The Weeknd, Universal Studios, Music News, News, Halloween, R&B

The Weeknd to Bring 'After Hours' Haunted House to Universal Studios

If you're looking for a new haunted attraction that will take your breath away during spooky season, The Weeknd's got you covered: he's going from "Blinding Nights" to Universal Studio's Halloween Horror Nights.

This Halloween season at Universal Studios, a haunted house will be themed to the surreal world of the pop superstar's 2020 album After Hours. EW reports that both Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort will open The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare walk-through attraction later this year as part of their annual Halloween Horror Nights. The house, broken into 3 sections, will find guests traveling through the twisted fantasies that inspired his album – all soundtracked by six of the songs: "After Hours," "In Your Eyes," "Heartless," "Blinding Lights," "Save Your Tears" (solo version), and "Too Late."

"I always wanted my own Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, as Halloween has always been significant to my music, so this is a total dream come to life," Abel "The Weeknd" Tesfaye said in a statement. "I feel like my music videos have served as a launching pad for a collaboration like this, and I cannot wait for people to experience this madness!"

The single-house experience at both parks expands on the grim world The Weeknd built through After Hours' visuals, with other inspiration from The Weeknd's favorite horror and science fiction films. Halloween Horror Nights executive producer John Murdy and Orlando senior show director Charles Gray described the journey as a "fever dream" hellscape about "surviving L.A."


"What came out of it was extracting the nightmares: What would it be like if we were inside his head while he's creating this album?" said Gray. "It isn't a retelling of the After Hours album; it's entering the nightmares that were the muse for his songs. There's a lot of surrealistic, horrific imagery as we [expanded upon scenarios] inspired by the videos."

Besides familiar music video environments, there will be live performers and effects that will reference video moments and offer an all-encompassing experience within The Weeknd's mind.

The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare opens on September 2 at Universal Orlando Resort and September 8 at Universal Studios Hollywood. Events at each location will run through October 31.

Watch a short teaser for the experience below.


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Article Image: An illustration of The Weeknd on the poster of Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights attraction "After Hours Nightmare." (theweeknd via Instagram.)

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About Kathryn Milewski

  • New Jersey