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This article is about the Universal Studios attraction. For the series, see Stranger Things. For other uses, see Stranger Things (disambiguation).

Various Stranger Things-themed attractions have been included in Universal Studios's annual Halloween Horror Nights events, held at several Universal Studios theme parks. The first maze, based on the first season, launched on September 14, 2018, at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, and opened on September 27, 2018, at Universal Studios Singapore.^[1] The attraction was reopened on November 6, 2018, in honor of Stranger Things Day. A second Stranger Things-based attraction was featured during the 2019 Halloween Horror Nights, and was based on the second and third seasons.^[2] A third attraction was featured in the 2023 Halloween Horror Nights, and was centered on the fourth season.

Attraction[]

2018[]

The maze begins on Mirkwood, where guests are stalked by the Demogorgon as they hear Mike, Dustin, and Lucas looking for Will through their walkie-talkies, as well as sounds of the search party. As attendants exit the woods, they see the silhouette of the Demogorgon behind a clothes line before arriving at the Byers' house.

Entering the house, guests will find Joyce's Ouija wall signaling for them to "R-U-N". They then continue to Will's room where they find the lights flickering and Joyce holding an axe as the Demogorgon's hand breaks through the wall. Continuing to the backyard shed, guests finally meet the Demogorgon face-to-face.

After being attacked by the Demogorgon, attendants will make their way to Castle Byers. There, they are again attacked by the Demogorgon and sent through a portal into the Upside Down. Here, Nancy is found holding a flashlight and searching for Jonathan. After coming across the dead deer, the Demogorgon again attacks the guests. Shortly after, several agents in hazmat suits pursue them as they enter Hawkins Lab.

In the lab, attendants witness a scientist enter the elevator and taken by the Demogorgon. From behind, Hopper fires a warning shot and urges them to leave. After being chased by agents, guests will find themselves in the room containing the Gate. Brenner is there, telling the crowd that "everything is okay" as he urges them through the Gate. Once through, the next location is the Void, where guests will find Barb's corpse and Will in the Upside Down version of Castle Byers. The Demogorgon attacks again before exiting the Upside Down.

Now in Hawkins Middle School, attendants have caught up with Eleven and the boys after the agents have been killed by Eleven's powers. The Demogorgon pounds on the wall as the kids' warnings about the approaching creature are heard. The maze concludes in the science room during the final showdown between Eleven and the Demogorgon.^[3]

2019[]

The maze begins when Eleven killed the Demogorgon in Scott Clarke's Science classroom in Hawkins Middle School. After guests briefly pass through the Palace Arcade, in the Byers House, Will vomits a slug in the bathroom, and the house is filled with drawings of the tunnel maps inside of the house. Will then opens the front door to see the Mind Flayer.

Will is outside Hawkins Middle School with the Mind Flayer, and he yells at the the Mind Flayer to "GO AWAY" and leave him alone. Guests then walk into Merrill's pumpkin patch, which is filled with rotten pumpkins and several agents in hazmat suits investigating.

After Merrill's pumpkin patch, Joyce and Bob find Hopper where he dug a hole in the pumpkin patch. The hole goes though to the Upside Down and leads to a massive network of tunnels that were corrupted by the Upside Down.

After Hopper is tangled in the vines, he goes though the tunnels with Demodogs. At the junkyard, in the old bus, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Steve are under attack by the Demodogs, but then the Demodogs leave them and go to Hawkins Lab instead.

As the Demodogs are entering the lab and killing the agents and scientists, Bob's death occurs where he is attacked and killed by the Demodogs. Next, Eleven closes the gate to the Upside Down.

Guests then walk inside Hopper's cabin, where Eleven, Mike, Lucas, Will, Max, Nancy, and Jonathan are under attack by the Spider Monster. Guests then enter the underground Russian Lab where Hopper, Joyce, and Murray are entering to close the gate. At Starcourt Mall, the Spider Monster is inside, and Starcourt Mall is destroyed. At the ending of the maze, Erica says "Don't cry, Nerds." The Demogorgon is also next to the wall ready to jump out at the guests.

2023[]

The house starts at Eddie's Trailer as the facade and can be seen on the left. As guests enter the trailer, Eddie appears on the left pops out and is terrified about Chrissy, as you can see Chrissy suspended in the air on the right, completely taken over by Vecna, as a static figure. Guests then exit the trailer, entering Forest Hills Trailer Park where they see Max screaming for help as Vecna appears from behind some laundry. The guests then pass a grandfather clock on a coffin and a zombie funeral attendee as they enter the Nina facility where Eleven is regaining her memories of the 1979 massacre of Hawkins National Laboratory as One 's monologue of his hatred of humanity is heard.

Next, guests enter Hawkins lab where they are jump-scared by One who is covered in blood. They then come across the lab's Rainbow Room where they witness a young Eleven overpowering One and unintentionally opening a gate to the Upside Down. As the guests leave, One appears again, hideously disfigured which illustrates his transformation into Vecna.

Guests then come across a drawing of the Creel House before they enter Vecna's Mind Lair where the corpses of Chrissy and Fred Benson are displayed on pillars. After Vecna jump scares some guests, a portal of Max's body levitating is shown with Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" plays in the background before Vecna jump scares the guests again as they exit the mind lair.

Guests enter the Upside Down version of Eddie's trailer where Steve is yelling for Nancy to wake up when she is put under Vecna's curse. Vecna jump scares the guests again before they arrive in a hallway where are spooked by a young Henry Creel practicing his powers as spiders can be heard crawling everywhere. The next room the guests enter is the scene where Eddie and Dustin fight off the Demobats as Metallica's "Master of Puppets" can be heard before guests witness Eddie getting killed by a demobat.

The next room guests enter is the Creel House's attic where Jason Carver appears before they witness Max getting her limbs broken as Lucas watches in horror. Guests then arrive in the Upside Down version of the attic where Robin Buckley throws a molotov cocktail at Vecna's body. After that, the guests see Jason getting bisected by a gate opening as they return to the mind lair where a Demogorgon and Vecna jump scare them before Vecna is overpowered by Eleven. Guests then enter a hallway where they see the curse gates opening and spreading as they exit out of the house.

Development[]

The Duffer Brothers, as well as Shawn Levy, collaborated with the Horror Nights design team in order to authentically recreate the series.^[1]

Kyle Lambert, the official illustrator for the series, designed the key art for the event.^[4]

To enhance the maze's immersion, Universal Studios decided to replicate the same flooring and wallpapers as the ones used in the TV series, including the background paper of the Upside Down which has been taken directly from the show. More than 40,000 pictures from the show were also sent to the prop department for reference to ensure everything was accurate. Furthermore, the Demogorgon suits used for the maze were also created by the same team that created the suit for the series.^[5] Creative development show director Patrick Braillard also revealed they had strict criteria in casting performers for the Demogorgon, since accommodations were necessary to adjust the length of torso, leg and arm as well as the height to bring the character to life.^[6]

Promotion[]

On September 5, 2018, Universal Orlando Resort revealed six new images of the attraction to provide a sneak peek of what the guests will experience at the maze.^[7]

Trailers[]

Food[]

2018[]

• Eleven's Waffle Extravaganza: Reese's Pieces, jelly beans, chocolate chips, and whipped cream stacked high on three Kellogg's Eggo Waffles.
• 11 Mini Doughnuts: Doughnuts covered in powdered sugar or cinnamon and topped with red frosting, inspired by the nosebleeds of Eleven.
• Christmas Tree Light Cupcakes: You can choose from chocolate or red velvet cupcakes, each topped with whipped cream frosting and covered with jelly beans.
• Syrup & Waffles: A non-alcoholic frozen drink that's a blend of syrup flavors, with tiny waffles on top.
• Fudge Dipped Waffle on a Stick: You can get the waffles covered in sprinkles or peanuts.
• Bananas Foster: Two waffles served with banana cream cheese and hazelnut spread, topped with raisins, walnuts, whipped cream, and bananas foster sauce.
• Waffle Ice Cream Pocket Sundae: Two chocolate chip waffles stuffed with strawberry ice cream and topped with whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, sprinkles, chopped peanuts, and a cherry.
• Demogorgon's Totcho: Tater tots doused in spicy queso, chili, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, sour cream, and scallions.
• Loaded Mac 'n' Cheese: With bacon and scallions!
• Mini Meatball Subs: Mini sandwich features three beef meatballs, doused in housemade marinara, in a toasted Italian roll loaded with mozzarella cheese.
• The Eggo Doughnut: A maple glazed monster is dusted with cinnamon sugar and topped with decadent buttercream, raspberry jelly, and Eggo Waffles.
• The Upside Down Burger: A beef burger with spicy queso and Flamin' Hot Cheetos served on a potato roll with lettuce, tomatoes, and a side of tater tots.
• Benny's Chicken & Waffle Sandwich: A sandwich has a grilled chicken breast topped with sage-maple aioli, sweet and sour onions, lettuce, tomatoes, and Eggo Waffles.
• Pizza Fries: French fries smothered in pizza sauce, Mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and sausage.
• Strawberry Shortcake: Includes two waffles layered with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and strawberry sauce.

2019[]

• Triple Decker Eggo Extravaganza: A stack of waffles, whipped cream, jelly beans, chocolate chips and Reese's Pieces.
• Grilled Street Corn: Garlic chipotle crema, chili spice, cotija cheese, and fresh lime.
• 3 Meat Hero: A sandwich turkey, roast beef, ham, provolone, lettuce, and tomato. Also topped with Hawkins special sauce and served on a hoagie roll, with rosemary kettle chips on the side.
• Nachos Queso Fundidio: Chorizo and serrano white cheese sauce, crunchy tortilla chips, fresh jalapenos, tomato salsa, and cilantro.
• Bento Box: Served with an orange chicken bao bun, Szechuan beef pot stickers, fried wonton chips, and ginger soy dipping sauce.
• Bao Bun: Orange chicken bao bun, served with fried wonton chips.
• Merrill’s Mini Pumpkin Doughnuts: Mini pumpkin donuts on a bed of cookie crumbles topped with a frosting drizzle.
• Mind Flayer's Milkshake: The chocolate milkshake is topped with strawberry sauce, chocolate whipped cream, crumbled Oreos, a black waffle cone and black licorice.
• Eleven's Waffle Sundae: Vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce, jelly beans, Reese's Pieces, chocolate chips, and of mini waffles.
• Demo-Dog: A quarter-pound hot dog topped with beef chili, cheddar cheese sauce, crushed Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, sour cream, and scallions. Served with a side of tater tots.
• Benny’s Burger: A juicy beef burger and cheddar cheese served on a brioche bun with ketchup, mustard, and pickles. Served with a side of tater tots.
• The Upside Down Burger: This burger is a juicy beef patty, creamy cheddar cheese sauce, and a good dusting of Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with lettuce and tomato on a brioche bun and a side of tater tots.
• Demogorgon’s Totchos: Tater tots doused in spicy queso, chili, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, sour cream, and scallions.
• Pot Stickers: Szechuan beef pot stickers, served with freid wonton chips and ginger soy dipping sauce
• Veggie Hero: roasted portobello, squash, zucchini, carrot, roasted pepper veganaise and served on a hoagie roll, with rosemary kettle chips on the side.
• Chocolate-dipped Bacon on a Stick: You can get it in milk or white chocolate and it's covered slice of bacon.
• Stranger Things Run Doughnut: A yeast shell filled with maple Bavarian cream and topped with vanilla frosting and M&M’s.
• Stranger Things Waffle Doughnut: A yeast shell filled with maple Bavarian cream and topped with maple frosting and a waffle.
• Dipping Sauces: Strawberry, chocolate, or caramel (for the mini-donuts). 
• Pizza Fries: Pizza fries are sprinkled with sausage crumbles, pepperoni slices, marinara sauce, and loads of cheese.
• S'mores Fries: Sweet potato fries topped with a drizzle of melted chocolate, graham cracker crumbs, and mini marshmallows.

Trivia[]

• The maze has been built utilizing a soundstage, a first time for Halloween Horror Nights.^[5]
• Cast members Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson participated in a walkthrough of the maze.^[8]

External links[]

• Official Halloween Horror Nights website
• Universal Studios Hollywood website
• Universal Orlando Resort website

References[]