April 25, 2026

NEWS: How Haunters are Celebrating Halfway to Halloween

Show Notes
Transcript

It's Halfway to Halloween week, and haunters nationwide are celebrating. The Spooky Swap Meet is taking over Heritage Square Museum in LA, the East Coast Haunters Convention kicks off this week in Oaks, Pennsylvania, and it's also the opening weekend of Universal Fan Fest Nights, where Universal Monsters are headlining.
In this issue:
-East Coast Haunters Convention Guide
-Spooky Swap Meet This Weekend
-Fan Fest Nights Food and Merchandise Lineup
-Six Flags Reinstates Park Presidents at 10 Parks
-Field of Screams Halfway to Halloween Music Fest
-Creep It Real OC Announces September Return
-Universal Horror Unleashed Panel at Monsterpalooza

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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hn 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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It's halfway to Halloween week and haunters nationwide are celebrating.

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In Los Angeles, the Spooky Swap Meet takes over a

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Heritage Square museum this weekend, where haunters including La Haunted,

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hay Ride, Thirteenth Floor and Practical Peculiarities are decorating the

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museum's Victoria era homes and hosting all ages tricker treating

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alongside six plus vendors. In Oaks, Pennsylvania, the East Coast

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Haunters Convention kicks off with five Haunted tours, over one

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hundred and fifty vendors, seminars, and a Saturday night party

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at shoctober Fest and in Mountville, Field of Screams is

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opening its gates on May sewid for a halfway to

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Halloween Music Fest with two of its Haunted attractions. This

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is also the opening weekend of Universal Fan Fast Nights

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at Universal Studios Hollywood, where Scooby Doo meets the Universal

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Monsters is the headline backlot experience. Universal is debuting a

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Fan Fast Night's dining pass for the first time, bringing

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a mechanicet tested at Halloween Horror Nights last year into

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its spring event. Also this week, Six Flags Reinstate's Park

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President positions at ten Parks, Creep at Real Oc announces

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its September return, and Universal Horror Unleashed has a panel

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at Monster Palooza this summer. The East Coast Haunters Convention

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is taking place this week. The East Coast Haunters Convention

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in Oaks, Pennsylvania, returns to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center

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this week April twenty third through twenty sixth, with Haunt Tours,

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a show floor with over one hundred and fifty Halloween vendors,

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free learning lab sessions, paid seminars, and a Saturday night

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event at Shoctoberfest. Follow the links in the show notes.

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Because our full guide breaks down what's happening when, and

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how to make the most of your time at this event.

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The Spooky Swap Meet takes place this weekend as well.

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The Spooky Swap Meet returns to the Heritage Square Museum

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in Los Angeles, California, this Friday through Sunday, April twenty

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fourth through twenty six. Come dressed in your favorite costume

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for all ages trick or treating. Shop for Halloween treasures

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from over sixty spooky vendors selling a mix of used

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Halloween decor and props and new merchandise. Enjoy a seance

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or show by the Stage Fright Theater Company. Explore the

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Haunted Hailhouse with the Mad Doctor of Reichland Asylum and

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aarients a walk through at the Octagon House by Thirteenth Floor.

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Other hunters and enthusiasts who have decorated the museum's Victorian

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era manners include La Haunted hay Ride, a Mister he Slasher,

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Sam Hayes's Restless Farm in association with Adam Jsfx, Nikki

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Alcaraz of Practical Peculiarities, and Diana Vogel of the Vogel

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Victorian tickets are selling out quickly, with only four time

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slots remaining as of the morning of April twentieth. General

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admission is twenty three dollars per person, with a portion

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of each ticket sale going to the Heritage Square Museum

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nonprofit foundation for the continued restoration and upkeep of the

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Los Angeles Treasure in theme park news, Scooby Doo Snacks

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and the HHN styled Dining Pass come to Universal Fan

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Fast Nights twenty twenty six. Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal

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City California has announced the food and merchandise lineup for

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Universal Fan Fast Nights twenty twenty six, and the headline

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idea are tied to the event's signature backlot experience, Scooby

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Doo meets the Universal Monsters Mystery on the backlot throughout

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Little Europe, guests will find two Scooby Doo items, Scooby

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Snacks and a super Shaggy Sandwich, which Universal describes as

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a stacked club sandwich shareable with your own Mystery gang,

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alongside a Universal Monster's twenty two inch dog. The menu,

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curated by Executive chef Julia Thrash, also covers one piece

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The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon,

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Dungeons and Dragons, and Super Nintendo World with an expanded

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Sanjee's Gallery at the Hollywood and Dine and a new

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Grand Pirate Den Bar. Four Universal CityWalk restaurants will also

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run limited time themed offering. NBC Sports Bar at Grill

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and Brew is offering one piece themes Voodoo Donut as

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a Scooby Doo theme, The Toothsome Chocolate Emporium and Savory

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Feast Kitchen is Pretty Garden Sailor Moon themed, and Vivo

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Italian Kitchen is Dungeons and Dragons them For the first time,

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FanFest Nights will offer a Universal FanFest Night's Dining Pass,

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which covers six items on a visit date for a

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single price, including two entrees and four sides, snacks, desserts

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or beverages. Hollywood debut a Halloween Horror Nights Dining Pass

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and twenty twenty five and the Mechanic is now moving

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into the spring event. In its second year, food has

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become a meaningful revenue lever at Universal's hard ticket events.

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Halloween Horror Knights in Orlando has expanded themed food stalls

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tied to its Haunted houses and the premium screen night

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ticket which expanded to two nights this year, offers unlimited

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food as one of its primary benefits. The ticket get

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guests into the door, but the real margin on a

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long night event lives in food, beverage, merchandise, and premium tours.

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Bundling f and B into a prepaid pass lifts per

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cap spend, locks in revenue before the event night, and

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removes guess frictions when lines get long. Most dining passes

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at seasonal events are an upsell tied to the season

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and included with annual passes, but Fanfast Nights is a

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separately ticketed event, which makes the bundle a different kind

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of per cap play. Universal Fan Fast Nights runs April

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twenty third through twenty fifth, May first through third, May

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seventh to ninth, and May fourteenth through sixteenth of this year.

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Six Flags Entertainment Corporation reinstates park president positions in ten parks.

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Six Flags Entertainment has reinstated park president positions at ten

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of its parks less than a year after eliminating the role,

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according to an Orange County Register report. When John Riley

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became six Flags CEO in December twenty twenty five, he

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described a chain that had suffered from inconsistent standards and

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a lack of accountability across parks after the twenty twenty

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four Cedar Fair merger. The park president reversal is the

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first major structural change announced under Riley's tenure, and it

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tracks those observations. The ten parks reinstating local presidents are

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the same cohort receiving the company's most significant seasonal investment,

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and are likely the ones six Flag plans to keep

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after further sales. Follow the links in our show notes

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to read the analysis, or watch as Philip and Scott

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discuss it on the weekly Green Tag show. Creep A

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real Oc returns with a vintage and hometown Halloween theme

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for its seventh year. Creep at real Oc returns to

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the Heritage Museum of Orange County in Santa Ana, California,

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September eleventh through thirteenth. This year, step into the Golden

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Age of Halloween, where you enter into a world of

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old fashioned hometown fun celebrating the unique vintage Halloween styles

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of the nineteen twenties to nineteen fifties. The event features

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over one hundred and thirty spooky vendors, photo ops, live music, food,

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and drinks, scare actors, and more. Tickets are on sale

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now starting at twenty one dollars and seventy two cents

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for a single day general admission and fifty two to

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seventy seven for the Creepin Weekend pass. Universal Horror Unleashed

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Panel announced from Monster Poalooza on Saturday, May thirtieth at

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five pm. Join the Universal Horror Unleashed team at Monster

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Poalooza in Pasadena, California as they provide a behind the

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scenes look at maintaining this year round horror experience. The

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panel will explore how to maintain high impact scares while

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preserving the physical longevity of sets, props, and technical equipment

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through strategic maintenance cycles, modular design, and smart material choices.

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They will also discuss supporting and well being and retention

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of artists, performers, and technicians by implementing rotating roles, rest periods,

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and professional development opportunities that keep creative energy fresh. Additionally,

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they will touch on the operation frameworks that allow for

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continuous content evolution, such as iterative storytelling, seasonal overlays, and

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audience feedback integration without necessitating full rebuild. Monster Polouza takes

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place May twenty nine through thirty first at the Pasadena

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Convention Center. Tickets are on sale now starting at forty

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three dollars ninety one cents, the fifty five dollars for

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single day general admission and ninety six fifty four for

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a three day general admission ticket. The event features over

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four hundred and fifty vendors, monster Museum, makeup demos, celebrity guests, panels,

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and more. Field of Screams opens their gates May second

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for Halfway to Helloween MusicFest. The Field of Screams in Mountville,

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Pennsylvania is opening its gates Saturday, May second for a

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halfway to Helloween event built around a full day music

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festival and two of its haunted attractions. A single freight

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pass covers five bands. The Den of Darkness, Horror Barn

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and The fright Mare Asylum, Haunted Hospital, the Haunted hay Ride,

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and Nocturnal Wasteland will not be opened for this event.

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The music festival is new for twenty twenty six and

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runs from one pm through the evening. The lineup includes Zenith,

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Basic Cable, Bark at the Moon, and Ozzy Osbourne tribute

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band American Grim and headliner Adrenalized, a def Leopard tribute band.

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Gates open at twelve thirty pm with the Chainsaw Bar,

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beer garden, food trucks, acts, throwing, five minute escape rooms, games,

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and the scream Shop. The two haunts run from six

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pm to ten pm. Also new for twenty twenty six

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is a respawn option, which lets guests go back through

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either haunted house for five dollars per person. The event

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doubles the preview of changes Field of Screams has made

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ahead of its September eleventh opening day. Tickets are available

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at Fieldofscreams dot com slash tickets. Some upcoming events this

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April through June of twenty twenty six include Spooky Swap

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Meet from Los Angeles, California, April twenty fourth through twenty six,

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the East Coast Haunters Convention in Oaks, Pennsylvania April twenty

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fifth and twenty six, Ohio Helloween and Haunters Convention from Mansfield, Ohio,

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May ninth through ten, Monster Palooza in Pasadena, California, May

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twenty ninth through thirty first, and the Midwest Haunters Convention

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in Rosemont, Illinois, June sixth and.

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

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episode was produced by me Philip Hernandez, with reporting by

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Daryl Plunky. Post production by David Swope. This hant News

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Update is a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and

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you can sign up to our weekly newsletter at Hanta

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attractionnetwork dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum

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Mighty and controls. Until next time, Haunters, Stay Scary. This

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is a Haunted Attraction Network production.

NEWS: How Haunters are Celebrating Halfway to Halloween

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