On Sunday, Midsummer Scream hosted a panel about Castle Dark, the nighttime Halloween experience at Castle Park in Riverside, CA. The panel was moderated by Disnoahland’s Noah Martinez, who was joined by Castle Dark Creative Director Joseph Ancheta and Creative Designer Kolten Bierman.
The panel kicked off by unveiling that for 2025, everything about Castle Dark will be brand new. This year’s event will feature new mazes, scare zones, and shows, making for an entirely new experience. At the heart of the event is an all-new character, The Storyteller.
The all-new icon character has the ability to rewrite history and, as such, has completely erased the Castle Dark timeline and will be introducing new stories to the event when it opens on September 19.
Mazes
For 2025, Castle Dark will have three brand new mazes: Containment Breach, Midnight Manor, and Feary Tales.
Containment Breach
Containment Breach is your classic tale of a zombie outbreak, but with a twist. The zombies are hybrid “plant zombies” created from a government experiment. The hybrids have broken free and are overrunning the plant shop that was used to front the secret government facility. Guests must navigate tangled vines, locked doors, and deadly plant creatures, racing to escape before the containment breach consumes them all.
“The fun thing about this is we’re doing a brand new plan this year,” explained Bierman. “The scare zone’s going to be tied directly to the maze, so every 30 minutes you’ll hear alarms play from the maze and you’ll see the monsters actually outbreak and break from the maze into the scare zone.”
Midnight Manor
At Midnight Manor, guests will join a paranormal investigation team as they explore the legend of Midnight Manor, a place said to come alive every Halloween at midnight, claiming all who enter. This maze will be the latest in Castle Dark’s tradition of flashlight mazes, where guests must navigate the maze with only a flashlight, but restless spirits may disrupt your flashlight, leaving you entirely in the dark.
Feary Tales
Trapped within the pages of the book of shadows, guests find themselves lost in a dark collection of corrupted fairy tales. Classic stories, once filled with innocence, now take a sinister turn as beloved heroes turn villainous. Witness twisted renditions of The Three Little Pigs, Hansel & Gretel, Goldilocks, Cinderella, and other timeless tales, where everything you thought you knew is turned upside down. The once-familiar becomes dark and unsettling in a world where happily ever after is just a myth.
At the heart of Feary Tales is a new animatronic character, Thumperton, who was on display at Midsummer Scream. Below you can see a clip of the animatronic in action, where he briefly mentions the new icon character, The Storyteller.
The maze will be housed in an all-new location within Castle Dark, near the Big Top, and will be the largest maze at this year’s event.
Scare Zones
Castle Dark will feature three new scare zones for 2025: Outbreak, The Forgotten Kingdom, and The Endless Chapter.
Outbreak
Outbreak is the previously mentioned scare zone tied to Containment Breach. As you move through the area, guests will have to navigate rabid plant zombies and creeping vines that are turning the environment into a living nightmare.
The Forgotten Kingdom
The Forgotten Kingdom will be a standalone scare zone near Midnight Manor. The scare zone will be home to the fallen warriors of Castle Park, still roaming the earth in search of their next fight, driven by an unrelenting thirst for battle.
The Endless Chapter
Tied to Feary Tales, The Endless Chapter is home to the new icon character, The Storyteller. Hear all the twisted fairy tales have been unleashed into a single realm, where they fight for dominance, each one seeking to instill the most fear to survive another year. The Storyteller is the judge, selecting the victors who will continue to spread chaos, while the losers face the ultimate punishment: their chapter forever sealed, erased from existence.
The Return of Haunted Highway
Admission to Castle Dark includes access to all of the park’s rides, but one ride in particular will again be getting a Halloween makeover. First transformed in 2023, Castle Park’s iconic Antique Cars will again become Haunted Highway. The ride will again feature a complete Halloween overlay, with some of the park’s monsters inside, trying to scare you.
Shows
Echoes from the Grave
Held each night of Cast Dark in the Big Top, Echoes from the Grave is a rock and pop musical review featuring chilling choreography and supernatural visuals. The show reveals how the past’s dark echoes still haunt the present.
Castle Dark After Dark
Following Echoes from the Grave is Castle Dark After Dark. Also held in the Big Top, this experience debuted in 2024 and features a big party with music and dancing, accompanied by food and drink available for purchase, including alcoholic beverages for those 21 and older. And if you’re lucky, you might even have a monster or two partying with you.
Food
This year’s Castle Dark will also feature some all-new food and drink options alongside some returning favorites. This year’s lineup of new foods and drinks includes:
- Bloody Intestines – Cinnamon roll with red cheesecake batter
- Rotten Loaded Tots – Tater tots topped with bacon bits, cheddar cheese, green onions, and drizzled with green colored ranch
- Bloody Brain Funnel Cake – Red velvet funnel cake topped with powdered sugar and strawberry sauce
- Esquite Cup – Corn kernels, mayo, cotija cheese, butter, topped with chili powder and lemon juice
- Spooky Halloween Punch – Lemonade topped with Black Berries
As part of this year’s event, Castle Dark will again be offering the Castle Dark Tasting Card. The tasting card costs $39.99 and allows you to sample eight food items of your choosing from the event.
Castle Dark will run select nights from September 19 through November 1, 2025. Tickets are on sale now at CastlePark.com. Tickets start at just $29.99, with a Thrill Pass add-on available for $14.99, which provides front-of-the-line access at your favorite Castle Dark mazes.
For those looking to get an early taste of Castle Dark, Castle Park is currently hosting a Summer Frights event on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through August 31. During the event, guests can get a sneak peek at this year’s offerings, including the Halloween overlay on Antique Cars and the After Dark experience. You’re also able to explore a preview center where you can see some hints about this year’s mazes and get a preview of Thumperton, who will tell you even more about this year’s lineup.
