Halloween Horror Nights Unveils New Maze and Scare Zone

For 2023, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood will continue its trend of Latin American terror with a brand new original maze and scare zone.

As the world continues to ramp up to Halloween, all of the classic Theme Park events are releasing information, including Six Flags Fright Fest, Knott’s Scary Farm at Knott’s Berry Farm, and, of course, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. In fact, Universal Studios Orlando has already announced its entire lineup of mazes, scare zones, and attractions.

The same isn’t true for Universal Studios Hollywood. While it has been revealed that it will be sharing five mazes with its east coast counterpart, nothing else is known about Hollywood’s haunted evening. However, that all changed on the final day of the Midsummer Scream Horror and Halloween convention, where HHN Hollywood creative director John Murdy announced a brand new original maze and scare zone.

Halloween Horror Nights New Maze – Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America

Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood has had a history of Latin-themed mazes. This began with La Llorona from 2010-2012. In 2013, the tradition was continued with El Cucuy: The Boogeyman featuring Danny Trejo as the titular monster. In 2014 and 2015, HHN featured mazes based on works by Robert Rodriguez and Guillermo del Toro, respectively. And in 2022, La Llorona returned more terrifying than ever.

For 2023, the team in Hollywood has decided to keep that tradition going with a new theme exploring multiple Latin American monsters at once. Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America will feature three traditional creatures from Latin America and a new creation by the creative team.

Related: Limited-Time Special Event Coming to Halloween Horror Nights

The classic monsters include Tlahuelpuchi from the Tlaxcala region of Mexico, La Lechuza from Mexico and Texas, and El Silbón from the Los Llanos region of Colombia and Spain. While the first two are based on bird-like witches, El Silbón is a tall, gaunt man who carries around a sack of bones whistling.

The new character is a gravedigger simply referred to as Muerte, Spanish for Death. He serves as a narrator and caretaker for the mausoleum and will be seen at the beginning and end of the haunted house since his digging is responsible for the Scare Zone around the maze.

HHN New Scare Zone – El Terror De Las Momias

The new Scare Zone and Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America are directly connected. While Muerte was digging up bodies for the mausoleum, he accidentally released some mummies who proceeded to turn the local village into the undead. The area is known as El Terror de las Momias or The Terror of the Mummies.

While the maze is based on monsters based in folklore, these mummies are based on 1950s Mexican horror cinema, specifically a surprising amount that focused on Aztec mummies. This includes films like La Momia Azteca (The Aztec Mummy), La Maldicion de la Momia Azteca (The Curse of the Aztec Mummy), and La Momia Azteca contra el Robot Humano (The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy). All three movies were created and released simultaneously in 1957.

Related: Six Flags Fright Fest 2023 Announces ‘The Conjuring’ and ‘Saw’ Mazes

Naturally, the creative team created multiple Mexican mummy movies to inspire their new Scare Zone, including one based on the ride Revenge of the Mummy. The zone will feature various types of roaming creatures, including the original mummies, the people who were infected and became undead, and a skeleton queen who can be seen in one of the posters.

On top of this, La Llorona will be returning in some capacity due to the maze’s massive popularity last year. However, Murdy never specified whether it was a maze or a roaming character.

When all of the different mazes and Scare Zones were announced for Halloween Horror Nights Orlando, fans were worried when Hollywood only revealed five of the same mazes, primarily based on existing IP. Sure, Universal Monsters: Unmasked may be a new spin on an old classic, but this will be the second year in a row the Park featured a Universal Monsters haunted house.

Fortunately, Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America and La Terror de las Momias look like steps in the right direction for absolutely terrifying attractions that are special to the identity and culture of Universal Studios Hollywood. This Latin American inspiration is a tradition that should continue for years to come.

What do you think of the new additions to Halloween Horror Nights? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!