On Saturday, internet personality Nathan the Cat Lady moderated a 13th Floor Entertainment Group panel at Midsummer Scream. During the hour-long presentation, Nathan was joined by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group CEO Chris Stafford, director of Halloween attractions Amy Hollaman, VP of experiential operations Brett Bertolino, technical director Kip Polley, LA Haunted Hayride producer and creator Melissa Carbone, and Delusion creator Jon Braver to detail plans for the 2026 Halloween season across LA Haunted Hayride, Delusion, Festival Fright Nights, and Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns.
Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House
To kick things off, Brett Bertolino detailed the story for this year’s Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House. Set in 1926—just four years after the passing of Sarah Winchester—something has awakened at the estate, causing the mansion and its grounds to pulse with a mysterious new energy.
Bertolino shared that one of the biggest changes for 2026 is an open festival format, replacing last year’s linear structure. Guests can now explore the experiences at their own pace to construct a personalized journey. While each attraction across the grounds tells a distinct story, connective clues, characters, and details allow visitors to uncover the source of the evil consuming the estate.
The experience introduces a fresh cast of characters, including Sarah Winchester’s loyal butler, his son Henry Harker, Nina Nightshade (who tends to the gardens and greenhouse), and The Collector, who patrols the darkest corners, dragging a heavy bag of unknown contents.
Inside the mansion, a new attraction titled The House of Spirits centers on the loyal butler as he desperately attempts to maintain the sprawling estate amid spreading paranormal activity. Armed with curious ghost traps, he struggles to contain spirits as whispers and shadows suggest the house is slipping beyond his control.
The butler’s son is at the heart of Hide and Seek: The Lost Children. In this add-on attraction, Henry has gone missing after playing hide-and-seek. Unseen children dart through the shadows, luring guests into rarely seen areas of the mansion like the attic and the witch’s cap.
The event will be divided into four immersive zones featuring 13 total attractions and experiences, including games, photo ops, seasonal food and drink, and hidden encounters. Additional reveals included a new cider mill experience, a s’mores roasting station, and the Séance Society Speakeasy, hidden behind Harry Houdini’s traveling camp.
Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns
Amy Hollaman confirmed that Magic of the Jack O’ Lanterns will return to the South Coast Botanic Garden following its venue debut last season. Guests will be greeted by all-new Pillars of Magic leading into the signature path of vibrantly illuminated carved pumpkins.
Delusion: Den of the Mosquito
Following last week’s announcement that Delusion is returning to its original location at the Beckett Mansion in Los Angeles, creator Jon Braver revealed new details about this year’s 1920s New Orleans story, Den of the Mosquito. Most notably, the event is reverting to its classic format of 10 guests every 10 minutes, fostering deeper emotional connections with characters and creating a more intimate experience. An exclusive trailer offered a closer look at the narrative and the threats guests will face this fall.
LA Haunted Hayride
The panel concluded with updates for LA Haunted Hayride, starting with Chris Stafford announcing that alcohol will be served at the event for the first time, allowing guests to enjoy adult beverages in Midnight Falls.
Amy Hollaman introduced a new character for 2026: Allister, the evil twin brother of Midnight Falls resident Herschel. Allister, a known pyromaniac, took the stage as Hollaman detailed his backstory—having been banished on November 1, 1981, he has returned to bring chaos back to the town square.
This fall at Madame Aurora’s Séance Theatre, Madame Aurora will attempt to reach beyond the veil to uncover the origins of the curse forcing Midnight Falls to relive Halloween night 1985 perpetually. Technical director Kip Polley hinted that fan-favorite performer Monte Revolta may play a key role in the mystery.
Returning Mazes
Via a pre-recorded video message from Cassandra Peterson (Elvira, Mistress of the Dark), it was confirmed that Elvira’s Trick or Treat Mayhem will return for 2026 alongside Hellbilly Halloween. While Hellbilly Halloween continues to center on the backwoods cannibalistic family, the chainsaw-wielding family members will no longer make their way to the town square for an opening scare-emony, making way for a new experience connected to this year’s new maze.
New Maze
That new maze, Fallen Angel, brings ’80s Sunset Strip rock culture to the Hayride. Melissa Carbone shared the backstory: Fallen Angel, the biggest band on the Strip, was trapped and burned alive due to a pyro mishap while rehearsing for what was supposed to be the loudest Halloween concert ever. Legend says playing a 30-second broadcast tape inside the burned venue on Halloween night summons the band. In this attraction, a cult of fans plays the tape, awakening the spirits—casting guests as the band members and the obsessive fans as the monsters.
Carbone closed by describing 2026 as the “most ambitious evolution in years” for the Hayride itself, elevating every element to be darker and more unsettling. The trail will see the return of sway poles for aerial scare actor acrobatics after more than a decade, alongside a brand-new drive-in movie scene featuring original choreography by renowned Pussycat Dolls choreographer Bobby Newberry. Carbone added, “This scene by itself is worth the ticket price.”
LA Haunted Hayride runs select nights from September 18 through November 1, with pre-sale ticket sign-ups now live at https://losangeleshauntedhayride.com/.
