Halloween Nights Returns September 19 with New Haunted Attractions and Redesigned Event Flow

Halloween Nights Returns September 19 with New Haunted Attractions and Redesigned Event Flow



Eastern State Penitentiary’s highly anticipated annual Halloween festival returns for 2025 season


Philadelphia, PA (September 8, 2025) — Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary returns for its 2025 season on Friday, September 19, running select nights through November 8. Halloween Nights returns with its most ambitious season yet, featuring several brand-new experiences alongside many returning favorites. Tickets are available now at https://easternstate.org/halloween.

One of the nation’s most anticipated fall events, Halloween Nights transforms the ten-acre penitentiary complex into an immersive experience, featuring five haunted houses, historic tours, themed bars, live entertainment, and more.

This season introduces several major additions and improvements designed to enhance the visitor experience, including:

  • Dark Tides: A new attraction set in a seemingly abandoned fishing village where secrets linger beneath the surface. From the shadows under the docks, an otherworldly presence stirs, its siren’s call masking a deeper mystery.
  • Apocalypse Pass: A brand-new outdoor scare zone where containment has broken down, giving way to an unpredictable outbreak. This corner of the festival introduces a tense and atmospheric environment with scares emerging at every turn.
  • Expanded Food & Beverage: Local fair chance Philadelphia vendors Triple Bottom Brewing and Down North Pizza return to the festival, joined by Bao & Bun Studio and two new additions—Corneey’s Corn on the Cob and Gourmet Popcorn and Hardy Funnel Cakes.
  • Enhanced Set Design: Larger, more detailed environments have been constructed throughout the complex, incorporating cinematic staging and interactive elements to heighten immersion.
  • Signature Characters: A new lineup of characters expands the festival’s overarching storyline through Shadow of the Veil, an evolution of the optional, immersive experience that engages audiences across multiple attractions.
  • Redesigned Event Flow: This year’s festival features a new hybrid design that blends guided storytelling with free exploration. Guests will experience four acts—two open-flow and two in sequence—making the journey smoother and more immersive. Instead of waiting in multiple lines, visitors enter once and move seamlessly through the haunted houses, with fewer interruptions and more time to enjoy the penitentiary’s historic grounds.


Halloween Nights continues its popular option to “opt in” for a more intense experience. If they choose, visitors can pick up a glow necklace at the entrance to the festival. Anyone wearing a glow necklace may be grabbed, sent into hidden passageways, and even temporarily separated from their group.
 

“Each season of Halloween Nights is the result of months of creativity, planning, and innovation, and every year we push ourselves to go further,” says Erin Davis, Director of Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary. “For 2025, we’ve raised the stakes once again with Dark Tides and Apocalypse Pass, two all-new experiences that redefine the scale and intensity of the festival. Paired with expanded food and beverage offerings, a redesigned event flow, and enhanced sets and characters, this year’s event will deliver our most immersive, cinematic, and unforgettable Halloween Nights yet. From the moment visitors step through Eastern State’s front gate, they’ll be transported into a world of spectacle and surprise.”


Halloween Nights is not only a cornerstone in supporting the historic site—funding critical preservation, education, and workforce development programs—but it also sparks meaningful engagement with the history of criminal justice reform in America. 60% of visitors surveyed in 2024 shared that they learned something new about the criminal justice system during their visit to Halloween Nights.

Halloween Nights runs select nights from September 19 through November 8, 2025. More information and frequently asked questions can be found at HalloweenNights.org.


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Media Contact

Abby Kleman
Cashman & Associates
[email protected]
M: 302-668-4781


About Halloween Nights
Halloween Nights is a massive Halloween festival taking place inside Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site, featuring five thrilling haunted houses, plus historic tours, themed bars, live entertainment, and more. Halloween Nights is open select nights from September 19 through November 8, 2025. Tickets are on sale now at HalloweenNights.org. All proceeds benefit preservation, educations, and workforce development initiatives at Eastern State.

For more information, visit HalloweenNights.org and follow @HalloweenAtESP on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.


About Eastern State
Eastern State preserves America’s first penitentiary, advancing public understanding of the criminal justice system and its impact on the lives of those affected by it, to inspire a more just future. For more information, visit EasternState.org and follow Eastern State on Facebook, Instagram, X, Threads, TikTok, and YouTube.