The schedule
Every day: 👻 Ghost Stations and 🎃 Spooky Bounties (+13). Each day runs 00:00 to 23:59 UTC.
How each twist works
Ghost Stations
Every day I hide 13 ghosts among stations that are on the air a lot. Work one and you get +13, once per ghost per day. When someone finds a ghost, Discord tells everyone, so the hunt is on. At midnight UTC the rest are revealed and new ghosts move in.
Spooky Bounties
The 3 daily bounty countries are worth +13 all week. On Halloween the targets are Ireland (where Halloween began as Samhain) and Romania (home of Transylvania). On November 1 Mexico is a target for Día de los Muertos.
The 13th QSO
Count your QSOs. The 13th one that scores points today gets an extra +13. Everyone gets one.
Trick or Treat
Every QSO that scores has a small chance of a +13 treat (up to 13 treats per player per day). Some QSOs get a trick instead: a harmless "Boo!" with no points taken. Tricks never cost you anything.
Fog of War
A fog rolls in at 00:00 UTC. Today's leaderboard and the points on QSOs are hidden until it lifts at 23:00 UTC. Weekly standings stay frozen at where they were when the fog came in. Your points still count. Nobody knows who's winning until the last hour.
Zombie Steals
Normally, once someone steals your QSO you can't get it back, and working that station again is a duplicate. On zombie days your stolen QSOs rise from the dead: work the same station again on the same band and mode to steal it back, with no duplicate penalty. One steal-back per station, band and mode per day. If there's nothing to steal back, the normal duplicate rule applies.
Witching Hour
The first hour of Halloween (00:00 to 00:59 UTC on October 31) is a 3x Witching Hour. For the US that's Friday evening, October 30.
👻 Ghost hunt
The hunt starts October 25 at 00:00 UTC.
Leaders so far
For the whole week. Updated about every 30 seconds.
🏆 The awards
I'll hand these out when the week is over. They show up on your player page.
Questions
Do I need to sign up for Halloween Week?
No. If your QSOs already come to me from WSJT-X, you're in. If not, it takes about 2 minutes to set up.
Do Halloween points count toward divisions?
Yes. Halloween bonuses are normal points. They count for today, the week, your division, the season and all time.
Can bonus QSOs be stolen?
No. A QSO that earns a ghost, 13th QSO or treat bonus can't be stolen, same as a bounty QSO. It can still steal from other players as usual.
Do tricks cost points?
Never. A trick is just a harmless "Boo!". Nothing is taken away.
What time zone is this?
UTC, like the rest of the game. Each day runs 00:00 to 23:59 UTC. In the US a UTC day starts the evening before, so Halloween Week starts Saturday evening, October 24, and the 3x Witching Hour is Friday evening, October 30.
How do I find ghosts?
Ghosts are stations that are on the air a lot, so you have a real chance of working one. I don't say who they are. When someone finds one, Discord announces it, and it shows up in the ghost hunt above. After midnight UTC I reveal the full list for the day before.
What happens on fog days?
Today's leaderboard and the points on each QSO are hidden until 23:00 UTC. Your points still count. The weekly standings stay where they were when the fog came in, and catch up when it lifts.