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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.
Following the announcement that FORTNITEMARES would be a scare zone at Halloween Horror Nights 35, preview merchandise based on the scare zone is available at Universal Orlando Resort. FORTNITEMARES T-Shirt – $30 The black glow-in-the-dark tee features the FORTNITEMARES key art. A Skull Trooper, Hollowhead, and Curdle Scream Leader are all pictured in front of ... Read more
The most fought-over kitchen collectible of the past two years now comes in Halloween. Lenox’s Spice Village 6-Piece Halloween Set takes the viral porcelain village and moves it to the spooky end of the street: haunted Victorian houses with black cats, bats, and ravens silhouetted in the glowing windows. It is $75 for the set […]
Spirit Halloween is staffing up for its 2026 season, and the numbers are big: more than 52,000 seasonal positions across 1,500+ stores in the U.S. and Canada. If you have ever walked into a Spirit on opening day and thought you would rather be behind the register than in front of it, this is the […]
At Universal Studios Japan, Halloween Horror Nights is going to the next level by offering an all-night terrifying event. Halloween Horror Nights – All Night For one night only, September 25, a select few guests will get the chance to experience HHN for the entire night. Advance lottery applications open today, July 23. The all-night ... Read more
Universal Studios Hollywood has announced Dead, Deader, Deadest, a new original haunted house that will be featured at Halloween Horror Nights 2026. “Uncover the dark secrets of the Deville Family Funeral Home in this haunted house, where reanimated corpses have risen from their graves.” The haunted house will be located in the Jurassic World extended [...]
At one point or another, nearly every culture on earth believed in malevolent entities that interfered with human affairs. While it’s more likely that this is due to our species’ universal fear of the unknown than the possibility that we share the earth with supernatural monsters, there’s a reason why so many horror movies base […]
The official Resident Evil trailer has arrived this morning, bringing a closer look at the nonstop survival horror ride filled with references to Capcom’s classic game series and T-virus gore. Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil opens in theaters and IMAX September 18 from Sony. The trailer below introduces Austin Abrams (Weapons) as Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself […]
Are we seeing a return to higher-quality, low-throughput horror experiences at theme parks? Universal Studios Japan is adding a new extreme attraction to Halloween Horror Nights 2026: Zanzō (残像, “afterimage”), the first attraction in the event’s 15-year history to carry an R-18 age restriction. No one 17 or under can experience it, full stop, and […]
Here at Halloweenies, we love practical effects—there’s a reason why one of our categories is called “Great Graphics.” Well, consider this a full-length “Great Graphics” episode, where we talk to the effects team behind the titular puppet of Pinocchio Unstrung, in theaters this Friday. As the latest installment in the Twisted Childhood Universe, Pinocchio ups the franchise’s game […]
Freakling Bros. Horror Shows, the Las Vegas haunt that has run for more than 31 years and operates Nevada’s only R-rated haunted attraction, will not open for the 2026 Halloween season. Co-owner and creative director JT Mollner is stepping away for the year to direct his next film, and the family is pausing the entire […]
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
Universal Orlando has confirmed Dead Coconut Club – Harvest, the 2026 Halloween overlay of Universal CityWalk’s Red Coconut Club, tied to Halloween Horror Nights 35. The venue transforms into an alien-invasion takeover of a fictional Midwest town celebrating its 35th Annual Harvest Festival, and it stays what it has been for four years running: free, […]
Universal Orlando has confirmed two returning street experiences for Halloween Horror Nights 35 this fall: Mel’s Die-In: Zombies and Club Horror, both of which take over sections of the Universal Studios Florida streets between houses. Street experiences are the mid-level programming layer at HHN, staged along the walkways of the New York, San Francisco, and […]
Every major Halloween retailer has now revealed its 2026 animatronics lineup, and this is the largest, wildest, most licensed-IP-heavy class in years. There’s a 14-foot Lord of the Rings Balrog that costs as much as a car, a life-size Freddy Fazbear finally arriving at Spirit Halloween, a 12-foot Home Depot Skelly with app-controlled voice modulation, […]
Universal Halloween Horror Nights Japan is set to debut the event's first-ever rated 18+ haunted house, dubbed 'Afterimage'.
For their 15th annual Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Studios Japan will introduce their most extreme horror experience yet: “Afterimage,” a “hopeless, inescapable” attraction rated for guests 18+ and requiring a waiver. Universal Studios Japan has released new details about the experience. Afterimage at Halloween Horror Nights “Afterimage” is the first house in Halloween Horror Nights ... Read more
Halloween Horror Nights is bringing Fortnite, the most-played console game in the United States, into the physical event. Universal is opening a Fortnitemares scare zone at both of its US Halloween Horror Nights events this fall, tied to Epic Games’ annual in-game Halloween event of the same name. The zone opens August 28 at Universal […]
The short answer: Spirit Halloween’s flagship store opens Saturday, August 1, 2026 in Egg Harbor Township, NJ. General pop-up stores open on a rolling schedule through mid-to-late August, and the full 2026 collection is already previewable on Spirit’s site. Spirit is opening 1,575 stores across the US and Canada this year, a record for the […]
Some of the most beloved original monster mask designs of the ’90s are getting a second life. Trick or Treat […]
Red Coconut Club at Universal CityWalk Orlando will once again become “Dead Coconut Club” during Halloween Horror Nights 2026. This year, the club will be themed to a midwest harvest festival under an alien invasion. Dead Coconut Club – Harvest “Strange lights, unidentified flying objects, and folks acting abnormally…what on earth is happening at Midweston’s ... Read more