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Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood attraction
Pandora's Box
The Curse of Pandora's Box Sign
HHN 2019 The Curse Of Pandora's Box Front Gate Banner
6E443E1F-CB80-418D-B823-5B893183587E
The Curse of Pandora's Box
Attraction type Haunted Maze
Event Halloween Horror Nights 2019

Halloween Horror Nights 2021

Park Universal Studios Hollywood
Area Upper Lot
Year 2019

2021

Housed in Curious George Tent 2
Based on Original

The Curse of Pandora's Box was one of the ten haunted mazes that were featured during Halloween Horror Nights 2019 (Hollywood). It returned two years later during Halloween Horror Nights 2021 (Hollywood). It was located in Curious George Tent 2 for both years.

Descriptions[]

2019[]

Some things are never meant to be opened…sadly for you, someone already has, unleashing unimaginable evil. Welcome to “The Curse of Pandora’s Box” – the living nightmare netherworld of Hades, populated by the most fearsome monsters in Greek Mythology. Prepare for a trip through Hell where the demonic temptress Pandora serves as your guide. Once the box is opened and evil has been released…it can never be closed again!

2021[]

An ancient horror has returned to prey on those foolish enough to tempt the Fates. Enter Pandora’s Curiosity Shop, home to her infamous box. Once it’s been opened, all manner of evil will be unleashed. From her shop, you’ll pass through the Gates of Hades, guarded by a hellhound. Then you’ll face hordes of netherworld monsters, from snake-haired Medusa, to Arachne’s spidery snare. Greek mythology is about to become your monstrous reality.

Experience[]

Facade[]

The facade was a Curiosity Shop called "Pandora's Cabinet of Curiosities". There were glass displays in the facade showing skeletons and other relics. Red lights flashed around the facade and the voice of Pandora could be heard enticing guests to come inside. Guests would then enter the Curiosity Shop.

Haunted Maze[]

Inside the Curiosity Shop was many relics and books. Guests would turn around the corner of a glass display of many different animal skeletons before seeing a giant box with a woman's skeleton being grabbed by skeleton hands. The box would then light up with UV and begin to open on its own. Guests would follow the red light emanating from the opening and enter the box.

Inside the box was a black hallway where Pandora would pop out from above. Guests would walk down another black hallway where there was a red revolving light pointed at them as two Lost Souls jumped out (one on the left, the other on the right). Then, guests would be attacked by a group of Lost Souls.

Guests would then approach the Gates of Hell where Cerberus would attack them from the right and Pandora would scare guests from the left. After that, guests entered the Gates of Hell.

Inside the Gates of Hell were skeletons laying over pits of lava while UV lights would flicker on and off before turning off and staying off for a few seconds. In this section there were two Lava Demons who would blend into the wall and use the darkness when the lights shut off as a way to disappear and then scare guests. Guests would then enter Tartarus.

Inside Tartarus was a collection of cages with skeletons inside and Crows scattered throughout the scene. The same UV effect from the previous scene was used again here. In this section there were four Skeletons who were inside cages. They would periodically jump out of their cages to scare guests.

Guests would then enter a black hallway with wind blowing and see Crows on both sides of them as UV lights flickered on and off to reveal them. They would then walk down another black hallway where Pandora would pop out in at the end of the hall before guests entered the Medusa section.

In Medusa's section there was a stone wall with a picture of Medusa on it. UV lights would flash on the picture and change Medusa from normal looking to her with fangs and snakes as her hair. The ruins of stone pillars surrounded the wall. Guests would then go into another room which had more stone ruins, frozen soldiers, and snakes. Guests would exit the scene into a short dark room where Medusa's Head popped out at them before they entered The Lords of the Dead Lair.

In The Lords of the Dead's Lair were pillars with cobwebs on them and three Living Statues that would act static before popping out at guests to scare them. Also in the scene were the Lords of the Dead. Guests would then walk past a giant Lords of the Dead stilt-walker that would act asleep before then popping out at as they exited Lords of the Dead's Lair.

Guests would go down a hallway with hanging cobwebbed corpses with green UV lights shining on them. The lighting in the hallway would flash on and off and there were cobwebs on the wall. At the end of the hallway, Arachne would pop out at guests. They would then enter a dark room with cobwebs and no lights where Arachne would pop out again from the left while an Arachne Victim would pop out from the right.

Guests would then go down a short black hallway before coming back to the box. It would light up again with UV lights as Pandora popped out from above the box. Guests would then exit the maze.

Changes in 2021[]

The following is a list of changes made to the Halloween Horror Nights 2021 Version of the Maze compared to the 2019 Version.

  • The lighting on the facade was changed.
  • The skeleton in the first scene around the pillar now faces guests.
  • No red fog when guests enter the box.
  • Missing the heartbeat sound in the Lost Souls hallway.
  • The Lost Souls have new masks.
  • The Lost Souls animatronic doesn't move. They just shine a light and trigger on it.
  • The Gates of Hell arch is now completely orange compared to it being a mixture of orange and purple.
  • Missing all of the lava pits with skeletons over them.
  • The lighting on the lava pits scene is adjusted to adapt with no curtains.
  • Removal of an 2nd lava demon with an addition of a push out Lava demon instead.
  • The lights flashing on and off in the caged Skeletons is now gone. It only happens when the actors hit their trigger.
  • The scare in the caged section has been moved from the far right to the far left. Closer to the guests.
  • New costumes for the Skeletons.
  • There's more grass in the caged section.
  • The caged section is more cramped in the walkway path.
  • The Pandora scare right after the crow hallway has been moved closer to the Medusa scene.
  • Medusa's face when transformed looks different.
  • The castle section has new on and off lighting.
  • The Living Statues in the castle section have new costumes. Now with UV on the teeth.
  • The castle section has quiet breathing audio.
  • They removed scenic from behind and to the right of the Lord of Death stilt walker
  • The Arachne section has now a spider puppet and a new costume for the other performer.
  • The ending is now a scrim effect inside of the box instead of Pandora popping out on top of the box.

Scareactors[]

Quotes[]

  • "Come inside, come inside. Anything can be acquired, anything your heart desires" - Pandora
  • "Monsters, Demons, Hade’s Fire!” - Pandora
  • “Evil Spirits...rise...awake! Here’s another soul to take!” - Pandora
  • “Woe to those who reach the gate! Woe to those who tempt thy fate!”... - Pandora
  • "Look upon thy brother’s doom. The fire of Hades hath consumed.” - Pandora
  • “Heavy is the wage of sin! Woe to thee who labor in.” - Pandora
  • “Harpies come to pick them clean. A feast so foul. A feast obscene.” - Pandora
  • “Vanity a monstrous sin. Beauty hides the beast within!”... - Pandora
  • “Ego’s ashes, bravery’s bones. Mighty warriors turned to stone.” - Pandora
  • “Cobweb covered castle keep. Where kings of men forever sleep!” - Pandora
  • “Thou dare not scream, hold thy breath! Lest ye awake The Lords of Death!”... - Pandora
  • “Tangled in the spiders web. Can you feel your life force ebb? Now embrace the spider’s kiss. And stare into the dark abyss!” - Pandora
  • “Once released, all hope is lost! You’ll never close Pandora’s box!" - Pandora

Pictures[]

Videos[]

Trivia[]

  • Many things in the maze were reused from previous mazes:
  • This maze was not originally planned from the start for 2019 [1].
  • Chris & Murdy both had ideas for an original maze. Chris had the basic idea for Pandora while Murdy was developing a Latino themed maze (like La Llorona & El Cucuy). They decided to go for Pandora, so they shelved Murdy's idea for later [2].
  • This house was different from the other mazes that year as it had a heavy use of UV lighting technology and effects [3].
  • Being that this was an original maze with Murdy, and teams' own version of Pandora imagined as a horror character, they felt that they needed to give her a voice, so Murdy actually wrote a series of rhyming couplets to guide you through the experience. This was the first time he's ever written poetry for Halloween Horror Nights [4].
  • In the original Greek myth, which dates back to at least 700 BC, Pandora is a bit of a passive character, so Murdy and co. re-imagined her a "Scary as hell female horror villain" [5].
  • Murdy had said the idea for them to make this maze came from Art Director Chris Williams' basic idea that was later fleshed out with John to make the maze happen [6].
  • The team needed to come up with a setting that made sense to find a big box that guests would enter into. Murdy came up with the inspiration of a cabinet of curiosities shop that guests would enter to then enter Pandora's Box [7].
  • The facade and opening were inspired by the Cabinet of Curiosities in Hawthorn England, Obscure Antiques & Curiosities in New York City, and the Evolution Shop in Soho [8].
  • The lines spoken by Pandora in the maze was spoken by the Sound Designer's wife [9].
  • There was a Monkey Paw inside a glass jar in the facade which was a reference to Monkeypaw Productions.
  • Murdy's favorite scene in the maze was the Curiosity Shop [10].
  • The jars in the opening scene were in reference to the original story being Pandora was given a jar not a box. The jars were also from the Mummy Returns [11].
  • The lament configuration from Hellraiser was hidden as an easter egg in the opening scene.
  • Many of the props in the opening scene were from the 1999 film, The Mummy [12].
  • There were nine Ouija Boards hidden in the opening scene of the maze [13].
  • On the table on the right before guests entered the box was a mirror with writing on it. The writing on it said "Help".
  • The Log Bunny made a cameo appearance in the opening scene on the closing weekend of the event [14].
  • Originally guests didn't see the Cloaked Figures in the opening scene as there was a blackout performer instead. They were needed to be on set so during the preshow, so guests didn't get too close to the door when it opened [15].
  • The opening scene had many things that hinted at what's inside the box: The actual box, cages in the top left/right (caged skeletons), snakes on the box (Medusa), horns on the skeletons (Lords of the Dead), white souls (Lost Souls/Evil Spirits), cobwebs on a skeleton (Arachne), and a pillar next to the box with 3 dog heads on it (Cerberus).
  • The yellow skeleton skull on the box looked very similar to Skeletor from Masters of the Universe.
  • Pandora's look was very inspired by Barlow from Salem's Lot [16].
  • Several of the masks in the maze were bought and not made by Magee FX.
    • That Lost Souls had masks made by Immortal Masks [17].
    • The Arachnoid Spider People had masks made by Trick or Treat Studios [18].
    • The Spider Victim's mask was made by Immortal Masks [19].
  • The Cerberus puppet was supposed to have three heads but in the maze it had only one. This is due to budget cuts [20].
  • The entrance to Hell/Netherworld was inspired by the first project Murdy and Chris worked on together: The Creature Factory from the Special Effects Stage in 2001 [21].
  • The lava pits scene was inspired by Phlegethon/the River of Fire in the Underworld [22].
  • The Skeletons were inspired by an old Aurora Model called "The Forgotten Prisoner" [23].
  • The Crows/Torture Scene was going to be a recreation of "The Woods of Suicide" with the Harpies from Dantes Inferno, but this was changed due to spacing. The audio for this scene is still present in the maze with "Harpies come to pick them clean. A feast so foul. A feast obscene." [24].
  • The Medusa changing effect was very similar to the Medusa Painting from the Mystic Manor Ride from Disneyland Hong Kong.
  • The giant Medusa head in this maze was a redesigned version of the giant La Llorona head in La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas. They were originally going to use the snake coil from Alice Cooper Goes to Hell 3D as a live scareactor with a custom mask, but someone threw the snake away[25].
  • The Lords of the Dead were a mashup of the Titans and a scene from Conan the Barbarian. The Earthly Kings would be frozen on their thrones in the Netherworld for eternity for attempting to eclipse the gods [26].
  • They were going to repurpose the body of the Black Widow spider from Alice Cooper Welcome to my Nightmare for Arachne until they found out it was decommissioned [27].
  • The change from 2019 overhead scare to 2021 scrim effect for the ending scene was made due to the difference of height between the Curious George 2 Tent and the Tram Garage Tent [28].
  • Both this maze and Holidayz in Hell came full circle with the beginnings of their maze and endings. This maze started with guests entering the box and the last scene was guests exiting the box [29].

References[]

  1. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1421858400871370752?t=iWyedv8VFuyJ_gic3HUKcw&s=19
  2. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385280607119364097?t=oA4oIMr5v7-aiEfQ-zjqMw&s=19
  3. https://twitter.com/HorrorNights/status/1164281985096921088?s=19
  4. https://twitter.com/HorrorNights/status/1164283713733189632?s=19
  5. https://twitter.com/HorrorNights/status/1164284346175504384?s=19
  6. https://twitter.com/HorrorNights/status/1164290565317509121?s=19
  7. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385283152718057475?s=19
  8. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385283152718057475?t=MIOmmYiv55EDNwdyZhTdkQ&s=19
  9. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1182691395699642368?s=19
  10. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1182688211920982016?s=19
  11. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385317989906587653?s=19
  12. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1182688809575690241?s=19
  13. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1182690291440066563?s=19
  14. https://twitter.com/orange7sg/status/1191446967278137345?s=19
  15. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385363758487416832?s=19
  16. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385312243470974985?s=19
  17. https://m.facebook.com/ImmortalMasks/posts/a-new-addition-to-our-resin-faceplate-line-the-ghost-sculpted-by-andrew-freeman-/1706585536079647/
  18. https://trickortreatstudios.com/shop-by-categories/aracnoid-mask.html
  19. https://immortalmasks.com/shop/meltdown-silicone-mask
  20. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385319258633211905?s=19
  21. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385299524080525314?s=19
  22. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1526923382905765888?t=Ko-IK2Ds-xPz0VQd0JPayQ&s=19
  23. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385299351392694275?s=19
  24. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385311975392034816?s=19
  25. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1300844124384505856
  26. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385316837106331649?s=19
  27. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385299325203501059?s=19
  28. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1499476746290274305?t=4mEFN4Z7UY2IkI1yE5jsXg&s=19
  29. https://twitter.com/john_murdy/status/1385312302853939202?s=19
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2019
Haunted Mazes: Stranger Things  • Holidayz in Hell  • Universal Monsters: Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man  • The Walking Dead Attraction  • Ghostbusters  • Killer Klowns From Outer Space  • Creepshow  • Us • House of 1000 Corpses • The Curse of Pandora's Box
Scarezones: Fallen Angelz  • Spirits & Demons of the East  • Christmas in Hell  • ToXXXic Tunnel  • All Hallow's Evil
Unofficial Scarezone: Halloween Chainsaw Maniacs
Show: Jabbawockeez
Other Attraction: 80s Throwback Thursdays
Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood 2021
Characters: Bent-Neck Lady  • The Bride of Frankenstein  • Leatherface  • Regan MacNeil  • Pandora  • Michael Myers
Haunted Mazes: The Haunting of Hill House  • Universal Monsters: The Bride of Frankenstein Lives  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  • The Exorcist  • The Curse of Pandora's Box  • Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers  • The Walking Dead Attraction
Terror Tram: Terror Tram: The Ultimate Purge
Scarezones: Universal Monsters: Silver Screen Queenz  • Chainsaw Rangers  • Demon City
Show: Jabbawockeez
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