Eastern State Penitentiary will reopen its gates this fall for Halloween Nights, the prison’s seasonal haunted festival that runs from Sept. 19 through Nov. 8, 2025. The event, staged on select evenings, combines haunted houses, live performances and tours inside the 19th-century landmark.
Organizers confirmed several new additions for 2025. A haunted attraction called Dark Tides is set in a deserted fishing village where visitors encounter an unseen threat under the docks. Another feature, Apocalypse Pass, is an outdoor scare zone built around the theme of a containment failure and outbreak.
The penitentiary has also changed the way visitors move through the event. Instead of waiting in multiple lines, guests will enter once and progress through four acts, two guided and two open-flow. The new layout is intended to reduce bottlenecks and give more time to explore the prison’s historic grounds.
Food and beverage choices are expanding, with vendors such as Triple Bottom Brewing, Down North Pizza, Bao & Bun Studio, Corneey’s Corn on the Cob and Hardy Funnel Cakes. Larger set designs and new characters will appear throughout the site, tying into an evolving storyline known as “Shadow of the Veil.”
For those seeking a more intense experience, Halloween Nights will again offer the option of wearing a glow necklace. Participants who choose this may be pulled into hidden spaces or briefly separated from their group.
The event serves as a fundraiser for Eastern State’s preservation and education programs. In 2024, 60 percent of visitors reported learning new information about the history of criminal justice while attending.
Tickets and schedules are available at HalloweenNights.org.
Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary
Sept. 19 - Nov. 8, 2025
Eastern State Penitentiary
2027 Fairmount Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19130
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