By Frank Barron

Universal creative director John Murdy with Universal Halloween Horror Nights vampire dancers.

Many fantastic, aspiring dan-cers showed up to last week’s audition for “Dancing Vampires.” All were hoping to be a part of this year’s “Halloween Horror Nights,” which kicks off Sept. 24, at Universal Studios. The creative folks at Universal were looking to cast dancers who could take the vampire craze to the next level, said creative director John Murdy.

“Vampires are really popular right now, so the Universal Halloween experience will feature a vampire theme this year,” Murdy said. “The fanged troupe of dancers will be part of an original concept maze, ‘Vampyre: Castle of the Undead.’”

The hopefuls performed a series of dance sequences, showing off their “undead moves” under the direction of choreographer Ray Garcia, who said he was very pleased with the quality of performers. Many came from area dance schools.

This year’s event will feature “House of a 1000 Corpses,” a new maze created by musician and famed horror director Rob Zombie. “La Llorona,” a popular, fictitious Latin American character used to scare children and adults alike, will also join the Halloween fun.

The theme park rides will feature menacing twists and will include “Jurassic Park in the Dark,” “Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride” and The Simpsons ride. As always, the Terror Tram will provide tours of the backlot.

Murdy said that Universal has successfully expanded its Halloween tradition over the past several years. What can fans expect this year? Murdy promised it will be “scarier than ever before.”

Fans can enjoy the new horrifying haunted houses, intense scare zones and mazes based on the world’s oldest and most intense horror legends from Sept. 24 through Oct. 31.