The spooky season -- the weeks leading up to Halloween -- has become enormously popular at parks. Find out which parks offer haunted houses, scare zones, holiday-themed shows, trick or treating, and other Halloween fun.
Scaredy-Parks 2012 Guide
Busch Entertainment. Used with permission.
Coast-to-coast thrills and chills are in store at theme parks and amusement parks. And the Scaredy-Parks guide is your one-stop resource for all of the Halloween events at North American parks.
Halloween Horror Nights 22 at Universal Orlando
© Arthur Levine, 2012. Licensed to About.com.
The 2012 version of the popular event features haunted mazes themed to Silent Hill, The Walking Dead, Penn & Teller, and Alice Cooper.
Knott's Scary Farm Haunt 2012 at Knott's Berry Farm in California
Knotts Berry Farm. Used with permission.
It is the grandaddy of theme park Halloween events, and it is still scaring the daylights out of guests 40 years after somebody at Knott's Berry Farm got the bright idea of making over the park into a seasonal scarefest every Halloween. It is also still one of the best Halloween events.
Six Flags Fright Fests 2012
Six Flags. Used with permission.
All of the Six Flags parks have Fright Fests, but they all put their unique spins on the Halloween events with distinct haunted houses and mazes, special shows, and other features. Find out the dates, ticket info, and more info about each of the Fright Fests.
Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood. Used with permission.
The Hollywood park also gets in on the scary fun with its own event. It also has mazes featuring The Walking Dead, Alice Cooper, ad Silent Hill. It has some unique mazes as well, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and La Llorona: La Cazadora de Ninos.
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party
Disney. Used with permission.
The Walt Disney World event, which is held at the Magic Kingdom, foregoes the gore and PG-13 mayhem found at most park Halloween events and, as its name states, sticks with the not-so-scary.
More 2012 Florida Halloween Theme Park Events
Walt Disney World. Used with permission.
Universal Orlando is not the only place in Florida to find scary (and not-so-scary) Halloween fun. There's also Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and SeaWorld Orlando's Halloween Spooktacular.
More 2012 California Halloween Theme Park Events
Disney. Used with permission.
Knott's Berry Farm is not the only park in California to offer Halloween antics. There's also Six Flags Fright Fest, Disney's HalloweenTime, and other Halloween events at Legoland, California's Great America, and SeaWorld San Diego.
The Best Haunted Attractions
Arthur Levine, 2004. Licensed to About.com.
Roller coasters get most of the glory, carousels get plenty of PR spin, and whirling rides get lots of...dizzy passengers and the occasional visit from a clean-up crew. But haunted attractions, also known as spooky rides or by the industry term, dark rides, have been, and continue to be, an integral part of the theme park and amusement park experience as well. In honor of the Halloween season, I've pulled together a list of the Best Haunted Attractions. These classic and modern-day rides keep the Halloween spirit alive (or is that dead?) and well throughout the year.
