The era of the fog is upon us. Which, in normal person terms, means it’s Halloween Horror Nights (HHN) season. On select nights for two months, Universal Studios Hollywood transforms into a carnival of carnage, packed with eight haunted houses, six scare zones, one live show and, of course, the Terror Tram.
One of this year’s original content houses is Dead, Deader, Deadest. Situated on the Lower Lot (behind the Jurassic World – The Ride queue), this house dares you to enter the abandoned Deville Family Funeral Home. Unlike other funeral home operators, the Devilles aren’t exactly in the business of comforting the grieving.
The house is terrifying as-is. But you know what could make it ever spookier? Going deep on its lore. That’s where the scion of scares himself steps in. HHN creative director John Murdy, the mind behind Dead, Deader, Deadest, has written up the twisted backstory of this HHN house for your…enjoyment? Horrifyment? Whatever the case, prep yourself for the Deville Family Funeral Home by reading the story below. Just don’t blame us for the terror coursing through your veins…
Want to learn more about this year’s haunted houses? Check out our complete rundown of HHN 2026 at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Dead, Deader, Deadest: The Lore
The Deville Family Funeral Home has always had its secrets…
Founded in the early 1920’s by infamous hotel impresario Maximillian Deville, The Deville Family Funeral Home was the first full-service facility of its kind in Los Angeles County. As the business grew over the ensuing decades, the complex expanded to include a fully functioning morgue, embalming rooms, crematorium, mausoleum and cemetery, all housed within its sprawling grounds.
But almost from its inception, The Deville was embroiled in scandal.
Rumors of missing bodies, improper cremations, organ trafficking and other illicit business practices dogged the family business for years. After numerous investigations, legal actions and criminal prosecutions, the facility finally closed its doors in the late 1970s, right after the mysterious disappearance of its last director, Ambrose Deville. Saddled with a mountain of civil litigation and a contested will, the descendants squabbled in court for decades as the shuttered buildings slowly fell into decay.
Abandoned buildings are often the focus of ghost stories and urban legends, and the Deville Family Funeral Home was no exception. Amateur sleuths continued to propagate dark tales of what took place behind the imposing stone facade of the building, fueled by strange new discoveries.
Shortly before his disappearance, Ambrose Deville had tried, unsuccessfully, to patent a new drug named “Ambrotox,” which he claimed could restore life-like features to the deceased without the laborious and costly process of embalming.
Some even claimed to have seen Ambrose entering the supposedly abandoned building late at night. Others reported disturbing sounds and eerie lights coming from within the shuttered structure.
It seems that even after its “death,” the legend of The Deville Family Funeral Home continues to haunt the living.
Have you survived the Deville Family Funeral home? Let us know in the comments below.