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Horror fans and thrill-seekers lined up Friday to experience the opening of Universal Studio Hollywood’s annual Halloween Horror Nights, which followed the Eyegore Awards show.
Eyegore recipients were recognized for their achievements within various categories of horror and sci-fi entertainment, setting an appropriately indelible tone for guests en route to the zombie-infested backlots.
And while Halloween Horror Nights has consistently represented a wide range of horror participants, both the ceremony and the special events were striking in their embrace of variety within the industry.
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Host McKenzie Westmore, whose illustrious family has been involved in Hollywood’s horror film culture since 1917, concurred, telling The Hollywood Reporter that the Eyegore awards are “expanding” “It keeps building,” Westmore added. “It’s fun. It’s just a fun night.”
Donning a slick, black bowler, John Murdy, creative director of Hollywood Horror Nights, commented on the relationship between today’s horror entertainment and the annual events he oversees. “The horror genre is diversifying itself,” Murdy explains. “I don’t think that even seven years ago you would have seen a TV show like The Walking Dead on cable. And as horror evolves, we evolve with it.”
Inside the Globe Theatre, Westmore addressed a cheering audience from the cobwebbed stage. The iconic heavy metal riffs of Black Sabbath thumped in the background of the award presentations.
Still enraptured from the success of his box-office hit, Insidious: Chapter 2, producer Jason Blum accepted an Eyegore for his exemplary work in the horror film genre. He was joined onstage by actress Lin Shaye whose performance throughout the Insidious franchise has been defined by suspense, surprise, and enthusiasm.
As a prelude to the one of the six new mazes at Hollywood Horror Nights, Sharon Osbourne introduced her rock star husband, Ozzy Osbourne, and told the audience how “the quintessential black magic of Black Sabbath comes together on 13 to create their most powerful, brilliantly disturbing album yet.”
Ozzy and Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler accepted their Eyegores, which were also given to The Evil Dead‘s Bruce Campbell, Machete Kills‘ Danny Trejo and The Walking Dead’s Greg Nicotero.
Among the most popular attractions at Hollywood Horror Nights, a maze inspired by season three of AMC’s Emmy Award-winning series, “The Walking Dead: No Safe Haven” takes parkgoers through the tense hallways of West Georgia Correctional Facility into the streets and surrounding area of Walker-infested Woodbury.
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And just after moviegoers began to feel comfortable sleeping with the lights off, Insidious returned with a vengeance. Relive the terror of the films in “Insidious: Into the Further,” a paranormal maze where fans risk coming face-to-face with some of the freakiest characters to hit the big screen. Black Sabbath’s latest album is visualized in a blood-curdling, maze wherein guests, equipped with 3D glasses, are invited to navigate the disturbing, heavy metal underground. Director Murdy expressed his excitement about the attraction, telling THR that, for kids who grew up listening to Sabbath’s first album, “it was a horror movie.”
For a classic scare with a Latin American twist, “El Cucuy: The Boogeyman” is another nightmarish maze based off the mythological story of a shape-shifting monster. Narrated by actor and producer Trejo, the startling installment reminds attendees of the Boogeyman’s timeless terror.
In tandem with the thrilling mazes and attractions, scare actors based off of characters from The Walking Dead, Curse of Chucky, The Purge and other popular horror films gave guests who attended the opening night a true run for their money.
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