ZJU’s Urban Death: Tour of Terror

I’ve seen more than a dozen different shows at Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater over the past few years, but Urban Death: Tour of Terror is probably the quintessential ZJU production. Since debuting back in 2005, Urban Death has run at least once a year since. In my opinion, the creepy variety show is about as on-brand as it gets for a black box theater specializing in bizarre, low-budget horror productions. This year, director Jana Wimer and producer Zombie Joe have kept the tradition going while also adding in something I wouldn’t have expected: a family-friendly version of the show that is surprisingly good.

What to Expect if You Don’t Know What to Expect

Urban Death: Tour of Terror is part walk-through haunt (the “Tour of Terror”) and part grab-bag of nightmarish vignettes. Guests start off by walking through a dark, compact labyrinth (normally the ZJU lobby) in groups of 1-3, punctuated by scares that run the gamut from babbling contortionist priests to horrifying man/serpent hybrids lunging out at you from the shadows. The twists, turns, and terrors end temporarily when you enter the theater proper. There, guests take a seat around the stage while a giggling madman provides the preamble’s entertainment.

Once everyone is through the maze, Urban Death moves into its second act: about fifteen minutes of short, largely wordless scenes that range all over the horror map – and the actors aren’t shy about getting naked and/or bloody. After a shocking climax, guests head back out through the maze… only the nightmares they face are different from those encountered on the way in. 

Note that while there’s plenty of spookiness and some graphic content (including simulated violence and maybe a couple improbable sex acts), Urban Death: Tour of Terror is no-contact and not really an immersive show. You’ll see and hear plenty of disturbing things, but your personal space will remain largely unviolated.

Things to Know if It’s Not Your First Rodeo

On the other hand, if you’ve seen Urban Death: Tour of Terror before, then you know what you’re in for. That’s not to say that this is the same show as last year, or even as what was performed at Midsummer Scream. Most of the skits are new for 2019, though a personal favorite, “the skitters,” still makes an appearance. I will say that this year feels less enthusiastically transgressive than previous shows. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still full-frontal and intense derangement, but to a lesser degree. The focus instead seems to be more on playing with different effects and offering up some genuinely impressive feats of physical acting (Jonica Patella in particular). It’s still the bizarre horror you signed up for, just with more emphasis on the bizarre and less on the horrifying.

It almost feels like ZJU is moving to embrace the idea of Urban Death as a flagship production. Toning down the violence and simulated assault makes it accessible to a broader audience, without losing sight of the core concept. Adding in the family-friendly version (Saturdays and Halloween night at 7pm) would seem to be corroborating evidence of this being the strategy, and Blood Alley would seem to be the new outlet for more aggressively taboo vignettes.

A Safer Option for the Easily Disturbed

I mentioned earlier that the family-friendly version is surprisingly good. I will admit I was a bit skeptical going in. I was expecting it to just be a censored version of the “real” Urban Death, but thankfully I was proved wrong.

There are a number of decisions made – some obvious, some subtle – that make the difference. The most important is that Wimer et al did not try to make a “grown-up” Urban Death but with its clothes on. The overall tone is noticeably different in the family-friendly show, steering well clear of any nightmare fuel, and there’s actually very little overlap in terms of content. The “shocks” come from gross-out humor rather than naked bodies and implied murder, and there is way less portrayal of strong “adult” emotions like hatred, mania, or lust. The topics the skits touch on are aimed at a younger audience as well. Warren Hall makes for a particularly memorable Tooth Fairy, moving around a confused Eileen Chase and Brock Birkner with an almost reptilian scuttle. And to make things easier on younger guests, the labyrinth leading in and out is partially lit and less claustrophobic than in the adult show.

A Well-Oiled Machine

Everyone involved in both versions of Urban Death deserves kudos. From a technical standpoint, it’s truly impressive how much Wimer and her team are able to cram into such a small amount of time and space. The vignettes happen mere inches from the front row of the audience. Transitions and preparations happen in complete darkness over seconds. The maze is made of trash bags and masking tape in what is normally the theater’s cozy lobby. The level of ingenuity and creativity on the cheap is almost   worth the price of admission on its own.

Come One, Come All

While the ZJU theater and its productions can be controversial at times, recommending Urban Death: Tour of Terror is a no-brainer. Take your scaredy-cat friends and any young’uns (8 and up) to the family-friendly show Saturdays at 7pm, then either say goodbye to them or come back another day with your weird friends to see the grown-up show. Either way, you’re in for a good time. Urban Death: Tour of Terror continues to be a fun and twisted sampler plate of horror, and now there’s a more accessible option for those who would prefer to avoid the nightmare fuel of the regular show.

To see available show times and purchase tickets, see the ZJU ticketing page. You can learn more about Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater on their website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.