[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre review of Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group’s URBAN DEATH TOUR OF TERROR “ULTRA,” their ALL-NEW, ultra-fun, ultra-frightening, immersive haunted-Halloween theatre attraction for 2026.
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre Group has always occupied a very specific, deliciously dark corner of my heart. I absolutely adore this time of year—not just because I’m a Halloween baby, but because, in uber emo Los Angeles, Halloween brings out our playful, creepy, joyful nature, with the hope of monsters lurking around every corner and a gothic longing for darkness. And isn’t that Zombie Joe’s in a nutshell!
Zombie Joe’s is celebrating over two decades of theatrical rule-breaking. They are back with a-vengeance with the latest version of URBAN DEATH TOUR OF TERROR “ULTRA,” and honestly, it’s absolutely the scariest one yet!l
An absolute triumph in fact of the delightfully grotesque and the wonderfully warped…shocking and thrilling and incredibly fun!
If you have ever set foot in ZJU’s Lankershim Boulevard space, you would already know that over the year it is the host of many vital, pushing-the-limits, experimental art forms that challenge audiences in the best possible ways. This new version of its celebrated annual Urban Death Tour of Terror, ULTRA, is created by the brilliant minds of Zombie Joe and Jana Wimer, and directed with an unwavering eye for terror by the brilliant Denise Devin. It is an astonishingly relentless, 45-minute plunge into inexplicable horrors. Loved it!
As usual, the experience begins the moment you step out of the real world of Lankershim Blvd. and into a twisted, spine-chilling maze. Guided only by the flash of dim light from the tiny flashlight in your trembling hand and the sound of your own rising heartbeat, you navigate tight, dark corners where monsters and disturbed spirits wait to greet you. This all happens in extremely tight quarters, and although you are always reassured that these menaces will never touch you, it certainly doesn’t feel like that when you are inches from them, I can tell you! But the maze is just the prelude. Once you safely—or not so safely—arrive at the small dark theater, with every inch of your primed and your skin crawling, the lights go out and you are treated to Zombie Joe’s signature live show.
What follows is a series of absolutely riveting, grotesque, and wordless horror vignettes. It is a pure and highly visceral physical performance. Without a single spoken word, the fearless, strange and sinewy ensemble cast touch upon our deepest, most unfathomable anxieties, exposing the seething dark manifestations of our human hopes, flaws, and fears. The imagery is startling, beautiful, and deeply uncomfortable all at once. It plays like a profound, nightmare-fueled performance piece that refuses to let you look away. This year, the show has the added gorgeous grimness of phenomenal sound design and music by the incredible Joseph Bishara, who scored Insidious, 11-11-11, Dark Skies, and The Conjuring. To say this mournful, heartfelt, and at times unhinged music heightened the experience is a massive understatement.
Just when you think you can catch your breath finally and loosen your grip on your companion’s hand, the show ends, and you are shuffled back through an entirely different and equally scream-inducing maze, dizzyingly fighting your way back out to the safety of NoHo.
URBAN DEATH TOUR OF TERROR “ULTRA” is bold, incredibly stressful, and utterly magnificent. It is everything independent, progressive theater should be and more. Just a warning though: it is very graphic and there is a lot of nudity as well as mature themes, so leave the kids at home. But don’t let the intensity daunt you. This kind of fright is life-affirming, and remember, you are amongst fellow frighten-ees…
This extraordinary show never ceases to amaze me with its provocative and poignant themes. The scenes are like musical phrases or poems.
They connect to each other and yet are also oddly insular and profound. They shock, of course. They are supposed to, but they also bring to the surface all those human frailties and flaws, longings and mistakes that we hide away. This weird and disturbing group of creatures feels as if they have found their family within each other’s mindless stares and cold, damp bodies. And there is a sweetness to that, but maybe that’s the long-forgotten emo in me…
Support our very own Zombie Joe’s Underground Theater and make this show your annual pilgrimage to the alter of the terrifying and the lost. Bravo yet again, Zombie et al. Bravo!!!
Tickets:
https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/zombiejoes/4552
Where:
Zombie Joe’s Underground Theatre
4850 Lankershim Blvd, NoHo Arts District, CA 91601
When:
October 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31 + November 1, 2026.
Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays at: (7:00p on SAT & SUN), 8:00p, 9:00p, 10:00p, 10:45p and 11:30p