Haunted Attraction Network

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, RankedPremium Scream Night: What It's Like and Whether It's Worth ItHHN 35 Food Menu: Every Item, Ranked, With PricesUnmasking the Horror Tour: A Lights-On Look Inside Three HousesJohn Murdy Breaks Down HHN Hollywood's Sinners HouseTim Curry, the Original Pennywise, Has Died at 80Movie 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-GreetsThe Curse of Camelback Turns a Poconos Waterpark Into a HauntGreen Tagged: Six Flags Moves HQ, Disney Patents Ride AversionsParty City Is Back for Halloween, Inside StaplesTarget Pulls Clown Costume After BacklashPBR's Jason 12-Pack Folds Into a Wearable MaskRead 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 2Read 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 Anniversaryhttps://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 Destinationhttps://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/quality-vs-quantity-universal-and-six-flags-split-halloween