GTA Online Halloween weekly update adds Slashers, Ghost Cars, and UFOs

GTA Online received a spooky new Weekly Update on October 21 that brings UFOs, supernatural Slashers, and Ghost cars to the game. Halloween has arrived in Los Santos a bit later than some other games this year, but it’s now in full swing. While much of the content is recycled from previous iterations, there are still some pretty enticing limited-time opportunities to focus on the next time you visit Los Santos.

You can read the full details in the source Rockstar Newswire blog post, but we’ve summarized the major details of the update below.

How to find a Phantom Car in GTA Online

The first feature of the update is the start of the Phantom Car event, which pays homage to 1983 John Carpenter film and Stephen King novel, Christine. To find a Phantom car the following conditions must be met:

• Between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. in-game time.
• In free roam outside.
• Must be on foot or in a ground-based vehicle.
• The player must be in the match for at least 15 minutes.
• There must be at least two players in the session.

Under those conditions, a player should eventually encounter an old-fashioned car that drives by itself and attacks players at will. If you’re driving the car will slowly stalk you, and when walking nearby, it will try to ram you down. The event ends when the car is destroyed (which is pretty difficult to do and requires guns) or the target is killed. If you move quickly, the Phantom Car may end its pursuit as well.

How to find a Slasher in GTA Online

The other event-based encounter for the Halloween 2021 update is the debut of Slashers. These are predictably bloodthirsty NPCs that will try to kill players in your lobby. To find a Slasher, similar conditions must be met.

• 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in-game time.
• In free roam outside.
• On foot or in a ground-based vehicle.
• The player must be in a lobby for at least 15 minutes.
• The player must be close to the spawn area.

There are four different types of Slashers you can encounter, but they’re all basically the same. Win, and you’ll get a rare Twilight Knife T-shirt delivered within 72 hours.

Other Halloween game modes like Come Out To Play and Condemned are also returning.

• Slasher: The Slasher stalks up to seven Hunted with a shotgun. And they've only got flashlights. After three minutes, the Hunted get shotguns to turn the tables on the Slasher. If the Slasher or all the Hunted are killed within the time limit, the other team wins.
• Come Out To Play: A team of three Runners just trying to make it home, and a team of Hunters is out for blood. Runners are well-armed but limited to movement by foot, while the opposition wield free-aim shotguns and ride motorbikes or ATVs. Hunters must stay on their bikes and have access to unlimited lives, while the Runners have just one life but all their weapons available to pick off the Hunters at will.
• Condemned: It's the Los Santos way: if you find yourself at the bottom of the pile, then do whatever it takes to put someone else in the dirt, and don't stop kicking them just because they're down. Two to four players get stuck in a confined space, and one of them gets marked as condemned. If their time runs out they're finished, but watch out: They only need to kill you, and it's your clock that'll be ticking. The last one standing wins.

Here are some smaller features also included in the update.

• The Camhedz arcade cabinet is here. It’s a new light gun game available for arcade owners.
• 2X GTA$ and XP on Alien Survivals
• 2X GTA$ and XP on Business Battles, and battles will happen more often. Event Cargo includes the Green Checked Round Shades and Green Glow Necklace
• GTA III baseball bat tee will be offered for free to everyone who plays GTA Online this week.
• Republican Space Ranger Livery for the Pfister Comet S2 is available through October 27.
• Dinka RT3000 Prize Ride Challenge: place Top four in eight different Pursuit Series Races.
• Test Ride Annis Remus, Vulcar Warrener HKR, and Karin Previon.
• Prize Wheel in The Diamond Casino & Resort features the Peyote Gasser.
• 30% off: Casino Penthouse (+Renovations), Casino Decorations, Caracara 4x4 ($612,500), Gauntlet Hellfire ($521,500).
• 40% off: Lurcher ($390,000), Hellion ($501,000, Zhaba ($1,440,000 - $1,080,000), Desert Raid ($417,000),
• 50% off laser weapons.
• Prime Rewards: 1000,000 GTA$, free Sanctus, 70% Off Besra ($345,000), 70% Off Z-Type ($285,000).