The summer sun may still be baking us alive, but the haunt world clearly didn’t get the memo, because my inbox just lit up with juicy updates from none other than Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate. If you’ve ever wandered through a haunted attraction worth its cobwebs or spent any amount of time here at GCN, then you’ve heard of their work. Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka have been crafting the gothic, orchestral soundtracks of our nightmares for nearly three decades, and this month, they’re unveiling something truly historic.

For the very first time in their career, Midnight Syndicate has composed a “custom score for a haunted attraction,” and not just any attraction. They’re the sonic architects behind Universal Horror Unleashed, Universal’s first permanent horror experience, which opened earlier this month in Las Vegas at AREA15.

Picture this: four immersive scare zones, four original haunted houses, themed food and drink, and a retail shop full of morbidly delicious merch: all wrapped in a bone-chilling soundtrack composed specifically for the event. As Gavin explained,

Conveying an imaginary scene through music is something that we’ve been doing since the beginning of Midnight Syndicate, but capturing someone else’s vision for a project always presents a uniquely exciting set of challenges.

Ed added,

While writing for Universal Horror Unleashed was more akin to writing a Midnight Syndicate album than scoring a film, we needed to keep in mind that, like a film score, the music was just one of the cogs in the machine and needed to seamlessly elevate the many elements guests will be experiencing. Universal is creating a truly immersive horror experience with Universal Horror Unleashed where we think horror fans are really going to enjoy losing themselves.

The score is Midnight Syndicate’s latest collaboration with Universal Entertainment. It is part of a history of working together that goes back to 1999, when the band’s music first appeared in Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights event. Most recently, the band produced the Music of Halloween Horror Nights and Legendary Truth albums with Universal Orlando.

And here’s the part that has me fangirl squee’ing into my Doc Martins — Universal Horror Unleashed isn’t stopping in Vegas. A Chicago location is officially on the way. That means year-round frights (and cocktails) right here in the Midwest, and maybe, just maybe, a customized Chicago soundtrack from our goth-boy-band crushes…

Time to start the cyber-love-bombing campaign aimed at Universal.

As if that weren’t enough excitement, Midnight Syndicate is dropping an EP of previously unreleased material this September titled Darkened Corners, as well as a full-length album that is already in the works for 2026.

Definitely more exciting news than a pop culture engagement – the suspense is already delightfully killing me.

Between Universal’s expansion of its horror empire and Midnight Syndicate’s continued reign as the masters of the macabre soundtrack, I think it’s safe to say the future of spooky season isn’t just seasonal anymore — it’s permanent.