Halloween Horror Nights: Inside Universal Orlando's 2022 Event and Its New Weeknd-Themed House

It is officially spooky season, and the best way to celebrate is at Universal Orlando.

The Florida theme park's annual Halloween Horror Nights is back with a whole new slew of scares for 2022 — starting with 10 new haunted houses, including one built around musical superstar The Weeknd.

PEOPLE had a chance to check out the attractions in person at the event, which takes place on select nights from Sept. 6 to Oct. 31 at the Orlando resort (a similar one, with its own unique attractions, is running at Universal Studios Hollywood).

In addition to the houses, there are also five scare zones and two live shows, as well as more than 75 unique culinary treats and a whole collection of seasonal merchandise available to meet every Halloween need.

It all takes 14 months, with more than 1,000 actors and countless twisted minds, to bring the event to life. The production team takes the friendly facade of the park and, as the sun goes down, transforms it into a spooktacular display of fright-filled smoke-shrouded hellscapes, full of wicked witches, ghastly ghouls and demonic demons.

Halloween Horror Nights — or HHH, as its legions of fans have dubbed the two-month celebration — first debuted at Universal Florida in 1991, under the name Fright Nights.

Each year has its own theme and this being the 31st annual HHH, and Halloween falling annually on Oct. 31, producers settled on classic Halloween as their theme. That means parkgoers can expect the park's five elaborately themed "scare zones" to be decorated with lots of pumpkins, graveyards, skeletons, scarecrows and even some bloodthirsty trick-or-treaters.

But really, it's all about the haunted houses, each scarier than the next. Step through each door and one is transported into an entirely different world, with intricately designed sets, creepy music, and smoky, dark lighting creating an experience that hits every sense.

Some — dubbed "IP,' as in intellectual property — are designed after existing movies, shows, or franchises. Others are based on "original content" ideas, crafted by the twisted minds of the Universal Orlando Entertainment team.

All include live actors known as "scareactors" (rhymes with "characters"), trained to sneak up and jump out at attendees when they innocently pass.

The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare is the hot IP house of the year. Inspired by six songs on his album After Hours, including his hit "Blinding Lights," the house welcomes fans into the mind of the artist (né Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) and the cinematic references made in his music videos.

Each room is based on another of The Weeknd's creations, all while exploring his inner demons like the greed and vanity one experiences finding fame in the bright lights of Hollywood. An L.A. nightclub is where everything begins; but from there? Let's just say it takes a turn into darkness fast.

"A slasher carving a smile at an otherworldly rave. Bandaged maniacs performing extreme plastic surgery. A grotesque mannequin masquerade. His nightmare is now yours," reads the official description. A must-visit for anyone attending.

Among the other IPs this year is a house built around the original 1978 horror classic Halloween, and one of two recent Blumhouse horror releases: Freaky and The Black Phone.

There's also Universal Monsters: Legends Collide, a home celebrating three legendary characters from the studio's history: The Wolf Man, Dracula and The Mummy.

The original content houses may not be based on familiar stories, but each tells rich, captivating tales.

Here are each of their official descriptions. Definitely check out Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake, a standout among them all.

• Spirits of the Coven: A coven of beautiful flapper witches will lure you into their 1920s speakeasy, reveal their haggish true form and turn your scream squad into a witch's brew. They'll be cackling; you'll be screaming.

• Bugs: Eaten Alive: While touring a 1950s home of the future, you'll be surrounded by the slime of bugs everywhere as hordes of many-legged terrors descend upon you and your scream squad. You'll be dropping like flies.

• Fiesta de Chupacabras: Visit a Latin American village where the legend of the creature Chupacabras is celebrated with a colorful fiesta. And the streets are lined with the crimson blood of tourists like you and your amigos.

• Hellblock Horror: Enter a prison whose savage inmates are monstrous creatures. If they break free from their cells, it's a death sentence for everyone.

• Dead Man's Pier: Winter's Wake: In a New England fishing village, undead fishermen emerge from the waves to seek their revenge. You and your scream squad may have escaped their hooks in the scare zone. Now they'll reel you in and drag you under.

• Descendants of Destruction: Careful not to leave any of your scream squad behind as you descend the subway tunnels of a deserted New York. Lurking in the dark are hungry mutants looking to feast on the last remnants of humanity.

But no Halloween Horror Nights visit would be complete without a trip to one of the two shows playing throughout the evening.

Ghoulish! A Halloween Tale takes place in the Universal Studios lagoon, with animations projected on an extravagant fountain display.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The can't-miss show, however, is Halloween Nightmare Fuel Wildfire, which is worth the price of admission alone. Developed by the world-famous performance group The Fuel Girls, the show features the most incredible, large-scale, fire and pyrotechnics displays — all used to tell the story of a dreamer who finds himself trapped in a heart-pounding nightmare.

It's a spectacular show with mind-blowing visuals, hard-hitting music and incredible acrobatic performers. And it's the perfect way to end one's scaretastic trip.

Tickets for Universal Studios Orlando's Halloween Horror Nights are now on sale.