The Believer, Chucky: Ultimate Kill Countthe return of the favorite Stranger Things and The last of us video game.

There are also Scare Zones featuring lots of fake blood, sinister scenery and roaming “scarecrows”, who entertain guests in costumes and grotesque make-up.

It’s a complete transformation from the park’s family-friendly daytime offerings and has left many fans wondering what age children should attend.

PEOPLE spoke with Lora Sauls, senior group manager of creative development and director of shows at Universal Orlando Resort; Jennifer Whitfield, Certified Mental Health Counselor and Registered Play Therapist; and Jessica Correa, a horror-loving mom from Orlando, for their best insight into all the tricks and treats.

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Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Orlando Resort/Jen Juneau

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“I will first say that our event is rated PG-13,” Sauls says, echoing the official language on the HHN website that reads: “WARNING: The event may be too intense for young children and is not recommended for children under 13. ”

Sauls tells PEOPLE that instead of making a one-size-fits-all recommendation for HHN, which also takes place at Universal Studios Hollywood in California, “I think [just depends] on the child,”

“The event is generally very loud,” she adds of another potential sensitivity for young visitors.

Haunted houses have different levels of scary, she notes.

There are “bloody and aggressive haunted houses” to look out for, but one that fits the “fantasy” genre this year is Dueling Dragons: Choose Your Fate, is based on the “iconic” roller coaster (which has since closed) at Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park.

It is a different type of house Blood Moon: Dark Offerings, which Sauls says is “probably not for kids.” As she explains in the Labyrinth synopsis, “It’s a colonial killing cult, and they just kill anyone who doesn’t believe in what they believe, and make a human sacrifice as a totem to the blood moon.”

“There’s definitely a mix, but ultimately our haunted houses are built to scare. So I would just be careful. We want to scare people. That’s why we call them scarecrows,” she says.

Universal Monsters: No Masks row of haunted houses inside Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Orlando Resort/Jen Juneau

PEOPLE also spoke with Orlando mom Jessica Correa about her experience with a child who is a fan of the event. Her son Michael, who turns 13 later this month, has attended HHN since he was 8 and has already gone more than 10 times this year.

Asked how she knew Michael was willing to experience it, Correa said he asked to leave after he was “good” with films like Radiationso she agreed — on the condition that “if he likes it, we’ll hang out at Scare Zones. If not, we can leave.”

“He just ate the Intimidation Zones, and the Intimidators did the same,” she recalls. “They just loved interacting with him, so it was fun.”

Which house does Michael think is the scariest this year? The darkest job, whose story synopsis reads: “Blues musician Pinestraw Spruce must face the music after meeting The Collector and trading his soul for musical glory.” (Least scary for a future teenager? Dueling Dragons: Choose Your Fate.)

“My best advice is to get noise-canceling headphones or earplugs because it’s really loud in houses,” says Correa. “My son wore these bright green headphones for three years, and then last year he switched to earplugs. But that’s probably my biggest tip, to kind of mute the stimulation you’re getting in the house.”

Jessica Correa’s son Michael at Universal Orlando Resort’s Halloween Horror Nights.

Courtesy of Jessica Correa

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Jennifer Whitfield, a licensed mental health counselor and registered play therapist based in the Orlando area, tells PEOPLE that a parent’s decision about whether to take their child to HHN “just comes down to knowing your child well,” from types of things are regularly afraid of whether they will generally be easily startled.

Whitfield suggests regularly “checking in” with HHN-related children, even if they previously said they wanted to attend — just to make sure that’s still the case as their visit date approaches, because “they may have changed their minds” and not they want to cause confusion by stating that fact.

If your child is “already prone to anxiety,” HHN “is probably not the best place to go,” she says.

Parents should watch after the children come too. “It might be a few days or a week or two later, and you might start seeing those fears. They might not want to go to bed. They might be fears of something completely different—nothing even related to monsters or ghosts, but that reaction can give back in a different way,” says Whitfield.

Stranger Things 4 haunted house inside Halloween Horror Nights 2023 at Universal Studios Florida.

Universal Orlando Resort/Jen Juneau

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Whitfield says she has an 8-year-old daughter, and having been to HHN herself, she knows it would be “terrifying” for her own child.

Addressing parents who do decide to take their children, she adds: “Does that mean you’re a bad parent or you’re ruining your child? Of course not. You just have to know your child.”

Correa has some advice for parents who go and get a little more than they bargained for in terms of their kids being too scared of the houses and Fear Zone, but not enough to want to leave the park.

“Since some of the rides are open, ride the rides. And then there’s the food — apparently they’re getting bigger with it every year, so try some creepy food,” she suggests.

Another highlight of the event is the HHN Tribute Store, a walk-through that is part store, part museum, featuring merchandise from HHN’s past and present. This area is free from jump scares.

As for the scare zones, which are present in different parts of the park, Correa tells PEOPLE, “A lot of times you can walk on the sidewalk,” instead of down the pedestrian street, which is something a lot of people do “so they can see what’s going on,” but they have less chance of a scarecrow approaching them.

Tickets for Halloween Horror Nights 32 — as well as upgrades like the Express Pass, Frequent Fear Pass, Rush of Fear Pass and more — are on sale now at universalorlando.com/hhn.

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Source: HIS Education