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Occasional digests of what’s rising — haunts, drops, and headlines. No spam.
Occasional digests of what’s rising — haunts, drops, and headlines. No spam.
Midsummer Scream runs August 7 to 9, 2026 at the Long Beach Convention Center. Single-day passes run $42 to $60. Weekend and VIP Gold Bat passes are sold out. The largest Halloween and horror convention on the West Coast draws roughly 50,000 attendees for over 300 exhibitors, the Hall of Shadows dark zone, panels, and […]
Long Beach, CA — Midsummer Scream and Paramount Scares have announced a weekend-long celebration marking the 30th anniversary of Wes Craven’s Scream at the 2026 convention, bringing much of the original Scream cast, Ghostface voice actor Roger L. Jackson, and composer Marco Beltrami to the Long Beach Convention Center from August 7 through August 9. […]
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has announced new Blair Witch: No Signal haunted mazes for the 2026 Halloween season, coming to Dorney Park’s Halloween Haunt in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and Six Flags Great America’s Fright Fest in Gurnee, Illinois. The two mazes tie a licensed horror IP to Halloween events at two of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation’s […]
Orlando, FL — Universal Orlando has discontinued all of its “Fear with Express Pass” products for Halloween Horror Nights 35, ending the multi-year practice of packaging Universal Express access with the event’s multi-night Fear passes. The change affects guests who would previously have added Express access to the Rush of Fear, Frequent Fear, Frequent Fear […]
LEGO Icons Mayor Manor 11383, the first set from the Midnight Valley Collection. (Photo: The LEGO Group) Billund, Denmark, The LEGO Group has debuted a new adult-targeted seasonal building line called the Midnight Valley Collection, starting with a 1,420-piece haunted manor called Mayor Manor. The set is set number 11383, priced at $119.99 in the […]
Home Depot’s 2026 Halloween collection launched online and in the app on July 16, 2026, with an in-store rollout starting in late August. The 12 FT SKELLY returns with app-enabled voice modulation, a new 11 FT Mummy and 8 FT Perilous Plant Monster expand the giant roster, and animatronics from Disney’s Maleficent to Warner Bros.’ […]
To get a job at a haunted house, apply directly through the haunt’s website or social pages in August or early September, when most haunts hold auditions. You don’t need acting experience at most haunts, auditions are usually group exercises rather than prepared monologues, and hiring continues all season, so late applicants still get cast. […]
Last updated: July 17, 2026. The 2026 convention is this weekend. VIP passes are sold out, but General Admission passes remain available throughout the show. This guide will be updated in place each year. Irving, TX — The Texas Haunters Convention is a two-day, cash-and-carry Halloween and cosplay convention held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth […]
The trailer for the upcoming found footage horror movie Sundown seeks to determine whether its haunting is demonic or dementia. The found footage nightmare is set to premiere at Mad Monster Party in North Carolina and Houston Horror Film Fest in August. In Sundown, “Mary, whose husband has recently died of dementia, claims his spirit […]
Blair James spoke to Dread Central about collaboration in costume design, her favorite looks and the Bear costume she loves to hate.
Home Depot‘s massive 12-foot-tall skeleton decoration went viral back in 2020 and has returned with fresh new upgrades every year since. This year, the 12-foot Skelly gets a voice! Two different versions of the 12-foot Skelly decoration are up for grabs this year, with the standard version selling for $299 and the app-controlled talking version […]
If your Halloween display isn’t terrifying the entire neighborhood, this might do the trick. HalloweenCostumes.com has unveiled an officially licensed […]
Most haunted houses open between September 11 and the first weekend of October 2026. Theme park events start much earlier, with Disneyland’s Halloween season beginning August 18 and Halloween Horror Nights Orlando opening August 28, the earliest start in its history. And the season no longer ends on Halloween: several of the country’s biggest independent […]
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
Universal Orlando’s decision to discontinue Fear Passes with Express for Halloween Horror Nights 35 was always going to upset someone. The discussion has dominated the conversation over the past day, and understandably so. It’s one of the biggest changes to HHN ticketing in years, and there are A LOT of strong opinions about whether it’s [...]
Somewhere in the Disney vaults sits a 1993 ledger listing Hocus Pocus as a disappointment, and somewhere in Salem right now a tour guide is pointing at a house because of it. Few movies have a resume this contradictory. A Halloween institution, a costume industry, a tourism engine, and a genuine piece of shared American ... Read more
Disney characters are bound to have some really cute and cool costumes, but oh boy are there some strange ones this year!
The UK's biggest horror and fantasy film festival returns this August with a record-breaking selection of horror and genre features from around the world.
The Killer Klowns from Outer Space have made a couple appearances at Halloween Horror Nights in recent years, with the Klowns getting a Scare Zone in 2018 and a full-on house at Halloween Horror Nights 2019. This year, the Klowns are coming back to Orlando… The official Halloween Horror Nights Orlando account on Twitter is […]
Killer Klowns from Outer Space will be back on Earth for their own scare zone at Halloween Horror Nights 35 in Universal Studios Florida. Killer Klowns from Outer Space Scare zone Universal didn’t share a description of the scare zone but said more details are coming soon. Based on the 1988 sci-fi horror comedy B-movie ... Read more