We’re going to close out the week with a look back at “Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man” from 2019. I always envisioned The Universal Monsters maze from 2018 as being like “The Avengers” movie that we would spin-off if it worked. This was the first spin off... Image
This maze was loosely based on the 1943 Universal film “Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.” We also combined elements from 1939’s Son of Frankenstein and 1944’s House of Frankenstein. I’ll show examples of that inspiration as we go along Image
The facade statement for the maze was the gypsy camp which was something we designed but didn’t use for the 2018 maze. Slash created an original score for the maze including a gypsy theme for this section. Image
The concept was Larry Talbot, the man who bares the curse of the Wolf Man returns to the camp at night to see about his fate...on a night with a full moon! The gypsy’s music lures the Frankenstein monster to the camp...and from that point it’s game on! ImageImageImage
Stepping inside the tent, we discover the fortune teller is dead, killed in the middle of reading tarot cards which are spread out on the table. The huge gashes in his back tell you that this was the work of The Wolf Man. The fortune teller was inspired by Bela from Wolf Man. ImageImageImageImage
Inside the fortune teller’s tent, we discover Larry Talbot, midway into his Wolf Man transformation. This scene involved prosthetic make up that took longer than any other make up in the event to apply every night! But it looked great! ImageImageImageImage
Stepping outside, we discover chaos as the Wolf Man is rampaging through the camp, killing everything in sight. Frankenstein’s Monster who was drawn in by the music also flies into a rage inside an adjacent tent via shadow projection. I made a cameo as The Monster for this scene ImageImageImageImage
We duck into the blacksmith’s tent, who has been badly injured and partially blinded by The Wolf Man...but he keeps shooting at him...and The Frankenstein Monster as they enter the scene. We hid tiny strobes in the bullet holes to create the effect of his blunderbuss firing. Image
Leaving the gypsy camp we wander into a graveyard where we hear & see Ygor playing his horn...drawing The Monster towards family crypts for the Talbot and Frankenstein families. This scene was inspired by the opening scene from the 43 film, adding in Ygor from Son of Frankenstein ImageImageImageImage
Inside the crypt, we get attacked by The Wolf Man and Frankenstein’s Monster. We escape via a secret tunnel/catacomb that leads back to the ruins of Frankenstein’s castle...this grave marker was an “Easter Egg”/homage to the year Mary Shelly wrote the novel Frankenstein...1918. ImageImageImage
But there’s something else inside these catacombs, Dr. Frankenstein’s failed experiments. Early attempts at creating life that were abandoned and left to rot...yet are still alive...slowly decomposing in the dark. ImageImageImageImage
And that’s where we’ll have to leave it for today...more to come. Stay tuned Boils and Ghouls! Image

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More from @john_murdy

30 Apr
Today we’ll finish up with 2019’s “Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man,” when we left off we were down in the catacombs, working our way back to the ruins of Frankenstein’s castle... Image
One of my favorite scenes in the maze was Dr. Frankenstein’s ruined library with its scores of books that hold the secret to life. Once again, we drew inspiration for this scene from the 1943 film and Bernie Wrightson’s amazing illustrations for the 1983 graphic novel ImageImage
In our version, Dr Frankenstein’s library has been ravaged by fire after his monster threw the switch that caused that massive explosion at the end of Bride of Frankenstein. Here’s a pic I took when our props and dressing team had started work in that scene... Image
Read 13 tweets
28 Apr
Today we’re gonna take a look at Stranger Things from HHN 2019, this was the second maze we created for the Netflix series and like the previous one it was housed inside Stage 29. The original idea was to do a maze based solely on season 2 but it ended up with a tease of Season 3 Image
The maze began where season 1 ended, with Will in his bathroom vomiting up that strange parasite that would eventually become the Demo Dogs. This scene utilised our “disappearing room” effect, changing from a normal bathroom to a Upside Down version... ImageImageImage
From there we took you back through the Byers house that we visited in 2018, only now you’re doing it in reverse and the walls are covered with Will’s tunnel maps that he drew after encountering The Mind Flayer. All of these drawings (and there were a ton) were created by hand... Image
Read 25 tweets
26 Apr
Greetings Boils and Ghouls. Today we’re going to take look back at HHN 2019’s “Creepshow.” I’ve always been a big fan of this film since I first saw it back in 1982. When our good friend Greg Nicotero told us he was producing a new series...we jumped at the chance to be involved! Image
From the beginning, we new this maze was going to be a mash up of segments from the original film and episodes of the new series. We eventually settled on 5 stories. “Father’s Day,” “The Crate,” “They’re Creeping Up on You,” “Grey Matter” & “Bad Wolf Down.” Image
We also know we wanted to pay homage to the EC comic book style of the film/series, both with the set design and the exaggerated blue and red lighting. We also knew we wanted The Creep to be the “connective tissue” of the maze, just as he was in the movie/series... Image
Read 29 tweets
22 Apr
OK...let’s see if I can take you through “The Curse of Pandora’s Box” by only using the text from the poem I wrote for Pandora to narrate in the maze. This is either going to be cool or a complete disaster! So let’s do this... Image
“Come inside...come inside
Anything can be acquired...
Anything your heart desires...” ImageImageImageImage
“Come inside...come inside...
Anything can be acquired...
Anything your heart desires...” ImageImageImage
Read 17 tweets
22 Apr
Today were going to look at “The Curse of Pandora’s Box.” Chris & I both had ideas for an original maze. Chris had the basic idea for Pandora while I was developing a Latino themed maze (like La Llorona & El Cucuy). We decided to go for Pandora so I shelved my idea for later. Image
Chris’ idea was to have guests enter Pandora’s Box and then transition the environment to UV with black light sets and characters (which we hadn’t really done since Clowns in 2014). So I set about doing what I always do at the start of a maze...tons of research. Image
I started with the obvious...the story of Pandora which first appears with the poet Hesoid in 700 BC. I learned that Pandora wasn’t given a box in Hesoid’s tale...it was a jar. Someone improperly translated the story from Greek and the box stuck, which is good. A jar isn’t scary Image
Read 18 tweets
20 Apr
Today we’ll continue our look behind the scenes of HHN 2019 with House of 1000 Corpses, a maze we’d previously featured at the event in 2010 and 2011 (and once as Rob Zombie’s American Nightmare in the era before we brought HHN back in 2006). So let’s step inside... Image
Obviously Chris and I have had a long history working with Mr. Zombie (he even performed in the maze that predates my time with HHN). Hard to believe this pic on the red carpet from 2011 is 10 years old now...and that Sid Haig (far right) is no longer with us. RIP Good sir! Image
The two previous HOTC mazes were built in the then T2 attraction’s exterior queue line, which is a much taller/larger space. They were also 3D mazes so this time we decided to do it non-3D. The approach was still Captain Spaulding’s Museum of Monsters and Madmen... ImageImage
Read 17 tweets

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