This essay first went out in the Haunted Attraction Network email newsletter on October 31, 2026. Read the full issue or subscribe to get it each week.
Halloween is the most important day of the year for haunters, yet it always feels odd to me. We spend the whole year planning for the Halloween season, then get utterly absorbed in it. Chores, work, friends, and sometimes family fall away as the haunt season takes hold. Then suddenly you wake up on Halloween, and it feels almost anticlimactic. You’re ready for November, yet not ready for Halloween to end. During the middle of the season, I always swear to do less next year and work smarter, and yet by Halloween I’m already planning for the next year.
I read that we’re always chasing the magic of our best childhood Halloween night, and perhaps that’s what it is? Either way, it’s now our job to make that magic for others, to create Halloween memories that last a lifetime.
As for me, I’m going to spend the night visiting home haunts. There’s still something magical about watching all the ‘normal’ people dress up, decorate, and bring Halloween magic to every neighborhood. As the night falls and the pumpkins glow, it’s such a sight.
If you’re looking for something to watch after you’ve wrapped up your evening festivities, I made a playlist of my travels from this year.
This season I crossed three continents to see every Halloween Horror Nights, every Disney Halloween, and Universal Beijing’s Scares at Universal, plus the biggest independent events in Southern California, Hong Kong, the UK, and Germany. The TEA Global Experience Index came out this week with the 25 most-attended parks in the world, and I was in the top 13 for Halloween.
My Halloween 2026 playlist is the one I’d watch on Halloween night, with some of the best moments from each. So tonight, you can watch Halloween in Beijing from your couch.
Speaking of the couch, my streaming guide has every new horror movie and series: Evil Dead Burn on HBO Max, Mike Flanagan’s Carrie on Prime Video, American Horror Story: 13 on Hulu, and R.L. Stine’s Pumpkinhead 2 with Elvira, free on Tubi. If you’d rather go out, the original Scream is back in theaters for its 30th anniversary, and Halloween (1978) is in 765 theaters through November 5.
For music, five new Halloween albums came out this season, including Midnight Syndicate’s folk-horror Plankett’s Grove and LVCRFT’s Skeleton Sam’s Deadtime Stories, hosted by the voice of Ghostface.
The season for haunts doesn’t end tonight. Our opening calendar has more than a dozen haunts running into November. Netherworld’s 30th season runs through November 7, Woods of Terror, Field of Screams, and Lincoln Mill through November 7, House of Torment through November 8, Nashville Nightmare, 13th Floor Houston, The Darkness, Creepyworld, and Akron Haunted Schoolhouse through November 13, and Fear Farm and 13th Floor Denver through November 14. Nightmare on 13th comes back for one night on Friday the 13th. Blood Manor, Bayville Scream Park, Frightworld, and The Dent Schoolhouse close with Lights Out nights next weekend. If you own a haunt, the Legendary Haunt Tour runs November 5 to 7 in North Carolina, with Woods of Terror, Kersey Valley Spookywoods, and Lake Hickory Haunts.
P.S. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m., so tonight is 25 hours long. Enjoy the extra hour of magic time. Come November 1st, the world will have moved on from Halloween, and we’ll be left to clean up and plan for next year.
Halloween 2026 Videos From Three Continents
North America: Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake
Madame Leota’s Swinging Wake is a 10-minute Haunted Mansion street party at Oogie Boogie Bash, the separately ticketed Halloween party at Disney California Adventure. I filmed two of its three stops on opening night, August 18, and my review has the timestamps.
Asia: Halloween Horror Nights Singapore
Halloween Horror Nights 14 at Universal Studios Singapore has four haunted houses, three shows and two scare zones. I went on October 8 on the S$290 R.I.P. Tour, and my review ranks the four houses and lists the food prices.
Europe: Tulleys’ Shocktober Fest
Shocktober Fest started as a single haunted house on a West Sussex farm in 1996 and turns 30 this year at Tulleys Farm near Crawley, England. My story covers its four new experiences, including the live show House of Hades.
Haunted House Guides
- The Best and Scariest Haunted Houses in America: The Top Haunts List
- Haunted Houses in California 2026: Dates, Tickets, and What’s New
- Haunted Houses in Texas 2026: Dates, Tickets, and What’s New
- Missouri Haunted Houses 2026: Dates and Prices for Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, and Branson
- Haunted Houses in New York 2026: NYC, Long Island, and Upstate’s Best Haunts
Horror Movies and Series to Watch
- Halloween 2026 Streaming Guide: New Horror Movies and Series to Stream
- Kids’ Halloween Movies 2026: Where to Watch Hocus Pocus, Coraline, the Great Pumpkin, and More
- Dead of Night Opens Friday the 13th: Small-Town Slasher With Dermot Mulroney and Chris Jericho
Theme Park Halloween Guides
- Halloween Horror Nights 2026: Dates, Tickets, and Lineups for Every Park
- Disney Halloween 2026: Every Park Compared, Dates, Parties, and What’s Open Now
- Fright Fest 2026: The Complete Guide to Six Flags’ Halloween Event at Every Park
- Howl-O-Scream 2026: The Complete Guide to All Five United Parks Locations
- Knott’s Scary Farm 2026 Guide: Tickets, Hours, Map, and Every Maze
