The musician born Abel Tesfaye will bring his ‘The Weeknd: After Hours’ creative concept to Universal Studios highly anticipated Halloween Horror Nights event.
Now 32-years old, The Weeknd recently told Entertainment Weekly: “I always wanted my own Halloween Horror Nights haunted house, as Halloween has always been significant to my music, so this is a total dream come to life. I feel like my music videos have served as a launching pad for a collaboration like this, and I cannot wait for people to experience this madness!”
Opening 2 September at Universal Orlando Resort and 8 September at Universal Studios Hollywood, the event organizers appreciate the Weeknd bringing the imagery of his latest LP to the much-loved spooky celebration.
Calling it a “fever dream,” Charles Gray, the senior show director stated: “What came out of it was extracting the nightmares: What would it be like if we were inside his head while he’s creating this album?,” noting that the Grammy winner’s adoration for flicks such as ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’, and ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ runs through the visuals and a not a simple “retelling” of the 2020 full length, adding “It isn’t a retelling of the ‘After Hours’ album; it’s entering the nightmares that were the muse for his songs. “There’s a lot of surrealistic, horrific imagery as we [expanded upon scenarios] inspired by the videos.”
John Murdy, Halloween Horror Night’s executive producer said: “The first thing we do once we enter the house proper is go into a sequence called ‘Nightmare Extraction’, where you see The Weeknd, almost like in ‘Clockwork Orange’, where he’s strapped into a chair with a headset, and the headset is connected to all these different monitors. All this darkness going on inside his head creating this album is being sucked out, and you’re seeing these images flash subliminally, like the whole thing is about to explode.” “All of that stuff that’s getting pulled out of his head, we’re going to have to face all of those things and dark places he went to in creating the album.”
The event will feature six of The Weeknd’s tracks including ‘After Hours’, ‘In Your Eyes’, ‘Blinding Lights’, ‘Save Your Tears’ (solo version) and ‘Too Late.’
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Abel Tesfaye, the weeknd