Universal Studios has revealed it’s building a TheLast of Us-themed haunted house. The attraction based on The Last of Us, a hit video game series recently adapted into a hit HBO series, will be a part of Universal Studios’ annual Halloween Horror Nights event.
The Last of Us was released on the PlayStation 3 in 2013 and received a PC port in early 2023. The post-apocalyptic third-person action game was a hit among fans and critics. It received a well-regarded but controversial sequel in 2020 called The Last of Us Part 2. The 2023 HBO adaptation of the first game in the series starring Pedro Pascal of The Mandalorian fame became a worldwide success. Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights began in 1991. The event quickly developed into an annual tradition wherein Universal’s parks are overtaken by a Halloween theme, complete with haunted houses and scares provided by characters from licensed properties such as Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
With the rousing success of The Last of Us video games and television series, it was only a matter of time before Universal looked to add the iconography of the massively popular franchise to its annual Halloween event. The Last of Us will be incorporated in both the Hollywood, California, and Orlando, Florida, parks as a haunted house. Set in the Pittsburgh Quarantine Zone, guests will navigate a series of terrifying hallways and tunnels packed with a variety of monsters infected by a mutated fungus featured in the games, including Clickers, Stalkers, and Runners.
Guests making their way through the haunted house will also encounter series stars Joel and Ellie as they evade the creatures and elude a frightening band of humans on their trail known as The Hunters. Series creator Neil Druckmann released a statement expressing his excitement over the inclusion of The Last of Us in this year’s Halloween Horror Nights wherein he described himself as a fan and frequent event attendee. The haunted house will operate on select nights during this year's Halloween Horror Nights, which will run from September 1 to October 31.
The second season of the HBO adaptation is currently scheduled for sometime in 2025, though that could be delayed due to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike. The show’s third episode, “Long, Long Time,” received praise from fans and critics, and even led to series co-creator Craig Mazin receiving a letter from legendary director Steven Spielberg praising his work on that episode. Naughty Dog, the developer behind the games, has confirmed that it is working on a new single-player game that some speculate might be The Last of Us Part 3, though nothing has been confirmed.