Prepare to enter into the macabre mind of The Weeknd this Halloween, as the superstar just announced his After Hours-inspired experience with Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights.
As if all the bloodied facial bandages and gory imagery from his blockbuster Billboard 200-topping album After Hours didn’t make us already lose our heads, The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) is making us scared to live in his world again. Select tracks from After Hours — including the title track, “In Your Eyes,” “Heartless,” “Blinding Lights,” “Save Your Tears” (solo version) and “Too Late” — will be reimagined as a horror movie soundtrack throughout “The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare.” And brave guests will struggle to survive the night while being “stalked by slashers, bandaged maniacs, gruesome toad-like creatures and other unfathomable horrors from the mind of the artist,” according to a release. Save your tears for the fall, folks.
The Weeknd’s three-part haunted house experience will first touch down in Universal Orlando Resort on Sept. 2 before arriving at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sept. 8. Tickets are on sale now at HalloweenHorrorNights.com. Both events will run select nights through Monday, Oct. 31.
“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,” The Weeknd told Entertainment Weekly 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 Weeknd (@theweeknd) July 26, 2022
Added John Murdy, executive producer of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood: “We are thrilled to take guests inside of the mind of The Weeknd, who is a Halloween Horror Nights fan himself.”
“This is an unprecedented haunted house that is going to shatter the expectations of our guests and immerse them in an unforgettable experience that is equally unexpected and terrifying,” said Charles Gray, senior show director for entertainment creative development at Universal Orlando Resort.
In his Billboard cover story about “Blinding Lights” becoming the top Billboard Hot 100 song of all time, The Weeknd explained how he threaded his “favorite psychological thrillers and dramas in one universe” for the After Hours LP, from “Jack Nicholson’s character in Chinatown to the film Possession to Tim Robbins in Jacob’s Ladder.”
Watch an official teaser of The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare below.
