If you’re brave enough to face the fog at Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) 2026, you’ll get to step right up into the frightful multiverse carnival that is Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control.
Fans of HHN know that when Jack the Clown or Dr. Oddfellow appear in a haunted house, you’re in for a frightfully fun time. For the uninitiated, or to refresh your memory from the past, Universal had the infamous Jack Presents: 25 Years of Monsters & Mayhem at HHN 25, and the carnival of scares in Dr. Oddfellow’s Twisted Origins at HHN 32.
Jack and Oddfellow return in this year’s Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control haunted house. But this time? They’re together, making for twice the mayhem.
I got the opportunity to speak with senior show director Charles Gray and scenic designer Dylan Kollath about the house, so I’ll stop clowning around and tell you all about it!
The Characters
The original Halloween Horror Nights characters’ backstories are extensive, but if you want the TL;DR, Jack Schmidt, better known as Jack the Clown, was a carnival performer that worked under Dr. Oddfellow. In typical HHN character fashion, Jack had some unfortunate (homicidal) tendencies that didn’t mix well with the supposed fun family carnival show.
Long story short, Oddfellow discovered Jack’s crimes and subsequently murdered Jack and stuffed his body into a Jack in the Box. The catch? Jack was transported into the twisted Oddverse, where he only became more evil and powerful. As Charles puts it, “Jack Schmidt was torn, twisted, and pulled apart and driven mad in this other world. But he also gained the powers of Dr. Oddfellow.”
Jack the Clown and Dr. Oddfellow’s long-running rivalry comes to an insidious head in HHN 35’s haunted house, Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control.
Not caught up on all the HHN lore? Read our Beginner’s Guide!
The Story
In Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control, you’ll dive into the origins of Jack and Oddfellow’s rivalry and find yourself caught in the middle as these two Universal icons twist and turn through the Oddverse, pitting chaos against control.
The Oddverse is a pocket dimension created by Dr. Oddfellow from which he draws his powers. It’s also where Jack Schmidt resides inside of his box. What happens inside of the Oddverse when we combine the two forces? Charles tells us that the story culminates in one pivotal moment: “Jack and Oddfellow have been warring with each other for years and years,” he says. “But they finally decide that fear divided is fear diluted. By coming together with their chaos and control, joining together, they could remake this world.”
Planning a trip to Halloween Horror Nights? Check out our full guide here.
The House
When you first enter Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control, you’ll find yourself in a grisly carnival scene. As you walk by bloodied bunk beds, you’ll discover Jack Schmidt painting his face with stolen clown makeup.
The house narration begins from Oddfellow’s POV, but Jack soon takes over. The characters go back and forth as they tell the story of their rivalry through the Oddverse. Narration isn’t always included in haunted houses, so Dylan and Charles are excited to see fans’ reactions to the story. Charles says, “The sound and the visuals are married together in a very interesting way. It’s a lot of fun.”
As you witness Dr. Oddfellow stuff Jack into his box, Jack scratches and fights and gains the powers of Dr. Oddfellow. You enter a room with a swirling, dizzying vortex that serves as your portal into the Oddverse. From there, you dig deeper into the depths of the Oddverse, from churning hallways to Jack the Clown’s personal game show.
Dylan says that one of the most exciting parts of designing the haunted house was blending the two characters’ aesthetics: “We had a brief glimpse at Jack and Oddfellow’s backstory in the Dr. Oddfellow Twisted Origins house [from HHN 32], so elements of that are woven through this one. But we wanted to take the aesthetics of both Jack and Oddfellow… and have them clash and blend with each other.” He notes that, “It was a surprise to us how out-of-the-box the ideas became when we brought them together.”
The visuals of the house are bright, chaotic, and sure to spark a sense of coulrophobia. I won’t spoil all of the rooms for you, but trust me when I say that they are chock-full of details, surprises, and Easter eggs for HHN fans. That is if you can keep your eyes open long enough to see them. (I only kept mine open for the sake of this article.)
As for the practical effects in this stunning house, your memories of the carnival may be jogged by the smell of popcorn. “Video plays a huge role in this house,” Charles adds.
These effects tie into my favorite room in the house: the Tilted Hallway, where the video effects are truly mesmerizing. As you navigate the swirling vortex and its lopsided floor, scareactors hide in creeping corners to surprise you. It’s a chaotic end to the twisted adventure that is Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control.
PRO TIP: If you’d prefer more stable ground, there are two hallways in this area. If you take the one on the left, you’ll encounter all of the same scareactor fun with a more accessible route.
With that, we’ll close the curtains on the story of Jack and Oddfellow until we can experience it together with the start of Halloween Horror Nights 35, on Aug. 28, 2026. See you in the fog, carnival, and wherever else you fancy getting your scares at Universal Studios Florida.
What are you most looking forward to in the Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control haunted house? Let us know in the comments below!
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