By Rachael Benion, Publisher, Macaroni KID Hershey & Harrisburg

Disclosure: We were not paid or otherwise compensated for this review. Hersheypark invited us to attend Dark Nights during a content creator event and provided admission at no charge. All experiences, opinions, questionable bravery and extremely strong feelings about cheese curds are our own.

First: Dark Nights With Kids Is Not an All-or-Nothing Proposition

This was the biggest thing I wanted to figure out.

Roland was ready for some scares. He loves coasters. He wanted to see Dark Nights. But neither of us needed to prove our courage by immediately marching into the goriest haunted attraction we could find.

And the younger kids stayed home this time, not because there is nothing at Hersheypark after dark for younger or scare-averse kids, but because Roland and I wanted to ride roller coasters and experiment with exactly how much scary sounded fun.

It turns out Hersheypark gives you a surprisingly good ladder.

Emilie. They Sell a No-Boo Necklace.

I told Emilie this after our visit.

“THEY SELL WHAT?”

Meet the No-Boo Necklace, which for our visit was $16.99 plus tax and may be the cutest piece of scare-actor kryptonite I've ever seen.

It is a light-up Reese's bat necklace designed for guests who want to enjoy Dark Nights without becoming the evening's most tempting jump-scare target.

For a kid who wants to see the fog, costumes and spectacle without being actively targeted, this changes the equation considerably.

And even if your child eventually decides they do want more scares, you don't have to start there.

Also Important: You Can See the Scare Zones Coming

Assuming, of course, you do not begin the evening already standing in one. Emilie.

The scare zones we approached were clearly marked with sandwich-board warning signs. If your kid changes their mind, you can stop, reroute and go around rather than discovering three steps too late that you've wandered into the foggy murder district.

Dark Nights has five scare zones in 2026: Reese's Depot Of Doom, Path of Shadows: Coven's Curse, Fallout Zone, Midway Of Misery and Darkstone's Hollow.

Scare Zones Are a GREAT Test Drive. Except That Train One.

For a kid who is curious about scary but hasn't graduated to “please put me inside a building specifically designed to traumatize me recreationally,” I really liked the scare zones as a starting point.

You're outside. You can see what's happening. You can keep moving. There is an exit.

Most importantly, you can watch your kid and decide whether the reaction is THIS IS AWESOME or mother, I will discuss this betrayal with my therapist in 2043.

Then we entered Reese's Depot Of Doom.

The brand-new 2026 scare zone is inside The Boardwalk and turns the area into an abandoned freight yard filled with fog, boxcars and creatures.

That one was actually pretty scary.

In fact, Roland and I both thought Reese's Depot Of Doom was scarier than the Haunted Coal Mine haunted house we tried later.

So apparently the bravery ladder occasionally has a loose rung.

The Actors Might Be the Best Part

Here's something that mattered to me as a parent: the actors were excellent at reading the room.

When Roland engaged, they engaged.

When we laughed, they could pivot from terrifying to funny without breaking the experience.

And when somebody clearly wasn't looking for an interaction, they could disappear back into the fog and find another victim. I mean guest.

At one point Roland basically appeared to be networking with the monsters.

Then a Swamp Guy Made Me Pee a Little

Which brings me to my own bravery.

I was doing GREAT.

Look at me. Hanging out with monsters. Laughing. Taking pictures. Very composed adult woman doing journalism.

Then one of the swampy creatures got me.

He jump-scared me so perfectly that I peed a little.

There. It's in print now.

And approximately half a second later I was laughing my butt off.

That was honestly the magic of the scare zones for us. The actors weren't simply wandering around screaming at people. They were performing, watching reactions, choosing their moments and turning fear into fun almost instantly.

Ready for One Haunted House? Start in the Coal Mine

After testing our bravery outside, Roland wanted to try an actual haunted house.

We chose Haunted Coal Mine, located near Spring Creek Smokehouse.

For our scare tolerance, this was a fantastic first haunted house.

It was dark. It was creepy. There were actors. There were plenty of opportunities to jump.

But compared with some of the descriptions of Dark Nights' other houses, we didn't find it overwhelmingly gory or relentlessly terrifying.

If your tween or teen is saying, “I want to try a haunted house, but I don't know if I'm ready-ready,” this is the one I'd consider first based on our night.

And Then We Found My Favorite Part: Avenue Of The Afterlife

I expected this to be the “little kid section.”

I was wrong.

Avenue Of The Afterlife is officially a scare-free zone, but that does not mean babyish, boring or a holding pen for people who couldn't handle Dark Nights.

It is gorgeous.

There are bubbles floating through the night. There are stilt walkers. There are the Acro Duo jugglers. There's a DJ dance party with Hershey Characters. There is food everywhere.

It's atmospheric and weird and beautiful and entertaining enough that I would have happily hung out there even if we had never entered a single haunted attraction.

Fear Requires Snacks

I am going to say something I do not say often about theme park add-ons:

I loved the Tasting Pass.

The 2026 Hersheypark Halloween Tasting Pass gives you five selections from more than 30 eligible seasonal foods and drinks.

Roland and I shared one pass between us, and for two people grazing our way through Dark Nights, one was perfect.

My favorite was the Tres Leches Cake.

Roland's favorite was the Ranch Cheese Curds with buffalo aioli from The Butcher Shop.

Even better, Hersheypark identifies a number of vegetarian options on the pass, including the Ranch Cheese Curds, Avocado Egg Rolls, several desserts and drinks.

And somehow, after coasters and monsters and fog and eating our way across the park, we still had one credit left.

So at the end of the night we stopped at Milton's Ice Cream Parlor and split an extremely generous Apple Fritters with Vanilla Ice Cream.

Oh Right. There Are Roller Coasters. IN THE DARK.

This was the other reason I left the littles home.

Roland and I wanted coasters.

During the final hour of Hersheypark Halloween operation, Candymonium, Comet, Lightning Racer and Wildcat's Revenge run with the lights out. Laff Trakk runs lights-out throughout Hersheypark Halloween operating hours.

If your kid is a coaster kid, this may be the thing that converts Dark Nights from “I'll tolerate some monsters” into “when can we go again?”

And We Barely Touched the Little-Kid Stuff

Because this particular visit was Mom + Tween Research Night, we deliberately skipped a lot of the family Halloween experience we'd normally do with the younger kids.

That doesn't mean it's gone once the sun sets.

Families can still find Hershey Characters, and Avenue Of The Afterlife offers the nighttime DJ party and entertainment without scares. During the daytime, kids 12 and under can also hit Hershey's Trick-or-Treat Trail.

And beginning October 16, Creatures Of The Night at ZooAmerica gives families an entirely different after-dark option, with flashlight exploration and nighttime animal activities.

In other words, you do not have to choose between “Hersheypark Halloween with kids” and “Dark Nights.”

You can build the evening around the actual humans you brought with you.