Scaring up a new business: these UCI friends are all about the fright

“I grew up with a fascination for theme parks and all things within the world of themed entertainment,” said Zweig, 22. “Creating immersive experiences, environments and being able to see people experience what I had created was something I always strived to do.”

He took his idea to his college friends, Srihas Payidiparty, 22, and Cameron Romeis, 24, and the precursor to OC Fright Nights was born.

“The three of us met in college, each studying in our own respective fields, all with a strong passion for themed entertainment, so the partnership seemed like a no-brainer,” he said. “Our first experience, dubbed Irvine Haunt, opened in the fall of 2023, with just over 150 guests in attendance — we very nicely pleaded with one of our friends to let us use their house to host the event at. It seemed like such a huge accomplishment at the time, but the years that followed showed significant growth.”

The Halloween Mini Golf and Arcade includes a nine-hole mini-golf course surrounded by neon lights, Halloween music and decor. (Jessica Peralta) This year, the friends have partnered with Playground Mini Golf in Huntington Beach to host The Phantom Tavern: Haunted Speakeasy — a 21 and over, 1920s-themed immersive experience with live actors — plus a Halloween-themed, family-friendly mini golf course.

“The event combines live actors, practical effects, lighting and audio sequences, and a full immersive storyline from the moment you step into the speakeasy,” Zweig said of the Phantom Tavern.

It’s a long way from their original, free, community events, but their commitment to storytelling remains.

“This is a story-driven immersive experience,” he said. “It’s not meant to utterly terrify you, but place you into a new world, just like our past events.”

Their previous Halloween events, known as “home haunts,” ran with the help of friends and volunteers. In 2024, they created their first story-driven experience: Scarecrow Haunted Maze. In 2025, they designed Scarecrow II: The Curse of Grant Manor.

“Over the years of being a home haunt, we had over 2,000 total guests in attendance, and we are so appreciative of every person that came out to support along the way — especially our large team of volunteer actors, staffing and more,” Zweig said.

For this year, the trio decided to turn project into business. Since they’d outgrown using a house to operate out of, they planned to custom design immersive experiences tailored to a specific venue’s needs — whether it be a retail location, family-focused entertainment center or something else.

The Phantom Tavern features live actors in an immersive, 1920s-themed speakeasy environment. (Jessica Peralta) The idea was to offer custom pop-up events and partner with venues, which is how they connected with Playground Mini Golf for their first professional event.

“Our goal was to not just scare you, but make you truly feel like you were stepping into another world,” Zweig said. “This year, that is exactly what will happen at The Phantom Tavern: Haunted Speakeasy. You will step right back in time to 1926, in the heart of Prohibition. It’ll be an immersive experience unlike any other, and truly takes all of the best that we have done and builds upon it.”

The Phantom Tavern is located in the back section of Playground Mini Golf on Friday and Saturday nights in October and is available by reservation, which can be booked online (ocfrightnights.com). There’s a themed cocktail menu and light bites.

The Halloween Mini Golf and Arcade, available daily in October, is in the front portion of the venue and includes a nine-hole mini-golf course surrounded by neon lights, Halloween music and themed decor. Playground Mini Golf also has an arcade, cocktails and food. Guests can book both experiences in the same night.

“The speakeasy is a seated experience with live actors, practical effects, storytelling and show scenes, lighting/audio triggers and so much more,” Zweig said. “It is beyond any production level that we have previously done.”

Actors interact with each other and guests during The Phantom Tower, a fright experience that’s drawing guests to a Huntington Beach mini golf course. (Jessica Peralta) The three friends are now all UCI graduates. Zweig said home haunting has offered them significant insight in how to build and operate themed attractions. As of now, each of them has an outside professional job within his own respective field — Zweig in mechanical engineering, Romeis in digital marketing and design, and Payidiparty in finance and information science. But the mission is to take OC Fright Nights full time and continue to create larger and more complex experiences.

“Our goal is to expand beyond just Halloween attractions,” Zweig said. “We are looking to provide seasonal overlays, events and pop-up experiences at venues year round, with horror attractions still being at the forefront of what we do. Be on the lookout for a potential holiday event this winter.”

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Jessica Peralta is a contributor to TimesOC.