Fall is definitely in the air, which means that ghouls, goblins, vampires, skeletons and other things that go bump in the night are back at it! There's even a weird horseman, who seems to have misplaced his head, roaming Nektulos! It's time for the annual celebration of the Nights of the Dead!

This event will run on the live servers* from 12:01 a.m. Pacific on October 15 through 11:59 p.m. Pacific on November 4, 2021. (*The Kaladim TLE server will be lacking the Public Quest and Tarinax will only have access to a TLE event vendor.)

What's New for 2021?

There is one new quest this year. There also are new buyables and a new crafting recipe, as usual. The gravedigging event now has the Phantasm Witchcraft appearance items (ensemble, hat and cloak) added to the random treat chest as well as a new collection. The creepy and undead mobs in Reign of Shadows zones should also be dropping NoTD candy during this event. The Nights of the Barking Dead quest has a new reward option. Last, but not least, the Headless Horseman PQ should be offering season 8 familiars as possible rewards, as well as the Haunted Horseman's Steed Plushie.

Are YOU New?

If you are unfamiliar with the Nights of the Dead event, you may want to check out my NoTD Overview for details regarding where/how to get the candy that is used as currency and crafting ingredient, details on gravedigging and on pumpkin pulping, etc.

As a reminder to folks both new and old, if you are trying for the ultra-rare bat mount from the pumpkin pulping, it is better to throw a couple dozen pumpkins a day for several days than it is to throw a couple hundred at the same time. We had word a few years back from a developer that only the first couple dozen throws by a player per day had a chance at the mount. Also remember that you can throw pumpkins all year long.

New Crafted

The new items including the recipe book "Nights of the Dead XIV" will be sold by Lil' Boo in your home crafting society. All returning items will be on the Nights of the Dead Merchant "Haint" (also in your home crafting society). This should make it way easier for folks that are looking for "just the new stuff", with nothing extra to wade through.

All of the new crafted items require a nights of the dead treat as the primary ingredient, along with tier 2 commons and tier 2 fuels. Combines yield 2 on pristine completion.

Alizonu Offering Bowl	Artisan Distillery Set	Brown Woven Leaf Rug
Corroded Ferrite Prison Wagon	Distillery Flask	Drying Leaf Pile
Golden Lace Shrub	Orange Candle	Orange Woven Leaf Rug
Pumpkin Chair*	Pumpkin Couch*	Pumpkin Twin Bed*
Squat Paludal Gourd	Tall Paludal Gourd	Torturer's Rusty Assortment

Square Framed Rubicite Glass Window, Tall Framed Rubicite Glass Window, Triangle Framed Rubicite Glass Window

*Notes:

• Sorry, Lera, the pumpkin furniture is NOT made with real pumpkins. :P
• Rubicite windows do not display the glass when previewed, but show it off wonderfully when placed.

New Buyables

These items that are sold on Lil' Boo in your home crafting society cost candy corn -- except for the two illusions, which will cost coin.

A Curse Bestowed 15 candy corn	Faydarkian Sunset Wisp (housepet) 25 candy corn	Gruesome Bone Throne 15 candy corn
Macabre Floor Display 10 candy corn	Malevolent Rift Opening Gem* 15 candy corn	Mummified Sarnak Plushie 15 candy corn
Nights of the Dead Shadeling Costume 1s 20c	Nights of the Dead Vah Shir Skeleton Costume 1s 20c	Petamorph Wand: Predatory Silkspinner 5 candy corn
Shissar Fright Runestone Tile* 30 candy corn	Vex Thal Iron Maiden 10 candy corn	Woken Spirit Plushie 15 candy corn

Haunted Horseman Plate Armor Crate - 30 candy corn (two shoulder variations)
	Pumpkin Witchcraft Ensemble Crate (front) 30 candy corn
Pumpkin Witchcraft Ensemble Crate (back)

*NOTES:

• Malevolent Rift Opening Gem is another of those items with neat new effects. It previews as a pretty lackluster gem, but when placed, looks like the above effect. It CANNOT be resized.
• Shissar Fright Runestone Tile has a spectral shissar momentarily rear up when a player steps on it. I'll try to get up a quick video of the effect shortly
• You actually read the notes! Give yourself a cookie. No, really, I'm not being sarcastic here! People who actually read the notes are much appreciated as a counterbalance to those who say "I saw your preview, but what about ...?" when the thing they are asking about is explained in a note much like this one. It happens WAY more often than you think!

New Quest

"Trick or Treatskiller" will be offered by Zintris, located near the Dreadnaught's Plaza in the City of Freeport (West Freeport), or at the Lion's Mane Inn and Tavern in Qeynos Capitol District (South Qeynos). For those who tend to rush through dialog, and/or don't like opening up their quest journal when the on-screen quest helper doesn't provide all the details, I'd like to point out the following bit of information:

Reward for the quest is your choice of the Ephemeral Frights that you gather during the quest in either plushie or fluff pet form, or candy corn, if neither of those options appeal to you.

Ephemeral Frights (same for fluff pet or plushie)

But wait, there's more!

Once the quest has been completed, you will be able to see the three treat dispensers that you placed, and be able to click on them to be tricked or treated. I have not sorted out the timers yet, but if you are tricked, you can collect from a dispenser again in a pretty short time. If you get a treat, it will be at least a couple hours before you can get another one. The treats all seem to be stacks of 5 consumables that grant you a 2-hour appearance effect. (Sparkles of different colors, haunted effects, etc.)

New Collection

Gravedigging has had a new collection added to it. You may now obtain the pieces needed for the "Facing Your Fears" collection, which rewards you with a "Replica: The Dream Scorcher". As with other replicas, which are faithful reproductions of in-game special mobs, you cannot resize this item.

Replica: The Dream Scorcher

New Drops

The gravedigging yields three new rewards, the “Phantasm Witchcraft” clothing pieces (Hat, Ensemble and Cloak).

Phantasm Witchcraft (front)

Phantasm Witchcraft (back)

The Nights of the Barking Dead quest (quest starter drops from gravedigging) has one new reward option - a Bejeweled Splitpaw Totem.

The Headless Horseman PQ in Nektulos Forest can not only drop season 8 familiar crates, but can also drop the Haunted Horseman's Steed Plushie.

Quest Tracker?

There are quite a few quests and achievements for this event, and Casdoe from Maj'Dul has already kindly updated her quest tracker in XLS form as well as her PDF version of the tracker. Thanks!

Videos!

Last, but in no way considered "least", Ocarinah has put together two house item previews. The full, narrated version and the shorter, silent version. Thanks!