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Guitar ace Slash rose to prominence with an unmistakable look as the anchor of Guns N’ Roses. A true rock ’n’ roll persona, the artist was once rarely seen without a drooping cigarette and a top hat, the latter of which could barely contain his face-engulfing curly hair.

Now, as of this week, he’s a theme park character at Universal Studios Hollywood.

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Slash, or, rather, a skeletal facsimile of him played by an actor, will be available for photo opportunities and meet and greets at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, which runs most evenings through Nov. 2. For the musician, born Saul Hudson, it’s a dream fulfilled. A lifelong devotee of theme parks and coasters, Slash has been closely aligned with Halloween Horror Nights since 2014, when he first began scoring music for its haunted houses.

And the character, he says, was partly his idea.

“I went to them and said, ‘Hey, can we have one of those stilt walkers?’” says Slash, referring to the larger-than-life lurkers who haunt guests during the festivities. “That would be really cool. So they came up with one and he looks pretty menacing.”

Slash enjoys the idea of being a towering, sometimes intimidating presence. That’s clear when he’s on stage as the attention-demanding cornerstone of numerous bands. And he likes to scare, as evidenced by his own horror-focused film production company, BerserkerGang. But get Slash one-on-one, and he really just wants to geek out on his favorite theme park rides.

Universal Studios has released a second vinyl compilation of music Slash has composed for Halloween Horror Nights over the years.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)

We talked to Slash about a week before Halloween Horror Nights opened from Orlando, Fla., where he was holed up recording an album with his band the Conspirators. That work, he says, will be released in 2027 due to planned 2026 touring obligations with Guns N’ Roses. He lamented that he wouldn’t have time to visit Walt Disney World and Universal’s new Epic Universe. The latter Florida park is home to a monsters-themed land that Slash said he was eager to see.

His love of theme parks runs deep, and is, of course, nonpartisan.

“I’m a real Disney head,” he says, joking that such a declaration may not make his Universal partners happy. He says he first visited Disneyland in the early 1970s. “I really can’t put into words what makes it so magical, but there is a definite thing there that you feel when you’re actually there. I’ve loved it since I was a little kid.”

“But I love theme parks in general,” he continues. “I love roller coasters. I love that carnival energy going on. I love arcades. I love everything about that festive outdoor thing, and I’ve never grown out of it.”

Arguably, he’s grown into it.

Halloween season means it’s time for Universa’s Halloween Horror Nights, which runs through early November at the theme park.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)

Slash has a deep fascination with Universal Studios, made clear by his knowledge of how the park’s backlot tram trek — officially designated as the World-Famous Studio Tour — has shifted over the years. And as a lifelong horror fan who speaks nostalgically of watching 1970s films such as “The Wicker Man,” “The Omen” and “The Exorcist” with his parents, Halloween Horror Nights is especially dear to Slash’s heart.

Slash was first drawn to the event in 2013 due to a haunted house themed around the music and images of Black Sabbath. The artist was given a tour of Horror Nights by John Murdy, who has long overseen the West Coast edition of the festivities.

“I was so blown away,” Slash says. “I was elated. I remember physically making giddy sounds. The whole thing, from the stilt walkers to the invisible bush figures who would hide in the bushes and were camouflaged, it was unbelievable. I wanted to be involved.”

Murdy was open to the idea. “The first time I walked into his personal recording studio, the first thing I noticed was a huge print of ‘Bride of Frankenstein,’ our 1935 classic, hanging on the wall. And I was like, ‘Oh, we have something in common.’”

Halloween Horror Nights is filled with haunted houses and scare actors.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)

Slash would go on to write the music for six Halloween Horror Nights houses centered around Universal’s classic monster characters. This year, he’s returned to Horror Nights with a score set to a relaunch of an original, Depression-era set maze, “Scarecrow.” Musically, it’s a departure for the artist. “Scarecrow” includes a Slash-composed cover of traditional folk number “O Death.”

“We started talking ‘Scarecrow,’ and as pure coincidence, he said, ‘Oh, I just learned the banjo and the dobro,’” Murdy says. “He was learning all these traditional Appalachian instruments, and I said, ‘That’s awesome because my house is set in the Dust Bowl.’”

That Slash has been dipping into more Americana-influenced music isn’t a complete surprise. His 2024 solo effort, “Orgy of the Damned,” leans blues for instance, including a blistering, rootsy take on early Fleetwood Mac rocker “Oh Well” with country star Chris Stapleton. Selections from Slash’s Halloween Horror Nights work, minus the new “Scarecrow” music, will again be available on a limited-run vinyl sold at Universal Studios during Halloween Horror Nights.

Slash is featured this year as a “character” at Halloween Horror Nights, a skeletal, stilt-walking interpretation of the artist.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)

“As soon as they gave me the concept, my brain went into that realm — I could pull out my pedal steel, and do an Americana-type approach, as opposed to the goth, kind of pseudo-metal thing I was doing for all the Universal Monsters,” Slash says.

Slash has become such a Halloween Horror Nights fixture that this year will feature a bar centered around the artist, one complete with a mini top hat as a dessert. When asked how he feels to be immortalized as a sculpted sponge cake with coconut lime mousse, he doesn’t flinch.

“I wish I could explain in words how much I love that kind of stuff,” Slash says.

He is, after all, a theme park regular, although his favorite rides are found a few miles from Universal Studios in Anaheim. “I love the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. That and Pirates of the Caribbean will always be my two favorite rides,” he says. “The attention to detail and the creative element and everything that is going on with those old Disney rides is still, to this day, second to none.”

The mark of any true theme park aficionado is an appreciation of slow-moving, old-school dark rides, attractions that are set in darkened show buildings and often filled with an assortment of vignettes. Slash singles out Universal’s “The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash” as another highlight.

“I went with my stepdaughter and we went on that ride and it’s great,” Slash says. “The ‘Pets’ one is really sweet. I’m a big animal guy. We love our cats, so that was a lot of fun.”

Crowds lined up to enter “Scarecrow,” a haunted house at Halloween Horror Nights featuing music by Slash.

(Gabriella Angotti-Jones / For The Times)

And before Slash can finish his next thought, he starts gushing about a recent trip to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he visited Ferrari World, home to a number of celebrated roller coasters.

“I can talk about this stuff all day,” he says.

The resort in Bedfordshire is set to open in 2031 following an agreement brokered between the American company, the Government and the local council

The hotly anticipated Universal theme park in Bedfordshire will feature four lands and the tallest ride in Europe, it has emerged.

More and more details are surfacing about the movie-inspired theme park, which is due to open in 2031 and will be the first Universal park in Europe. When the plans were first confirmed in April this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer jubilantly proclaimed: “It’s going to put Bedford on the map for millions of people – film lovers, people coming here for fun, people building their careers here.”

Now, planning documents related to the project reveal that the theme park will have four zones: the Core Zone, Lake Zone, West Gateway Zone, and the East Gateway Zone.

The Core Zone is tipped to include the main theme park and a 500-room hotel. The Lake Zone will include a new wetland area and a 2,000-room business hotel, while the East Gateway Zone, is expected to adjoin the planned new Wixams Rail Station. The West Gateway Zone is due to feature an entertainment complex, restaurants, petrol station.

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The plans describe the theme park as providing guests with the opportunity to “experience blockbuster attractions, adrenaline-pumping coasters, and mind-blowing spectaculars.”

It has been rumoured that inspiration for parts of the park could come from Minions, Jaws, and Jurassic Park. However, this has not yet been officially confirmed. Back in April, a source close to the Universal UK project told the BBC that James Bond, Paddington, and The Lord of the Rings are among the brands that could appear at the park. Rides and attractions related to Harry Potter are not expected to be included.

Other Universal theme parks feature a variety of themed lands, including: Hollywood, Minion Land, New York, San Francisco, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, World Expo, Springfield, and DreamWorks Land.

Planning documents unveiled this month also show that the UK park could have some of the tallest rides in Europe. The American film production and distribution company is considering building structures reaching up to 377 ft (115 m), including rides.

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“The reason for proposing structures up to this maximum height is to allow the proposed theme park to compete with other attractions in Europe,” the proposal said.

“Although the Universal Orlando Resort does not currently have attractions up to this height, taller attractions are more common in Europe, where rides need to be taller to create the experience, as space is more constrained.”

Currently, Thorpe Park’s Hyperia is the tallest and fastest theme park ride in Britain. It sends thrill-seekers up to 72 m and reaches speeds of 80 mph. Red Force, a 367-foot (112 m) rollercoaster at PortAventura World in Spain, is currently the tallest in Europe.

The majority of the park’s structures will be between 20 and 30 m tall. “Building attractions that are higher, rather than over greater areas, also makes the best use of land, which is in line with planning policy,” they added.

Sir Keir lauded the landmark Universal deal as a promise of “growth, jobs and of course joy to Britain.” By 2055, Universal envisions the 476-acre site near Bedford contributing nearly £50 billion to the economy, with plans for a 500-room hotel and a comprehensive retail and entertainment complex accompanying the theme park.