How Universal Scares Up Monster Revenues With Halloween Horror Nights

Disney can keep its princesses. Universal adds a thirteenth month of revenue each October by terrifying the hell out of its theme park visitors around the world. Coming soon—a spooktacular year-round attraction in Las Vegas.

For some people, Halloween means Pumpkin Spice Lattes, adorable trick-or-treaters and home-decorating tips from Martha Stewart. But for millions of horror fans, the season is all about jump scares, blood-thirsty ghouls and chainsaw-wielding clowns.

This burgeoning crowd of fright seekers is the target audience for Universal theme parks, where the art of scaring the bejeezus out of guests has become a massive profit driver during what was once a down time of year.