Halloween Horror Nights 14, Universal Studios Singapore

Singapore's annual excuse to pay money to be screamed at, now with a karang guni man.

If you have never done Halloween Horror Nights, the last fortnight is the time, as long as everyone in the group is 13 or older and actually wants to be frightened. Universal Studios Singapore turns into a night-only scare park on select evenings until 1 November, with four haunted houses and two scare zones, and the reason to go this year is that two of the houses are pointedly local.

Karang Guni: The Cursed Collection takes the rag-and-bone man who used to cycle through every HDB estate and asks what he was really collecting. Singapore's Most Haunted: ON AIR plays on the island's ghost-story tradition. Chatterbox Charlie's Vaudeville Horrors and Made in Hell: XL Robotics are the imported-style houses, and The Raveyard and Necropolis: The Serpent's Crossroads are the scare zones you walk through between them. Our pick, on concept alone, is the karang guni: it is the one only Singapore could make.

The catch is that every remaining night is a peak night, which means the higher ticket price, and the nights closest to Halloween are the ones most likely to be busy. That makes timing the main decision. Thursdays (22 and 29 October) are the least bad bet; the Friday and Saturday before Halloween will be the busiest nights of the run. Arrive at the 7.30pm opening and do the houses first, while the queues are shortest, then let the scare zones take care of the rest of the evening.

The operator says it is not recommended for children under 13, and it means it: this is jump scares, darkness and actors in your face for five hours. Younger children who want a Halloween outing are better off with something built for them, such as Mandai's daytime mission at Curiosity Cove. Wear shoes you can run in, and agree a meeting point before the first house: groups get separated in the dark.

Good to know Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa Gateway. Remaining nights: Thu 22, Fri 23, Sat 24, Thu 29, Fri 30, Sat 31 October and Sun 1 November 2026, 7.30pm to 12.30am. Resorts World Sentosa lists admission from S$68 on non-peak nights and S$78 on peak nights (all remaining nights are peak) and marks the figures as draft, so check the price when you book. Not recommended for children under 13. Nearest MRT: HarbourFront, then the Sentosa Express to Resorts World.

Halloween Horror Nights 14, Universal Studios Singapore | Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa Gateway, Singapore 098269 | Nearest MRT: HarbourFront (then Sentosa Express)