‘Stranger Things’ is coming to Universal Studios this Halloween
The Upside Down will deliver laughs and chills at three theme parks
The Upside Down is coming to Universal Studios.
Netflix has teamed up with the theme park brand to bring indoor mazes inspired by the sci-fi horror show “Stranger Things” to three of its parks for this fall’s Halloween Horror Nights events.
Season 1 of the hit supernatural series will be brought to life at Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Studios Singapore.
The temporary walk-through attraction will be set in a parallel universe called Upside Down, which fans of the show know was created by the Hawkins National Laboratory in the fictional town of Hawkins, Ind. The rural area is where the show is set in the 1980s.
In the show’s first season, a kid named Will Byers is abducted by a creature from this alternate dimension, and his friends and a psychokinetic girl named Eleven set out to find him. Will’s friends refer to the monster as the Demogorgon, a demon from the role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
Universal Studios, in a release, promises that the mazes 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.”
The theme park giant worked closely with creators and producers of the show to recreate scenes and storylines.
“From the menacing Hawkins National Laboratory, under the U.S. Department of Energy, to the Byers home adorned with an erratic display of flashing Christmas lights and the eerie Upside Down woods oozing a shower of floating orb-like spores, the chilling new mazes will offer surprising twists and unexpected turns around every corner,” Universal adds in the release.
Halloween Horror Nights will take place on select nights between Sept. 14 and Nov. 3 at Universal Orlando in Florida. (Check the sites for other parks for dates there.)
Although the “Stranger Things” attraction is brand new, the annual Halloween Horror Nights first debuted at Universal in Orlando in 1991 as Fright Nights, and later at parks in other areas. The spooky event is known for mazes based on horror TV shows, films and original stories, and actors jumping out to scare guests throughout the parks.
At Universal Orlando, Halloween Horror Nights tickets cost $77.99 (about $100 Cdn) plus tax at orlando.halloweenhorrornights.com, and include a second night free. Note that tickets to the frightful event only grant access to the park at night. But guests who pay for Halloween Horror Nights will get access to houses, scare zones, shows and many theme park rides that will stay open in the evening. It’s also an opportunity for shorter lines for your favourite rides.
The Florida park is also offering a vacation package that includes four nights of hotel accommodations; fourday tickets that let you hop between Universal Orlando’s three separate parks (Universal Studios Florida, Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and Volcano Bay); two nights’ worth of Halloween Horror Nights admission, early park admission to one Universal Orlando theme park, and access to select live entertainment venues at Universal CityWalk.