Two summers ago, everyone with a Netflix account fell in love with The Duffer Brothers’ 80s throwback, Stranger Things. The nostalgia-laden horror/coming-of-age series had everyone who grew up on Spielberg, Craven, and Hooper in a trance, and introduced a whole new generation eager to be retro to the fun, gory creature features of yesteryear. While the third season has yet to garner an official release date, Netflix and Universal have a pretty cool trick up their sleeves to tide you hardcore fans over.
According to Entertainment Weekly, you’ll actually be able to hang out in the town of Hawkins this September — and get lost in it — as the Upside Down is coming to Halloween Horror Nights locations in L.A., Orlando, and Singapore this September. While this might come as a surprise, stranger things have happened — masterpieces like The Shining and cult-series like American Horror Story have already established themselves as fan favorites of Universal’s theme park attendees, solidifying the fact that spooky stories can really lay the groundwork for excellent theme park experiences. From the looks of it, the upcoming Stranger Things experience could blow those out of the water.
EW reports that this particular experience will “bring the chittering, predatory Demogorgon to Halloween Horror Nights to stalk unwitting guests as they encounter iconic scenes, characters, and environments from the mesmerizing series” to the aforementioned locations.
For anyone who’s ever attended Halloween Horror Nights, you’ll know just how immersive these "rides" can get. Unlike a traditional haunted house ride, Universal’s theme park allows visitors to walk through these experiences at their own pace, providing a sense of agency, even when the attractions are very much subtly guided and carefully designed. As EW reports, the Stranger Things experience will be no different, and will have recreated locations from the show available to explore, “from the menacing Hawkins National Laboratory under the U.S. Department of Energy, to the Byers home adorned with an erratic display of flashing Christmas lights, and the eerie Upside Down woods oozing a shower of floating orb-like spores.”
Halloween Horror Nights reportedly run on select nights starting on Sept. 14 at Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort, and from Sept. 28 at Universal Studios Singapore. If you’re ready to get the crap scared out of you by professionally costumed and made-up actors jumping out of the bushes at you, this is for you.
