Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness at Halloween Horror Nights 12

Endure a harrowing journey through demonic realms in Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness at Universal Studios Singapore’s Halloween Horror Nights 12.

Warning

This article contains spoilers. Photos from Halloween Horror Nights 12 are featured here in a special showcase.
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Overview and Thoughts

Cursed Scrolls: Dynasty of Darkness offers another reimagining of Chinese mythological elements – a unique highlight at Singapore’s Horror Nights events. This time it’s a dark journey into fantasy-like realms that have been tainted by the malice unleashed from cursed scrolls, penned by a corrupt Qing scholar known as the ScrollMaster. With the evil unleashed, a certain “curse” is suffered in every realm, intensifying as you continue your journey.

To enhance the experience, the park has brought back ChromaDepth 3D glasses, which filter light by wavelength and create an exaggerated illusion of depth. This makes certain colours appear to float or even “jump” forward, which is an effect used to make the ancient Chinese script, or glyph, of “Death” appear to haunt you throughout your journey. You can reuse the glasses as you read this article or watch my video to experience the effect again.

3D glasses were last used in Jack’s 3-Dementia haunted house way back in 2014, and it was mainly to disorientate and confuse guests, and also to make some jump scares more effective. I’m not sure if the Cursed Scrolls house needed the 3D gimmick, as the scenic design already stands out on its own. To me, it was overall an improvement from last year’s DIYU: Descent Into Hell.

The journey begins as you try to enter an abandoned library known to store forbidden writings by a forgotten Qing scholar.

Breaking a glyph that conceals a secret room, you uncover shelves full of deadly parchments.

The ScrollMaster discovers you, and unrolls four gigantic scrolls that surround you. He casts a curse – and numerous glyphs, signifying death, floods your sight. Ghouls pull you into the fifth scroll.

You find yourself outside, on a bridge over a river. A burning glyph reminds you that you are trapped in one of the cursed scrolls.

On the other side, the bridge leads you into a cave, with lurking spirits within.

Startled by a hostile spirit, you stumble off the bridge and fall into a swamp, where murky ghouls try to grab you.

Wading out of the green waters, you find yourself in a courtyard between buildings.

This place has been torn apart and strewn with bloody intestines, and demons craving for fresh blood.

You run into one of the buildings to escape, only to discover that you have to break the seal of talismans to go forward.

A deranged priest warns you for disturbing the enchantments set up for protection.

The undead are now slowly reawakening…

You struggle through the coffins and end up in a mysterious forest filled with disembodied heads. The haunting glyph shows the path forward.

It brings you to another world – where vengeful brides await in blood-soaked chambers.

The trail of blood leads you away from the red chambers, and into another world enveloped in white fur.

A man warns you not to go ahead. This is the realm of the fox spirit.

But it’s too late as the fox spirit (Hu Li Jing) has already found you.

You dig through the voluminous fur walls to escape, and you’re back indoors – but this time the walls are strewn with spliced victims and dissected body parts – all hanging by jinxed threads.

The victims cry for help, while some grab for you – to spread the suffering.

A powerful gust pulls you away and into a space filled with burning papers.

The ScrollMaster has conjured a vortex with the fully-unleashed power of his cursed scrolls, spreading the power of the malicious hex for all eternity.