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Halloween is bigger than ever! The NRF puts spending at a record $13.5 billion this year, with 74% of Americans celebrating and 49% starting their shopping in September or earlier. And gore isn't driving any of it: the top ways people celebrate are handing out candy, costumes, decorating, pumpkins, and scary movies. In this week's double issue: why family Halloween is having a moment (go spooky, not scary, and plan for dwell time and food), why the K shape is still a thing as premium sells out from Tribeca to Osaka, and what Universal Studios Japan's Resident Evil house does with real doors. In this issue: - Halloween Spending Heads to $13.5 Billion - Six Flags Permanently Retires X2 After Brain-Injury Lawsuits - Enchanted Parks' First Halloween - Blood Manor Charges $350 To Make You a Monster - Spirit Halloween's 11 Costume Trends for 2026 - IAAPA's Brass Ring Awards Close Oct 16 - Tim Burton's Labyrinth, Harry Potter Drones, and DUNE: The Experience

Fall is officially here, and we're only 35 days away from Halloween. By this weekend, every major theme park Halloween event in the U.S. is open, Alton Towers, Movie Park Germany, and Disneyland Paris are open in Europe, and our tracker shows more than 30 haunts opening tonight and tomorrow alone. This is crunch time, and all of us are in the middle of shows. So I'm giving you permission: take care of yourself, and enjoy some of it. If anyone disagrees, tell them I said it was OK. Also this week: why Six Flags is building Fright Fest for passholders instead of competing on mazes, what the record Top Haunts list is actually for, and why a plain corn dog doesn't cut it anymore.In this issue:Knott's Scary Farm Opening Weekend: Every Maze on VideoSix Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest Review: Why Passholders WinHaunted Attraction Association Certifies a Record 74 Top HauntsWoods of Terror Remembers LaurieErebus Debuts PrimordiumTulleys' Shocktober Fest Turns 30The Lemp Mansion Is for Sale, but Stays Open Through 2027A24's Slayground Sets a Horror Movie Inside a Working HauntAngry Orchard's Free Scream Video-Store Pop-Up With Skeet Ulrich2026 Golden Ticket AwardsHidden Valley's Spooky Ranch and Cup Noodles' Vampire NoodlesJellycat's 2026 Halloween Collection and What's Sold OutRead the stories here

At HHN this year, the premium tiers sold out first. Premium Scream Night, a capacity-capped evening at $399 a head, sold out on both of its dates. The R.I.P. guided tour, at $469, has sold out outright, and the only way left to buy that experience is a private booking for $5,000. Six Flags is making the same premium bet with The Conjuring: Beyond Fear while playing the value side at the same time: a low gate for the passholder, scarcity on top for the guest who wants more. Thirteenth Floor is running the haunt-scale version with its Jason walkthrough in nine cities. Operators on both ends have learnings here. In this issue: Halloween Horror Nights 35 Houses, Ranked Premium Scream Night: What It's Like and Whether It's Worth It HHN 35 Food Menu: Every Item, Ranked, With Prices Unmasking the Horror Tour: A Lights-On Look Inside Three Houses John Murdy Breaks Down HHN Hollywood's Sinners House Tim Curry, the Original Pennywise, Has Died at 80 Movie Park Germany Adds the First Jason Universe Haunt Outside the U.S. Mickey's Not-So-Scary Adds a Barbossa Show and Haunted Mansion Meet-and-Greets The Curse of Camelback Turns a Poconos Waterpark Into a Haunt Green Tagged: Six Flags Moves HQ, Disney Patents Ride Aversions Party City Is Back for Halloween, Inside Staples Target Pulls Clown Costume After Backlash PBR's Jason 12-Pack Folds Into a Wearable Mask Read more

It's Pumpkin Spice Week, and the theme park season is nearly all open too. In this week's newsletter: every major U.S. theme park Halloween event is either running or opens within the next three weeks, and haunted houses are the roller coasters of fall, the dedicated attractions that give the theme park industry its pricing power. Meanwhile, Thirteenth Floor is running a licensed Jason walkthrough at nine haunts, a bigger footprint than Six Flags has with the same brand, and The Scare Factor launched a free tool that re-ranks every haunt around each guest's preferences. In this issue: - Haunted Houses Are the Roller Coasters of Fall: The Hard-Ticket Holiday - A Jason Haunted House Is Coming to 9 Cities This Halloween - Find the Best Haunted Houses for You With The Scare Factor's Haunt Advisor - Oogie Boogie Bash Opens With Madame Leota's Swinging Wake - Knott's Scary Farm Announces 2 New Mazes and 2 New Shows - Six Flags Makes Its Halloween Bet - A Petrified Forest Adds Five Original Attractions for Chaos Reigns - Dark Arts Returns to Hogwarts Castle After Three Years - Shanghai Disneyland Expands to Ten Spook-tacular Days - Nocturne Theatre Stages Frankenstein: Resurrection - Fall Food Roundup: Every Chain's Menu, From PSL to Caramel Apple - Midnight Syndicate Releases Plankett's Grove - IT: Welcome to Derry Renewed for Season 2 Read the news here.

Movie tickets broke records this summer, showing that people are still paying to go out. They're choosing cheaper formats, and a haunt ticket sits much closer to a movie ticket than to a theme park vacation. In this week's newsletter, we break down what that demand means for haunts this fall, the sensory Halloween food trend hitting national shelves, how Kennywood and HHN are monetizing assets by day, and what Ocean Park's shrinking house count says about the classic IP trap. In this issue: - Villains Land's Story Details Revealed - The Fortnite Era: The Game Is at Disney and Universal at Once - Ocean Park Reveals Its Full 2026 Halloween Fest Lineup - Hotel Transylvania Comes to SeaWorld Orlando's Spooktacular - Kennywood Turns Its Dark Ride Into a Day-and-Night Walkthrough - Dollywood's Harvest Festival Returns With Two New Additions - Alton Towers Scarefest Adds the Final Exhibit Maze - Evil Intentions Won't Open for 2026 After Elgin Move Falls Through - Fall Food Roundup: Hershey, IHOP, Chick-fil-A's Chicken and Waffles - Ghost Face Fanta, Michael Myers Beer, and Cheetos' Blumhouse Snack - Scream Returns to Theaters for Its 30th Anniversary https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/movie-tickets-broke-records-are-haunt-tickets-next

Between Midsummer Scream and earnings week, this issue is dense. Disney, Six Flags, and United Parks dropped earnings, and the news is positive overall for our industry. Universal has a strong reputation, but Six Flags now operates the most haunted mazes in the world: 107, added to parks that already have infrastructure and passholders. HHN Hollywood is leaning into independent films where they have more leeway, with an original Slash score, the event's first-ever singing villain, and a twisted children's storybook Terror Tram scored by Ice Nine Kills. In this issue: - Q2 Theme Park Earnings and What They Tell Us About the Consumer - Six Flags Plans 107 Haunted Houses for Halloween 2026 - Slash Scored HHN Hollywood's Killceañera House - Art the Clown Takes Over the Terror Tram With "Every Day Is Artmas" - HHN Hollywood Adds Hidden Character From Curry Barker's "Obsession" - The LA Haunted Hayride Adds an '80s Rock Maze and Brings Back Elvira - Queen Mary's Dark Harbor Will Murder One of Its 13 Icons Live - Midsummer Scream Moves to Anaheim for 2027 - Spirit Halloween's Owner Is Buying Hot Topic - A Real Freddy Fazbear's Pizza Opens at American Dream in 2027 - Diablo Mazes Land at Cedar Point and Kings Dominion - Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest Adds Final Destination https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/quality-vs-quantity-universal-and-six-flags-split-halloween

Hershey has a name for the economy we've been describing all year: Treatonomics, "a consumer trend in which people prioritize joyful, memorable experiences and generosity over simply chasing the lowest price." Guests are still spending on Halloween, and they're looking for memorable experiences to connect with, even if it costs a little more. Case in point: eight dates of Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, a family trick-or-treat party that is practically the definition of Treatonomics, sold out before the event even opened. Meanwhile, all the major theme parks now have at least one IP-based haunt, with Sony landing at all five Howl-O-Scream parks, Jason coming to three Six Flags parks, and Ozzy completing the HHN 35 lineup. But when every major event is licensed, there's a market in the zag: Netherworld marked its 30th season by going deeper into its own mythology, and original is about to become the differentiator. In this issue: - Hershey's State of the Season Report: Welcome to Treatonomics - Ozzy Osbourne: Prince of Darkness Completes the HHN 35 Lineup - Sony Licenses Land at All Five Howl-O-Scream Parks - Jason: Blood Reign Coming to Three Six Flags Parks - Jackson Wang Is Building a Haunted House at Ocean Park - Netherworld Announces Its 30th Season of Screams - Spirit Halloween Moved Into 85 Former Party City Stores - Retail Roundup: Michael Myers, Beistle, Johanna Parker, Grandin Road, Buc-ee's, Pottery Barn, Funko, Disney Store, and Hobby Lobby's Missing Halloween https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/treatonomics-guests-want-memorable-not-cheap

Guests are ready to buy Halloween in July. That's the takeaway from Mars' annual Tricks, Treats and Trends report, which put consumer numbers on trends we've been tracking all year: 57% of US adults now consider Halloween a full season, 71% want sensory food experiences, and half of Gen Z is discovering Halloween on TikTok and YouTube. This week's news shows operators building for exactly that: ScareHouse is returning to Pittsburgh with no haunted house at all, just the hangout, and SCREAM-A-GEDDON put $2.5 million, its largest capital project ever, into its midway. In this issue: - Halloween 2026 Trends: Season Creep, the Food Gap, & Discoverability - HHN Roundup - Universal's Q2: Orlando Softens - ScareHouse Returns With Halloween Hangout - SCREAM-A-GEDDON's $2.5 Million Midway Opens August 29th - Fire Destroys Three Houses at Field of Horrors - Freakling Bros. Pauses 2026 for a J.J. Abrams Film - Delusion Returns to the Beckett Mansion - Spirit Halloween's Flagship Opens Saturday - How Much Do Professional Animatronics Cost? - At Home Launches Its Biggest Halloween Assortment Ever - Retail Roundup: Universal Monsters LEGO, Skullector, Lemax, Lenox, Monster Cereals, and More READ THE STORIES HERE

The theme park industry spent years training guests that September and October were worth a visit, and it worked so well that Halloween is now the anchor of the entertainment calendar. In this week's newsletter, we break down what that means for haunts, who's still spending, and why consumer retail is now building product for the semi-pro haunter. In this issue: - Plan Your Season with HAN's 2026 Halloween Haunt & Event Guides - HHN 35 Opens a Portal to Its Own Past With "Sideshow of Decay" - "Stranger Things: Return to Hawkins" Becomes HHN's First Single-Franchise Lagoon Show - Universal Orlando Discontinues Fear With Express Pass Products - HHN in Singapore and Japan - "Blair Witch: No Signal" Mazes Coming to Six Flags - Halloween at Tokyo Disney 2026 - HalloweenCostumes Debuts Its Biggest Animatronics Lineup Ever - Freddy Fazbear Animatronic Comes to Spirit Halloween - Scream 30th Anniversary Reunion at Midsummer Scream - Legendary Haunt Tour 2026 Lineup Read the news here

Welcome to the circus! July 5th marks the official countdown to Halloween in the US, and the theme for 2026 is shaping up to be carnival. Bath & Body Works is the second national retailer to land on a haunted carnival theme, joining Michaels and Halloween Horror Nights' "Infernal Carnival of Nightmares." When two national chains and the world's largest Halloween event converge on the same aesthetic, consumers will feel it. Read the news here.  In this issue: - Bath & Body Works Debuts Haunted Carnival Collection - The Conjuring: Beyond Fear Returns to Four Six Flags Parks - Hellraiser Comes to Halloween Horror Nights - Stranger Things Comes to Netflix House Philadelphia - FrightWorks Announces Indefinite Closure - Why This Comcast Move Could Reshape the Entire Industry - Niles Scream Park Adds Six Feet Under Bar - Wicked Lit Returns After Eight Years - Field of Screams Donates $23,000 to Community Organizations - Spirit's Flagship Grand Opening Returns August 1st - HAA Board Openings - Midsummer Scream's SoCal Haunt Spotlight Panel - LEGO Debuts Two Halloween Sets for 2026 - Spirit's Flagship Grand Opening Celebration Returns August 1st - Haunters Toolbox Presents: Building Big Scares with a Tiny Budget -Thirteenth Floor Hiring Ops Manager for Dark Harbor

Halloween is having a moment, and Universal is here for it. Comcast announced it will split into two companies, with the entertainment half, NBCUniversal, anchored by its growing theme parks division. Since Comcast has made horror a central part of its brand, Halloween is about to become a much more visible story on earnings calls, and a higher bar for HHN and Horror Unleashed to clear. That dovetails with everything else Universal announced this week, from four new HHN Orlando houses to a Resident Evil takeover in Las Vegas. We also look at Michaels betting big on Halloween nostalgia, and what that might say about the consumer. In this issue: - Comcast to Spin Off NBCUniversal Around Universal's Theme Parks - Halloween Horror Nights Orlando Announces Remaining Original Houses - Resident Evil Takeover Soft-Launches at Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas - Michaels Bets on Nostalgia With Six 2026 Halloween Décor Collections - House of Horror Haunted Carnival Moves to Tropical Park - IAAPA Expo 2026 Registration Opens, Haunting Grounds Moves to West Building - Run Your Own Dark Ride with "Scream Operator: Haunted House Manager" Game Read the stories here

Two threads land on themes we keep circling back to: who you're selling to and what you're selling is changing. Families are one of the three groups still spending on attractions, and the new Universal Kids Resort is a direct play for that demographic. But, it seems to suffer from the same issue as Universal Horror Unleashed: Universal positioned the product as premium, betting that the IP and brand would justify the price, and early reviews show it struggling to meet guest expectations. The operators who get premium right don't lean solely on IP to do the work. They build a strong core product, evoke emotion, and let everything else extend it. Ultimately, we all sell memories made of emotion, and increasingly, guests want to buy items that extend them. During IAAPA Expo Asia, Hong Kong Disneyland and Ocean Park explained how merchandise fits into that cycle. For haunts, it comes down to one question: what's the moment in your attraction that guests already talk about, photograph, and remember? You're not just selling the scare. You're selling the moment they'll remember, and everything else extends it. In this issue: -Universal Kids Resort Opens For Previews -Stranger Things Returns to Halloween Horror Nights -H.R. Bloodengutz Returns to HHN Orlando with New Original House -Dollywood Hosts Its First Separately-Ticketed After-Hours Halloween Event -The Rocky Horror Picture Show Planned for Sphere in 2027 https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/a-haunt-sells-memories-not-scares

Spirit Halloween announced it will hire over 52,000 seasonal associates, the largest hiring event in the company's history. Most Americans don't go to a haunted house, but nearly all of them first encounter Halloween through retail. Retail is the first wave of the season, and it primes guests for everything that comes after, including your attraction. In this issue: -Spirit Halloween to Hire 52,000 Seasonal Associates -2026 Halloween & Costume Association Awards Open for Submissions -Legoland Florida Expands Brick-or-Treat to 18 Days -Knott's Scary Farm: Nightmares Revealed Returns August 18th -Green Tagged's News Catch-Up https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/what-52000-halloween-hires-mean-for-your-haunt

Our job is to entertain people. How they want to be entertained, though, might be changing. New data from PGAV and Integrated Insight show that the audience for paid attractions is shifting, with visits down about 11% year over year, with the steepest declines among lower-income households, women, and families without kids. This week, we break down who's still spending, what they want, and why Disney's new Oogie Boogie Bash street party might point to where entertainment is heading. In this issue: -Madame Leota's Swinging Wake Comes to Oogie Boogie Bash -Monstropolis Celebrates H.U.M.A.N. Day at Disney's Hollywood Studios -Six Flags Fiesta Texas Announces Werewolf Gorge Launch Coaster -Nightmare Wharf Reveals Attraction Themes -Midsummer Scream Announces Main Stage Theme Park Panels -C.H.A.O.S. Training to Be Held on June 27th - Midwest Haunters Convention Returns June 10th-13th, 2027 https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/whos-still-spending-on-attractions

Haunts and theme parks are facing similar challenges in entertaining guests: the connective tissue between the big moments is what makes the day (or night) work. In this issue: - Sinners Announced for Halloween Horror Nights Orlando and Hollywood - Hersheypark Dark Nights Sets June Audition Dates - Epic Universe Turns One: Takeaways - Disney Faces Class Action Over Disneyland Facial Recognition - Field of Screams Nixa Expands to Branson With New Indoor Haunt - Hotel of Terror Reaches Purchase Agreement with City of Springfield - Monsterpalooza Comes to Pasadena, CA This Weekend - Get Ready for Midwest Haunters Convention, June 6th - 7th Read more: https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/why-haunts-are-becoming-scream-parks