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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.
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
Oreo Ghosts have started turning up in Halloween aisles, and the thing worth knowing before you go looking is that they are not a ghost-shaped Oreo. They are molded dark chocolate ghosts filled with Oreo creme and cookie pieces, sold in a bag of individually wrapped singles. The bag carries a NEW flash and a […]
Fall officially arrives at Starbucks on Tuesday, August 25 with the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Alongside it come three new pumpkin spice beverages, returning pecan drinks, two banana bread-inspired lattes, and an entirely new drink called the Chaider. New food and a limited-time merchandise collection land the same day. Update, August 5, 2026: […]
Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party opens Friday, August 7 with eight of its 38 dates already sold out, and Disney has now shown what the party sells once you are inside. The official foodie guide names 17 new food and drink items across 11 Magic Kingdom locations, and a merchandise reveal posted Monday covers the party-exclusive […]
Disney Parks has posted a first-look video previewing the 2026 Halloween food and drinks coming to Disneyland Resort, and it reveals five items across Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure. The preview lands ahead of Halloween Time’s August 21 through October 31 run, and prices have not been announced yet. The Sweet Side Matcha Mickey-shaped […]
The Monster Cereals have made it to the Halloween tree. Old World Christmas, the Spokane, Washington ornament maker hand-blowing glass since 1979, is selling Boo Berry, Count Chocula, and Franken Berry as glass ornaments at $27.99 each, and each character comes two ways: the monster itself, or its cereal box. That makes six cereal ornaments […]
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.” That’s the second Halloween survey in two weeks, both with findings that will sound familiar if you’ve been reading our newsletter. We’ve covered who’s […]
Two weeks ago I asked whether summer had become the new shoulder season. Last week, Universal’s earnings confirmed it: summer is on sale, and the industry is betting the year on Halloween and Christmas. This week, the arms race that bet triggered came into full view with the fall roster. Sony IP will appear at […]
Sandusky, OH — Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends returns for its 29th year on select dates September 17 through November 1, 2026, per the park’s official event page. The maze and scare zone lineup has not been announced, pricing has not been posted, and the per-date calendar is not up yet. This guide covers what is confirmed […]
The Halloween International Film Festival returns to the historic and haunted Outer Banks of North Carolina for its 7th incarnation
The Freddy Fazbear animatronic costs $499.99 at Spirit Halloween, and a Spirit Halloween store is the only place to buy one. There is no product page on spirithalloween.com and no shipping option. Per Spirit’s official Freddy page, the life-size Five Nights at Freddy’s animatronic is “available exclusively in-store,” and “inventory is limited and available on […]
Hershey has released its Unwrapping Halloween: State of the Season report, built on a Morning Consult survey of 3,026 US adults fielded July 8 through 10, and its central claim puts a number on what this season has looked like from every direction: “Halloween has evolved into a season spanning a third of the year […]
Crews installed more scare zone props at Universal Studios Florida this weekend as Halloween Horror Nights 35 gets closer. This year’s scare zones are Infernal Carnival of Nightmares, Downtown Clowntown, Sideshow of Decay, and FORTNITEMARES. Halloween Horror Nights Scare Zones There are trusses at the park’s main gates, where guests will watch the “Opening Scaremonies” each night. The ... Read more
The full official trailer for the new independent film Hansel & Gretel’s Halloween has been unveiled, previewing all the Halloween
The countdown reached zero, but the party never ended. Nekrosis traps Howl-O-Scream Orlando guests inside a decaying seaside town frozen in Y2K.
Eureka, MO — Six Flags St. Louis has posted its complete Fright Fest 2026 lineup, the park’s first under new operator Enchanted Parks: four haunted houses including one new build, seven scare zones, and four shows including two new productions. The event runs select nights September 12 through November 1, and per the park’s official […]
Disney Store’s Halloween Shop is up for 2026 with 537 items across costumes, apparel, plush, ornaments, pins, and home decor. That is a lot of scroll, so here are five picks worth the click, all in stock as of August 1. Free shipping starts at $85 with code SHIPMAGIC. The Exclusive Halloween Plush Mickey Mouse […]
The short answer for anyone typing this into a search bar: no. Hobby Lobby does not carry Halloween decorations, and the company formally discontinued the line. In a statement provided through its corporate customer service and reported by Snopes, Hobby Lobby said: “The decision on what to offer our customers are based on many factors, […]
Old Navy has launched Haunted Harvest, a Disney collaboration built around Mickey and Friends in fall and Halloween mode. The collection page lists 45 items covering women, men, kids, toddlers, babies, and pets, priced from $7.99 crew socks to $49.99 adult flannels and sweatshirts, with Old Navy pitching it as “Pumpkin patch-bound in Mickey & […]
Universal City, CA — The Purge: Dangerous Waters is returning to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood for 2026, its fourth consecutive year. Universal announced the return with a short teaser: “This fiery stunt spectacular puts you in a world where laws won’t save you, bringing the unpredictable terror of The Purge to life.” […]