Swizzle Tiki Bar in Lower Greenville decorates for Halloween through October, plays horror movies on the bar TV, and has an annual Halloween themed Burlesque show in late October. Swizzle is in the lowest part of Lower Greenville, close to Voodoo Donuts.

Haunted Castle Cafe in Plano opened in August. It’s close to Willow Bend Mall, off of the northbound Dallas North Tollway access road. This is the first restaurant or bar in DFW that is dedicated to Halloween/haunted houses. However, the reviews are mixed. The food menu is small, erratically executed, and pricey. Of course, everything is pricey today. Your best bet may be to go to the bar and order appetizers along with your drinks. The place is very well decorated. It sounds like it’s worth checking out once, just for the experience of being able to drink in a place that is all about haunted houses and Halloween.

The Old Monk, Spider Murphy’s Pub, The Skellig are Irish pubs, owned by the same company, along Henderson Ave in Dallas, close to Lower Greenville. All three decorate heavily for Halloween and usually have Halloween themed drinks in October. Old Monk has pumpkin carving in the last week of October.

The Dubliner is the oldest Irish pub in Dallas. It’s located in the middle of Lower Greenville and decorates heavily for Halloween. It’s owned by a guy from Dublin and is far more authentic than the Old Monk and it’s sister pubs. The Dubliner has pumpkin carving for one night during the final night week of October.

Wonder Bar on Henderson Ave in Dallas decorates for Halloween and has Halloween themed drinks in October.

Happy Halloween from Texas Haunts! Check out our listings below to help you decide what to do tonight. If you just want to stay in and watch horror movies, consider Trick ‘r Treat, Tales of Halloween, The Exorcist (original), The Omen (original), the original Halloween, Night of the Living Dead, and a black and white classic, Curse of the Demon.

Statewide Haunted House Listings

Halloween Parties and Events October 24-Halloween

Horror Movies and TV Shows October 2022

Halloween Merchandise and Costume Links

Pumpkin Patches, Corn Mazes, and Hayrides

Paranormal Places and Ghost Tours in Texas

Due to production and massive supply chain problems, there is about half as much Halloween merchandise at most stores this year. Michael’s and At Home have been hit the hardest, and Party City is just now beginning to stock their shelves. Home Depot is the only store with about the same amount of Halloween items as usual, and they have a great selection this year. Spirit is trying, and has creative themes for 2021, but they haven’t been able to stock as much merchandise as usual, and are especially low on animatronics. Lowe’s and Hallmark have less than normal, but a decent selection, by their standards. Target and Walmart are getting their shelves stocked now, but they probably will have less than in 2020.

Lemax is in incredibly short supply in 2021. Michael’s had very little Lemax this year, and are almost completely sold out of Lemax in stores. If you want any of the 2021 Lemax Spookytown line, you will probably have to order it online.

I had hoped for a return to normal with Halloween merchandise in 2021, but it look like that won’t happen until next year.

October 14

Trunk or Treat at the Denton Animal Shelter. 6pm-8pm

Pumpkin Hollow in Little Elm. 6pm-9pm

October 15

Pumpkin Hollow in Little Elm 6pm-10pm

Trunk or Treat party 3pm-7pm, Children’s Dental and Orthodontics in Dallas

Haunted Hall Bar Crawl from 9pm at Legacy Hall in Plano

Pumpkinfest in Grapevine, 8am-9pm Friday through Sunday, through Halloween.

Cemetery Scavenger Hunt in Farmers Branch, at Keenen Cemetery, 5:30pm-8pm

Adults Only Chocolate Haunted House Build at Yelibelly Chocolates in Addison, 7pm

Big League Screams in Mansfield, at 7:30pm

October 16

Oktoberfest Wiener Dog Race and Costume Contest in Southlake Town Square, 10am-noon.

Halloween Dog Pawty at the Shops at Park Lane, 10am-2pm

Pups and Pumpkins at World of Beer in Ft Worth. 2pm-5pm

Boo Bash at Music City Mall in Lewisville, for kids and dogs. 2pm-4pm

Howl o Ween Brunch and Costume Contest at Ellie’s in Dallas, 11am-2pm

Goat Yoga in Costumes in Addison Circle, 10am-11am. Goats in Costumes!

Ghost Walk in Lake Dallas 7pm-midnight

Halloween at the Heard Natural History Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary, from 6-8pm, McKinney.

Halloween Spooktacular at Bass Hall in Ft Worth, 11am.

Murder at the Skull Manor Costume Ball at Harwood Tavern in Dallas. 1pm-4pm

Pumpkinfest in Mesquite 2pm-5pm

Family Fright Night Campout in the Colony. 4pm Saturday-9am Sunday.

Pumpkin Day at Dallas Farmer’s Market, 9am-5pm

Pet Costume Contest at Atwoods Ranch in Lake Worth. 10am-2pm

Halloween Horror in Addison 7pm-11pm, a showing of the 2018 Halloween begins at 8:30pm.

Fangtacular Family Campout in Flower Mound, from 3pm Saturday to 9am Sunday.

Pumpkin Splash Patch in Allen noon-2:30pm

Kids Halloween Cooking Class at Maggiano’s in Northpark, noon-2pm

October 17

Meadows Museum Trick or Treat 3pm-5pm

As of tonight, August 31, Michael’s has only a small amount of Halloween merchandise out, including maybe half of the Lemax Spookytown 2021 line. At Home is also far behind in stocking for Halloween, with maybe a third as much Halloween merchandise on shelves as usual. Spirit is doing a better job, but they are also planning to put out more merchandise throughout September. Some Spirit stores have more than others, but none have their full line of animatronics, or movie related merchandise. Spirit has a lot of Sam Trick r Treat items this year, with more coming in through September. I will stopping by Home Depot and Lowes tomorrow, so I will post another update.

Update 9/2. Home Depot has just begun to put out Halloween merchandise. Lowes has put out most of what they have, which is about a fourth of their normal Halloween merchandise.

Update 9/3 According to employees at Michael’s, Spirit, and At Home, the reason stores are so far behind in stocking Halloween merchandise is the massive supply chain problem in California. Most of all Halloween items are made in China, and reach the US through California ports. Those ports have huge backlogs of container ships waiting to be unloaded. It’s possible that more merchandise will reach stores before Halloween. It’s also possible that what is in stores now will be all we get this year.

If you’re wondering, Party City, Target, and grocery stores don’t have much Halloween out until mid September, in a normal year.

The merchandise delays this year are being caused by slowed production and shipping in the Pacific Rim, due to Covid. Production runs many months ahead of the holidays, so most of the 2020 merchandise had been made by the time Covid hit. That’s why 2020 was a fairly normal year for Halloween shopping. The production delays caused by Covid have begun hitting us this year.

By this time of year, Michael’s and At Home typically have at least 70% of their Halloween merchandise on shelves. Due to the lingering effects of Covid, stores are running far behind in putting out Halloween merchandise this year. At Home has maybe 10% of their stock out, and Michael’s has put only a few items on their shelves. Home Depot and Lowe’s had not put any Halloween merch out, as of Wednesday, August 4. Spirit has announced their store locations, but opening dates are not listed. It looks like we will need to be patient this year. It seems like a safe bet that stores that stock up early, like Michael’s, At Home, and Home Depot, will have quite a bit of their Halloween stock out by late August.

Spirit has announced most of it’s store locations for 2021, although more locations will be added over the next month or so. Click here for the store locater.

Also, Michael’s and At Home (Gardenridge) are beginning to stock Halloween merchandise. I usually wait until the second to the last Saturday of July to check out those stores. By that time, Michael’s has most of it’s Lemax display in place, and Gardenridge has more than half of it’s Halloween displays out. July 24 is the beginning of my Halloween preseason this year.

Update July 24: Michael’s has yet to stock Halloween merchandise. They probably won’t have any out until early August.

It looks like things are returning to normal, so the outlook for the 2021 Halloween season is bright. I was surprised by how many haunted attractions opened last year, and it looks like the rest will reopen this year. I expect that Halloween parties and movie theaters will be back to normal in 2021 as well. The new Halloween movie, which had been scheduled for last year, will be out in October. There may be some mask requirements, but I’m thinking that most places will allow vaccinated people to not wear masks, and will use the honor system for that.

Halloween is on a Sunday this year, which is my favorite night for Halloween. Halloween on Saturday is great, but with Sunday, you get to celebrate all weekend long. Haunted house opening dates and the statewide listings will be updated in late July. The first haunted attractions of the year will be opening in mid September, so hopefully we can all make up for last year’s hamstrung season!

Some haunted attractions usually open for Valentine’s Day, typically one or two in each major city, but there won’t be any Valentine’s Day openings in 2021. It looks like the next haunted attraction opening will be Scream Hollow, this June. They are working on a new, half mile hayride, which will be ready by this summer.

However, remember that Ripley’s Haunted Adventure in San Antonio, and Haunted Mayfield Manor in Galveston, are open all year.

Most of the action will be this weekend, but you can watch movies in theaters, and movies and TV shows at home this week, plus, it’s not too late to order costumes and merchandise for Halloween weekend. Weather permitting, you can check out some paranormal hotspots too. Below is a list of links to help you plan out the final week of October, and Halloween weekend.

Statewide Haunted House Listings

Recommended Haunted Houses

Halloween Parties and Events October 29-Halloween

Horror Movie and TV Show Listings

Paranormal Places and Ghost Tours in Texas

Halloween Merchandise and Costume Links

Other Halloween Activities

October 29-30

Howl O Ween Yappy Hour and Costume Contest in Frisco on October 29, from 5-7pm

Spirits of Halloween Beer and Boos Dinner at the Social House in Arlington, from 7-9pm on October 29.

Brewed Halloween Bash in Ft Worth, October 30 from 6-10pm

Legends of McKinney Ghost Walk at Heritage Village in McKinney, October 30 at 6pm

Fall Festival in Frisco, October 30, from 6:30-9:30pm

Carbaret showing of Hocus Pocus and Nightmare on Elm Street, in Richardson, Oct 30, 6:30-9:30pm

Haunted Hollywood Party in Frisco, October 30, 7-11:30pm

Discover Studios Halloween Party October 30, 8-11:30 pm, in downtown Dallas.

A Gothic Affair at Lorenzo’s at Hotel Lorenzo in downtown Dallas, October 30, 8pm-midnight

Tunnel of Terror Haunted Car Wash in Frisco, from 8-11pm, October 30.

Halloween

Halloween Portrait Pawty at the Shops at Park Lane (Dallas, close to 75 and NW Hwy) dog park, from 10am-2pm. Have your pet’s photo taken by professional photographers, proceeds benefit Dallas Street Dog Advocates. Costumes are encouraged.

Pooch Parade and Costume Contest in Burleson, check in begins at 8:30am, parade at 9:30am

1st Annual Halloween Treats and Photos In Saginaw, from 3pm-9pm. Free, leashed pets welcome.

Truck Yard Halloween Bash in Lower Greenville, begins at 11am, dog costume contest at 2, human contest begins at 6.

Trick Or Treat in Lowest Greenville (Dallas) from 11am-3pm

Trick R Treat Train Grapevine 11am, 1pm, 3pm.

Night Vision Zombie Hunt, with real firearms, in Grapevine, 10am or 1pm.

Un-Cancel Halloween at Main Event in Lewisville from noon to 4pm

Ft Worth Halloween Crawl from 2-10pm

Uptown Halloween Bar Crawl, 2-10pm, starts at Playground Bar on McKinney.

The Haunting of Jasper’s Uptown from 2pm-7:30pm, followed by a showing of Scream

Halloweentown Market and Cinema showing Night of the Demons in Richardson, 6-10pm

Bob’s Annual Halloween Bash in Granbury, from 7-11pm

The Adolphus Cinema Series: Halloween Edition showing of the Shining 8-11pm

Halloween Party and Costume Contest at Lava Cantina, hosted by Infinite Journey. Doors open at 6:30.

Halloween Bash in Rhome, 8-11pm

2020 Dallas Halloween Night Bar Crawl 8pm-2am, exact location TBA, Uptown and Deep Ellum venues. Limited tickets, will sell out, so get your tickets early.

Death by Disco in Dallas 8:30pm-2am

Nightmare on Main St on Main St in Dallas, from 8pm-2am

Haunted W Dallas Rooftop Halloween Night Masquerade Ball  9pm-2am

Nightmare on Elm St Party in downtown Dallas, 9pm-2am

Zombie Safari Hunt in Forney, from 7-10pm

Halloween Vampire Murder Mystery Dinner at the Vineyard  6pm-10pm

Hall O Ween at Legacy Hall in Plano, from 9pm-1am.

House of Halloween at Sanctuary Studios in north Irving, from 9pm-2am

Canvas Hotel Halloween Party from 10pm-2am, at the Canvas Hotel in downtown Dallas.

MASK Halloween Party in Plano, from 8pm-1am.

Haunted Hotel at Lorenzo at the Hotel Lorenzo in downtown Dallas 8pm-2am

Halloween on Halloween at the It’ll Do Club (where the Church moved) from 9pm-2am

Due to the fluid nature of Covid, check the site of the event that you want to attend for the latest in days open and hours of operation.

Boo at the Zoo October 22-25, with a drive through this year.

Dallas Arboretum Art of the Pumpkin Now through November 1. Located next to White Rock Lake. Separate charges for admission and parking. There have been changes to ticketing, so check their site for current information before you go.

Pumpkin Patches DFW

Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch Attendance by reservation only. See the site for details.

Halls Pumpkin Farm Opens October 2, check the site for hours, directions, and prices.

Preston Trail Farm Open now, check the site for hours, prices, and directions.

More pumpkin patches and outdoor Halloween activities are listed here.

Costume Shops DFW

Incognito Costume World-Dallas, on Inwood, close to the Galleria. Open for in person business.

Dallas Vintage Costume Shop-Plano, off of 75, just north of Collin Creek Mall. Open for in person business.

Magic Etc. In Ft Worth, on Forest Park Blvd, just north of I-30, west of downtown Ft Worth. Open for in person business, seven days a week.

Norcostco Dallas Closed for in person shopping. Online and phone orders only, with curbside pickup. On Wycliff, south of I-35, in the Design District.

Rose Costumes-Denton, off of I-35 (northbound side) at 288. Closed for in person shopping, but they have online shopping available.

Dallas Costume Shoppe-in east Dallas, on Main. By appointment only, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Due to Covid, it’s possible that haunted attractions will have to close with little notice, so please check with the haunted attraction before buying tickets, and before you leave for the attraction. It’s best to call the number for the attraction for updates, or to check their Facebook site. Websites are usually last to be updated. Please remember to take a mask with you. Most attractions will be required to enforce mask wearing, and most will not have masks to provide to customers.

Update: Some haunted attractions will be selling a limited number of tickets, online only, this season, so it’s best to buy your tickets in advance this year. If nothing else, check with the attraction’s site, or Facebook page to find out whether advance tickets are required. In 2020, don’t show up at a haunted house with the expectation of being able to buy tickets at the box office.

Update II: House of Torment is closed for the 2020 season.

Dates and times are for opening night only. Please check with the haunted house’s site for all other dates and times.

All Year

Ripley’s Haunted Adventure 11am-6pm Sun-Thu, 10am-9pm Fri-Sat (210) 226-2828 Facebook

Haunted Mayfield Manor 1pm-6pm, except Saturday 1pm-8pm. (409) 762-6677 Facebook

Opening September 18

Scream Hollow 7pm-Midnight (512) 710-8267 Facebook

13th Floor 7:30-10pm (210) 910-6450 Facebook

Opening September 25

World Of Khaos 7pm-Midnight (903) 283-8939 Facebook

Doc Wilkes House of Horrors 7:30-Midnight (903) 297-5397 Facebook

Purgatory Scream Park 8pm-Midnight (281) 622-6186  Facebook

6th Street Massacre 7pm-Midnight (806) 337-0749 Facebook

Opening September 26

Amarillo Scaregrounds 7-9pm, tickets on sale only at the box office. (806) 367-9516 Facebook

P6 Farms Fall Festival and Corn Maze 10am-6pm (936) 597-6062 Facebook

Opening October 2

Cutting Edge  8-11pm (817) 348-8444 Facebook

13th Gate 6:30-11:30pm (225) 389-1313 Facebook

Hangman’s House of Horrors 8pm-Midnight (817) 336-4264 Facebook

Houston Screamfest 8pm-11pm Must sign waiver before entering park. Facebook

Phobia 8pm-Midnight (713) 526-3323 Facebook

J&F House of Terror (Online tickets only) (972) 278-7692  Facebook

Texas Scaregrounds  7:30pm-Midnight (817) 819-6773 Facebook

The Mortuary 6:30pm-Midnight (504) 483-2350 Limited tickets, time slot only Facebook

Hex House 7-11pm (877) 980-7882 Facebook

Houston Terror Dome 8-11pm (281) 864-9686 Facebook

Haunted Trails 8pm-Midnight (713) 618-3323 Facebook

Creepy Hollow 7pm-Midnight (800) 357-3323 Facebook

Graystone Manor 7pm-Midnight (In person sales only, at 50% capacity) (903) 918-3889 Facebook

Afterlife Haunted House 8-11pm (903) 202-0123 Facebook

Yesterland Fright Farm “Dark until 10” (903) 567-2255 Facebook

Parker House  7:30-11pm  (469) 556-3475 Facebook

Creekside Manor Dusk till Midnight (469) 471-4030 Facebook

Moxley Manor Hours TBA (682) 231-1313 Facebook

Haunted Shadows Lake Trail 7:45pm-Midnight  Facebook

3Haunts 8-11pm (713) 962-2339 Facebook

Psycho Path Haunted House 7:30-11:30pm  Timed tickets sold online only. (918) 288-7685 Facebook

The Blackness Haunted House 7:30-11pm Facebook

Redrum Fear Park 7pm-Midnight (281) 762-0034 Facebook

Rise Haunted House 7pm-10pm (985) 277-9666 Facebook

Haunting on the Blue Ghost 7:30-10pm (361) 248-8268 Facebook

Nightmare on Main Street 7:30-10 pm Facebook

Tree Farm Massacre 7pm-Midnight (337) 378-8726 Facebook

Dark Woods Adventure Park 7-11 pm (318) 289-9019 Facebook

Zombie Safari 7-10pm (972) 203-0014 Facebook

Opening October 3

Nightmare on 19th Street 7:30-10:30pm (Tickets online only) Facebook

Zip Line With Zombies (903) 968-6924 Begins at 7, reservations only, made by phone only. Facebook

Opening October 9

Thrillvania 8:30-10pm (972) 428-9653 Facebook

Waco Haunted Houses 8pm-Midnight (254) 826-7473 Facebook

Silo of Screams  Opens at 8 for first showing, 10:15 for second showing Facebook

Fright Night Haunted House Online ticket sales only, limited tickets, timed entry. 7-11pm Facebook

Evil Visions Haunted House 7pm-Midnight (318) 355-1751 Facebook

Opening October 16

Texas Maze of Terror Timed tickets only this year, buy online. 8 to 10 (409) 681-5115 Facebook

Opening October 23

Defcon One and Circus of the Dead 7pm-Midnight (432) 894-2494 Facebook

Spirit begins opening it’s stores this weekend, Friday August 7, and Saturday, August 8. Check here for Spirit stores opening in your area.

This is the time of year when I ordinarily update the statewide haunted house listings, and begin posting haunted house opening dates. You can see the statewide haunted house listings here, but I won’t be posting haunted house opening dates until early September. At this point, the only Texas haunted attraction that has cancelled it’s 2020 season is Screams. However, no haunted attraction can be certain of opening in 2020, and won’t be certain of being able to open until at least early September.

2020 is unprecedented, thanks to Covid. We aren’t sure of how much of an impact Covid will have on the Halloween season, beyond haunted houses. Halloween parties, trick or treating, seeing horror movies in theaters, and other activities such as pumpkin festivals, may be impacted. We can be certain that stores that carry Halloween related merchandise (Spirit, Michaels, At Home, Party City, etc) will be open. At the very least, you will be able to visit “real” haunted sites, watch horror and scifi movies and TV shows at home, and decorate your home. Anything beyond that will have to be viewed as a bonus this year.

Speaking of “real” haunted sites, or paranormal sites, if you prefer, we will be posting a list of such sites in Texas and surrounding states. We do have a list of stores that carry Halloween merchandise here, but we will be posting an updated list soon. The first Spirit store openings will be on August 8, and will continue on a rolling basis into early September. We will keep you informed of new developments in the 2020 season as they happen, so keep checking back.

In another promising sign for the 2020 Halloween season, Spirit has announced most of it’s store locations for 2020. This is not a full listing, so keep checking their site for added locations. Check here for their locations.

It is incredibly difficult for me to write this, but Screams just announced that they have cancelled their 2020 season. I will post their full press release below. I was greatly looking forward to seeing everyone at Screams, and especially Helaine, the Screams/Scarborough marketing director, Cheltsea and Michael at the Full Moon Cafe, and Tai.

As anyone who visits this site knows, Screams is my favorite theme park (of any kind) and the Halloween season will not be the same without it. It would have been extra difficult for Screams to have opened, given that they sell a great deal of food and drink, and in the end, management made a decision in the interest of the safety of Screams employees and guests. As sad as this is, I am already looking forward to Screams 2021!

Below is the Screams announcement.

Michaels has put the 2020 Lemax Spooky Town line out on display in it’s stores, nationwide. This is the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Spooky Town Collection, and this year’s line is the best since at least 2008. Here is the regular Spooky Town 2020 line, and here are the Michaels exclusives.

Lemax is ridiculously expensive at regular price, so I wait for the Michaels annual Labor Day sale, when they give out a coupon that can be used for all items in their stores, including items already at reduced price. Michaels begins marking down Lemax in late August, in most years, so I get roughly 40%-45% off of the regular price for Lemax by combining Michaels Labor Day coupon with the mark down of Lemax items. You could wait until late September for Lemax at Michaels to be marked down to over 50% off, but by then nearly all of the good stuff is sold out. Make sure that you are on Michaels email list so that you will receive their Labor Day coupon. They only send those to their email list.

At Home (formerly known as Gardenridge) and Michaels have begun to stock Halloween decorations. At Home and Michaels usually have most of their Halloween decorations on shelves by late July. Both stores have an excellent selection of Halloween merchandise, and Michaels is the main distributor of Lemax Spookytown. Michaels currently has a 20% off coupon on their site for use on regular price, in store purchases. This sale runs through August 1.