May 12, 2026

NEWS: Trends shaping the 2026 Halloween season

Show Notes
Transcript

It was a slow news week after the rush of Halfway to Halloween, but a few major trends are emerging that could shape this Halloween season.
In this issue:
-Dead Man's Party Returns to Six Flags Great Adventure
-Six Flags St. Louis Enacts Strict Chaperone Policy
-Universal Horror Unleashed Teases New Dinner Series
-Nocturne Theatre Debuts The Eaves
-Ohio Haunters Convention Takes Place This Weekend
-Midwest Haunters Convention Announces Pre-Show Tours
-Spooky Swap Meet Announces 2027 Dates

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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A brief note from Philip Bernandez, publisher of the Haunted

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Attraction Network. It's a brand new week, and on one hand,

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it was a slow news week after the rush of

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halfway to Halloween, and on the other hand, we see

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some major trends emerging that could shape this Halloween season.

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The clearest one is returned to live human driven entertainment

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Six Flags Great Adventures, bringing back dead Man's Party for

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Freight Fast after a one year absence, making the show's

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twenty fifth year and the first major live entertainment announcement

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under new CEO John Riley. Universal Horror Unleashed, Teased, food,

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film frights and four course pre fee dinner and a

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horror movie series running on Saturday and Sunday nights in May,

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and in Glendale, Nocturne Theater is premiering The Eves, an

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original paranormal stage play in a newly activated upstairs space

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stage for proximity and psychological unease rather than spectacle. It

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connects to something Jfi said during the Tea Inspire panels.

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As we get more immersed in technology, people are going

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to be more willing to pay to be human. The

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operators leaning into live performances, intimate staging, and shared dinner

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experiences are betting on exactly that. Okay, I'll admit here

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to being biased on this trend, but hey, a man

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can dream, right. The Six Flags news also reveals a

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second three making spaces more family friendly, not just for

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thrill seekers and haunt enthusiasts. Dead Man's Party is a

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family friendly entertainment that local audience has upcome to expect. Also,

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Six Flags Saint Louis updated and reinstated a permanent chaperone

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policy in response to frights on opening day. In one hand,

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this is a response to a crisis. On the other,

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it's a way to ensure families see the spaces safe.

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Also this week, the Ohio Haunters Convention takes place this

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weekend at the historic Ohio State Reformatory. The Midwester's Haunter

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Convention announced its pre show tour lineup, and the Spooky

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Swap Meet has announced its twenty twenty seven dates. Here's

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what you need to know this week in Theme Bark News.

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Dead Man's Party returns to six Flags Great Adventure for

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freight Fest. Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey,

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is bringing back dead Man's Party, the live Broadway style

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dance show, for the twenty twenty six freight Fest season,

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after a one year absence in twenty twenty five. The

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popular production, hosted by Doctor Fright, debuted in the park

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in nineteen ninety nine and ran annually through freight Fest

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until it was dropped from the twenty twenty five lineup.

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Its return marks the show's twenty fifth year at Great Adventure.

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Over the past twenty five years, dead Man's Party has

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become a signature part of the park's fall entertainment lineup,

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combining live performances with a spooky atmosphere of freight Fest.

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Six Flags said in a recent press release. The company

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also noted that the show become a coveted role for

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professional dancers from coast to coast and has helped launch

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many into successful performance careers. Six Flags has not yet

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announced the twenty twenty six freight Fest schedule, ticket pricing,

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or broader entertainment lineup. The company said additional details will

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follow closer to the season. Since their merger with Cedar Fair,

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six Flags has been going through a roller coaster of changes.

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The new CEO, John Riley, recently restored park presidents to

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ten six Flags properties and suggested the parks would focus

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more on local and live entertainment. The return of dead

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Man's Party seems to be the first and hopefully many

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live entertainment announcements. Bringing back live entertainment that's popular with

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fans is a good idea not just for teens who

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like spooky things, but for the entire family. The move

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hits two of the themes from this year's TEA panel

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on regional park programming. Lean into local attachment offerings and

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program for the family friendly side of the seasonal calendar,

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not just the haunted house enthusiast. Six Flags of Saint

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Louis enacts as strict chaperone policy after fights involves as

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many as one hundred juveniles. Six Flags Saint Louis in Eureka,

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Missouri has reinstated what might be the strictest chaperone policy

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the industry has seen. Guests sixteen and under must be

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accompanied by a twenty one year older chaperone, with a

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max of six guests per chaperone daily throughout all operating hours.

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Icon Park introduced a similar policy the same week. In

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this week the episode of Green Tag, Philip and Scott

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break down the takeover tread Scott's case that this is

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the first step toward the end of the family theme

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park and the upstream question nobody is solving why these

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kids are bored enough to organize fights at parks in

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the first place. Universal Horror Unleashed teases new dinner series.

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Universal Horror Unleashed from Las Vegas, Nevada is offering Food

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Film Frights at a new four course prefixed dinner with

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horror movie package Saturday and Sunday nights in May. According

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to the announcement, Food Film Frights includes a surprise horror

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movie screening, a themed four course prefixed dinner, limited time cocktails.

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The prefixed menu is not included with admission to Universal

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horror Unleashed Nocturn Theater debuts and original paranormal play The

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Eves in new upstairs space. Nockturn Theater in Glendale, California

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is premiering The Eves, an original paranormal stage play written

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and directed by co owner Justin Meyer, in in a

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newly activated upstairs performance space. The world premiere runs April

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thirtieth through September twenty twenty six, with tickets priced from

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thirty dollars to fifty eight dollars plus booking fees. Play

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follows a paranormal investigator called to assist a grieving mother

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whose home is become the center of a disturbing presence,

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with the haunting eventually revealing itself as something more personal.

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The production cites the women in black ghost stories in

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paranormal activity is inspirations, and the staged proximity, silence and

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psychological unease rather than spectacle. Meyer's previous Nocturn credits include

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Madam Scrooge, Frankenstein Resurrection, and Haunted Soire. Nocturn is operated

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by Meyer to Meyer Entertainment, the company owned by Melissa

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and Justin Meyer. The Meyers were part of the original

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two thousand and nine launch of the Los Angeles Haunted

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hay Ride and spent a decade as creative director and

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Chief Operations officer for ten thirty one Productions before launching

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their own slate of immersive programs, which now includes House

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of Spirits, a Haunted Cocktail, soare Kaleidoscope Experience, and the

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byte La. Follow the links in our show notes to

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read the full story. The Ohio Haunters Convention takes place

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this weekend. The Ohio Haunters Convention takes place May ninth

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through tenth at the historic Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio.

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Join Haunt owners, actors, artists, builders, and fans from across

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the region for a full weekend dedicated to the haunt

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industry and horror community. The event features a curated vendor hall,

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educational seminars, a Saturday Night costume ball, blood Prison, Haunt

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Escape Room, and networking opportunities. Tickets are on sale now,

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starting at thirty dollars for weekend convention floor tickets and

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eighty dollars for the VIP pass. Midwest Haunters Convention announces

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pre show tours. The Midwest Haunters Convention from Rosemont, Illinois,

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has announced its pre Convention Bus Tour and Friday Night

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Haunt Tour lineup on Thursday, June fourth. The Prevention Bus

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Tour will begin with an immersive lights on walkthrough of

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Disturbia Haunted House in Downers Grove, Illinois. Next, the tour

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will stop at Hellsgate Haunted House in Lockport, Illinois for

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a light dinner and behind the scenes tour of the Haunts,

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Lost Souls Cemetery and Moorstone Manor. The evening concludes at

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Five Points Haunted House in West Chicago, Illinois, for a

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full show with live actors. On June fifth, the Friday

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Night Haunt Tour will visit Basement of the Dead and Aurora,

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Illinois and Massacre Haunted House in Montgomery, Illinois for full

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shows with live actors. Tickets for each or on sale now.

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The pre Convention Bus Tour is one hundred and seventy

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five dollars, self driving tour is one hundred and thirty five,

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and the Friday Night Haunt Tour is one hundred and

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thirty Self driving Tour one hundred and five for Friday.

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Prices increased by fifteen dollars after midnight. On May twenty ninth,

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Spooky Swap Meet announces their twenty twenty seven dates. Mark

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your Calendar's Spooky Swap Meet returns to the Heritage Square

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Museum in Los Angeles, California, April thirtieth to May second

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of twenty twenty seven. Some upcoming events this May through

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July include the Ohio's Haunter Convention this weekend in Mansfield, Ohio,

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May ninth and tenth, Scare Con UK May eighteenth through twentieth,

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Monster Palooza in Pasadena, California, May twenty ninth through thirty

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First Midwest Haunters Convention in Rosemont, Illinois, June sixth through seventh,

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and the Texas Haunters Convention in Irving, Texas, July eighteenth

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and nineteen.

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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode

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was produced by me Philip Hernandez, with reporting by Darryl Plunky,

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post production by David Swope. This haunt News Update is

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a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you can

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sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunted Attraction Network

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dot com. Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting

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end Controls. Until next time, Haunters, Stay Scary This It's

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a Haunted Attraction you look like a L.

NEWS: Trends shaping the 2026 Halloween season

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