There are plenty of places to get scared during the Halloween season. But how many let you walk through a haunted house, wander into a fog-filled scare zone and then climb aboard a major roller coaster for a ride in complete darkness?

That combination is what makes Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights one of the Halloween events I wouldn’t want to miss in 2026.

Dark Nights is celebrating its fifth year at the Pennsylvania amusement park, and Hersheypark has turned up the intensity with five haunted houses, a record five scare zones and a new experience for 2026. Add in flat rides, nighttime coaster rides and an extensive seasonal food lineup, and there’s enough here to make a weekend trip to Hershey worthwhile.

And unlike some amusement and theme park Halloween events where the haunted attractions require a separate ticket, admission to the Dark Nights haunted houses and scare zones is included with a Hersheypark Halloween ticket and 2026 Season Pass.

Five Haunted Houses — And They’re Not Standing Still

Dark Nights begins at 6 p.m. each operating night, when parts of Hersheypark transition from fall fun into something considerably darker.

Five haunted houses return with expanded or evolving storylines.

Kill ’N Fill Garage, which debuted in 2025, takes guests inside a body shop where the mechanics have considerably more sinister plans than repairing cars.

Estate of Evil explores a long-forgotten room filled with disturbing discoveries, while Auntie Mortem’s Abattoir brings visitors into a butcher shop where it’s probably better not to ask what’s in the sausage.

Haunted Coal Mine heads underground, where something has begun emerging from the black water, and Twisted Carnevil takes the classic creepy-carnival concept and fills it with sinister performers and dark illusions.

The important part for returning visitors is that Hersheypark isn’t simply reopening the same doors for another season. The stories have been developed further, giving fans who experienced Dark Nights in previous years a reason to go through them again.

A New Scare Zone Comes to The Boardwalk

The scares aren’t confined to haunted houses.

Five scare zones take over sections of the park, including the new Reese’s Depot of Doom in The Boardwalk Water Park.

The abandoned freight-yard setting sends guests along fractured tracks and through fog-drenched boxcars while shadowy inhabitants emerge from the darkness.

Returning zones include Path of Shadows: Coven’s Curse, Midway of Misery, Fallout Zone and Darkstone’s Hollow.

One of my favorite concepts is Midway of Misery, where the Decayed Brigade brings a much more energetic style of scare to the midway. The performers also take center stage for a Slider Showcase outside Laff Trakk on select evenings.

The Coasters May Be the Best Reason to Go

Haunted houses are a Halloween staple. Riding a roller coaster when you can barely see what’s coming next is something different.

During the final hour of Hersheypark Halloween each operating evening, the lights go out on Wildcat’s Revenge, Candymonium, Comet and Lightning Racer.

Laff Trakk takes it even further with lights-out rides throughout the day.

For coaster fans, that alone can make Hersheypark Halloween worth the trip.

Wildcat’s Revenge is already one of the park’s most intense experiences, combining the structure of the former Wildcat wooden coaster with Rocky Mountain Construction’s steel track. Take away the visual references at night, and the drops, inversions and rapid changes of direction become a very different experience.

It’s also one of the final opportunities of 2026 to ride several Hersheypark coasters before they close for the holiday season, including Skyrush, Fahrenheit, Great Bear, Storm Runner, Comet and Trailblazer.

More than 50 rides are scheduled to operate during the Halloween season, weather and maintenance permitting, including Hersheypark’s massive Twizzlers Twisted Gravity Screamin’ Swing.

Come Hungry

Halloween food has become almost as much a part of theme park fall events as pumpkins and haunted houses, and Hersheypark gives visitors plenty to work their way through.

The $39.99 digital Hersheypark Halloween Tasting Pass includes five selections from more than 30 specialty items around the park.

Among this year’s choices are a new Brisket Cuban Sandwich, returning Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Corn Dog Nuggets, Pumpkin Horchata and Spirellos. Seasonal King Size Shakes are available at Simply Chocolate, while smoked turkey legs return to Spring Creek Smokehouse.

Adults looking for another stop can head to Spirit’s Rooftop Bar on The Chocolatier patio Friday through Sunday beginning at 4:30 p.m. for Halloween-inspired cocktails and food before heading into Dark Nights.

Halloween Without the Horror

One reason Hersheypark Halloween works particularly well as a destination event is that you don’t have to love being scared to enjoy it.

Families can avoid the more intense Dark Nights experiences and spend time in Avenue of the Afterlife, a scare-free area in The Boardwalk featuring food, a DJ dance party with Hershey Characters and street performers.

There’s also Treatville for trick-or-treating and Creatures of the Night, which gives visitors an opportunity to discover nocturnal animals after dark.

That makes it possible for one family to experience Hersheypark Halloween in very different ways — from candy and characters to roller coasters and full-scale haunted houses.

Why I’d Put Hersheypark on the Halloween Road Trip List

The strongest Halloween events give you something you can’t experience during an ordinary summer visit.

Hersheypark checks that box.

You can spend the afternoon riding coasters, grab some Halloween food, watch the atmosphere change as darkness settles over the park, venture through haunted houses and scare zones and finish the night aboard a coaster with the lights turned off.

That’s a pretty compelling day at an amusement park.

Hersheypark Halloween and Dark Nights continue on select weekends through Nov. 1. Pick-your-day tickets start at $36.99, while one-day any-day Halloween tickets are available for $54.99. Dark Nights haunted houses and scare zones are included with Hersheypark Halloween admission.

For visitors who want to turn it into a Halloween getaway rather than a day trip, Hersheypark’s official resorts also offer a two-night Dark Nights package combining accommodations, breakfast, two-day park admission, a Halloween Tasting Pass and haunted-house Fast Track access.

Five years after Dark Nights first descended on Hersheypark, this isn’t simply a Halloween overlay anymore. It has become a reason to plan a fall trip to Hershey.

And if you’ve never ridden Wildcat’s Revenge in complete darkness, 2026 might be the year to find out what you’ve been missing.

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(Photos courtesy Hersheypark)