Universal Studios theme park’s Tribute Store again is up and running with an elaborate look and theme, this time tied to Halloween Horror Nights and its assorted haunted houses and characters.

The seasonal pop-up merchandise store has a fresh location. It’s operating inside the former gaming arcade in the New York area of the park. The main entrance is behind the Palace theater facade, which now has “Tribute Store” spelled out on its marquee. It also takes up space that is the gift shop incorporated into the exit from the Revenge of the Mummy ride, so the end can be congested with waves of recent roller coaster riders.

The high-ceilinged space is outfitted to continue the far-reaching conservatory theming of HHN 2025 with stained-glass looks and traveling vines. But it also comes with its own sort of storyline involving the Museum of Antiquities and an opening-night gala gone wrong.

“Our story starts in the 1920s, and there was an opening night gala of occult artifacts of the world, so creepy items, cursed items,” Rob Cametti, senior director of visual merchandise, said during HHN’s opening night media preview. “What could go wrong with that?”

He compared it with opening Pandora’s box.

“Now that the museum is open again for the first time, we’re able to explore adventure inside, where nature and time and whatever was left in there has taken over over all the years,” Cametti said.

Theming is high and low in the Tribute Store, and there are Easter eggs of stores past, Universal confirms. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

The temporary store is designed to appeal to newsbies and HHN aficionados, he said.

“When that guest comes in not knowing what they’re getting into, we want them to be surprised and wowed by what they see,” Cametti said.

For HHN superfans, “that’s where the really deep storytelling comes in,” he said. “That’s where the Easter eggs come in and all the references to what’s going on in the park and the other Tribute Stores.”

First look: Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses for 2025

The Tribute Store is currently open to park guests daily, not just during HHN evenings. Among the notable sale items spotted there:

• Merchandise tied to the event houses, particularly those from outside intellectual properties. Consumers may pick up “Five Nights at Freddy’s” plushes (with “glow in the dark eyes”) for $25, “Fallout” gears, as well as “Terrifier” Christmas sweaters (and associated Clown Cafe ringer T-shirts and bucket hats).

Universal visitors can later cuddle up with plush characters from “Five Nights at Freddy’s.” The eyes glow in the dark, a sign warns. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

• Lil Boo, the wee jack-o’-lantern character, has an expanded line of options. Buyers may first think they’ve spied night lights, but instead, those are “shoulder pal” figures ($28) for nearby perching. Lil Boo, once a scare zone/viral sensation, is now seen on pajama bottoms, headbands, key chains and the like.

• Universal has also leaned into the location- and event-specific Mel’s Die-In items, including a bowling shirt ($75) that fits the era. (For the uninitiated, the Die-In is a play on the park’s Mel’s Drive-In restaurant sign, but with lights burned out, a standard photo backdrop for the Horror Nights set.)

“I love that stuff that’s kind of homegrown,” Cametti said.

Lil Boo has made its way onto many sorts of HHN merchandise in the past few years, including as a “shoulder pal.” (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

• Continuing to surge are novelty popcorn buckets. In the Tribute store, there are Art the Clown heads a la “Terrifier” and, although absent from HHN, Megan-inspired items ($29.99 with popcorn inside). Another Universal Studios store is selling Hello Kitty Chucky hybrid popcorn containers.

• The store also offers a 10th anniversary poster ($34) that’s a shout-out to a decade of Tribute Stores. It melds stained-glass, lightning bolts, skulls and perhaps a tombstone.

For the horror-film fan who has everything: A popcorn container shaped like Art the Clown from “Terrifier,” now on sale at the Tribute Store. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)

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https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2025/09/26/hhn-tribute-0927/