Sept. 17, 2025

NEWS: Dark Nights at Hersheypark Debuts New Haunt & Entertainment

Show Notes
Transcript

Dark Nights at Hersheypark (Hershey, PA) opened this past weekend, running eight weekends through November 2nd. The event features five haunted houses, four scare zones, access to over 50 rides, seasonal foods & beverages, live entertainment, and more. Guests can enjoy family-friendly fun by day and frights at night - all included with a Hersheypark Halloween ticket. A new haunted house ( Kill 'N Fill Garage) and Scare Zone debuted this year.
Also this week: Field of Screams PA Opens Gates for 33rd Season with New Hayride Scene; Take a Sneak Peek at Hera's Nightmare; The Haunt in Atascadero Unveils “Frankenstein’s Monsters Re-stitched”; Go Behind the Screams at Kings Dominion to Benefit A Kid Again; LEGOLAND California Unveils 17-Foot Halloween LEGO Tree; Scooby-Doo Halloween Toys Come to Burger King; HalloweenCostumes.com Releases 2025 Halloween in America Survey Results. Read more here.

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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the

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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the

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Han Show. We bring you the haunt news, information, and

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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we

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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

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more about these stories and so much more in our

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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,

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and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it

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off to Darryl.

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Dark Nights at Hershey Park and Hershey, Pennsylvania opened this

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past weekend, running eight weekends through November two. This thrilling

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seasonal event includes five haunted houses, four scare zones, access

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to more than fifty rides, seasonal food and beverages, live entertainment,

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and more. Guests can enjoy family friendly fund by day

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and frights at night, all included with a Hershey Park

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Halloween ticket. The brand new haunted house debuting this season

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is Kill and Fill Garage, fueled by evil Killers have

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taken over the abandoned kill and Fill garage, and what

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goes on behind the rusted chain link fence is sure

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to send sparks flying wander through the Junkyard Mechanics bay

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an office as you make your way to the boiler room,

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but beware, the screams start when the engines die. Watch

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our walkthrough by following the links in our show notes.

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Path of Shadows Coven's Curse is a new scare zone

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for twenty twenty five. Long hidden from sight, the Path

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of Shadows has opened and three mysterious witches have emerged.

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Trade carefully through the scare zone where something wicked is brewing,

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or run the risk of becoming the next victim of

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the Coven's Curse. Another highlight this year is the expanded

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food and beverage offerings. From savory eats to dreadfully decadent

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desserts and spine shingling cocktails. There are plenty of new

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goodies to satisfy your taste buds. Backed by popular demand,

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The Hershey Park Halloween Tasting Pass for thirty seven ninety

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five allows guests to taste five frightfully delicious snacks, desserts

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and drinks exclusively available during the Dark Knights. Tickets are

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on sale now starting as low as forty five ninety nine.

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You can view full coverage of Dark Knights by following

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the links in our show notes, including the full event,

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the all new Kill and Fill Garage and Dark Knights,

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The Haunted coal Mine, The State of Evil, Anti Mortem's Abattoir,

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and the Twisted Carnievil. The Field of Screams opens their

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gates for the thirty third season. Field of Screams in Mountville, Pennsylvania,

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opened its gates this past weekend for its thirty third season,

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open select nights through November eighth, with a special Encore

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Extreme Blackout Night on November fourteenth. This year promises to

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deliver fear inducing fun new features, including a custom designed

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welcome sign and a high octane explosive scene guaranteed to

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shock and delight visitors. The new hay Ride scene takes

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place at a CD gas station with pyrotechnic effects. In

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addition to the hay guests can brave three other attractions,

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the Den of Darkness, Fright, Maare Asylum, and Nocturnal Wasteland.

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Tickets are on sale now starting at forty to sixty

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dollars for a general admission screen pass. You can watch

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the video of all four attractions by following the links

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in the show notes and the newsletter Sneak Peek at

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Hara's Nightmare. You can take a sneak peak at Harrah's

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Nightmare from Westminster, Maryland with owner Carlos Revas. The inaugural

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season of Harrah's Nightmare was honored at this year's Haunted

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Attraction Association All Scares with the Board of Director's First

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Year Haunt Award. In our exclusive video, go behind the

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scenes for a look at the haunts, movie quality sets,

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state of the art special effects, giant animatronics, and one

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of a kind scares. Brave guests will encounter four attractions

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this year, the new Bite Fright and Horror Vault selfie experience,

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as well as returning Maz's Contaminated X and the Curse

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of Hex and Hollow. Harah's Nightmare opens Friday and Saturday's,

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October third through November one. Tickets are on sale now,

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starting at thirty two dollars for general admission for all

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three Haunts, or forty dollars for combo admission all three

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Haunts plus the Horror Vault selfie experience. The Haunt in

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a Tescadero unveils Frankenstein's Monsters restitched this Halloween season. The

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Haunted at Tescadero in at Tescadaro, California, invites guests to

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descend deeper into madness with its latest horrifying chapter, Frankenstein's

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Monster Restitched. The Haunt plunges guests into the hidden recesses

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of doctor Frankenstein's workshop, where grotesque creations have been reassembled, repurposed,

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and brought back to life, and weighs more dreadful than

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ever imagined. The story of Frankenstein doesn't end with a

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single monster, said Chris Towers, executive director and lead production

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engineer at The Haunt and at Tescadero. This year, we

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wanted to expand that universe. What happens when the doctor's

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failed experiments are stitched together again. What kind of horrors

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emerge when ambition and obsession know no limits. Frankenstein's Monster

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Restitched runs select nights number twenty six through November First.

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Guests can choose their level of terror through different ticket

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options Lights On which is family friendly, Classic Haunt, Mare

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which is a classic maze, or Night Terrors, the Ultimate

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Scare Experience. Tickets are on sale now. Go Behind the

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Screams at King's Dominion to benefit a Kid Again nonprofit.

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On October three, Step into the Shadows before the Screams

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begin with an exclusive behind the scenes Haunt experience at

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King's Dominion in Doswell, Virginia, benefiting the nonprofit organization A

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Kid Again. Ticket Holders will tour one of the Halloween

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Haunt mazes before opening and go behind the scenes to

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visit the monster makeup studio where the creatures of the

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Night are brought to life. The evening will continue with

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food and beverages. Available. Upgrades include early ride access to

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the new Wrappterra roller coaster, Haunted Attraction express passes, and

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a special viewing of the opening ceremony from atop the

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Eiffel Tower. Five lucky individuals will also be able to

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join this scare team for an evening as a creature

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of the Night as part of a special raffle. The

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tickets to this event benefit A Kid Again, an organization

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that helps children with life threatening conditions and their families

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create lasting memories together at kid desirable destinations. Tickets for

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Behind the Screams are on sale now and start at

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one hundred dollars. Lego Land California unveils a seventeen foot

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Halloween Lego tree with Lego Land California's Bricker Treat Monster

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Party in Carlsbad, California, coming September twentieth through November first.

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The park has unveiled a mass of seventeen foot tall

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Halloween tree made entirely of Lego bricks, with six hundred

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and eighty nine hundred and sixty three bricks used in

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its construction. The tree is at the park's largest Lego

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creation by brick count and took five Master Model builders

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over four thousand hours to assemble. Adorned with spooky friends,

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the tree will give guests a friendly fright with moving eyes,

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twinkling lights, and Halloween themed background music. Ricker Treat provides

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Halloween fun for all ages with live shows, Lego monster

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meet and greets, trick or treating, costume contests, and more.

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Tickets are on sale now. Scooby Doo Halloween toys are

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coming to Burger King. Burger King has announced new Halloween

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surprise for their King Junior Meals, Scooby Doo Halloween Toys.

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Starting September sixteenth, Burger King restaurants nationwide will feature a

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fun line above collectible toys inspired by Scooby Doo. In

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the Mystery Gang, Kids or Halloween loving adults will find

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either Scooby Doo, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, Fred or Villain Elmwood

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Crane in each meal while supplies last. Each character is

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dressed to trick or treat with a removable mask. Halloween

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Costumes dot Com releases their twenty twenty five Halloween in

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America survey results. Halloween Costumes dot Com ask one thousand

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Americans how they plan to celebrate Halloween this season as

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part of the Retailers twenty twenty five Halloween in America Survey.

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Over half of respondent's planned to spend about the same

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on Halloween as they did last year. Well twenty two

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percent plan to increase their Halloween spend and what are

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they spending their money on. Seventy five percent of respondents

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said they planned to wear costumes this season, with thirty

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percent of respondents planning on two or more costumes. Decorating

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also continues to grow. Sixty eight percent of respondents plan

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to decorate outside, up from sixty two percent to twenty

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twenty three and only thirty percent in twenty twenty two,

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and sixty one percent plan to decorate inside, up from

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fifty eight percent to twenty twenty three and only twenty

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six percent in twenty twenty two. Garage, vehicle and office

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decorating also continue to gain popularity, reflecting the widespread desire

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to bring Halloween spirit into all spaces. Work celebrations are

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on the rise, with fifty one percent of workplaces handing

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out candy, forty eight percent allowing desk and office decorations,

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and forty four percent allowing employees to wear accessories or

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themed a pail. When asked about their Halloween vibe for

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twenty twenty five, respondents lean toward qute and cozy twenty

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five percent of the time twenty twenty three percent of

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the time and nostalgic at sixteen percent of the time

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for their theme, showing a preference for lighthearted celebrations, while

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scary themes at nineteen percent and whimsical fantasy at twelve

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percent also hold strong interest. Some upcoming events September through

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November twenty twenty five include the Sun of Monster Palooza

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October tenth through twelfth in Burbank, California, IAPPA November seventeenth

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through twentieth in Orlando, Florida, and creep It Real Festive

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November twenty first through twenty third in Santa Ana.

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California, and that's all for the news this week. Today's

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episode was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting by

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Darryl Plunky post production by David Swope. This Haunt News

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Update is a production of the Haunt Attraction Network and

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you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunt

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Attraction Network dot com. Support for this episode comes from

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Gantum Lighty and controls. Until next time, Haunters Stay Scary.

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This is a Haunted Attraction net work put a lat