Texas Haunts – Haunted House And Halloween News and Reviews

Scream Hollow, a Halloween park southeast of Austin, and 13th Floor, a large haunted house in San Antonio, are opening September 18.

Scream Hollow is a large haunt park, with four haunted attractions, a bar, a cafe/bakery, and a gift shop. It’s located in Bastrop County, close to the town of Smithville. It’s about 30 minutes southeast of Austin. Directions are here. Tickets are here. This is their Facebook. I have never been to Scream Hollow, but it’s at the top of my list of places to see. It sounds a lot like Screams, which is a great haunt park. Speaking of Screams, since they are closed this year, Scream Hollow is your best bet for a similar experience, so go if you can make the trip. If you live in that part of Texas, definitely go. Scream Hollow is spread out over 20 acres, they have plenty of space for social distancing, and they are taking all Covid precautions. Scream Hollow is open Friday, September 18, and Saturday, September 19, from 7pm-Midnight. They are open Sunday, September 20, from 6pm-10pm.

13th Floor is part of a nationwide group of haunted houses that includes House of Torment in Austin. I haven’t been to 13th Floor, but I have been to it’s sister haunt, House of Torment, which is excellent. 13th Floor has an impressive list of Covid precautions, and they are limiting ticket sales this year, so please buy your tickets in advance. Tickets are here, this is their Facebook, and their list of Covid precautions is here. 13th Floor is open on Friday, September 18, and Saturday, September 19, from 7:30pm-10pm.

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.

After a break for Covid, Ripley’s Haunted Adventure (in San Antonio) and Haunted Mayfield Manor (Galveston) are open daily again. It will be interesting to see how smoothly these haunts operate during the summer. If business is good, other haunted attractions could decide to open for the Halloween season. Updates on these haunts will be posted in July. For now, if you are going to be in San Antonio or Galveston, check these attractions out. Both are well regarded. Please remember to protect yourself from Covid while you are in public.

Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano has cancelled it’s annual Dog Days of Summer show, which is held in July. Hopefully Covid will not prevent haunts from opening for the Halloween season. We will post an update about the upcoming season in July.

Waco Haunted Houses, in Elm Mott, just north of Waco, is the first haunted house to announce that they will be open for Friday the 13th in March. I had a great time reviewing this haunt last October, and you can read the review here. There are two haunted houses on the grounds, plus a gift shop. Waco Haunted Houses is located off of the access road for northbound I-35, between Waco and West, and yes, West is the name of a town. The address is 14656 I-35 N Elm Mott, Texas 7664, their phone is 254 826 7473, and you can also check their Facebook. It’s great for people in the Waco and Waxahachie areas, and is within easy driving distance of DFW and Austin.

Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano will be open for St Patrick’s Day on March 13 and 14, from 7pm-11pm. March 13 is also Friday the 13th! Tickets are $30 for the main haunt, and $40 for a combo of Dark Hour and The Asylum. VIP tickets and group rates (at least 15 people) are also available.

The following haunted houses will be open for Valentine’s Day.

Dark Hour Haunted House on Feb 14 and 15, from 7pm-11pm.

House of Torment beginning at 7pm on Feb 14 and 15. Tickets here

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

HALLOWEEN LINKS

Halloween Merchandise and Costumes

http://www.spirithalloween.com/

http://www.halloweencity.com/

http://www.partycity.com/

http://www.halloweenexpress.com/

http://www.costumeworld.com/

http://www.norcostco.com/

http://rosecostumes.com/

http://www.halloweencostumes.com/

http://www.costumeexpress.com

http://www.buycostumes.com

http://www.wholesalehalloweencostumes.com/

http://www.extremehalloween.com/

http://www.costumekingdom.com

Halloween Decorations

https://athome.com/halloween

http://www.michaels.com/

http://lemax-spookytown.com/

http://www.hauntedprops.com/

http://www.thehorrordome.com

http://www.frightprops.com/

http://www.poisonprops.com/

http://creepycollection.com/

http://www.mostlydead.com

http://www.dappercadaver.com/

http://www.darksidedisplays.com/

“Real” Haunted Site Listings

http://theshadowlands.net/places/texas1.htm

http://www.texasescapes.com/FEATURES/Texas_ghosts.htm

http://www.jeffersonghostwalk.com/

Dark Hour Haunted House in Plano is open December 13-14, and December 27-28. 7pm-11pm each night. A behind the scenes tour is available on December 28, from noon-3pm. Tickets here.

Scream Hollow is open December 13-14, and December 20-21, from 6pm-11pm each night. Tickets here.

House of Torment in Austin will be open December 13-14, and December 20. Hours are 8pm-Midnight each night. Tickets here.

Screamworld in Houston will be open on December 13, 8pm-11pm. Tickets here.

Ripley’s Haunted Adventure in San Antonio, and Haunted Mayfield Manor in Galveston are open all year. Check their sites for times and prices.

Halloween is over, but many haunted attractions will be open this Friday and/or Saturday. A few will be open the weekend of the 8th and 9th. Check the statewide haunted house listing page for hours of the haunt that you want to see this weekend, and beyond. Ripley’s Haunted Adventure and Mayfield Manor are open all year. Cutting Edge and Dark Hour open for special nights in the off season. Texas Haunts will be open and updated all year, so check back with us for listings of special events between December and July. Thanks for visiting our site this season, and we hope you had a great Halloween. The 2020 season of Texas Haunts will begin in August of 2020!

Happy Halloween from Texas Haunts! We hope you have a great time, and to help with that, here is a rundown of what there is to do on Halloween.

Haunted Houses-Aside from Screams, all haunted attractions are open for Halloween. Check our statewide haunted house listings for times. Generally, haunted houses close earlier on Halloween, usually around 10pm.

Parties/Trick or Treating/Other Events-Check our listing of Halloween events and other Halloween activities for everything other than haunted houses and movies.

Movies-Most Alamo Drafthouses, Angelikas Dallas and Plano, Texas Theater, and some Studio Movie Grills have vintage horror movies playing on Halloween. Zombieland Doubletap and Countdown are in wide release. Check our horror movie listings for showtimes and links to each theater. Check the theater’s site to verify the showtime late morning or early afternoon. I can’t stress this enough because theaters sometimes make last minute changes to showtimes.

For at home entertainment, AMC has Fearfest, TCM has vintage horror movies, SYFY has the final day of 31 Days of Halloween, Travel Channel has Ghostober, Freeform has 31 Nights of Halloween, Food Channel and Disney Channel have Halloween shows, and most other networks and channels will have some genre programming on Halloween. Check our listing of horror movies and shows for more information.

With the exception of Screams, all haunted attractions are open on Halloween, and many are open Monday-Wednesday. Check listings here for the haunts you want to see. My recommended haunted houses are here. Most haunted houses will also be open Friday and Saturday. I will have a post later in the week for haunts that will be open past Halloween.

For all things Halloween, check out the following pages. All have been updated for this week.

Statewide listing of haunted attractions

Halloween movie and TV listings

Halloween Parties October 29-November 2

Other Halloween Activities

Haunted House Reviews

Halloween links

October 29

Rocktober Halloween Bash at Wayne Ferguson Plaza in Lewisville, beginning at 5pm.

Halloween Trivia Special at Pinstripes Bowling in Ft Worth, begins at 7pm.

October 30

Flash Film Screening Halloween Films at Mockingbird Station in Dallas, begins at 7pm

Bakeology DFW Halloween Cake Decorating Class in Keller, beings at 5:30pm

Halloween Wine Glass Painting Party at Drunken Donkey in the Colony, begins at 7pm.

Halloween!

Alaween Halloween Carnival at Alamo Richardson, from 3-6pm.

Spooky Snaps Free Halloween Portraits at Ft Worth Camera at 4pm.

Halloween Paint Party in Dallas at 4pm.

Family Halloween Party in Dallas from 4-9pm.

Treat Street at the Stockyards in Ft Worth from 5-7pm.

Denton Halloween Fest begins at 6pm.

Halloween With the Hannah’s in Garland, begins at 6pm.

Halloween Paint Party in Dallas, begins at 6pm.

Kostumes and Karaoke Halloween Party at 7 in Carrollton.

Halloween Bash at Texas Republic in Fort Worth at 7pm.

Halloween Trivia Night at Starbucks on La Vista in Lakewood, at 7pm

Halloween Cocktail Class at 7pm at The People’s Last Stand in Dallas.

The Melvins at Trees in Deep Ellum at 7pm.

GWAR at Gas Monkey in Dallas at 7:30pm.

The Nightmare Before Christmas in concert at the Meyerson in Dallas at 7:30pm.

Halloween on Halloween at the Church, begins at 8pm.

Hall O Ween at Legacy Hall in Palno at 8pm.

Dame 5 Halloween Night in Arlington at 8pm.

Halloween Masquerade in Ft Worth at 8pm.

The House on Haunted Hill Live Ballet at 8 at Texas Theater in Dallas.

W Rooftop Halloween Night Masquerade Party at 9pm

The Throwback 90’s Halloween Party at Canton Hall in Deep Ellum at 9pm.

Darkwave Halloween Party at Free Play Denton at 9pm.

Halloween Night at Status in downtown Dallas, begins at 9pm.

Highlife Halloween Party at One Sette in Dallas, at 9pm.

Halloween Fright Night in Downtown Dallas at 10pm.

November 1

Nightmare on Singleton Halloween Bash in Dallas at 7pm.

Halloween Costume Contest at Pinstripes in Ft Worth at 7pm.

Halloween Bash and Costume Contest at The Forum in Richardson at 8pm.

November 2

Halloween Masquerade Ball in Irving at 6pm.

Angels and Demons Ball at the Stoneleigh in Dallas at 9pm.

I went to Screams this Friday and had a wonderful time! The park has been upgraded since I reviewed on October 5th, and looks even better now. All other haunted attractions will be open at least on Halloween, so you can see them later this week, but this Saturday is the last night of the season for Screams. The weather will be perfect, and you can’t beat the value, so check out Screams while you still can. Be sure to stop by Full Moon Cafe, a full service bar and cafe, and say hi to Michael and Cheltsey at the bar. Order a Dracula’s Kiss, you won’t be disappointed. Check out my review of Screams here, Full Moon here, and the pics below. You can buy tickets on site, or online here. Screams opens at 7:30pm and closes at 1:30am, with ticket sales cutting off at midnight.

Here is a list of links to pages on this site that will be useful as you plan your weekend.

Statewide listing of haunted attractions

Halloween Parties

Other Halloween Activities

Halloween movies and TV listings

Screams Halloween Theme Park

Haunted House Reviews

Halloween links

Guide to children’s parties here.

Adult and Pet Events

Wednesday, October 23

Hotel Habana Halloween Festival

Thursday, October 24

Doublewide Halloween Bash starts at 8, show at 9.

Happy Halloween and Perfect Pie -Grapevine starts at 6:30.

Boss Babes Halloween Birthday Bash in Lake Dallas, starts at 7pm.

Pumpkin Carving at The Old Monk nightly through Halloween.

Friday, October 25

Trick or Treat at the Farmstead at Heritage Farmstead Museum in Plano, from 10am-noon.

Dallas Storytelling Guild’s Ghost Tales for Adults at 7 at Lochwood Library, close to White Rock Lake.

Free Play Arlington Night of the Living Arcade The ticketed Halloween party begins at 7pm.

Monky Events Halloween Party in Arlington, starts at 8

Dallas Halloween Bar Crawl Downtown and Deep Ellum. Starts at 8 at RBC on Commerce St.

Punch Bowl Punch Up Halloween Edition in Arlington, starts at 8.

Werewolf of London at Pocket Sandwich Theater at 8.

Perrish Cox 3rd Annual Halloween Spooktacular in Dallas, starts at 8.

Phright Night Costume Party in Arlington, starts at 9.

Leather and Laces Halloween Edition, hosted by Jeremy Piven, starts at 9:30 Statler Dallas

Hotel ZaZa’s Yelloween Halloween Bash, begins at 10.

Saturday, October 26

STEM in the park, Halloween Edition-Begins at 10am, in Dallas.

Halloween ComicFest at the Multiverse Multiverse Comics in Hurst, begins at 10am

Halloween Boogie Spooktacular at M.A.C. center in Dallas, begins at 10:30am

Halloween Cupcake Decorating Workshop-in Royse City, begins at 11am

Trick’r Treat Trains Grapevine Vintage Railroad at 11:30 am and 1:30pm

Dallas DogRRR Howl O Ween Party and Costume Contest at 3 Nations Brewing in Carrollton 1-5pm

Hilltopper Halloween Beer Tasting in Farmers Branch, begins at 1pm

Dallas Storytelling Guild’s Ghost Tales for Kids at 2 at Lochwood Library, close to White Rock Lake.

Truck Yard Halloween Party and Costume Contest for Dogs  3pm at Truck Yard in Lower Greenville

Friscovania 3pm in Frisco.

Halloween Bar Crawl at Clutch Bar on Cedar Springs, begins at 4pm

Trick or Drink Halloween Bar Crawl (2 days) begins at 4, at Playground Bar on McKinney.

Cirque Du Horror in Denton at 4.

Howl O Ween Costume Contest for pets at the Ginger Man in Southlake from 5-8.

Oaklawn Block Party-begins at 7 on the 3900 block of Cedar Springs in Dallas.

Deep Ellum Bar Crawl at STIRR on Main St at 7.

Dallas Storytelling Guild’s Ghost Tales for Adults at 7 at Lochwood Library, close to White Rock Lake.

Harley Quinn’s Fright Night Halloween Party in White Settlement, begins at 7.

Halloween Costume Paint Party at Toshio’s taste of Japan in Duncanville, begins at 7.

Come if You Dare Pole and Aerial Show in Hurst, begins at 7.

Boo’d Up Couples Paint and Trap Party in Ft Worth, begins at 7:30.

Halloween Costume Party at Z Tap and Grille in Flower Mound, begins at 8.

Doublewide Halloween Bash in downtown Dallas, begins at 8.

Werewolf of London at Pocket Sandwich Theater at 8.

2019 Halloween Bar Crawl (Saturday) at RBC in downtown Dallas, begins at 8.

Terror at Texas Halloween Party in Arlington, begins at 8.

Three Links Halloween Party at Three Links in Deep Ellum, begins at 8pm.

3rd Annual Car Wreck and Cowboy and the Key Party at On Premise in Deep Ellum, begins at 8.

Haunted W Halloween Costume Party in the W Hotel, begins at 9.

Halloween Twerk and Sip at Ruby Room in downtown Dallas, begins at 9:30pm.

9th Annual Mega Masquerade and Costume Bash at House of Blues in Dallas, at 10.

Halloween TricksNTreats on Kiest Blvd in Dallas at 10pm.

Sunday, October 27

Trick’r Treat Trains Grapevine Vintage Railroad at 1:30pm and 3:30pm

Halloween Slime Fest at Tinted Beauty in Irving, begins at 2.

Halloween SafeTacular  for Kids and Pets at the Ron Kirk Bridge at 4pm

Halloween Murder at Sherlock’s in Addison at 6.

Werewolf of London at Pocket Sandwich Theater at 7.

This coming weekend is your last chance to see Screams this year! Please remember that Screams will not be open on Halloween, so this Friday and Saturday are the final days for the 2019 season at Screams. All of the haunted attractions, and most of the park, have been remodeled for this season, so even if you’ve seen Screams in the past, there will be things for you to see. Please refer to my review of Screams from October 5th for more detailed information.

Screams has five main attractions, Cursed: the Witches of Terra Mythica Castle, Hotel D’Feers, Capt’n Barbarosa’s Blood Harbour (3D), PT Harmum’s Carnival of Chaos (maze), and the Zombie Wasteland Apocalypse trail. I listed the attractions in the best order to see them in, especially if you don’t have a fast pass. Screams also has a large food court, three pubs, and a full service bar and cafe called Full Moon Cafe. Full Moon has an excellent selection of Halloween specialty drinks (Dracula’s Kiss is my favorite) and great bartenders. They also have good food, generous portions, and reasonable prices. Full Moon is well decorated too, it’s like eating and drinking inside a haunted house. You can find Full Moon Cafe on the side of the food court by the West Market Arch.

Screams also has Scaryoke in the covered seating area next to Taboo Tavern, games of skill across from the food court, Halloween related shops, wax hands, henna tattoos, palm and tarot readings, and feather extensions.

Screams has general admission tickets, fast passes, and group tickets available here. Group tickets have to be purchased in advance, online. They are not available at the ticket booth.

Screams has never been better, so be sure to check it out this weekend! Screams is located in Waxahachie, on the Scarborough Faire grounds. Their address is 2511 FM 66 Waxahachie, TX 75167. If you are coming from the north, take exit 399A from I-35, and head west (right), if you are coming from the south, take exit 399, and head west (left). Screams is 1.6 miles west of I-35. Visit their site here for more information.