URBAN DEATH Tour of Terror at Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre is back for 2026, except this time it’s ULTRA. A Halloween version of the theatre’s signature show, URBAN DEATH Tour of Terror: ULTRA invites guests into the abyss to confront their fears that wait in the inky darkness. Part haunt, part experimental theatre, URBAN DEATH Tour of Terror delivers more bang for your buck that any Halloween Haunt in southern California.
Nestled in a tiny, storefront in North Hollywood is Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre, or as the sign out front says, Z.J.U. Home to a wide array of independent theatrical shows. This powerful little theatre company has made a name for itself by pushing the boundaries of what can be depicted on stage. Urban Death is their signature show pushed to a horrific extreme.
We arrive at Zombie Joe’s and eagerly await the start of the show. The lobby is Lankershim boulevard. We line up along the sidewalk in a festive, almost communal atmosphere of eager thrill seekers. The benevolent undertaker, Zombie Joe steps away from his box office occasionally to greet the crowd and to say hi to old friends. Director Denise Devin, who herself has been giving attention to the audience, eventually addresses the crowd with a bullhorn to lay down the rules. Turn off all phones, watches, or any other items that may emmit light or sound. Don’t touch the actors, they will not touch you. Most importantly, she reminds us to have a good time.
We face the door into the theatre and Devon hands an almost useless flashlight before sending us into the first part of the show. We are in a dark maze with instructions to follow the direction of the arrows painted along the path. Every blind corner threatens a scare and monsters hover just outside the range of vision.
Mercifully we make our way to the theatre portion of Tour of Terror. Here a performer shreds on an electric guitar until everyone is in the theatre. That’s when the real fun begins. Lumbering figures in tattered clothes carve a path through the audience to the performance space. The lights go out. What follows is a series of scenes with little or no dialogue, depicting scenes of teror and absurdity. There is no plot, no real theme aside from discomfort, and somehow, it becomes some of the most effective and important theatre you are likely to see.
Director Devin and her band of fearless performers take us on a wild ride that confronts everything from the loss of agency to the chore of bodily functions. The lights come up, a scene plays, the lights go out. There is a certain poignancy gleaned from the brevity and ambiguity as we watch each scene. We eventually find a bit of ourselves somewhere in the dark. The performance piece ends and we then have to navigate back through the maze and out to the street. Stunned, laughing and processing what we just experienced, we unified in the thought, “What the hell was that?”
I have said this before and it still rings true: Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre is one of the most important theatres in the nation. Their daring productions demand that we confront the uncomfortable. For URBAN DEATH Tour of Terror: ULTRA we get a nice Halloween-style bit of experimental theatre for an hour at a price that syou simply cannot beat. URBAN DEATH Tour of Terror: ULTRA is a ghastly highlight of the 2026 Halloween haunt season. Do yourself a favor and grab tickets now.
