June 23, 2026

NEWS: What 52,000 Hires Mean For Your Haunt

Show Notes
Transcript

Spirit Halloween announced it will hire over 52,000 seasonal associates, the largest hiring event in the company's history. Most Americans don't go to a haunted house, but nearly all of them first encounter Halloween through retail. Retail is the first wave of the season, and it primes guests for everything that comes after, including your attraction.
In this issue:
-Spirit Halloween to Hire 52,000 Seasonal Associates
-2026 Halloween & Costume Association Awards Open for Submissions
-Legoland Florida Expands Brick-or-Treat to 18 Days
-Knott's Scary Farm: Nightmares Revealed Returns August 18th
-Green Tagged's News Catch-Up
https://mailchi.mp/hauntedattractionnetwork.com/what-52000-halloween-hires-mean-for-your-haunt

Related: our written guide to working at Spirit Halloween in 2026 (pay, hiring age, how to apply): https://hauntedattractionnetwork.com/spirit-halloween-jobs/

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Coming up your weekly roundup of news from around the

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haunt industry. Welcome to the show. I'm Philip on the

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HN Show. We bring you the haunt news, information and

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education you need to prepare for Halloween. On Tuesdays, we

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bring you a roundup of news from haunts worldwide. Read

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more about these stories and so much more in our

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free weekly newsletter. Subscribe at the link in the show notes,

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and as always for the news roundup, I'm passing it.

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Off to Darryl. This message is from Philip Hernandez, publisher

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of the Haunted Attraction Network. I'm writing this one from

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the road on my way back from Iappa Expo Asia.

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I'll have real takeaways next week, particularly on merchandising for haunts,

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which is where a lot of my attention went this trip. Fittingly,

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the biggest news this week is from Halloween. Retail At

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Halloween announced that it will hire over fifty two thousand

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seasonal associates this year, the largest hiring event in the

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company's history, to staff over fifteen hundred locations across the

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US and Canada. Most Americans don't go to a haunted house,

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but nearly all of them first encounter Halloween through retail,

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a pop up store, the Costume Mile, the Animatronic on

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the Shelf retail is the first wave of the season,

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and it primes guests for everything that comes after, including

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your attraction. That's also why merchandising it your haunt matters.

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It's one of the clearest opportunities haunts have to grow

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per cap. The Halloween and Costume Association's twenty twenty six

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Spooky Awards open for submissions this week, recognizing standout products decor, props, makeup,

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and licensing across the industry. The winners aren't announced until

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later in the season, but it gives haunts a good

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sense of which item genres consumers are interested in. Elsewhere,

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the season keeps to starting earlier. Legoland, Florida expanded Bricker

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Tree to eighteen nights beginning September fifth, about a week

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earlier than its previous earliest start and six more dates

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than last year. Not Scary Farm set its Nightmares revealed

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announcement event for August eighteenth. Also this week, Green Tagged

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ran into a rapid fire catchup covering Oogie Boogie Bash.

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The newly named Universal United Kingdom Resort, Universal Kids Resort,

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opening July first, in Frisco and the Carousel of Progress

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closing to update its scenes. Here's what you need to

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know this week. Not Scary Farm Nightmares Revealed returns August eighteenth.

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Be the first to learn about the all new and

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returning haunts, scare zones, and shows, and more coming to

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Not Scary Farm in Buena Park, California at Scary Farm

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Nightmares Revealed. The annual Haunt announcement event will take place Tuesday,

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August eighteenth from seven pm to ten pm. Here directly

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from the creative minds behind the terror and the panel discussions.

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Watch demonstrations from makeup artists on the Calico Park stage,

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and take a lights on walkthrough of a maze for

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a behind the scenes perspective. Grab new merchandise at the

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Not Scary Farm Legacy Store to receive an exclusive event

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take away after the evening. Tickets for a nightmar Revealed

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will go on sale on Friday, June nineteenth at ten

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am Pacific daylight time. Lego Land, Florida expands its Bricker

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Treat to eighteen days. Halloween Fund begins earlier than ever

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before the Lego Land Florida Winter Haven, Florida as Brick

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or Treat returns for eighteen select nights September fifth through

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October thirty first. This is about a week earlier than

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their previous earliest start date, September thirteenth was in twenty

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twenty four, and six more event dates than twenty twenty

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five included in general park admission. Brick or Treat will

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feature an all new Trick or Treat trail, glowing Halloween

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light experience, It's Monster sky Tacular, Drone show, exclusive seasonal

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Lego characters, and fun surprises throughout the park. General park

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admission tickets are on sale now at the park's official website.

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In this week's episode of Green Tagged, Philip and Scott

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provide a rapid fire news catch up Oogie Boogie Bash.

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Disneyland is replacing the Frightfully Fun Parade with a Madame

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Liota's Swinging Weight Cavalcade for twenty twenty six for a

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limited ticket event. Swapping Weight and watch for Come and

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Go gives guests more of their evening back as long

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as it's well executed. The magic of Disney Animation. Disney

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detailed the new Hollywood Studios building, designed as a set

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of small interactive rooms. This is the micro visit logic.

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One room is satisfying, three year satisfying, All of it

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is satisfying. Universal United Kingdom Resort. Universal's UK Park is

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now officially named. How it positions itself relative to the

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existing European market remains an open question and the company

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has not addressed it yet. Universal Kids Resort opens July

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first in Frisco, Texas a fifty four dollars a day,

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about half the price of a regular Universal ticket, with

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marketing that leads to appealing to both the child and

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the caregiver. In the same line, Hagrids and Tokyo Disney

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Universal Orlando pulled Express Pass from Hagrids and Tokyo Disney

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ended Free Priority Pass on August thirty first. Both moves

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aim to simplify Q systems to restore overall capacity. The

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Carousel of Progress Walt Disney World closes an attraction on

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July sixth. The time shifted scenes from nineteen hundred, nineteen twenty,

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and nineteen forty to nineteen sixty nine, nineteen eighty five,

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and two thousand, with Walt himself returning as an audio animatronic.

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Nostalgia needs a frame of reference, and the original scenes

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had passed out of living memory, which is the whole

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point of moving them forward. You can watch the green

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tagged episode or read the article by following the links

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in our show notes. Twenty twenty six Halloween Costume Association

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Awards open for submissions. Submissions are now being accepted for

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the Halloween and Costume Association's twenty twenty six Spooky Awards.

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From breakthrough products and Innovative retail programs to stand out costumes, decor, props,

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makeup and licensing partnerships, the Spooky Awards recognize the creativity

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and excellence that drive the Halloween industry forward. Categories include Accessories,

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adult costume, children's costume, licensed costume, non character costume, most

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unique costume, decor, makeup, masks, and most Innovative. This competition

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is open to Halloween product manufacturers, HCA members and non members.

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To be eligible for finalists and winner recognition, companies must

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exhibit at the twenty twenty seven Halloween and Party Expo

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in New Orleans, Louisiana. The submission deadline is Monday, July

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twenty seventh, at eleven to fifty nine pm. Learn more

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on the HCA's official website. Spirit Halloween to Hire fifty

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two thousand seasonal associates as the twenty twenty six Spooky

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season Creeps closer. Spirit Halloween is preparing for its largest

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hiring event in company history. The Halloween retailer plans to

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hire more than fifty two thousand seasonal associates to staff

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its over fifteen hundred locations across the US and Canada.

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Benefits and perks include competitive hourly wages, flexible schedules, seasonal

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pay incentives and retention bonuses, and a thirty percent employee discount.

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Candidates interested in joining the Spirit team can find more

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information on Spirit's official hiring website or context reaper to

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eight five zero zero zero to apply. Some upcoming events

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this June through August include the Texas Hunters Convention in Irving, Texas,

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July eighteenth and nineteenth, Haunters Against Hate the event in Louisville, Kentucky,

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August first and second, and Midsummer Scream in Long Beach, California,

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August seventh through nine.

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And that's all for the news this week. Today's episode

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was produced by me Philip Bernandez, with reporting by Daryl Plunky,

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post production by David Swope. This Haunt News update is

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a production of the Haunted Attraction Network and you can

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sign up to our weekly newsletter at Haunted Attractionnetwork dot com.

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Support for this episode comes from Gantum Lighting and Controls.

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Until next time, Haunters, stay scary this it's a Haunted

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Attraction Net production

NEWS: What 52,000 Hires Mean For Your Haunt

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