Visiting the new Dark Universe

This World Goth Day also probably coincidentally saw the launch of Universal Orlando’s new Epic Universe theme park, with a variety of zones, some I would love to visit. One I would is the new take on Universal Monsters.

Night walkthrough of the Darkmoor hub

Photo heavy review with good looks at the props but comparisons to another zone I prefer not to mention

Victoria Frankenstein seeks to trap all the monsters to redeem her family name. The manor exhibit on the way to the main ride comes complete with murals that naturally reminded me of Dark Harvest - a mass of stitched-together people striving for a better future.

Would love to see the full monster capture videos.

The designs are generally slick takes on the classics, not using the versions seen in We Will Be Monsters and therefore Fortnite. Understandable. It does mean that Victoria and this comedy relief version of Ygor are the main new stars, though the Creature is canonically a rebuild of the Karloff style design, explaining his being so tall. (But then, the Invisible Man seems to be the same guy, is he immortal?)

Vampires seem pretty common but less powerful than Dracula, judging by the décor of the Stakehaus restaurant including lots of, yes, staked vampires.

So we have a universe where monsters are rare but known and not all that feared. What to do with this...