Revenge of the Ninja Block Party

NO LONGER IN OPERATION

Hollywood Gothique Says:

The block party was fun for the neighborhood, but the real attraction of this annual Halloween event was the Revenge of the Ninja maze, which used a few clever effects gags and lots of stealth appearances by ninja ghosts to create something truly special.

The Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy
18727 Crenshaw Boulevard, Torrance CA 90504
revengeoftheninja.com
facebook.com/RevengeoftheNinja

Status: Closed. The last time we heard from the proprietors, they were seeking a new, permanent location for their maze while continuing their annual Halloween block party. Since then, the event went dark during the 2020 pandemic, and their website is down.

Revenge of the Ninja Block Party & Maze Articles and Updates

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Revenge of the Ninja Block Party & Maze: Information

For many years, the Way of the Shadow Martial Arts Academy presented the Revenge of the Ninja themed maze for a few evenings at the end of October, with a block party on Halloween night, featuring a snack shack, carnival style games and prizes. What truly distinguished this Halloween event from others in Los Angeles was the community atmosphere, which provided an invitingly convivial opportunity for neighborhood families to hang out, even after braving the terrors of the ghostly ninja assassins. All ages were welcome, but the maze was not recommended for children under 10.

The walk-through maze featured a labyrinth of corridors inside the martial arts academy. The sets were mostly tarp and cardboard flats simulating walls, but there were appropriately Asian touches like gongs and bamboo, and the ninja theme added its own special flavor, unlike any other haunt in Los Angeles. The back story was that every October 31 the martial arts academy was haunted by spirits of Ninja slaughtered in a sneak attack, who would rise from the dead to take revenge against unworthy trespassers. Thus the corridors were filled with black-clad masked assassins popping out from every corner – and sometimes through the “walls” (thanks to slits in the tarp). There was also some effectively frightening gore, including one unfortunate victim who appeared to have a leg sawed off on a table. Even more amazing is scene of a live actor, vomiting blood, who seemed to be a torso impaled on a bamboo pole – a truly great shock effect.

After several years of haunting, Revenge of the Ninja presented its annual Halloween block party in 2018 & 2019, without the scary maze, which was officially “on hiatus” while the owners searched for a new “permanent situation.” The block party cancelled its annual event in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the event did not return the following year.