Six Flags Entertainment Corp wants to own Halloween, the crown jewel of theme park entertainment. After all, no other destination—and no other holiday—delivers more screams.

Last year, Six Flags debuted an acclaimed long-form ad (“Tick.Tick.Tick.”) starring a clown who terrorized a group of housemates before luring them to Six Flags with Gold Passes. 

This year, Six Flags returned with an even bigger, bolder and scarier film that shows off the Halloween attractions at participating parks. In fact, it’s not really an ad at all. It’s a nearly 8-minute horror film created by horror aficionados for visitors to the park who love their scares. Titled “Come Out and Play,” the short leans into the arthouse side of the horror genre, with a pervasive mood of dread, hair-raising sound design, and, of course, a mysterious threat lurking in the shadows. He’s called Smiley, and he’s looking for a friendly face, in a sense. The goal: for viewers to feel the fear they will experience when they visit a participating Six Flags park this Halloween.  

“Halloween is a huge cultural moment that just keeps growing,” said Christian Dieckmann, Chief Commercial Officer at Six Flags. “For us, the time was right to raise the stakes – bigger, better, and scarier. Just as we are ‘serious about fun’ throughout the year, we are also serious about fear when it comes to Halloween. We dare viewers to ‘Come Out and Play.’”