How the Halloween Horror Nights scare team brings its IP haunted houses to life

SINGAPORE — The 11th instalment of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore (USS) will be the first time two world-famous intellectual properties (IP) are featured.

This year's scare-fest will be including haunted houses based off Netflix's widely acclaimed zombie series All of Us Are Dead, and Canadian pop sensation The Weeknd's last two albums, After Hours and Dawn FM.

What can horror fans expect from these two IP haunted houses? Yahoo Southeast Asia spoke to the creative team on what easter eggs fans can spot, and what went behind the scenes in the year-long process to create both houses.

How the series was chosen and brought to life

Markham Gannon, director of resort experience at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS), said at a media conference on Tuesday (26 September) that zombies have always popped up in the creative team's yearly guest satisfaction survey.

While it can be "hard to be original" with zombies, the team remembered watching "All of Us Are Dead" in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in January last year, and found the school setting of the Korean horror drama to be perfect for a haunted house.

It was then that the team prepared a pitch for Netflix - and got the haunted-house idea green-lighted.

Across the rooms, the All of Us Are Dead experience will follow the storyline of the television series set in Hyosan High School.

The house kickstarts in the science lab where the virus originates from a rat, before moving on to locations where the virus spreads throughout the student body. Fans will be able to journey through iconic locations such as the classrooms, cafeteria, sick bay, toilet, library and rooftop.

"You will really get a sense of the story because you are living it, moving through it, and experiencing it," said assistant show director, Coral Tong.

The haunted house will feature lead characters and iconic supporting characters with creative deaths that became "interesting-looking zombies" from the series, she added.

In keeping faithful to the series, Netflix provided the USS team with renderings of sets such as the classroom and supply room, as well as a guide for makeup and costumes of all of the characters.

Some scenic elements fans will notice are recreations of the barricades, cages and the chalkboard written "word for word" in Korean. They will also be able to spot familiar footage, such as the singing choir scene, and the scene where science teacher, Lee Byeong-chan, explains how the zombie outbreak happened.

Props for the haunted house were recreated, as the original props from the television show could not be utilised due to safety precautions.

Expect to see the scare actors wearing replicas of the school uniform, with an assigned name tag that represents a character from the show.

Amping up the scare factor and space constraints

While a majority of the series' first season takes place in the day, the creative team chose to make the set "darker and dimmer" by adding more flickering lights, extra audio and pungent smells, to add to the fear and suspense.

Scenic elements such as blood treatments, posters and writings on the classroom chalkboard in Korean were used to provide a more accurate representation of the school, said the haunted house's producer, Kalis.

"We definitely took artistic liberty where that is concerned, simply because we are a haunted house. The whole point of the house is to scare you. We wanted to amp up the amount of bloodshed and gore, while still realistically recreating Hyosan High," added Tong.

Given a limited space to work with, the team was unable to recreate the school in its entirety. One of the key challenges was in recreating the cafeteria scene. To work around it, the cafeteria has been divided into two parts for a longer walkthrough journey for guests.

The section features "maze like" interiors, with weaving corners and small tight turns.

Note from the team: Look out for one prop in an unsuspecting room that is not from the series. Also, keep a look out for stunt performers who will lunge towards you at great speed from varying heights.

Bringing The Weeknd's Dawn FM to life for the first time

Following last year's The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare experience at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood, the "enhanced" haunted house brought to this Halloween Horror Nights will feature five new rooms themed after The Weeknd's latest album, Dawn FM.

The Weeknd: After Hours Til Dawn Nightmare will bring guests through iconic sets and characters from the pop star's music videos, short films and promotional content. Under the guidance of his record label, XO, the creative team underwent a detailed process to pay tribute to Abel Tesfaye's vision and creative integrity. These include set design, characters, props and the makeup of the scare actors.

"He has such a keen eye for storytelling. He has this way of bringing his music to life in such an epic scale and cinematic style, in particular the horror genre," said show director Cameron Dyer.

Fans will get to see The Weeknd as the iconic crazed mad man in his red jacket stalking you through his nightclub, and the boiler room from the In Your Eyes music video. Try to spot the two crazed plastic surgery girls from the Too Late music video, as well as The Weeknd's iconic severed head.

The star of the haunted house would have to be the infinity mirror maze, in reference of The Weeknd's 2021 Super Bowl LV half-time show, while his hit song Blinding Lights blasts in the background.

As guests journey into the Dawn FM segment of the house, roles are reversed as The Weeknd becomes "the one that is hunted in a never ending purgatory of pain". Keep a look out for rooms that pay homage to music videos such as Gasoline, Take My Breathe and Sacrifice.

Other easter eggs to spot would be new original costumes created by the costuming team, as well as a version of The Weeknd as "an 80-year-old man".

Come experience both IP haunted houses at Halloween Horror Nights 11. This year's edition features five haunted houses, three scare zones, two live shows and one multi-sensory dining experience, spanning across 18 select nights from 29 September to 4 November.

Tickets start from $79 and are on sale now.