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Halloween comes to Destiny in a delightfully mischievous way

Samit Sarkar (he/him) is Polygon’s deputy managing editor. He has more than 15 years of experience covering video games, movies, television, and technology.

Destiny takes place centuries in the future, but the people of Earth still celebrate All Hallows' Eve, and this year, Bungie is throwing a huge, activity-filled Halloween party inside the game.

The denizens of Destiny's world refer to it as the Festival of the Lost, and it is meant to "honor the shades of the dead," according to Eva Levante, the Guardian Outfitter. The Festival of the Lost is a limited-time event, running for two weeks from today to Nov. 9, according to Bungie.

Visitors to the Tower will see it decked out in beautiful decorations: Engram-shaped paper lanterns are strung up all around the place, tall purple candles cast an eerie glow everywhere, the symbol of the Festival of the Lost is projected onto the Traveler, and many of the quest givers and vendors have donned ridiculous masks. (Cayde-6's is a real highlight, as you might expect.)

Plus, the sounds of cries and howls waft through the Tower, sending chills down your spine. The decorations appear in the main Tower area and Tower North, but the Tower Hangar and its inhabitants remain as spartan and businesslike as ever.

Tess Everis gets in on the fun, selling three new scary emotes: Boo (300 Silver), Monster Dance (500) and Zombie Dance (700). Monster Dance appears to be an homage to a Halloween music video by a certain '90s boy band, while Zombie Dance is — well, it's the damn "Thriller" routine! All three emotes are legendary items, and you can check them out in the video below. Zombie Dance is available only in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions of Destiny.

In addition to the dances, Tess is offering Treasures of the Lost (200 Silver, nonreturnable), a "mystery bag" filled with randomized goodies appropriate for the holiday. The list of possible items includes a Jackolyte, the centerpiece of Destiny's first Halloween event.

Buyers of Treasures of the Lost are guaranteed to get a legendary mask — yes, that's right, the Festival of the Lost includes masks that your very own Guardian can wear. The masks are tied to multiple quests that you kick off by talking to Eva. She gives you a legendary mystery bag called Legacy of the Lost, as well as the "Sweet Memories" quest line and an empty Candy Satchel, which you fill with candy — no, seriously — by visiting other people in the Tower.

Well, some people (cough Eris) don't quite give you candy.

In any event, once you finish that trip around the Tower and return to Eva, she'll give you a rare Gifts of the Lost mystery bag, which comes with a rare mask. She also unlocks three further quests: "The Masks We Wear," "Playing Pretend" and "Face Off." Each one requires you to do certain activities while wearing a specific mask, like the Traveler one or the Crota one. It's unclear at this point whether you'll have to buy mystery bags from Tess if you don't have the necessary mask for a particular quest.

Bungie notes that you'll need to have purchased Destiny: The Taken King to see all of the Festival of the Lost items and activities, since some of them involve content that's available only in that expansion.

For more on The Taken King, read our review. You can also check out 15 screenshots from the Festival of the Lost in the gallery below.

Update: The Festival of the Lost also brings a new Crucible map called Cathedral of Dusk to Destiny. It is available exclusively for owners of The Taken King, and will remain in the map rotation after the Halloween event ends.

And you don't have to spend Silver at the Eververse Trading Company to get more masks; getting kills in PvE and PvP will refill your candy bag, which you can bring back to Eva again and again.