Universal launches a $179.99 after-hours event at Epic Universe while Six Flags hires a value operator: one signal, two rungs of the K.
Delta reported earnings last week, and for the second quarter ever, premium-ticket revenue outpaced main-cabin revenue. CEO Ed Bastian credited the airline’s focus on “higher-income customers in the K-shaped economy,” which is about as direct a statement of the premiumization thesis we’ve been discussing as you’ll get from a CEO. Delta is also flying fewer economy seats at higher prices, and fare increases of 15 to 20% could persist through the year.
Why bring an airline into a haunt newsletter?
First, because haunts are part of the tourism industry, and transit signals tell us how far guests might travel (and how much they’re spending).
Also, the same K-shaped split appeared twice in this week’s news.
On the premium side, Epic Universe announced Universal Nights, its first hard-ticket after-hours event, at $179.99 per person for two October dates. On the value side, Six Flags hired Mark Pauls as COO, an operator whose Kennywood track record is the value playbook: he replaced the nighttime-only Phantom Fright Nights with a hybrid day/night fall festival that added roughly 15 operating days, and expanded Holiday Lights into the park’s first January operations. Universal is building for the guest at the top of the K. Six Flags is building for the family that trades a flight down to a drive.
For haunts, this validates the premium expansion we’ve been tracking all year, and most of you are drive-to attractions positioned to attract trade-down guests anyway. The operators who win this fall will hold both rungs: a premium tier for the guest who wants to spend, and a clearly communicated high-value ticket for the local who’s watching their budget. Higher fuel costs squeeze your guests at the pump and the grocery store, but they also make a night at your haunt the affordable alternative to a trip.
Elsewhere this week, Halloween Horror Nights revealed its first scare zone, Infernal Carnival of Nightmares, extending the carnival theme we flagged last week, and Nightmare Fuel returns as Blood Noir, a vampire metropolis show. SeaWorld Orlando’s Howl-O-Scream announced its first new house and scare zone. And in Elgin, Illinois, Evil Intentions is returning downtown with a five-story haunt and plans for year-round operations.
Also this week: a 25-year-old Ottawa home haunt faces a bylaw complaint over its permanent structures, IKEA brings back its KUSTFYR collection joining the mid-summer retail wave, Midsummer Scream’s Hall of Shadows lineup tops 15 attractions, the Texas Haunters Convention takes place this weekend, and our 2026 SoCal haunt calendar is live.
Here’s what you need to know this week.
Convention News
Midsummer Scream’s Hall of Shadows to Feature 15+ Attractions
Midsummer Scream’s 2026 Hall of Shadows will feature more than 15 attractions, with Universal, Lionsgate, and Thirteenth Floor Entertainment appearing alongside Southern California home haunts and independent groups. This year’s theme for the dark zone is “Descent Into Darkness,” and it will be open all three days of the convention, August 7-9, at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, CA.
Eulogy Collective, Southern California’s only year-round haunted attraction, is creating this year’s entry portal experience. Universal Horror Unleashed is bringing a character encounter featuring some of the venue’s icons in its first Midsummer Scream appearance. Lionsgate returns for a third consecutive year with an all-new walk-through, and Thirteenth Floor Entertainment presents the Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns Bar. The Decayed Brigade returns with three days of slider exhibitions.
Additional attractions and photo ops will be presented by Rawl of the Dead, H&L’s Realm of Horror, Clowns v Skeletons, Straite to Hale, The Haunt With No Name… Yet, Fear Farm, The Haunted Carwash, The Dreich Society, Realm of Shadow, Monclova Media Group, and Black Casket Productions. All passes include admission to every Hall of Shadows attraction. Gold Bat VIP holders receive priority access.
Passes for Midsummer Scream 2026 are on sale now starting at $42 to $60 for single-day admission. Weekend GA and Gold Bat passes are currently sold out.
Texas Haunters Convention Takes Place This Weekend
The Texas Haunters Convention takes place this weekend, July 18-19, at the Irving Convention Center in Irving, Texas. The event features over 84,000 square feet of family-friendly vendors, events, demonstrations, and classes for Halloween and cosplay enthusiasts.
The Friday Night Haunt Tour features Imminent Doom Haunted House (Kilgore, TX), Doc Wilkes House of Horrors (Longview, TX), and Graystone Scream Park (Longview, TX). Saturday and Sunday feature a show floor with over 150 exhibitors, demonstrations, and classes. Saturday night’s Costume Ball includes a live DJ, giveaways, food trucks, a cash bar, and an adult (18+) costume contest. VIP Passes are sold out. General Admission passes start at $25 for adult weekend show floor and $12 to $20 for single-day passes.
Theme Park News
Six Flags Hires New COO With Halloween Background
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has appointed Mark Pauls as Chief Operating Officer, effective July 15, 2026, bringing in an operator who has worked alongside CEO John Reilly at two previous companies. Pauls and Reilly have overlapping histories at both Palace Entertainment and SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
Pauls’ most visible tenure for seasonal programming professionals was his four years as General Manager of Kennywood (West Mifflin, PA), which he led from June 2020 until his promotion to Palace Entertainment’s corporate operations role in 2024. At Kennywood, Pauls oversaw the park’s 2021 retirement of the nighttime-only Phantom Fright Nights in favor of Phantom Fall Fest, a hybrid model pairing daytime family programming with nighttime scares that added roughly 15 operating days to the fall calendar. He also expanded the park’s Holiday Lights event to 24 nights, adding the first January operating days in the park’s history and its first winter coaster operation.
That track record intersects directly with Six Flags’ current priorities. The company attributed part of its 2025 attendance softness to the removal of four winter holiday events, and it is rebuilding Holiday in the Park at Six Flags Great Adventure and Six Flags Over Georgia for 2026 alongside expanded live entertainment lineups and restored fall programming, including the return of Dead Man’s Party to Fright Fest at Great Adventure.
Watch the discussion on this week’s Green Tagged podcast.
Halloween Horror Nights 2026 Reveals First Scare Zone: Infernal Carnival of Nightmares
Universal Orlando Resort has revealed the first scare zone for Halloween Horror Nights 35, and it shares the event’s name: Infernal Carnival of Nightmares. “Jack and Dr. Oddfellow invite you to step right up and see what horrors hide in every shadow at a sinister spectacle decades in the making,” the announcement reads.
The scare zone extends the event theme Universal revealed at MegaCon Orlando in March, when the company announced the two characters would headline the 35th anniversary together for the first time, along with the original haunted house Jack & Oddfellow: Chaos & Control. Universal has described the event as transforming Universal Studios Florida into a “decrepit, fear-fueled carnival.”
The “decades in the making” line points to the characters’ shared history at the event. Jack the Clown debuted as HHN’s first original icon in 2000. Dr. Oddfellow is the carnival ringmaster in Jack’s backstory. This year marks the first time the longtime rivals appear as allies rather than adversaries.
HHN Orlando Trades the Circus for a Vampire Metropolis with Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir
Universal Orlando Resort invites Halloween Horror Nights guests to embark on a dark musical journey as death-defying stunts lure audiences into a vampire-ridden metropolis with the all-new Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir. Blood Noir is the sixth annual edition of Nightmare Fuel, which debuted at the event’s 30th anniversary in 2021 in the theater formerly home to Fear Factor Live. The high-energy production combines fire performance, aerialists, dance, and stage illusions set to rock, metal, and electronica.
The Fuel Girls, the London-based fire performance troupe that has anchored Nightmare Fuel since its debut, confirmed on their social channels that they will not participate in Halloween Horror Nights 35. The troupe cited a touring conflict: their Rock Orchestra run in Europe covers August through October, overlapping the entire HHN season. Universal has not announced who will replace them in Blood Noir.
Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights runs select nights August 28 through November 1. Tickets are on sale now on the event’s official website.
Epic Universe to Debut Universal Nights After-Hours Event in October
Enjoy Universal Epic Universe after-hours on October 3 and 17 as part of Universal Nights. During this separately-ticketed event, all five worlds will be open to guests from 9 p.m. to midnight, and guests can arrive as early as 7 p.m. to enjoy the park, including the all-new Universal Celestial Goodnight spectacular. The ticket includes character appearances throughout the park, unlimited specialty snacks (berry-flavored Celestial Popcorn and crispy Kimchi Bao at Celestial Park), and Coca-Cola Freestyle refills in a provided cup.
Tickets go on sale August 13 and start at $179.99 plus tax per person, with limited capacity. Universal Nights gives Epic Universe its first hard-ticket evening event since the park opened in May 2025 and drove Universal’s theme parks segment to record quarters. The two October dates land in the middle of the resort’s biggest fall season yet, alongside Halloween Horror Nights 35 at Universal Studios Florida.
Howl-O-Scream Orlando 2026 Announces First New House and Scare Zone
SeaWorld Orlando has confirmed Howl-O-Scream will return for its sixth year on select nights from September 11 through October 31, 2026, with five haunted houses, six scare zones, five all-new interactive bars, and two live shows. The separately ticketed event opens its gates at 6:30 p.m. with the event beginning at 7:00 p.m. The park has named its first two new experiences.
Everything Must Stay is an all-new original haunted house centered on a haunted open house. Per SeaWorld: “For six years, one suburban home has sat unsold while every open house ends the same way: terrified buyers fleeing from things they can’t explain. Tonight, those unseen forces awaken, and you’ll find yourself trapped inside for the worst showing imaginable.”
Just One More Chapter is the first named scare zone: an all-new gothic garden themed to cursed romance, where “irresistible temptation creates deadly intentions.” It joins two returning zones already confirmed on the official page: Trailer Park Tragedy and Woodrot Hollow. Three additional new scare zones remain unannounced.
Attractions News
Evil Intentions Haunted House Returns to Elgin, Illinois
Evil Intentions Haunted House is returning to Elgin, Illinois after two seasons in Maple Park, with plans to move into the five-story, 21,000-square-foot Heider Electric Supply Co. building at 80 N. State St. in downtown Elgin. The Elgin Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously backed a conditional use permit for the project at its meeting Monday, as reported by the Daily Herald and Dundee Daily News.
Owner Mike Fitzpatrick ran the haunt for nearly 20 years at the former Elgin Casket Co. building before relocating, and the new attraction would use all five floors of the 1800s-era building for a roughly 30-minute tour running six weeks from late September, staffed by about 120 actors, makeup artists, and set designers.
Projections presented at the meeting estimate 25,000 visitors per season and about $1 million in local economic impact. City planning staff said roughly 75 percent of guests buy timed tickets online, with a queue area holding about 1,000 people and five to seven guests entering every 60 seconds, peaking at an estimated 2,500 visitors on the weekend before Halloween. Fitzpatrick eventually plans to operate the venue year-round with escape rooms and a horror-themed bar on the first floor.
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Presents The Horror Show
The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles will explore why horror films matter so deeply in its newest exhibition, The Horror Show, on view from September 26, 2026 through July 25, 2027. The exhibition takes visitors through six thematic chambers filled with rare, original props, costumes, production materials, and interactive displays: Gothic, Psychological, Science, Slasher, Religion, and Ghosts. The only pathway out lies through The Blood Room, an immersion in the many textures and shades of cinematic blood.
Horror films represented include Alien (1979), The Horror of Dracula (1958), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Shining (1980), Dracula (1931), Frankenstein (1931), Get Out (2017), Halloween (1978), Ju-on (1998), Midsommar (2019), Misery (1990), Poltergeist (1982), Ringu (1998), The Blair Witch Project (1999), The Exorcist (1973), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The Academy Museum will also present a small-scale, family-friendly companion exhibition, Zombies!, for The Horror Show’s duration.
Nightmare Rising Hosts Camp Coffin Creek Overnight Horror Camp
Nightmare Rising Haunted Attraction is running its first overnight horror camping experience, Camp Coffin Creek in Chino, CA. On August 21, 22, 28, and 29, campers will attempt to survive 12 terrifying hours at this horror-themed summer camp. Campers compete in themed camp games, experience three haunted attractions, participate in a park-wide scavenger hunt, watch classic horror movies, and attend a professional special effects makeup workshop by SyFy Channel’s Face Off alum Eric Fox.
Tickets are on sale now ranging from $120 to $200 per person. General Admission includes tent rental, camp tee shirt, and access to all camp activities.
Home Haunt News
Bylaw Complaint Threatens to End Ottawa Home Haunt After 25 Years
A popular home haunt in Orléans, Ottawa may have to be scaled back or shut down after Ottawa’s bylaw department confirmed the haunt uses illegal structures. For over 25 years, Patric Albert and his family have created an elaborate Halloween display that draws thousands of visitors each Halloween season, raising over $100,000 for the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario.
Jake Gravelle, Ottawa’s chief of bylaw and regulatory services, told CBC News the complaint concerned “the location and placement of structures on residential properties.” According to Albert, the structures in question are a large plywood castle facade and two custom-built rooms that wrap around his house and remain up all year due to the difficulty in removing them. Gravelle said the city’s bylaw department is working with the family “to achieve compliance with the Zoning Bylaw, including potential solutions that address safety requirements and the applicable regulations for accessory structures.”
As of Sunday, July 12, an online petition to save the community attraction has over 3,200 signatures.
Retail News
IKEA’s KUSTFYR Halloween Decor Collection Returns for 2026
IKEA is bringing back its KUSTFYR Halloween decor collection for 2026, joining Bath & Body Works, Michaels, and Spirit Halloween among the major retailers with Halloween on shelves by mid-summer. IKEA describes the collection as “back” rather than new, with Scandinavian styling that leans cute over creepy.
KUSTFYR was designed by Marta Krupińska for IKEA of Sweden, with additional pieces by James Dart. “I always try to sneak a little playfulness into what I do,” Krupińska said in IKEA’s press materials. The KUSTFYR characters are a cat, a bat, a spider, and a ghost, described by IKEA as “sweet, spooky and ready to party.” The collection covers most standard Halloween-decor categories including lighting, tabletop, baking, textiles, candles, trick-or-treat, and storage.
2026 SoCal Haunt Calendar
- Oogie Boogie Bash (Disney California Adventure, Anaheim): Aug 18 – Oct 31
- Halloween Time at Disneyland (Anaheim): Aug 21 – Oct 31
- Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood (Universal Studios Hollywood): Sep 3 – Nov 1
- SeaWorld San Diego Howl-O-Scream: Sept 11 – Oct 31
- Knott’s Scary Farm (Buena Park): Sep 17 – Oct 31
- Six Flags Fright Fest (Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia): Sep 18 – Nov 1
This article is adapted from the July 13 edition of the Haunted Attraction Network newsletter. Subscribe to receive the weekly newsletter in your inbox.
