The Black Phone is already earning plenty of positive buzz among horror fans and critics alike, but while the Blumhouse fright-fest has only just begun scaring the pants off moviegoers, it seems it’s already planting the seeds of their future nightmares. Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort have unveiled “The Horrors of Blumhouse,” an all-new haunted house based on the film that will feature prominently in the parks’ annual Halloween Horror Nights event.
What is The Black Phone haunted house?
Directed by Scott Derrickson, who also helmed 2016’s Doctor Strange, The Black Phone is already being hailed as a modern-day horror classic. And now the Ethan Hawke-starring genre flick is getting its own haunted house. Universal’s yearly Halloween Horror Nights event has been crafting attractions based on popular horror properties for decades, treating guests to intricately detailed haunted houses, mazes, and other experiences inspired by goosebumps-inducing films and TV series. While previous years have seen the likes of Stranger Things, Scream, and Ghostbusters brought to life — and death — at Halloween Horror Nights, this fall’s event is counting on The Black Phone, and its masked antagonist The Grabber, to chill guests’ spines.
Universal’s official description of the haunted house is brief, revealing just enough details to get our neck hairs standing at attention: “The Horrors of Blumhouse will transport guests into an alternate dimension where scares are real and the stakes are life or death.” The synopsis continues, highlighting the role of the kid-napping Grabber within the attraction: “The Grabber is a demented magician best known for his sinister trick of making people disappear — permanently. Guests will find themselves trapped in his ‘fun’ house where the sound of ghostly voices whisper hints on how to escape, but guests must tread carefully to outwit and outrun The Grabber’s twisted magic.”
The Horrors of Blumhouse will also feature content based on Freaky, the 2020 Blumhouse slasher film that had fans fearing “The Butcher.” Of course, the Blumhouse-based haunted house won’t be the only one eliciting screams from park-goers this fall, as the event’s ten houses typically include a handful adapted from popular horror properties. A haunted house inspired by the original Halloween was previously unveiled for this year, and more announcements are expected between now and the event’s early September opening.
In other news, Thor: Love and Thunder got a new trailer and HBO released Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon’s official poster.
