JT Mollner’s movie career is getting in the way of the family business.
The Las Vegas native, who broke out in a major way with “Strange Darling” in 2024, will be so busy with his next film, Freakling Bros. Horror Shows is skipping this year.
“We’ve made the difficult decision to take the 2026 Halloween season off,” Mollner, the haunted experience’s co-owner and creative director, said in a statement. “Scaring Las Vegas has been a passion project for my family for more than 30 years, and while Halloween won’t be the same, we’ve made the difficult decision to step away for the season so I can fully commit to my next film.”
Mollner followed up the nonlinear, murderous “Strange Darling,” which he wrote and directed, by scripting last year’s “The Long Walk,” based on Stephen King’s first completed novel.
Next up, he’s directing “Skeletons,” a creature feature he co-wrote starring Brie Larson that’s produced by JJ Abrams. Earlier this week, Sony scheduled it for release on June 4, 2027.
Mollner has also been tasked with adapting King’s “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” and he’s working on a TV series based on the “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” franchise.
Freakling Bros. Horror Shows took the 2025 season off to focus on building The Nest, a replacement for Castle Vampyre.
“While we were excited to unveil our new haunt, we know there are only so many scares to go around,” Mollner said in that statement. “Our fans and longtime production team deserve the full Freakling Bros. experience, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back in 2027 for the next chapter of fear.”
Freakling Bros. Horror Shows was established in 1976. It unveiled the city’s first free-standing haunted attraction and, in 2011, introduced the first R-rated attraction.
Mollner typically has a hand in casting and training the Freakling Bros. actors and serves as a de facto director.
“It’s very important to me that Freakling Bros. continues,” he told the Review-Journal in 2024. “It’s my dad’s life’s work. It’s our family legacy.”
Contact Christopher Lawrence at [email protected] or 702-380-4567.