Thrills and Chills Return to Hersheypark for Dark Nights 2024!
If you’re a fan of the spooky, the scary or the darkest side of dark chocolate…look no further for your Halloween fix than Hersheypark Dark Nights! This park-hosted scare event delivers a thrilling, immersive experience that has only grown in scale and intensity since its debut in 2022. As season passholders, we’ve had the privilege of watching this event evolve into one of the most exciting Halloween experiences in the region, and 2024’s event was no exception. With five haunted houses, including the highly anticipated Estate of Evil, three scare zones and a wide array of seasonal snacks and merchandise, Dark Nights continued to expand and impress as this terrifying haunt returned to Hersheypark this past year!
The Food
Let’s begin with what Hershey is best known for - which is to say, food! Hersheypark Dark Nights has, since its inception, offered a variety of seasonal sweet and savory treats and beverages that are carefully crafted to resonate with the event. This year’s menu brought on no less than thirty unique food items to try, which is way more than the average guest is going to have time (or stomach) to try over the course of one visit. For the financially savvy foodies, the park introduced a Tasting Pass which allowed up to five samples of the Dark Nights menu for a singular price of $36.95. The purchase of that pass could amount to a significant discount on purchasing items a la carte, if used properly…however, as Giant Size passholders, we quickly deduced that our usual discounts on food and drink would lead us to just about break even on the pass, and obligate us to consume five separate items throughout the evening. Thus, we decided to go a different route this year!
Enter the Spirits Rooftop Bar, a returning offering first introduced during 2023’s event. “Spirits” is effectively a private event hosted on the outdoor patio deck of the Chocolatier - though no reservations are accepted, seating is relatively easy to come by early in the evening and can only be accessed from inside the park and only by guests with a valid “Dark Nights” event ticket. We approached the check-in podium shortly after the bar opened and were quickly seated. From there, we were able to unwind in a festive, spooky atmosphere while sampling some of the themed cocktails and exclusive snacks offered at the bar. The Buckshot, a gin-based drink with tonic, and the CarnEvil-Tini, featuring kettle corn rimmed martini glasses, were our picks of the day - both delicious and refreshing, and both added a fun touch to the evening. The Spirits Fried Zombie Brains were a hit, as well, although we both agreed that the Spirits Poultry-Geist Dip was the real star of the show! The bar, which offers a fantastic view of the park, is a perfect spot to relax between haunted house visits, and its seasonal drinks and sharable appetizers are ideal for fueling up before continuing the spooky adventure…plus, if you visit after dark, they have a great lineup of Halloween-themed films playing on the outdoor screen, too!
Above: A map of the Dark Nights 2024 layout at Hersheypark, including scare zones and mazes. Image credit to Hersheypark.
The Scare Zones
Making our way towards the houses and entertainment at the back of the park meant crossing through several scare zones, each offering unique scares and thematic atmosphere. For the uninitiated, scare zones are essentially a region of the park or venue wherein actors in makeup roam freely to interact (scare) visitors unfortunate enough to wander into their territory. Fallout Zone was our first official scare zone of the night, a wasteland of scarred scientists and nuclear zombies complimented by pyrotechnics and smoke-filled bubbles in addition to large-scale props and set pieces that really brought the theme into focus. The Midway of Misery was next, an area known for its creepy circus rejects and the famed ‘Decayed Brigade’ slider performances. The overwhelming majority of these scare zones can be found past the Fahrenheit roller coaster, allowing day guests to bypass the scares and continue enjoying the rides and shows of the more family-friendly Hersheypark Halloween event which occurs simultaneously…but that said, there was one exception in Darkstone’s Hollow, which was positioned near the front of the park. This made our final scare zone a perfect outro to our late night at Hershey; but it could just as easily be your intro, depending on how you choose to spend your night!
The scare actors were out in full force, and the addition of a darkly atmospheric soundtrack helped elevate the overall experience. We were glad to see the pyrotechnics return to Fallout Zone after rumors that they might have to be removed, and each of the three (3) total scare zones offered something unique and terrifying. We do have two regrets, both of them rooted in a general lack of awareness regarding the “secret” event offerings…we heard much later on in the season that both the Midway of Misery and Darkstone’s Hollow offered a special, off-schedule performance (similar to that of the roaming M3GAN brigade at Halloween Horror Nights). The Midway featured a competitive slider performance wherein the sliders would try to top each other with increasingly impressive trick slides, and Darkstone’s Hollow featured a fire-breather and artistic pyrotechnic performances - both of which we were unable to see during our brief visit to the park. While we certainly would have loved to have seen these performances and would have planned our schedule around them if we’d known they were happening, we hope to see them return for 2025’s event so that we can make up for lost time! We’d also love to see the park publish the schedule for these types of performances so that guests can make the most out of their visit to Dark Nights in the years to come.
Above: The Scare Zones at Hersheypark Dark Nights each offered something unique and terrifying, such as the monsters of Darkstone's Hollow and the Pyrotechnics of the Fallout Zone. Image credit to Hersheypark.
The Mazes
Naturally, the biggest draw of the Dark Nights event is the houses or ‘scare mazes’ on property. This year’s biggest update brought an all-new haunted house, The Estate of Evil, to the area tucked away behind Fahrenheit Catering. The theming of this house was - in no uncertain terms - some of the best that the park has assembled so far, delivered an unforgettable experience with its meticulously designed rooms, immersive storylines, and engaging actors. All of the mazes brought something special and immersive to the park, but this house in particular felt like stepping directly into a horror movie, with a level of detail that truly made it stand out against industry competitors like Halloween Horror Nights and Howl-O-Scream.
In addition to the new house, the event also brought back fan favorites with some enhancements. We made sure to check out Auntie Mortem’s Abattoir, which was a new addition in 2023, this time being sure to enter the queue while the sun was still up in order to get the full effect of the themed outdoor queue and entrance area(s). While there weren’t quite as many actors in this particular maze as compared to the others, or even as compared to last year’s event, the atmosphere and theme kept the tension high throughout - and the actors that were in place were terrifyingly convincing. The Twisted CarnEvil maze also underwent significant changes as compared to last year, with new characters including a snake charmer and a hypnotist, and the addition of smell pods really served the experience well - after all, what’s a creepy circus without the ever-present smell of popcorn? For those who enjoy circus horror with a touch of the bizarre, this particular house is one you won’t want to miss.
As the night progressed, we tackled The Descent: Catacombs of Decay, arguably the darkest and most atmospheric of the lineup, and Haunted Coal Mine: Curse of the Tommyknockers, which, while not noticeably different from last year’s manifestation, continues to be a fan favorite. The lack of visibility in these two mazes is sure to trigger anyone with a fear of the dark, but it only served to heighten the experience for those of us that want to be fully immersed. The sound loops and jump scares really go a long way to get your blood pumping, and the actors in each of these houses knows exactly when and where to pop out in order to get the best possible scream out of you. These two houses remain staples at Hersheypark Dark Nights and - out of all the houses in the lineup - would be our top two selections if given the opportunity to do a daytime, lights-on tour of the attractions!
Above: The Estate of Evil is the newest addition to the lineup of houses and scare mazes at Hersheypark Dark Nights. Image credit to Hersheypark.
The Entertainment
It can be argued that the best of the event’s entertainment is spontaneous, given the two secretly-scheduled performances that we missed in the Midway of Misery and in Darkstone’s Hollow. However, what our personal experience lacked in performance art, it more than made up for with this year’s addition of the Avenue of the Afterlife. This bypass seated within the seasonally-vacant Boardwalk area of the park offers a more family-friendly option for those who want to avoid the more intense scare zones. Here, guests can enjoy food, character meet-and-greets, and performances in a spooky yet non-scary environment, making it an ideal spot for those with younger children or anyone looking for a break from the scares. We may not have gotten to see the Decayed Brigade’s “Fryboy” slip and slide his way through the Midway of Misery, but we did get to chat with him for a few minutes inside the Dark Nights meet-and-greet trailer, which was worth poking our heads into the Avenue of the Afterlife all on its own!
Our Final Thoughts
Overall, Hersheypark Dark Nights is an unforgettable experience that continues to grow in popularity. 2024 brought new attractions, improved mazes, tasty seasonal food and drink options, and plenty of immersive and atmospheric scares to the park, and we can say with no hesitation that Dark Nights itself is quickly becoming a must-visit for any Halloween enthusiast. Whether you're looking for heart-pounding scares or just a festive night out, Hersheypark offers something for everyone. We highly recommend getting your tickets early, as this event continues to be one of the best Halloween experiences in the area. For tickets and event information regarding the 2025 event, be sure to keep an eye on Hersheypark’s official social channels as well as https://www.hersheypark.com/darknights/. We look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings to this thrilling event in Hershey, PA - and in the meantime, you can check out our event vlog below to see what our experience was like this year!
