“The Thing” starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton and Ulrich Thomsen is taking over movie theaters and Universal is allowing fans of the film to win some “Thing” apparel through ShockYa! The swag you could win: a cool “The Thing” trucker hat and a red “The Thing” shirt. You can take a look at the apparel at the bottom of the page. We have four trucker hats and shirts, so there will be four winners, each one getting a hat and shirt. Now, to win the apparel, we’ll use our trusted Tweet contest. For those new to Twitter contests, here’s what you need to do. First, follow us @Shockya. Then…

Universal Pictures “The Thing” has some scary assets to help celebrate the impending release of the prequel to the John Carpenter 1982 film. “It Will Become You” Custom Video Creator allows its user to turn into The Thing itself. By uploading a video, using a YouTube video or Webcam, users can create a custom video that shows the tentacles of The Thing shooting out of your body. After creating the video, users can share it on Facebook, Twitter, and anywhere else on the web with your own custom URL. Users can check out the video creator here. The Augmented Reality Flamethrower Game allows Android and iOS users to wage war…

Whether we like to admit it or not, we love to be scared every once in awhile. There’s a fun, jolting thrill about walking down a haunted maze and not knowing what to expect when you turn the corner. Will you see gore that you could only imagine in the sickest corner of your mind? Will a weapon-wielding maniac run after you? Are you anywhere closer to finding the exit and getting out of this nightmare? It’s such a terrifying and exciting rush that keeps plenty of people flocking to theaters watch the latest horror movie or, in this case, attending Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. For the past few…

Although we did our nice gallery report on Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights maze “Hostel: Hunting Season” doesn’t mean we aren’t curious to know about the other mazes that’ll be terrifying guests in a week’s time. After we were done touring through the Hostel maze, and after I was slightly scared by HHN Creative Director John Murdy at one point, we all made our way outside. I briefly got to converse with one of the main minds behind the horror about “The Thing: Assimilation” and the absolutely terrifying-looking “La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas.” ShockYa: Earlier you were talking about how sometimes there’s certain ideas that don’t work. Did you…

Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Halloween Horror Nights” event has a new maze! The maze “La Llorona: Villa De Almas Perdidas” will open September 23 and run on select nights through October 31. The maze’s creative consultant is Mexico-based film star Diego Luna. ‘Like all Mexican children, I gew up with the story of ‘La Llorona’ and I think it’s a tale with universal appeal,” said Luna. ‘Story-telling is at the heart of all my work and I’m thrilled to have the chance to help present the great ‘La Llorona’ legend in a different kind of medium at the ‘Halloween Horror Nights’ event.” According to the press release, “La Llorona: Villa De…

The Universal Studios event “Halloween Horror Nights” has announced another scary experience participants can take part in. The experience, “Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life” is based on the latest installment of Wes Craven’s “Scream” series. In the experience, the “Ghostface Killer” of the fictional “Stab” movies within the “Scream” films will be unleashed on the world-famous backlot. Mirroring the “movie within a movie” aspect of the “Scream” movies, the experience will introduce guests to the “Stab” franchise and lead them toward the set of “Stab 8″, which is being “filmed” on the backlot. The element of fantasy clash with the reality of the moment when guests come face-to-face with…

Metal star Alice Cooper is going to be a part of the scary festivities at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights this year. Cooper, who was recently inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, will have his own themed maze called Alice Cooper: Welcome To My Nightmare. The maze, which is inspired by Cooper’s landmark concept album and its long-awaited sequel “Welcome 2 My Nightmare!”, will feature, according to the press release: [T]rademark elements from Alice Cooper’s celebrated shows, including guillotine decapitations, electric chairs, a sadistic insane asylum, predatory snake and giant Black Widow spiders that have helped make his imagery timeless and indelible. Music will be a powerful…

A new maze at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has inspiration from “The Thing,” Universal Studio’s upcoming film. Universal’s theme parks have partnered with the “The Thing” producers, Strike Entertainment’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman (“Dawn of the Dead”) to create an experience that is authentic to the horrors the film will bring to audiences. Everything involved in the maze–the sets, audio, musical score, creature and character references–are all based on the film. The maze is described as “[a]n abandoned scientific research facility in the midst of a vast and frozen Antarctica”: The new haunted house will offer guests an unprecedented first-hand preview of the much-anticipated thriller in advance of its…

Universal City, California–King Kong, among the screen’s most powerful and enduring icons, will re-emerge in Summer 2010 as a new signature attraction created under the direction of Peter Jackson on the famed Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour. “King Kong 360 3-D” Created by Peter Jackson will be the world’s largest most intense 3D experience on the planet, combining thrilling visceral effects to create a next-generation theme park experience. Peter Jackson, director of the Oscar-winning 2005 Universal Pictures film upon which the attraction is based, said: “The new King Kong at Universal Studios Hollywood will be an incredible amount of fun and a chance to really push film and theme park…

Universal City, Ca, July 6, 2009– Chiller and Universal Studios Hollywood are partnering to recognize the nation’s top short-form filmmaking horror genre talent with the “Halloween Horror Nights-Chiller Scary Good Film Competition,” offering filmmakers an opportunity to have their scariest short film rewarded with a broadcast on Chiller of their work, a $1,000 cash prize and a trip for two to the October 2 opening night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. Contest entries will be accepted from July 1, 2009 through August 21, 2009. Prospective filmmakers are invited to submit short films of 90 seconds to three minutes in length on DVD (two copies of each film…