I’ve been an avid Tarkov player for many years now. Ever since the 1.0 release the developers organise various in-game events, of which Halloween 2026 event is the most recent.

The event started on the 29th of October 2026 and is basically a variant of zombie apocalypse. An unknown virus has escaped underground TerraGroup facility (The Lab) and is decimating Tarkov population, turning NPCs into blood-thirsty (or maybe brain-hungry?) monsters. Players receive a set of ephemeral, event-related tasks focusing on containing the spread of the virus and keeping the zombies at bay. While zombies can spawn on any map, two special variants of zombie-infested maps were prepared: the Factory and the Lab. Both maps are crawling with zombies (plus we get an Infected Tagilla on Factory, brandishing a scythe instead of his casual sledgehammer). Event task line forks into two separate ways of dealing with the sudden epidemic. We can side with Therapist or Skier, of which both have their own ways of dealing with the problem and are focusing on different aspects of the situation. Some of the end rewards differ, depending on the path we have chosen, but each consists of a unique achievement and a Halloween-themed main background for the game.

I have completed the Halloween quest line with my friends and while some of the objectives were quite difficult, we all managed to finish the event in the reasonable amount of time, having quite some fun (and a healthy dose of fear) along the way. I do not know how long the event is going to last, but I guess a couple of days more, at most. After all, Halloween has passed and as we are advancing into the misty Autumn weather, problems with the undead will soon be left behind.

tarkov-halloween During the Halloween event your hideout receives a unique look

Some tips for people who want to complete the quest line:

  • Do not bring ammo with high penetration value, it will literally be wasted. Zombies are flesh only, they have no armour, so your best shot are cartridges with high flesh damage and low penetration. A good choice is 12-gauge shotgun with Super Performance slug – one hit kills zombies instantly. Be sure to bring big magazines and a lot of shells – there are dozens of zombies in the Infected Factory and Lab.
  • Make sure to deal with the fast zombies first, otherwise they will overpower you in a matter of seconds.
  • High power healing stims are necessary. etG-c is recommended, although propital can help you too, to a much lesser degree.
  • If you see Infected Tagilla, run.
  • A good place to farm zombie kills is the entryway to Gate 3 on Factory and the area in front of it, overlooking the side entrance to the office section. Just make sure to open the internal doors to the Gate 3 exfil so you can escape if things start to go bad.
  • Do not use suppressed weapons. Tarkov zombies are indifferent to sound and if you are attacked by a horde of 15 zombies or more, your gun can overheat and jam in the middle of a rapid fire series.
  • If zombies are coming too close, break the contact. Pull back, jump through the window or a fence. They deal a lot of damage in melee and your armour is useless. 2-3 hits and you are done.
  • Do not bring gear you do not want to lose into Infected Factory and Infected Lab. Both locations work like the regular Lab, i.e. your gear won’t make its way back in case of your demise. So you should not insure the gear you take into raids in those locations.
  • Zombies cannot reach you if you are standing at a somewhat higher elevation than them. You can jump onto a forklift ad use the higher ground to your advantage. Be aware, though, that even then you are still susceptible to getting shot by pistol zombies (yeah, some of the zombies do carry pistols and they can shoot you) or regular PMCs (regular PMCs still spawn at Infected Factory and Infected Lab, and they can be quite dangerous if you have a weapon with a low penetration ammo). It is best to have a backup weapon with high-pen ammo in case you meet a PMC.
  • It is always better to pull back and escape to fight another day than to let zombies overcome you and die.
  • Infected Factory and Infected Lab are modified in comparison to regular maps, so some of the shortcuts, underground passages or catwalks are inaccessible. You won’t be able to shoot zombies from high above.
  • Zombies spawn in waves so even if you dealt with the first wave, the raid is far from over.

Whatever you do in Tarkov, may your raids be successful!