Haunted Zone

The Haunted Zone is a Zone of Mobius. Although once the wealthiest Zone on Mobius, and home to the planet's biggest gold mine, it is now a ghost town. Legends about the Zone claim that the locals dug into an ancient burial ground or something and that the Zone has been haunted ever since, and that once per year, on Hallowe'en night, "ghosties and goblins come out to play". A group of ghost hunters attempted to spend the night a couple of years ago, but while searching near the main mine shaft one of them disappeared without a trace.

For years, Sonic the Hedgehog promised himself that he would spend Hallowe'en night in the Haunted Zone. One year he finally fulfilled the promise, accompanied by Tails. However, the evil of the Zone took control of Sonic's mind and he tried to attack Tails, before befriending the Haunted Zone monsters who rose up from the Underworld. Sonic was given a Charm of Despair, which would allow him to return to the Underworld with the monsters, but Tails managed to steal it from Sonic before midnight, breaking the spell. Sonic had no memory of the night's events and assumed that he had fallen asleep, even though Tails still held the Charm of Despair.