Halloween Horror Nights is an annual event held by the Universal Studios theme parks around the world (Florida, California, Singapore, and Japan) since 1991. During this event, temporary "haunted houses" (sometimes called "mazes") and live shows are set up around the park, each one themed around either an original story, a Universal-owned franchise, or an outside franchise own by another company.
As of 2020, various installments of the Evil Dead franchise have been involved with the event for only three of it's 29 years of operation, beginning in 2009.
Silver Screams (2009)[]
The poster's tagline of "How can you destroy an army that's already dead?" comes from the international poster of Army of Darkness.
Silver Screams was a haunted house constructed for Halloween Horror Nights 19: Ripped From The Silver Screen at Universal Studios Orlando. This attraction's "story" was that of a haunted movie theater showing several cult horror films: The Phantom of The Opera (1925), My Bloody Valentine (2009) John Carpenter's The Thing (1982), Army of Darkness (1993), Shawn of The Dead (2004), and The Strangers (2008). Each room in the theater recreated a scene from these films, which guest would walk through as actors played out these sequences.
The Army of Darkness scene was presented under the title of The Medieval Dead. Guest would walk through an old theater lobby where a faux "retro" movie poster featuring Evil Ash and the army of Deadites hung on the wall, and a replica Necronomicon resided on a chair. Once inside, guest were teleported to the battle between Ash Williams and the Pit Bitch at the bottom of Castle Kandar's infamous underground death-trap, watching as the Pit Bitch lunged at visitors while Ash tries to fight the monster.
Originally conceived as it's own independent haunted house re-enacting various moments from the Army of Darkness film, plans for the attraction quickly changed during it's development when Universal realized they no longer held the rights to the movie (as they had gone to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the early 2000s). Wanting to avoid any legal action, the solo haunted house was scrapped in it's entirety, but it was later decided that elements from the film would appear in the Silver Screams house instead. At no point in the Silver Screams house (or in it's advertising) does the name "Army of Darkness" appear, instead choosing the name "Medieval Dead", which was the title Sam Raimi originally wanted to release the film as.
Evil Dead (2013)[]
The second appearance of the Evil Dead franchise at Halloween Horror Nights was in 2013, this time getting it's own haunted house attraction based on the 2013 film directed by Fede Alvarez in both the Orlando and Hollywood parks. Alvarez was brought in by the attraction's development team late into production as a consultant, mainly overseeing that the maze faithfully recreated the look and feel of the film's set, and later gave the completed house his approval. While simply titled Evil Dead at the Orlando park, the Hollywood version of the house was called Evil Dead: The Book of The Dead.
A chronological retelling of the 2013 film, the Evil Dead house follows Mia Allen through the night which she and her friends accidentally unleash a demon in a remote cabin. Some scenes featured in the house were Mia trapped by the living trees, Eric reading from the Book of The Dead, Deadite Olivia cutting her face, and Natalie cutting off her arm.
Ash Vs Evil Dead (2017)[]
Three years after the 2013 house, Evil Dead returned to the event in 2017 with the Ash Vs Evil Dead attraction, based on the first two seasons of the show. While the maze was featured on both the Florida and California parks, the two houses were vastly different from each other.
Orlando Version[]
Guests start by walking through the Mossy Haven Trailer Park before stepping into Ash's trailer, watching as Ash himself proceeds to fire several shots from his Boomstick at the Deadite Vivian Johnson (based on the episode El Jefe). Leaving the trailer, the visitors are then brought into the bathroom of the Elk Lounge Bar, where a frightened patron sees Ash decapitating the Deadite Amber (Last Call). Turning the corner reveals El Brujo's farm as guest come face to face with the Eligos-possessed Kelly Maxwell and Eligos himself (The Host).
Around the corner, visitors step into the Elk Grove Crematorium, where the Demon Spawn jump out from the darkness and the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis has been embedded into a corpse (Home). The scene then quickly transitions into the morgue of the Kenward County Hospital, bumping into the Deadite Lillian Pendergrast, along with Ash Williams fighting a possessed corpse colon (The Morgue). At the exit of the morgue stands Deadite Lacey Emery, holding the decapitated head of her father, Thomas (Ashy Slashy).
The next sequence takes place outside of the Knowby Cabin, with Ash stepping out onto the porch. Navigating around the cabin, a severely injured Heather screams before getting dragged back into the darkness. Inside the workshed, Linda's severed head calls out, still wedged in the vice (Ashes To Ashes). Entering the cabin itself, the Deadite Amanda Fisher pops out from the front door, just as Ash appears from the kitchen hallway (The Dark One). Descending into the fruit cellar of the cabin, the guest then see a screaming Tanya caught in a bear trap, Deadite Henreitta Knowby, and another Demon Spawn lurking in the dark (Second Coming).
The final scene brings visitors to Jacksonville, Florida, where Ashy Slashy sits on a large wooden fence as Ash cuts into a beer keg with his chainsaw (Home).
Hollywood Version[]
Like the Orlando version, the Hollywood incarnation of the maze begins in Mossy Haven, Ash's trailer, and the fight between Ash and Vivian Johnson (El Jefe). Navigating through the trailer park after another encounter with Deadite Vivian and then Deadite Mr. Roper, guest then walk past a "Welcome To Elk Grove" sign before stepping into the Williams Family Home, where the Deadite Lillian Pendergrast lurks outside (Home). In the house's upper hallway, a Deadite Cheryl Williams jumps out from behind her bedroom door. Stepping into Ash's bedroom, Ash struggles against his undead sister while the decapitated body of Deadite Lillian sits up against the door.
Outside of the house leads guest through the woods, where Deadite Amanda Fisher holds the bodies of two lost hikers (Bound In Flesh). After wandering through the woods, the Knowby Cabin comes into view, where Pablo frantically moves around the main room with the face of the Necronomicon controlling him as Demon Spawn attempt to break in (The Dark One). In the final scene, Henrietta Knowby (in both her standard Deadite and "Gooseneck" forms) lunges at the guest in the cabin's fruit cellar (Second Coming).
Altars of Horror (2017)[]
Outside of the haunted house attractions, Halloween Horror Nights also features "Scarezones", areas where costumed actors wander the theme park and attempt to scare visitors as they walk through. Altars of Horror was a scarezone featured in Orlando's 2017 event, and featured three characters from Ash vs Evil Dead: Eligos-possessed Kelly, Deadite Vivian Johnson, and Necronomicon-possessed Pablo.
Trivia[]
- A replica Ash Williams costume appeared in Orlando's 2017 Halloween Horror Nights Tribute Store.
- Hollywood's version of the Ash vs Evil Dead maze utilized masks based on the likeness Bruce Campbell for the actors portraying Ash (for a loose sense of continuity throughout the attraction), while the Orlando Ash actors had no masks.