Frights of Fancy

Something wicked is brewing at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Poised to unearth Halloween Horror Nights III, the studio has enlisted the macabre minds of writer-director Stephen Sommers (“The Mummy”), recording artist Rob Zombie and author-filmmaker Clive Barker (“Candyman”) to produce the latest in bone-chilling adventures for theme-park lovers.

What worked well on screen adapts neatly into the “Mummy Maze” for Sommers, the man behind one of the summer’s surprise box-office hits. His maze design incorporates the look of the Humunaptra tomb, the gruesome mummies in motion, even some of the actual props from the film.

For those who have seen the movie, the disturbing effects will probably be heightened. Take the scarabs, for instance, those tomb-dwelling bugs about the size of a small fist that bother just about everyone in the film except our hero, Brendan Fraser. Just the sight of the wall grooves where the chatty little bugs like to hang can make your skin crawl (hint).

Making People Laugh and Scream

“I was mostly interested in things that make people jump,” said Sommers, who’s writing a sequel to “The Mummy” for Universal. “I like to add texture, like the crunching [which simulates bugs underfoot], the walls of slime, anything that will make people scream. If we can get people laughing and screaming, that will be great.”

Screams are likely in the mummification room. Some of the gruesome touches are obvious nods to the film, such as a tongue that stretches (simulating the scene in which the high priest Imhotep’s tongue is ripped out) and red-hot pokers that go up through the nose and--well, we won’t spoil it.

Beware too of the treasures embedded in the walls of the maze. In the film, the walls are booby-trapped, and if something is removed, a flesh-dissolving salt acid spits out at the offender--though a water spray substitutes nicely in the maze.

The altar commands center stage in the largest and final “Mummy” room, where the evil Imhotep attempts to bring his love back to life--and to save face, so to speak.

What’s most scary in all of the mazes, said production manager Cory Asrilant, is the anticipation. The creatures in the mazes and lurking throughout the park will rarely lay a hand on you, but fear of the unknown has a funny way of inciting terror. And that’s what the maze designers are counting on.

The biggest--and perhaps most unconventional--of the five Horror Nights mazes oozes from the brain of Rob Zombie (formerly of the hard-rock band White Zombie). The musician recently moved his Zombie A Go-Go label to the studio, which is releasing two CDs this month, including one that features the soundtracks from three of Universal’s classic Frankenstein films.

For Halloween, Zombie has put his demonic sensibility to work in a maze he calls “The Thrilling, Chilling World of Rob Zombie.”

For some, coming face to face with Zombie and those Charles Manson-esque eyes might be frightening enough. But for the fearless willing to take a peek at what really goes on in the rock musician’s head, the maze will begin at the mouth of a 30-foot replica of Zombie’s face. You’ll walk down a dark, slimy “throat” and into the guts of the ghoulish maze, which has rooms representing songs on Zombie’s album “Hellbilly Deluxe.”

“I wanted it to be like a trip through the album,” said Zombie, who spent months designing the maze and the creepy creatures that inhabit it. “It won’t be like rock music pumping through because that’s not scary at all.”

What is scary, he believes--without giving too much away--are the undead inhabitants of the theme rooms and the effects that bring the horror to life. There’s the “Superbeast” room, where the membrane-dripping Intestinal Man dwells, a “Living Dead Girl” room and a “How to Make a Monster” room.

“It’s not supposed to be for young kids,” Zombie warns. “It’s not meant to be silly; it’s pretty bloody.”

This is Zombie’s first attempt at designing a maze, a job he says is similar to putting together a stage show. He’s checked out other mazes, including the ones at Knott’s Scary Farm, which he believes instill a fair amount of terror. His will differ, he said, in that most mazes adhere to a theme throughout while each room is dramatically different in his.

In one room, based on the single “Dragula,” video monitors show car crashes and dead bodies flung about. In the center of the room are a demolished car designed by Zombie and a mural of a crowd looking at the car crash. Zombie’s face is in the mural.

“It gives you the feeling he’s watching you,” Asrilant said.

The visual effects aren’t the only bothersome aspects of the maze. Hanging body bags are gruesome roadblocks that you’ll have to push aside to reach the exit.

Both the “Mummy” and Zombie mazes are housed in sound stages. The third major maze, “Clive Barker’s Hell,” has been constructed in a tent. The fantasy-fiction author and filmmaker is returning for his second Halloween at Universal. Barker’s maze will take brave souls on a trip through his vision of Hades.

Studio Taps Into Horror Heritage

Digging up studio talent to design the mazes was an obvious decision, said Eliot Sekuler, spokesman for Universal, home to classic horror flicks from “Psycho” to the “Chucky” movies. “Horror is looked upon as part of our heritage. We want to emphasize that.”

In 1992, Universal took its first stab at doing away with the hold Knott’s Berry Farm’s Halloween Haunt had on the holiday.

In addition to the mazes, other horror-themed attractions and entertainment are planned throughout the park. Many of the rides will be open, including Terminator 2: 3D and Jurassic Park--In the Dark. Two smaller mazes include the Cleaver’s Meat Locker and Classic Creature Features. The latter maze will transport visitors through a vault filled with such fiends from classic Universal horror films as Frankenstein, Dracula and the Phantom of the Opera.

“We’re proud of the detail in the work,” Asrilant added. “Every year you want to top the year before--to scare the hell out of people.”

BE THERE

Halloween Horror Nights III, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal City. Friday and Saturday; Oct. 22 and 23 and Oct. 29-31. 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. $38. (818) 622-3801.