Ozzy Osbourne spent decades answering questions about the night he bit the head off a bat. Halloween Horror Nights has now given the bat a chance to return the favor.
A first look inside Universal Studios Hollywood’s new Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness haunted house reveals a giant animatronic bat biting the head off Werewolf Ozzy and displaying it to guests. The scene reverses Osbourne’s infamous 1982 concert incident, according to Entertainment Weekly.
The effect is part of a larger journey through Osbourne’s life and solo career. Guests enter through a ruined train station, board the “Crazy Train” and encounter characters inspired by his childhood, album artwork, asylum imagery and Prince of Darkness persona.
The Hollywood house opens September 3, more than a year after Osbourne died at 76. Sharon and Jack Osbourne worked with Universal on the attraction, which turns his music, biography and horror imagery into an unconventional memorial.
The Bat Finally Gets Revenge on Ozzy
Halloween Horror Nights creative director and executive producer John Murdy said the bat reversal was one of his earliest ideas for the Hollywood house.
“Jack, whatever we do in this house, there’s one scene we have to do: I want a giant bat to bite the head off your father,” Murdy recalled telling Jack Osbourne, according to Time Out Los Angeles.
The finished effect places a giant animatronic bat opposite Werewolf Ozzy. Universal says the creature bites his head off and then proudly displays it to passing guests.
The joke reaches back to Osbourne’s January 1982 concert in Des Moines, Iowa. A fan threw a real bat onto the stage, and Osbourne later said he believed it was fake when he picked it up and bit into it.
The Hollywood House Moves Through Several Versions of Ozzy
The attraction begins outside a fictionalized Birmingham train station called Osbourne Station. A child in a school uniform and gas mask references Osbourne’s youth and imagery from the “I Just Want You” music video.
Guests then reach Platform 666 and board the “Crazy Train,” where Conductor Ozzy introduces the journey through different periods of his career.
The official Universal tour reveals an Osbourne Asylum where Madman Ozzy takes inspiration from Diary of a Madman. The next stretch leads into a cemetery filled with tombstones named after Ozzy songs before Werewolf Ozzy appears alongside the riff from “Bark at the Moon.”
Universal says the Hollywood version focuses on Osbourne’s life and transformations, while the Orlando house uses a separate dark fantasy story inspired more directly by his albums.
Sharon Osbourne Helped Universal Build the Personal Details
Sharon supplied childhood photographs that helped Universal design the younger version of Ozzy seen near the beginning of the attraction.
Jack also shared stories about his father’s childhood in Birmingham, including Ozzy playing among bomb damaged buildings after World War II. Murdy said those conversations helped shape the opening scenes.
The attraction also marks a return to Halloween Horror Nights for Osbourne’s music. Black Sabbath previously worked with Universal Studios Hollywood on the Black Sabbath: 13 3D maze in 2013.
The new house focuses on Ozzy’s solo career, with music and imagery drawing from albums including Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman, Bark at the Moon, No More Tears, Scream and Ordinary Man.
Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness opens at Universal Studios Hollywood on September 3 and runs on select Halloween Horror Nights dates through November 1.