Universal Studios Hollywood will bring an original radioactive zombies haunted maze to Halloween Horror Nights that serves as a “spiritual sequel” to a similarly themed haunted house introduced at Universal Orlando more than a decade ago.
Dead Exposure: Death Valley is the second of eight haunted mazes announced for Halloween Horror Nights 2024 at Universal Studios Hollywood.
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Halloween Horror Nights 2024 runs on select nights from Sept. 5 through Nov. 3 at Universal Studios Hollywood with eight new haunted mazes along with several scare zones and the Terror Tram.
Dead Exposure will take Horror Nights visitors into a secret military lab where a disastrous attempt to create a super soldier results in an army of radioactive zombies, according to the backstory for the maze.
The original storyline won’t be based on any existing film or television horror franchises — the typical route for the Hollywood version of Horror Nights.
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Universal Orlando leans more heavily into original concepts for haunted houses while Universal Studios Hollywood tends to rely on classic horror intellectual properties like “Friday the 13th,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” along with newer shows like “Stranger Things,” “The Walking Dead,” “American Horror Story.”
The California park has dabbled in original themed mazes with The Curse of Pandora’s Box (2021), La Llorona: The Weeping Woman (2022) and Holidayz in Hell (2023).
Universal Orlando has already announced six original haunted houses for Horror Nights 2024 not based on classic Hollywood horror films or TV shows — including Slaughter Sinema 2, Goblin’s Feast and Major Sweets Candy Factory.
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The first Dead Exposure haunted house debuted in 2008 at Universal Studios Florida with a sequel entitled Dead Exposure: Patient Zero in 2018, according to Attractions Magazine.
The Dead Exposure haunted houses in Florida featured zombies roaming pitch-black mazes with strobe lights providing the only illumination, according to Inside Universal.
Dead Exposure: Death Valley marks the first appearance of the original Horror Nights haunted maze franchise at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The two Dead Exposure haunted houses in Florida had little in common beyond the zombie theme, according to WDW News Today.
The 2008 Dead Exposure house introduced a pair of Horror Nights characters named Charlie McPherson and Mary Agana who were not involved in the 2018 Patient Zero house dubbed a “spiritual sequel,” according to WDW News Today.
“We don’t expect many similarities between this new house and past ones, aside from the name and zombie theme,” according to WDW News Today.
Dead Exposure joins a haunted house based on the science fiction horror film franchise “A Quiet Place” as the first two mazes announced for Halloween Horror Nights 2024 at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The separate admission Horror Nights event is not included with daily admission to Universal Studios Hollywood. Universal is selling an Early Access Ticket that provides entrance to select haunted mazes 90 minutes before Horror Nights officially begins each night at 7 p.m. Horror Nights season passes, front-of-the-line passes and VIP tours are also available for the event.