On the cover of his 2022 album Dawn FM, Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a The Weeknd, aged himself to look like an old man with wrinkles and a gray beard. But you know what’s even scarier than beholding the ravages of age? A haunted house attraction!
The Weeknd is returning to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood this year for The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy, an “authentic, one-of-a-kind horror experience with surprises at every turn and music by The Weeknd scored by seminal producer, artist, and seven-time Grammy award winner Mike Dean.” You can watch the announcement video above.
“The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy” is one of eight haunted houses coming to Universal Studios Hollywood, along with “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Legacy of Leatherface,” “Universal Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines,” “Insidious: The Further,” “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” and “A Quiet Place.” There’s also “Terror Tram: Enter the Blumhouse,” which features characters from Blumhouse movies like M3GAN, The Black Phone, Freaky, The Purge, and Happy Death Day. I don’t know what The Weeknd is teasing, but it better involve M3GAN.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood begins on Thursday, September 5, and continues on select nights until Sunday, November 3. For more information, including how to buy tickets, click here.
The Weeknd is collaborating for the first time ever with Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights to create brand-new, horrifying haunted houses based on his critically acclaimed After Hours album. Visitors can experience The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare starting on September 2 at Universal Orlando Resort and on September 8 at Universal Studios Hollywood.
The Weeknd is known for creating unique music that combines audacious, provocative lyrics with cutting-edge sounds and menacing undertones. The Weeknd’s fourth straight number-one album, After Hours, produced a series of top-charting singles, including “Too Late,” “Heartless,” “In Your Eyes,” and the hugely successful song “Blinding Lights,” which Billboard named the greatest Hot 100 hit of all time. Select songs from the compelling album are being transformed into a horror movie soundtrack for Halloween Horror Nights’ obscenely eerie experience this fall.
“I always wanted my own Halloween Horror Nights haunted house as Halloween has always been significant to my music, so this is a total dream come to life. I feel like my music videos have served as a launching pad for a collaboration like this, and I cannot wait for people to experience this madness!” said The Weeknd.
The brand-new Halloween Horror Nights haunted houses on both coasts will be infused with the sinister undercurrent that drives The Weeknd’s mysterious persona. Visitors will enter a surreal living nightmare with grotesque characters and themes inspired by The Weeknd’s music and short films while the spooky sounds of “After Hours” echo throughout the experience. Guests will be challenged to survive the night while trapped within the terrifying, unexpected world of “The Weeknd: After Hours Nightmare” – a place that only exists in The Weeknd’s vivid imagination and from which one may never escape. They will be stalked by slashers, bandaged maniacs, gruesome toad-like creatures, and other unfathomable horrors from the artist’s mind.
“We are thrilled to take guests inside of the mind of The Weeknd, who is a Halloween Horror Nights fan himself,” said John Murdy, Executive Producer of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. “This is an unprecedented haunted house that is going to shatter the expectations of our guests and immerse them in an unforgettable experience that is equally unexpected and terrifying,” added Charles Gray, Senior Show Director for Entertainment Creative Development at Universal Orlando Resort.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando Resort starts on Friday, September 2, and all tickets are currently on sale. Online discounts are available for single-night tickets, as well as a number of Frequent Fear Pass options that let visitors experience the horror for several nights.
