Theme Parks

Remember watching "The Body" episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and how genuinely disturbing it was seeing Joyce laying lifeless, sprawled out on the couch? Time stopped. Sickness crept into your stomach as sadness completely poured over you. Yeah, that's just about where we are right now.

If you live in either Florida or California, then you know one thing is for sure ... NOBODY does Halloween like Universal Studios. Each year the ante is upped in terms of attractions for the annual Halloween Horror Nights event, and 2012 is no different.

Words alone cannot express how deeply saddened and infuriated we are right now. News has come forth out of Florida that Universal Orlando is closing its classic Jaws: The Ride to make way for a new attraction.

As creative director for Universal Studios and Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights' producer, John Murdy knows a thing or two about giving a good scare. Since 2006 he's been concocting some of the most immersive and thrilling haunted attractions in the country, with this year's crop of frights continuing his Legacy of Fear. 2011 not only marks the return of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses in 3D maze but also celebrates several new mazes this year including Hostel: Hunting Season, The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall (which takes over the House of Horrors each night), Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas and The Thing: Assimilation.

Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Eli Roth. A ton of scary exhibits and mazes. Basically a cornucopia of Halloween badness. That is Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights. We've been all over the coverage here at Dread Central and now we give you another little shred of info: Universal is practicing before the big event starts.

No, we're not talking about the upcoming movie or that damned Eddie Murphy crapfest from a few years ago. The big daddy spooky ride of them all - Disney's The Haunted Mansion - has gotten some new spirits to further the paranormal hijinx and fun!

If you've ever been traveling, you know just about every state has a museum of the weird and wild somewhere along its roads. Except, of course, for the great city of Austin, Texas, which is proud to be weird everywhere all year round. Still, if anyone could pull off the mother of all weird museums, it would most likely be Disney. And a little help from Frank Zappa's son wouldn't hurt either.

In mid-September Dread Central received an invitation from John Murdy, the creative director behind Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, which kicks off September 24th and runs through October 31st at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, for a tour of the then-in-construction maze A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again.

Our next stop on the Los Angeles haunted attractions (following incredible haunts on Halloween Horror Nights and Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor) is the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. Now in its second year, this one is quickly becoming one of the local October hotspots and it’s a nice change of pace from your typical mazes and scare zones.

One of the most fun parts of the day around the Dread Central offices is when the mail comes. Yes, there's the usual bills, bills, and more bills, but every now and again something will come that just thrills us in its weirdness. Something like ...

This past Friday Dread Central received an invitation from John Murdy, the creative director behind Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights, which kicks off September 24th and runs through October 31st at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park, for a tour of the then-in-construction maze A Nightmare on Elm Street: Never Sleep Again.

Let the screaming begin! Halloween is almost upon us, and you know what that means ... time for Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights 2010!

Want to find out what fear fears the most? That question has been answered in the latest promotional video for Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights 2010. Dare you take a peek? The video below was directed by Derin Seale for the Oscar®, Golden Globe®, and Emmy®-winning production company radical.media.

When you're having a trailer filmed for the premiere of your latest haunted attraction, it may help if you hire folks who know what they're doing behind the camera to do it for you! That's just what the folks running the Orlando Halloween Horror Nights have done!

Plenty of news about the two biggest haunts on either coast has come to light to help you get started planning your Halloween-time theme park visits!