On Saturday, John Murdy, Creative Director and Executive Producer of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood unveiled an all-new original maze and teased another as part of the Halloween Horror Nights presentation at Midsummer Scream.
Murdy kicked off the presentation announcing the new original haunted house, Scarecrow: The Reaping. The new house originally appeared at Universal Orlando Resort, but is getting a fresh take for the 2022 Halloween season at Universal Studios Hollywood. The house is set in the dust bowl of the 1930s and tells what Murdy calls, “an ecological horror story.” After the farmers abandon their farms and homes in the dustbowl, the scarecrows and crows that were left behind set out to reclaim the land and seek revenge on the farmers and their families that remain. The cast of characters that set out to reclaim the land is made up of a variety of scarecrows that include Skelecrows, Seepycrows, and Beastcrows, all of which are lead by Kingcrow, an all-new character for the Hollywood version of the maze that looks like a giant crow and will be played by a stilt walker.
During the presentation Murdy also outlined some of the new special effects that would be leveraged for the haunted house. One scene will feature a series of old outhouse, complete with “water sprits” effect and another is “the rookery,” which is a scene in the barn where a water effect will make it feel like you are being pooped on by crows.
Scarecrow: The Reaping joins a number of new haunted houses announced for 2002 thus far including Universal Monsters: Legends Collide, The Horrors of Blumhouse, and The Weeknd’s After Hours Nightmare.
But Scarecrow: The Reaping wasn’t the only reveal Murdy brought to Midsummer Scream. After an overview of the new house Murdy dove into a tale dating back to 1920s Hollywood and a character named Lillian Von Drake who was the heiress to a family oil fortune that wed a mysterious man by the name of Maxie Deville. After marrying, Deville used the Von Drake fortune to build a luxury hotel, which after just a short period, would be the location of a number of mysterious accidents, a double suicide, and eventually the shocking death of Lillian Von Drake. Deville would eventually be suspected in the hotel deaths, convicted, and sentenced to death. The story appears to be the basis of an upcoming haunted house announcement because Murdy ended the story with the below image:
While we don’t know when more news will come on this potentially new house, this tease from Murdy definitely seems to suggest something new and original is coming to Halloween Horror Nights.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood begins on Thursday, September 8, and all tickets to the terrifying event are now on sale. Universal Studios Hollywood offers a variety of Halloween Horror Nights ticket options, including General Admission, Universal Express, After 2pm Day/Night, the premium R.I.P. Tour and popular passes, Frequent Fear and Ultimate Fear, which allow guests to experience the scares again and again. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.HalloweenHorrorNights.com.
