We are back! After a hiatus, we have returned. All of the mazes, all of the scare zones, they have all been announced! We have the rundown of everything at Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights here for you! We also have highlights from Creative Director John Murdy’s Twitter feed where he has been sharing some pics of some of the sculpts for the creatures that will be coming for us during Halloween Horror Nights.
As is the case we also have full video for you here with a tour of the entire park showing locations and more!
Let’s get to it!
Editor’s Note: This article was originally prepared to go live on Friday as normal, however, due to technical issues, We could not get the video put together on time for you. So, we thought it would be far better to do it right rather than just to do it. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
HHN Tracker 2018 #4
Here is our Fourth HHN Tracker video, cut up, cleaned, and ready to eat.
Mazes
As was teased by Murdy earlier in the year, this is an extremely varied roster for Halloween Horror Nights this year. We have everything from cult favorites, to classics to pop culture properties here.
HALLOWEEN 4 – Waterworld Queue
Continuing the series and narrative of Michael Myers, we sadly skip Halloween 3: Season of the Witch, and jump right in where Myers returns to Haddonfield after the horrible attack at the Haddonfield Hospital.
Guests will follow Myers as he escapes the mental hospital, encounters his first victims at Penney’s Gas Station and Diner, and wreaks terror on Haddonfield, all set to Alan Howarth’s ominous score. The maze will include horrifying scares by Myers in his classic featureless white mask and navy jumpsuit, with guests dodging his bloody knife at every turn. Halloween fanatics can expect a cameo by Myer’s psychiatrist Dr. Loomis and other famous characters from the film as they try to escape the bloodbath.
Color us white as a sheet with excitement. Although, it does seem a strange choice with the arrival of the new Halloween film hitting theaters this fall. No matter, It’s Michael Myers. We don’t care. He is the best slasher in the best horror film ever.
UNIVERSAL MONSTERS
FINALLY, Murdy gets his wish to create a maze based on the classic Universal Monsters. This is a highly anticipated revisiting of the classics skewed for modern audiences.
It’s alive! Inspired by Universal’s original cinematic Monsters and the studio that invented the horror film, Universal Studios Hollywood unearths an all-new “Halloween Horror Nights” maze based on the original “Universal Monsters”…with a terrifying contemporary twist on these classic horror icons.
The new maze will also feature an original score produced and composed by celebrated GRAMMY® Award-winning musician, SLASH, long hailed as one of the 10 best electric guitar-players of all time.
BlumHouse of Horrors 2
Jason Blum is back with his own brand of horror in not one, but two mazes this year.
Partnering with the creative minds at Blumhouse Productions (Get Out, Insidious, Split), Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort will unleash a series of Blum’s most terrifying films at the nation’s most intense and immersive Halloween events.
At Universal Studios Hollywood, “The Horrors of Blumhouse: Chapter Two” maze takes guests on a terrifying journey that begins at the entrance to a dilapidated movie theatre, where a compilation of horror films play out in real life. In Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, guests will succumb to an ancient curse that has been unleashed by a group of unsuspecting college students….forcing them to play a game where the stakes are life and death. In Unfriended, guests become pawns to a supernatural entity that has invaded a chat room. Drawing inspiration from Blumhouse Productions’ infamous opening title sequence, the final feature will lure guests into a creepy old house to answer desperate cries of help…only to discover that they have actually entered a paranormal world where real-life nightmares threaten to trap them forever in misery.
Poltergeist
One of the scariest movies of all time is coming to life at both Universal Orlando AND Universal Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights! Poltergeist has arrived!
They’re Here. Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort will bring guests “into the light” as part of this year’s Halloween Horror Nights events featuring terrifying new mazes inspired by Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures’ (MGM) iconic supernatural horror film, Poltergeist, beginning September 14.
Don’t want to spoil the surprise so suffice it to say we’re hitting every major element in the film…brining all of it to life…which makes this the most special effects heavy maze we’ve done since The Exorcist.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 9, 2018
The First Purge
Jason Blum’s other maze lands just feet away in the metro sets. Will we survive?
A revolution has begun. This year, “Halloween Horror Nights” at Universal Studios Hollywood bears witness to “The First Purge” with an all-new maze based on Universal Pictures’ all-new thriller that unleashed the country’s inaugural government-sanctioned lawlessness, making all crime legal once a year for 12 hours.
While not the first time that this well-trod property gets the Maze treatment, it IS unique in that it is the first time a proper maze has been entirely dedicated to this franchise.“The First Purge” maze will re-imagine the movie’s premise, greeting guests with pure unadulterated fear as it brings to life the turmoil spawned by vigilantes. It will place guests at the heart of a controversial sociological experiment empowered by the New Founding Fathers of America’s (NFFA) desire to purge the nation of all hatred and crime by, ironically, permitting crime to take place as a means of ridding society of all ills.
Trick R Treat
Just get me to September 14th now! We simply cannot wait to see Trick R Treat finally come to life as a walkthrough experience.
One of the most anticipated walkthrough experiences ever is finally coming to Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights as a walkthrough attraction. Based on the critically-acclaimed and fan-favorite movie, directed by Michael Dougherty, the “Trick ‘r Treat” maze will transport guests to Warren Valley, Ohio on Halloween night to celebrate the holiday’s dark traditions. Recreating some of the anthology’s most iconic scenes, the disturbing new maze invites brave thrill-seekers to become entwined within the secrets of this sleepy suburban town.
While I’m waiting for the sun to go down…I might as well share some stuff with you Boils and Ghouls. Was over at our make up artists studio last night. This is the sculpt for the Werewolf Girls in Trick R Treat. Beautiful sculpture…lucky to work with such talented artists! pic.twitter.com/tkEpnzRa2T
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 9, 2018
Stranger Things
Are you dying yet? We are. The parallel universe referred to as the Upside Down that terrorized the small town of Hawkins, Indiana in Netflix’s mega-hit “Stranger Things,” will bring the chittering, predatory Demogorgon to “Halloween Horror Nights” to stalk unwitting guests as they encounter iconic scenes, characters, and environments from the mesmerizing series.
Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights Enters an Alternate Dimension with the Highly-Anticipated Arrival of Netflix’s Original Series “Stranger Things”
as All-New Supernatural Mazes in Hollywood, Orlando and Singapore
Scare Zones
Here we have a listing of the five scare zones being prepared for Halloween Horror Nights in Hollywood. This is going to be a banner year for street scares. They also promise a new twist on the Toxxic Tunnel, so let’s see what they do.
Hell’s Harvest
Yesterday when tickets went live, the scarezones were released. To give you the lay of the land….the opening scarezone is called Hell’s Harvest (top deck of the park, Universal Blvd). Its our riff on Halloween’s origins and early American harvest festival folk art.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
Trick R Treat
Trick R Treat…a scarezone based on the film will be on the top deck of the park by Universal Plaza…the New York sets. Designing that one so you can get a pic with Sam and the school bus massacre kids.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
Monster Masquerade
Monster Masquerade…a scarezone that is our twist on the silent Universal Monster classics will be on French Street on the top deck of the park…cause you know, those movies took place in France.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
Toxxic Tunnel
Toxxic Tunnel is the theme for the scarezone on the walk to the backlot. You know its new because the name has 2 “X’s” instead of one! Clever huh? Actually we’re doing some black light elements to this scare zone this year…should be cool.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
Holidays in Hell
And down on Metro section of the backlot is Holidayz in Hell which is a scarezone that takes you through horror versions of all the holidays of the year…Christmas, Valentines Day, St. Paddy’s Day, 4th of July, etc. I shared the designs at Monsterpalooza a while back.
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
OK. Here’s some candy for you. This is a sculpt for the scarezone Holidayz in Hell in the backlot set area of HHN. Its a trip through the holidays of the year…with a horror twist of course. Here’s the Leprechaun for Saint Paddy’s Day (with temp eyes, wrong color right now) pic.twitter.com/YS4Jk9zeJD
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 20, 2018
Krampus takes the bad little Boils and Ghouls away! We had Krampus before the film in a scarezone called Dark Christmas…here’s Krampus 2.0 for Holidayz in Hell…he’s got some crazy long horns too… pic.twitter.com/TVXjsftQvG
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 20, 2018
Here’s one of Krampus’ crazy long horns…still sculpting the second one. This guy is a stilt walker. Love our stilt-walking scareactors! They never cease to amaze me with how they can move while wearing stilts! pic.twitter.com/Ukej5kzPjw
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 20, 2018
OK…here’s weird. For the Thanksgiving section of Holidayz in Hell…there is a character known as Turkey Lurkey…a mash up between a pilgrim and an evil turkey. One of the weirder characters we’ve ever developed. Here’s his sculpt in progress. pic.twitter.com/Hbitr9dALK
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 20, 2018
Terror Tram
So, not gonna lie, Terror Tram is always a struggle. We are going through the same exact layout in the same exact sets and areas. Yes, there is the novelty of walking among the iconic Pschyo and War of the Worlds sets and that is amazing but… Thankfully they are bringing back the storyline of Hollywood Harry, the creepy clown that haunts the backlot. We love this character and are interested to see what they do this time.
“Now Hollywood Harry, the phantom clown, has returned to Terror Tram with an all new horror experience….”Hollywood Harry’s Dreadtime Storiez.”
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
“Structured like the great horror anthology movies and TV shows from the past, Harry hosts a demented version of his old 1950’s children’s show, presenting five frightening bedtime stories that are sure to his unsuspecting viewers up at night!”
— Horror Nights (@HorrorNights) August 8, 2018
ALSO DON’T FORGET…
The BIG Passport To Fear Event
at Knott’s Scary Farm is on…
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 22nd 2pm-2am
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW BEFORE THEY SELL OUT!
Price: $145
Join HorrorBuzz as we return to the foggy, moldering streets of Ghost Town and gather for the annual Knott’s Scary Farm Meet! In a tradition that is reaching its 3rd year, HorrorBuzz will be leading a group through the grand-daddy of haunts with the friendliest group of people around.
What makes going to this event different from just buying the tickets on your own? A LOT!
• Backstage Tour of mazes with haunt creators
• Meet and greet with Haunt Designers
• All-you-can-eat Boo-Fet
• Early Admission into Knott’s Scary Farm
• Front of the line access to mazes
• Front of the line access to attractions
• VIP Treatment all the way
See you in the fog!
