Every year, the Universal theme parks in Orlando and Hollywood go all-out for Halloween, adding haunted mazes to their usual attractions. But for some reason, cinema’s most iconic spooky maze — y’know, the one at the Overlook Hotel — hasn’t been included. Until now.
Image: Warner Bros.
The press release welcoming The Shining into the fold was accompanied by this short video, which doesn’t reveal much about the maze itself, but does offer a reminder of how goddamn scary Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic is:
Of course, Universal won’t be merely constructing a replica of the snowy labyrinth that backdrops the movie’s climax. Instead, the company promises the following:
“The Shining” maze at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights will provide guests with a unique opportunity to relive some of the film’s most iconic, and sinister, moments. While venturing through the eerie Overlook Hotel, guests will be thrust into the hotel’s tragic history of murder and madness, bearing witness to caretaker Jack Torrance’s spiraling descent into insanity. Nightmarish visions will come to life in this macabre maze, overwhelming guests with the “shine” of the murderous, ghostly entities that lurk around every turn — all while trying to escape the wrath of Jack Torrance as he violently succumbs to the hotel’s paranormal forces.
Gonna guess that means, probably, a peek into the bathroom of Room 237, some gushingly malfunctioning elevators, an encounter with the Grady twins, some vigorous axe-wielding, and hopefully at least one sinister furry. Last year’s new addition was a maze themed around The Exorcist, and Universal has also designed attractions around Halloween, The Walking Dead, The Purge, Crimson Peak and others. Halloween Horror Nights kicks off in mid-September and runs through early November; get all the details here.