Freaks, pirates, vampires, and spirits: Four new Halloween slots

The four titles range from a 5,000x Day of the Dead train ride to a 20,000x carnival, with Hold & Win, collection, and free spins mechanics across the set.

With just over a week to go until Halloween, studios are ctively releasing seasonal slots. On 22 October 2026, DEGEN Studios, Swintt’s Elysium Studios, and Booming Games launched three Halloween-themed titles, and ELA Games released a Day of the Dead slot.

The four games at a glance

Carnival of Freaks (DEGEN Studios)

Carnival of Freaks is a carnival-themed slot played on a 5×6 grid with 50 lines, and it has the highest top prize of the four at 20,000x. It follows Howl N’ Huff, a cluster pays slot DEGEN launched in September.

Key features

• Body Bags and Tips Buckets: Body Bags burst open to reveal symbols, Wild Freakshow Posters, or Freak Coins worth up to 5,000x. Tips Buckets collect coin values from across the grid. When more than one lands, the collections can build on each other and clear spaces for another spin.
• Free spins modes:
  • Three scatters trigger Cheap Thrills with eight free spins
  • Four scatters trigger Main Attraction with 10 free spins
  • Five scatters trigger Full Freak Mode with 12 free spins and the Global Multiplier starting at 4x
• Special modifiers: Cannons add new coin spaces to the grid, Mallets raise the Global Multiplier by 1x, and Free Spins Tickets award additional spins.
• Bloodbath: This feature fills the whole 5×6 grid with Freak Coins, Scatters, Tips Buckets, and Mallets, then applies the Global Multiplier to the total.
• Feature buys: Players can buy direct entry to Cheap Thrills or Main Attraction. Tempt Fate awards either a random free spins bonus or Bloodbath, and Activate options are also available.

Danny Gordon, head of studio at DEGEN Studios, said:

‘Carnival of Freaks is the sort of place you probably shouldn’t visit, but once you’re inside, you’ll want to see what the next attraction has in store. The fun is in how everything builds. Freak Coins reveal prizes, Tips Buckets start collecting them, Cannons open up more spaces and Mallets keep pushing the multiplier higher.’

Grog To Hell Hold & Win (Elysium Studios)

Set aboard a haunted galleon, Grog To Hell Hold & Win is a five-reel, 20-payline slot with a maximum win of 13,842x. It comes from Elysium Studios, which Swintt acquired in 2024. Two special symbols drive the bonuses: the captain and the key scatter.

Key features

• Hold & Win: Each captain that lands adds to a bonus meter beside the reels. A full meter triggers the feature, and the captain can also clone himself across several positions to trigger it instantly. Players get three respins on all active captain spaces, where blanks, multipliers, and more captains can land. Each new symbol resets the respins, and extra captains unlock more reel spaces.
• Cannon battle: Collecting enough key scatters starts a battle against an approaching fleet. Players begin with three cannon balls, and each hit awards a multiplier and replenishes ammunition. The cannon gets stronger as more ships sink:
  • After eight hits, players receive four cannon balls instead of three
  • At 13 hits, a random multiplier is added to each win
  • At 20 hits, every shot fires three cannon balls
• Special targets: Treasure chests hold jackpot prizes, powder kegs clear nearby targets, and whirlpools spread cannon fire over a wider area.

Anthony Dalla-Giacoma, chief commercial officer at Swintt, said:

‘Packed with explosive features including an immersive cannon ball bonus round where players get to open fire on big money multipliers, the game has the perfect mix of action, progression and prizes to make it another smash hit for Swintt’s partner operators.’

Vampires: Blood Moon (Booming Games)

Set in front of an old castle, Vampires: Blood Moon is a 5×4 slot with 30 fixed paylines, a 32.29% hit rate, and a maximum win of 15,000x. Two coffins above the reels drive its main features.

Key features

• Ruby Collection coffin: Moon symbols are stored here. Once it holds enough, a Vampire Collect symbol is added to the fifth reel to collect the moons’ prize values. The symbol can also land on its own in the base game.
• Emerald Free Spins coffin: This coffin collects scatters. Filling it, or landing scatters on reels one, three, and five at once, awards 15 Evolving Free Spins.
• Evolving Free Spins:
  • Low symbols (ace to ten) that form a win are permanently removed from the reels
  • High symbols that form a win upgrade from silver to gold and pay double
  • All Wilds that land are saved for a Blood Moon Spin, which places them on the reels together for one final spin
• Bonus buy: Players can buy entry to free spins directly.

Craig Asling, director of games at Booming Games, said:

‘Packed with fang-tastic features and huge wins of up to 15,000x the bet, the game’s undead aesthetic and hell-raising hit rate make it the ideal addition for operators hoping to strengthen their spooky slot line-ups.’

Soul Fiesta (ELA Games)

Soul Fiesta takes the season past 31 October with a Day of the Dead theme, a festival celebrated on 1 and 2 November. The game is set on a spirit train travelling between the land of the living and the afterlife, and phantom carriages take the place of traditional reels.

Key features

• Hold & Win with hidden rows: Players unlock hidden rows to reach the Golden Train. ELA previously used a Hold and Win mechanic in King and Flame, its medieval slot released in April.
• Game specs: The game is high volatility, with two RTP settings (94.03% and 95.99%) and a maximum win of 5,000x.

Yaroslav Soloshenko of ELA Games said:

‘With Soul Fiesta, we took a familiar Day of the Dead setting and energized it with pacing and animations that pop in classic ELA style, keeping players invested throughout the session. The Hold & Win features – specifically the process of unlocking hidden rows to reach the Golden Train – create a natural progression, helping boost player retention. We know from our data that games offering these layered mechanics generate reliable market performance. ‘

Closing thoughts

The four releases take players to a carnival, a haunted galleon, a gothic castle, and a Day of the Dead spirit train. Carnival of Freaks has the highest top prize at 20,000x, and both it and Vampires: Blood Moon let players buy straight into free spins.

Horror is one of the 10 slot themes studios keep returning to in 2026, and three of this week’s releases fit that category.

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