Halloween season is still months away, but the hype around Kennywood’s Phantom Fright Nights is already in full swing. The local theme park announced that its annual fall event has been nominated for the USA TODAY 10Best Theme Park Halloween Events online poll.
Phantom Fright Nights – which will take place from Sept. 27 through Oct. 27 – now leads 20 other nominees in the category, beating out Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., and Hersheypark in the Dark. This is the fourth time Phantom Fright Nights has finished in the top 10, with previous nominations in 2015, 2017, and 2018.
“We are honored to see Phantom Fright Nights nominated as one of the nation’s best Halloween theme park events,” says Kennywood general manager Jerome Gibas in a press release. “Each year we want to create a unique and fresh experience for our guests. We're looking forward to the thrills and scares creeping your way this fall.”
To keep the event “unique and fresh” this year, Kennywood will unveil a new haunted house and screen IT: The 4D Experience, a new feature short based on the 2017 screen adaptation of the Stephen King novel at the park's 4D theater.
The poll also happens to coincide with Kennywood taking applications for the roughly 200 seasonal team members needed to make Phantom Fright Nights happen. Those interested can apply for a variety of positions, including ride operators, concessions, games, retail, and, of course, actors tasked with scaring park guests.
Readers can vote in the poll once a week over the next four weeks and winners will be announced on Sept. 6.
Kennywood's Phantom Fright Nights tops USA TODAY 10Best Theme Park Halloween Events poll - and you can still vote
