Ready for Halloween? Here's How Event Organizers Are Hosting Safe, Creative Experiences This Year

From immersive drive-throughs to spooky movie nights to pop-up carnivals, here's how event hosts have safely embraced the holiday spirit in the time of social distancing.

Claire Hoffman

October 28, 2020

Hulu promoted its slate of horror content with Huluween, a drive-in experience in Los Angeles that took place Oct. 22-25. Held at the Rose Bowl, the free, ticketed event featured a drive-through haunted path followed by an on-site screening of a Halloween movie. Hulu tapped experiential marketing agency AGENC to produce the immersive event.Photo: Scott Clark PhotoHalloween has long been a favorite for brands and event hosts alike—but like everything else in 2020, the holiday looks a bit different this year. While virtual, consumer-focused events continue getting more elaborate, many event hosts made the effort to pull off in-person gatherings this month, building out immersive drive-throughs, socially distant walkthroughs, or themed pop-ups that allow fans and press to engage in a fun, contact-less way.

“As humans, nothing will ever replace the excitement and energy of being in a live, in-person experience with friends and family,” says Cara Kleinhaut, founder and CEO of AGENC, who recently produced Huluween, a multiday drive-in event for Hulu. “That desire for in-person connection, combined with the general lack of other entertainment options, means the demand for these experiences is very high, with sold-out showings and waitlists.”

Of course, hosting an in-person experience or brand activation during a pandemic is no easy feat, particularly as COVID-19 cases rise throughout the country and any sort of gathering faces increased scrutiny. The key, Kleinhaut says, is to partner with reputable professionals who can handle the complicated and ever-changing logistics. "It is our responsibility to show how this can be done safely," she says.

Many event organizers have been opting for drive-through experiences that allow for safe social distancing. Kleinhaut notes that the biggest challenge with that model is finding a large-enough location to maximize attendance despite the need for vehicle queuing and proper distancing. The benefit, she adds, is less about the paid tickets sold and more about strengthened bonds with consumers and press. “When we look back [at 2020], do brands want to be able to say they kept their connection alive with their consumers and offered something unique?”

Certainly, a number of brands and venues agree with Kleinhaut. Similarly to Hulu, Freeform recently hosted a drive-through experience, while brands like Outdoorsy.com have gotten creative with small pop-ups for individual families. In Canada, where restrictions are a bit lighter, a number of venues are opting for contact-less walkthrough Halloween experiences with carefully timed tickets to ensure safe distancing.

Still to come? A Halloween-themed drive-through from fast-food chain Jack in the Box, taking place in Northridge, Calif., on Oct. 29, plus a Stranger Things-themed drive-through that kicks off at L.A.’s Skylight ROW DTLA this evening.

Scroll down for a look inside Hulu’s Halloween drive-in, plus other steal-worthy celebration ideas from brands and venues across North America.

Huluween

Photo: Scott Clark Photo

As cars made their way down the eerie, fog-filled "haunted forest" path, they encountered living vignettes with actors depicting the likes of Edward Scissorhands, Carrie, and the masked killer from Scream.

Photo: Scott Clark Photo

To complete the effect, an on-theme soundtrack could be played on a designated FM station; there was also a fun, in-car photo op in front of a green screen. Before they reached their designated parking spots for the screening portion of the event, guests received “scare packages” filled with popcorn, water, and hand sanitizer.

Photo: Scott Clark Photo

The first night doubled as the premiere for Hulu’s new horror-comedy Bad Hair, with additional nights screening Halloween classics like Hocus Pocus. AGENC brought in a 50-by-30-foot UD 4K LED screen that used over 12 million pixels. For those who couldn’t attend in person, Hulu hosted a simultaneous virtual event called Screamlands, which featured interactive content in a series of spooky virtual rooms.

Photo: Scott Clark Photo

Outdoorsy.com’s Halloween Carnival Campsite

Earlier this month, RV rental company Outdoorsy.com hosted a pop-up Halloween carnival for model Molly Sims and her family. But in an appropriately 2020 twist, the camping-inspired carnival, centered around a luxury airstream, was set up in Sims’s own driveway. The event, which was organized by Fingerprint Communications and designed by Partners in Crafting, featured life-size skeletons, Halloween-appropriate carnival games, and a fire pit for s’more-making.

Photo: Stephanie Keenan

The team also set up a “rotten candy bar,” covered in plastic spiders and featuring on-theme snacks such as mummy-wrapped hot dogs. After dark, the family watched movies inside the airstream.

Photo: Stephanie Keenan

The event was meant to promote Outdoorsy.com’s inventory of vehicles, which can be rented for safe, outdoor Halloween experiences. Fun options include a spooky converted ambulance, the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine, and more.

Photo: Stephanie Keenan

Freeform's Halloween Road

Freeform hosted a drive-through event in honor of its annual 31 Nights of Halloween, during which the network plays spooky movies every night in October. Taking place Oct. 2-4 at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles, the free-with-reservation experience featured sets from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus, and more, plus games, performances, and prizes. Creative agency MKG handled production.

Photo: Courtesy of Freeform

The sold-out drive-through featured a mix of props, fog machines, projection mapping, and actors who interacted with attendees (from a safe distance, of course), with highlights like the Addams Family mansion, a Ghostbusters scene, and a prize wheel inspired by The Nightmare Before Christmas. There were also in-car photo ops—including a fun green-screen experience that placed cars atop Spiral Hill—and bags of candy distributed with long poles.

Photo: Courtesy of Freeform

Toward the end of the drive-through, cars paused to watch a live performance of “I Put a Spell on You,” inspired by the beloved scene from Hocus Pocus.

Photo: Courtesy of Freeform

Shattered at The Beaumont: A Wicked Walkthrough Experience

Vancouver private club The Beaumont has been transformed into a walkthrough Halloween maze. Called "Shattered at The Beaumont: A Wicked Walkthrough Experience," the 10,000-square-foot installation—which kicked off Oct. 8 and runs through Oct. 31—uses illusions, lighting and sound, and projection mapping to display digital ghosts and monsters through partnerships with Go2 Productions, Innovation Lighting, and a dozen Vancouver-based artists. The touch-free, family-friendly experience has stringent COVID-19 protocols, including mandatory masks, hygiene stations, and scheduled entry times that host up to six people from the same social bubble at one time.

Photo: Courtesy of Go2 Productions

Haunt O'Ween

Production firm Experiential Supply Co. is hosting a family-friendly drive-through called Haunt O’Ween in Woodland Hills, Calif. from Oct. 9-Nov. 1. “As a company, we wanted to get back to doing what we love even in this new normal—and that's creating special moments for people,” Jasen Smith, chief experience officer of Experiential Supply Co., told BizBash last month. The Insta-friendly event features an immersive Jack-O-Lantern tunnel made with more than 1,000 pumpkins.

Photo: Courtesy of Experiential Supply Co

Another Haunt O’Ween highlight is an interactive pumpkin patch; guests can choose a pumpkin from their cars; staffers later sanitize it and place it in attendees' trunks.

Photo: Courtesy of Experiential Supply Co

The drive-through also features "door-to-door" trick-or-treating: Two streets are filled with themed house facades, and vehicles stop at each door where a costumed performer distributes wrapped candy from a safe distance using poles and buckets. Everyone is required to wear masks when car windows are down, and there is a staff of security guards and off-duty LAPD to enforce social distancing.

Photo: Courtesy of Experiential Supply Co

Casa Loma Halloween

Liberty Entertainment Group is hosting a Halloween-themed, self-guided walking tour at the historic Casa Loma castle in Toronto. From now through Nov. 1, elaborate Halloween sets have been placed throughout the castle's five acres, taking over the gardens and underground passageways. “Guests can now safely experience our spectacular Halloween sets at Casa Loma, and tour at their leisure through the lower gardens and into the tunnels, which have been transformed into the ultimate haunted house,” said Nick Di Donato, president and CEO of Liberty Entertainment Group, in a press release.

Photo: Courtesy of Casa Loma

The spooky walkthrough is currently part of Casa Loma’s ticketed general admission to the castle. Everyone entering is required to wear a mask and follow social-distancing guidelines. The castle, once the largest private residence in Canada, typically hosts about 350 private events annually.

Photo: Courtesy of Casa Loma

Netflix's "Hubie Halloween" Consumer Experiences

To celebrate the release of Netflix's new movie Hubie Halloween starring Adam Sandler, the streamer teamed up with NVE Experience Agency for a series of fun consumer engagement experiences. For a safe in-person experience, the team built a contact-less thrift shop in Salem, Mass., where the movie was shot. Fans walking by the storefront experience could scan the windows to receive funny T-shirts that had been featured in the film; the first run of T-shirts sold out in less than 24 hours.

Photo: Courtesy of NVE Experience Agency

To generate more buzz, Netflix and NVE mailed screener kits to influencers that were filled with on-theme items like a smartphone protector, branded socks, a replica of Hubie's thermos, a flashlight, and candy. Influencers were encouraged to direct their followers to an interactive microsite inspired by the film.

Photo: Elena Kulikova

The microsite—HubieHalloween.movie—featured a virtual thrift shop, a radio station streaming the song from the movie, a "drive-in" screening room featuring the trailer, and a "Halloween Headquarters" where fans could find a variety of printable activities—including a Hubie-themed word search, a maze game, BINGO, recipe cards, pumpkin-carving stencils, DIY costume instructions, and more.

Photo: Courtesy of NVE Experience Agency

Nights of the Jack

Now in its third year, the annual Nights of the Jack festival has been reimagined as a contact-less drive-through event, taking place at King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas, Calif. from Oct.1-Nov. 1. The public, ticketed event features thousands of hand-carved and illuminated Jack-O-Lanterns. It's the brainchild of Ben Biscotti, co-founder and president of 1iota Productions; Tony Schubert, principal of Event Eleven; and hospitality veteran Bobby Rossi of Bungalow 8 and Rec Room.

While several pumpkin displays repeated from previous years, there were also some new, timely ones—such as a hand-carved pumpkin honoring late Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman. The family-friendly event, which has a drive-through red carpet, has already drawn celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, and Christina Aguilera.

Photo: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Nights of the Jack

Jack's Late-Nite Fright-Thru

Up next? A Halloween-themed drive-through from fast-food chain Jack in the Box, taking place in Northridge, Calif., on Oct. 29. Guests who wear costumes get two free tacos.

Rendering: Courtesy of Jack in the Box