‘Destination Fear’ Team Opens up About the Terrifying Twist on New Season (Exclusive)

The Destination Fear team is turning the fear levels up by turning the lights off. Dakota Laden, Chelsea Laden, Tanner Wiseman and Alex Schroeder opened up to PopCulture.com about their darkest season yet ahead of its terrifying Nov. 25 premiere – including one location that turned into an “actual scary movie.” 

Alex may have pioneered the “no flashlight” rule last season, but it was Dakota who decided this season’s entire road trip of terror would be done in complete darkness. “Honestly, our whole show is about chasing the fear and trying to amplify the fear,” Dakota explained to PopCulture. “So no flashlights is definitely the best way to do that, I feel like.”

Chelsea and Tanner think both Alex and Dakota are “to blame” for losing their flashlights this season. “I wasn’t happy about it, that’s for sure,” Tanner said of the season’s big twist. “I think all of us were kind of like, ‘Alright, so just for a little bit?’ And [Dakota] is like, ‘No, no, for the entire night … the scary times, we’ll just take away that security blanket.’”

Chelsea noted that the flashlight really was “the only sense of comfort” she’s ever had in past seasons. “I think that’s the goal for every season – to try to find ways to amplify our environment and to get the best content,” she shared. “And unfortunately, sometimes that means that we don’t get to use flashlights. And it is scary.”

The new season opens with a one-two punch at the massive Cresson Sanatorium in rural Cresson, Pennsylvania, the largest location the team has ever explored. The decaying 20-building property was once a sanatorium, mental hospital and prison, and the team will need two terrifying nights – and episodes – to really experience the full fear lurking around every corner. “From there, we have one of the spookiest scary nights we’ve ever had with our first episode,” Tanner teased, adding that the second night, something “even scarier” goes down: “The first night was very, very scary, but the second one was an actual scary movie.”

Later this season, the team keeps their “no flashlight” rule going as they visit locations including the infamous Winchester Mystery House and Ashmore Estates – the terrifying Illinois poorhouse so scary that they swore never to return. Destination Fear returns with a brand new season Friday, Nov. 25 at 9 p.m. ET on Travel Channel and streaming on discovery+.