‘Urban Death Tour’ Adds The Avant Garde To Halloween

Zombie Joe's Underground Theatre presents Urban Death Tour of Terror for Halloween 2021. Beware of penis jump scares. / Photo by Jana Wimer & ZJU

Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre is a practitioner of Halloween every night—its most recent production opened in May. But even so, maybe because so, we expect it to step up its game this month. And after the 365-day horror we’ve experienced with not one single day of respite since last October 31, the ground for gore seems ripe for the pickings. Oh wait, I lied: It’s been a year and a fucking half.

Zombie Joe’s latest installment, the Urban Death Tour Of Terror, has all the bells and whistles of previous shows, with an extra dash of psychological drama. You’ll go for the humor, hideous hellbeasts and penis jump scares you know and love. You’ll stay for the quite plausible real-life monsters of which I won’t give away. 

The approximately 40-minute show consists of a trip through a dark maze (faint flashlights are provided) that parties walk through at a staggered pace to avoid contact. (While we’re here: face masks are required for entry, and COVID safety precautions are followed. All performers and staff are fully vaccinated.) The maze ends at a small theatre where guests sit down and watch a series of 20-25 voiceless vignettes set to music and sound effects. The theatre is also pitch black, with brief flashes of light to introduce each new act and again to reveal a character’s fate. Some are funny, others are spooky and/or cool-looking with the effects, and the rest are, well, interesting. After the show, everyone lines up and walks back through the maze, which has been populated with a fresh crop of creeps.

That’s the NC-17 version. There’s also an Urban Death Tour Of Terror show designed for all ages this year. 

Also, the new production The Vampire’s Puppet debuts Sunday, Oct. 10 and continues Sundays and Mondays through October. Tickets are $20.

Actors Abel Horwitz and Brandon Slezak in Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre “Urban Death Tour of Terror” for Halloween 2021. / Photo by Jana Wimer & ZJU

 

The Gory Details
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre
Urban Death Tour Of Terror
8, 9, 10, 10:45, 11:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct.,
with Sunday, Oct. 31 and Monday, Nov. 1
ZJU Theatre, 4850 Lankershim Boulevard,
North Hollywood, CA 91601
$20 online at zombiejoes.tix.com and $25 at door