Your bag is empty.
“I want to date an alt girl so bad” the Reddit post reads. It’s one of many dating advice posts asking where to meet alternative women. Goths are in demand, and October is the time when all the best gothy festivals and events kick into high gear. Possibly the best place to meet the goth of your dreams is at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights.
If you’ve never been, let’s set the stage: a 49-night extravaganza of several immersive haunted houses, corridors filled with scare actors and horror-themed snacks. It’s a theme park, but it’s the antithesis of that other famous theme park’s Halloween events. Around 30,000 visitors flock to HHN each night – many of them repeat visitors – leaving the cutesy costumes at home and getting spicy with band crop tops, leather and vinyl, and lots of fishnet. And since studies say haunted houses are just the right kind of scary to get your heart rate up, HHN provides the perfect atmosphere to meet and bond with other spooky season fans.
But on the private Facebook groups designed to connect people with others visiting on the same nights, a different way of bonding has emerged. These forums have quickly transformed into spooky Tinder, full of potential matches planning a Halloween date.
In one group, a woman posted her friend’s qualities and stats in an effort to find the guy a date for the days he’d be at HHN. “Date had to cancel,” another post reads, from a man seeking women who might be at the parks at the same time.
You’ll also find people looking for HHN partners on unrelated Facebook dating groups. One woman posted, “Want to walk the houses with me? I’m bored by myself!” referring to the 10 immersive haunted house experiences. She received 69 replies.
Another woman asked who would be at the parks that night, posting a photo of herself with the question. The replies flooded in: “my wife and I would love to,” and “RIP your inbox.”
There are Facebook groups exclusively for solo women travelers who want to meet other women at the parks, not for romance but to facilitate it safely. Going in groups can provide security while also allowing you to still flirt with people you meet in line for the houses, or at any of the bars at the park.
“I realized I was posting where I was going to be and when,” says Brittany Cooper.
A bartender from Philadelphia who holds an annual pass to the parks, Cooper says sometimes all the attention can be too much. A beautiful alternative girl with a huge smile, she laughs about posting her plans in one of these groups, only to receive dozens of messages from “men who could be there within the hour,” and one who even found and followed her on other platforms. Once at the parks, she connected with a group of women and had a great time. Nothing materialized with any of the men who messaged her, some of the messages were offputting. Had meeting these men felt more organic, say at the houses instead of being followed on all social platforms, she would have been open to it. “If it was less gross, it could have happened!” she says.
Most of the travelers agree. They just want to connect with anyone with the same spooky interests, and if happenstance makes a love connection, that’s great. “I’d love to meet my future wife at HHN!” says Rob Phillips, a performer from Florida and regular Halloween Horror Nights attendee.
After being stood-up on HHN dates, Phillips decided to go to the event by himself, on his birthday, and meet people there. He found the excitement around the immersive experiences was contagious. “You’re a freak among freaks. You can talk to anyone about anything,” he says.
While Phillips was very careful not to make women feel cornered, he saw people he wanted to connect with, and thought the atmosphere was the perfect place to connect. “Its so easy to strike conversation with people,” he says. “Everyone wants to talk!
“You’re in an environment where this person really enjoys what’s happening, and it might be the best time to talk to someone.”
What are the best tips for meeting people at the parks? Cooper is loving the trinket trades that have popped up: fans make keychains and bracelets and pass them out to new friends. She’s already planning her next trip before the season ends.
Take advantage of the long wait lines to access the houses, or the many food kiosks, and use all that entertainment to strike up a conversation with people around you. As Phillips mentions, the people watching alone is enjoyable, so whether you make a love connection or not, you’ll have a frightfully good time.