Universal Studios Hollywood is bringing Monstruos: The Monsters of Latin America to life at its annual Halloween Horror Nights event, which kicks off Thursday, Sept. 7 and runs select evenings through Oct. 31.
The new original concept maze, which was revealed during a presentation at the Midsummer Scream convection in Long Beach on Sunday, July 30, will feature three creatures from Latin American folklore including the Tlahuelpuchi (vampire witch), La Lechuza (owl witch) and El Silbón (The Whistler) and their stories will be told by an original grim reaper/grave digger character simply known as Muerte (death).
“It’s a continuation of another long legacy we’ve had in our Latin American-themed houses that goes back to a scare zone we did in 2010 with La Llorona,” Halloween Horror Nights creative director and executive producer John Murdy said during an interview before the presentation.
The La Llorona scare zone was so popular, Murdy & Co. designed entire attractions around “The Weeping Woman” in 2011 and 2012. They went on to explore other Latin American legends including El Cucuy in 2013 and began working with more Latin directors and actors to build the attractions and stories including Diego Luna (La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas 2011 maze), Danny Trejo (El Cucuy 2013 maze), Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn 2014 maze) and Guillermo Del Toro (Crimson Peak: Maze of Madness in 2015).
After seeing how much fans loved the newly decked out Día de Los Muertos-themed Universal Plaza, Murdy said he knew he wanted to do more Latin horror-themed programming and he brought La Llorona back last year.
“Watching the fans’ reactions last year as they walked through that maze really made me feel like it’s just such an intrinsic part of what we do in Hollywood,” Murdy said. “It’s so appropriate for the market of Los Angeles because Los Angeles is so seeped into that culture and heritage, so we wanted to create the next generation of our Latin…
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