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The Haunting: Call of Duty's Ultimate Horror Event Guide

Last Updated: November 7, 2025

Call of Duty The Haunting event artwork featuring horror icons.

The witching hour is a celebrated tradition in Call of Duty, and no event captures the spirit of the season better than The Haunting. This massive, fan-favorite Halloween celebration has become an annual staple, casting its dark shadow across Multiplayer, Warzone, and Zombies.

The 2023 event, which spanned *Modern Warfare II* and *Warzone*, set a new standard for seasonal content, delivering a full suite of spooky modes, eerie map transformations, and blockbuster horror icon collaborations. It twisted the familiar battlegrounds into a playground for ghouls and ghosts, packed with jump scares, challenging rewards, and an unforgettable, chilling atmosphere. This is the definitive breakdown of how The Haunting redefined fear in Call of Duty.

How Darkness Consumed Warzone

During the 2023 event, Warzone became the epicenter of supernatural chaos. Both the Al Mazrah and Vondel maps underwent significant nocturnal transformations, plunging operators into moonlit landscapes fraught with new dangers and paranormal threats. Familiar points of interest were draped in ghostly aesthetics, complete with startling jump scares and unsettling audio cues designed to keep squads on edge.

The core of the event was the "Soul Capture" mechanic. Similar to previous events, eliminated players dropped souls that could be collected. These souls were then offered at specific altars to unlock a trove of exclusive event rewards. This created a compelling risk-reward dynamic, as holding more souls made you a more valuable target.

The true terror, however, came from "Operation Nightmare," which unleashed monstrous public events across Al Mazrah. Squads were tasked with hunting down and investigating several eldritch anomalies:

  • The Butcher: The infamous Diablo boss appeared, requiring coordinated fire to defeat for high-tier loot.
  • The Ghost Train: A spectral, unstoppable train haunted the tracks of Al Mazrah, offering rewards to those brave enough to board and survive.
  • UFO Anomaly: A mysterious UFO could be found, tasking players with investigating and eliminating otherworldly hostiles.

Fan-favorite modes also made a triumphant return, including Vondead—a terrifying, zombie-infested version of the Vondel map—and the ever-popular Zombie Royale, which allowed fallen players to rise from the grave as super-powered zombies with unique abilities.

Multiplayer's Descent Into Madness

The chilling festivities extended deep into the core of *Modern Warfare II* multiplayer. A curated "Haunting Moshpit" playlist featured night-time and horror-themed reskins of two launch maps: El Asilo and Embassy. These were not simple lighting changes; the maps were filled with new environmental hazards, startling jump scares, and thematic decorations that transformed familiar combat arenas into nightmarish corridors.

Familiar modes like Domination, Kill Confirmed, and Grind were given a spooky twist, with scarecrows replacing dog tags in "Scare-firmed" and skulls being deposited in "Cranium-shattering Grind." These thematic changes, combined with the eerie atmosphere of the maps, provided a frantic and fresh experience distinct from the traditional multiplayer grind. Completing challenges within these special playlists was a key way for players to earn souls and progress through the event's reward track.

The Narrative Heart of the Scourge

The 2023 Haunting was more deeply integrated with the series' narrative than ever before, serving as a direct prequel to the *Modern Warfare III* Zombies storyline. The "Operation Nightmare" event in Warzone was the key narrative driver, tasking players with confronting supernatural entities linked to the Dark Aether.

By investigating anomalies and defeating monstrous bosses, squads uncovered intel and artifacts that directly explained the source of the paranormal surge affecting both Warzone and Multiplayer. This tight integration provided a strong narrative backbone to the event, making the Warzone challenges a crucial piece of the Halloween puzzle and successfully setting the stage for the next chapter in the Zombies saga.

An All-Star Cast of Horror Icons

A Call of Duty Halloween event would not be complete without a new collection of ghoulish Operators, and 2023 delivered one of the most star-studded lineups in franchise history. Instead of generic monsters, players could purchase bundles featuring some of the biggest names from horror, fantasy, and comics:

  • Spawn: The iconic anti-hero created by Todd McFarlane.
  • Ash Williams: The wise-cracking hero of the *Evil Dead* series.
  • Alucard: The deadly vampire from the anime *Hellsing*.
  • Lilith & Inarius: The blessed mother and fallen archangel from Blizzard's *Diablo IV*.
  • Skeletor: The classic villain from *Masters of the Universe*.

For those who preferred to earn their rewards, the comprehensive Soul Capture event system offered a treasure trove of free content. By collecting souls across Multiplayer and Warzone, players unlocked weapon blueprints with spectral effects, vehicle skins, calling cards, and more. Conquering the event and unlocking all rewards was the ultimate badge of honor for dedicated players who survived everything The Haunting had to throw at them.