The walkers will be invading Universal's Halloween Horror Nights this year for the new haunted attraction The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven, based directly on Season 3 of the AMC series... and the studio has added a new feature to the event that should make any horror buff scream with delight: patrons will be given a tour of the Universal backlot where some of the studio's classic monsters were born, visiting isolated movie and TV sets... and all the while, they'll be pursued by hordes of ravenous zombies in the “Apocalypse Scare Zone.”
No less than Steven Spielberg, whose own Universal monster projects include Jaws and Jurassic Park, praised the studio's decision to include legendary horror movie locations in this event. “As filmmakers, we strive to find the ideal, most authentic filming locations to legitimize our productions and make every scene as realistic as possible,” he explained, “which is why Universal Studios Hollywood continues to take creative risks by extending Halloween Horror Nights to include the studios’ backlot. Theme park guests will be in awe when they have this rare opportunity to walk through the backlot's definitive Hollywood movie-making sets.”
Halloween Horror Nights creative director John Murdy and makeup effects guru & Walking Dead Executive Producer Greg Nicotero offer a sneak preview of the backlot tour in this clip:
The historic interactive experience will then lead into the new Walking Dead and Black Sabbath 13 3D attractions (we revealed more details on the Sabbath maze here, and it looks pretty damn awesome). Halloween Horror Nights kicks off at Universal Studios Hollywood on Friday, September 20th. Drop by their website for the complete schedule and ticket info.