Valencia, CA — Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain lets season passholders into its seven scare zones, five shows, and night rides at no extra charge, with free parking, and only the seven haunted mazes cost more. The Haunted Attractions Pass is $25 for one night or $69 for every night of the season, which is where a single night at Knott’s Scary Farm starts.
Fright Fest runs on select nights through November 1. I went on opening weekend with my regional pass, and this review covers all seven mazes with a Haunted Attraction Network walkthrough video of each, what comes with park admission, the new digital maze pass, how the price compares with the rest of Southern California’s Halloween events, and who should go. The short version: the two new mazes, Final Destination and Wolves’ Blood, are the best in the park by a wide margin.
Fright Fest 2026 at a Glance
- Dates: Fridays through Sundays from September 18 to November 1, plus Thursdays in October from October 8
- Hours: 6:30 p.m. to park close
- Where: Six Flags Magic Mountain, 26101 Magic Mountain Parkway, Valencia
- Included with park admission or a season pass: seven scare zones, five shows, and rides after dark
- Haunted mazes: seven, with a Haunted Attractions Pass from $25 for one night or $69 for the season, plus taxes and fees
- Without a pass: the Fright Fest Bundle, park admission plus the mazes on the same night, starts at $74 online, and general parking starts at $42
- Express: on opening weekend, the Haunted Attractions Express Pass was $129 and a single-use Express entry to one maze was $65
- Age: not recommended for children under 13, and the chaperone policy starts at 4 p.m.
How Fright Fest’s Price Compares in Southern California
Fright Fest holds a unique spot in the Southern California theme park market. If you rank the theme parks on pure production quality, I think Six Flags is definitely under Knott’s Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood. Disney is playing a different game altogether with Oogie Boogie Bash, a Halloween party with no haunted houses. The production quality of Magic Mountain’s older mazes is likely under the major independent haunts as well, including Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary, the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride, and Reign of Terror.
But that’s not the game Six Flags is playing here. Unlike the other theme parks, Magic Mountain includes all of its scare zones and nightly shows with a day ticket. That means anyone with a Magic Mountain season pass, a Gold Pass that adds Knott’s Berry Farm, or a Prestige Pass that covers every Six Flags park can come to Fright Fest and watch all of the entertainment at no extra cost, and Six Flags’ pass page lists free parking with each of those passes.
Even if you want to do the haunted houses, a one-night Haunted Attractions Pass is only $25, or you can go every night of the season and do the houses every time for $69. That puts Magic Mountain squarely as the most budget-friendly theme park option. Here’s what one night at each Southern California event costs to get in, at starting prices:
| Event | One night | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Fright Fest, with a Magic Mountain pass | $25 maze pass | $69 covers every maze, every night. Scare zones, shows, rides, and parking come with the pass. |
| Fright Fest, without a pass | $74 bundle | Admission and the mazes on the same night. General parking starts at $42. |
| Knott’s Scary Farm | From $69 | Separate event ticket. The Scary Farm season pass is $164. |
| Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood | From $79 | General admission. Riding Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift during the event is a $19.95 add-on. |
| Oogie Boogie Bash | From $139 | Sold out for 2026. |
| Dark Harbor | $47.99 to $75.99 | General admission, fees included. |
| Los Angeles Haunted Hayride | From $49.99 | The Hayride and all the mazes. The Hayride alone starts at $34.99. |
Oogie Boogie Bash is pretty expensive. Universal is expensive too, and it charges extra to ride its new Fast & Furious coaster during Horror Nights. Universal lists five scare zones this year, but they’re all connected, so they end up playing as one large scare zone. Even Knott’s, Magic Mountain’s sister park, requires a separate Scary Farm ticket, and a single night there starts at the same $69 that covers a whole season of mazes at Magic Mountain.
Magic Mountain’s entertainment includes the Sliders of the Night show twice a night and a stage show, plus the rides after dark. When you compare that with Universal, the value is pretty clear. And if you do want to try the haunted houses, you can’t do them at any other theme park for this price. The $25 maze pass even beats a ticket to Dark Harbor or the Hayride.
So I’m not sure Six Flags is trying to compete on production quality. As I’ve written many times at Green Tagged, I think Six Flags is trying to add more entertainment back into its parks and give people a reason to come back. It’s bundling the entertainment, the rides, and the haunts together, and if you lose any one of those three legs, the stool falls over.
Some reviewers think Six Flags hasn’t figured this out yet. In his Theme Park Insider review, Jacob Sundstrom wrote that Fright Fest still plays “third fiddle” in Southern California, pointing to missing signs for the new mazes and the many guests in the park who never bought a maze pass. Even so, his verdict was that a season passholder paying $25 for the maze pass should go. I’d argue Six Flags isn’t trying to play the same game as everyone else. This is a clear value play for season passholders, and it isn’t about getting people into the mazes. It’s about selling all three pieces together, not just the Halloween product.
The New Mazes: Final Destination and Wolves’ Blood
I’m not going to rank all seven mazes, but there is a clear line between the two new ones and the five returning ones. The new pair is the best in the park by a wide margin, and they come at it from opposite directions.
Final Destination: Death’s Playground (NEW)
Final Destination is a pure IP maze that recreates scenes from the film series, where “death itself is the antagonist,” the park says. It takes over the building that housed Condemned, a longtime Fright Fest maze, and extends the park’s partnership with Warner Bros. Guests are “chased by Death,” Mike Ostrom, the park’s manager of entertainment, said at the Fright Fest panel at Midsummer Scream.
The maze uses new technology and runs as a series of scenes that play out one at a time, which none of the park’s other mazes do, so it asks a little more of the actors. Plenty of fans online have criticized it because a maze cannot match the scale of the films. I think it is a good try for the context.
Wolves’ Blood (NEW)
Wolves’ Blood takes the opposite approach: an original story that is old school, campy, and fun. Knott’s Scary Farm designer Gus Krueger created it for Magic Mountain. Guests start at the bus stop of a remote town overrun by werewolves and move through ransacked stores and bar-rooms to the Dungeon Theater, where the underground rock band Wolves’ Blood is playing its first live show. Krueger built in a record store, Rainbow Records, and a callback bar, Red’s Revenge, and he brought back the overhead werewolf jumper from Truth or Dare, the maze Wolves’ Blood replaced in the park’s largest warehouse maze space. At the panel, Krueger said “werewolves are cool” and added, “I was a metal kid growing up.”
Look for Wolves’ Blood near Full Throttle, where the maze pass app places it. Theme Park Insider found no signs directing guests to it.
Both new mazes are enjoyable, though neither has the production quality of the bigger events. For the price, they are still a good deal.
The Five Returning Mazes
The Conjuring Universe
Based on New Line Cinema’s franchise, The Conjuring Universe sends guests into the Warrens’ occult museum of cursed artifacts. The park rebuilt it for 2026 with more of the franchise’s characters, including the ferryman, the crooked man, and Annabelle.
Trick ‘r Treat
Based on the 2007 film, Trick ‘r Treat is a Candy Trail nightmare where tricks outnumber treats. It moved this year into the building that held the Saw maze.
Carnage presented by M&M’S
Carnage takes guests into the world of Fright Fest’s original villain, the evil clown Carnage, where each step brings you closer to becoming one of his disciples. It pairs with the City Under Siege scare zone and returns with more fire and effects.
Vault: 666 Unlocked
Vault: 666 Unlocked is a museum of demonic relics and obsolete oddities, with spirits locked in an abandoned vault deep inside a sinister antique shop.
Willoughby’s: Resurrected
Willoughby’s: Resurrected brings guests back to the Willoughby family mansion, once full of opulence and family memories and now home to evil spirits. The same family curse haunts the Exile Hill scare zone at the top of the park.
Scare Zones and Shows Included With Admission
Everything outside the mazes comes with park admission. All seven scare zones return for 2026 with updates:
- City Under Siege: Carnage’s clown city, full of his disciples, with more fire this year
- Devil’s Triangle: a deep-sea zone of lost souls, moved away from the main gate to a darker spot
- Exile Hill: the Willoughby family curse at the top of the park, with more cast
- Nightmares: Reign of Blood: a twisted Wonderland where the Queen of Hearts hunts for new souls
- Plaza de la Muerte: a Día de los Muertos celebration of spirits and tradition
- Thunderbolt Alley: classic monsters rocking 1950s rockabilly, with a facelift and new entertainment
- Underworlds of Oz: the dark side of the Emerald City
Photos: Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Six Flags lists five shows, with showtimes in the Six Flags app:
- Unleashed: the opening scaremony, now at the main gate, where Carnage and his disciples open the night along with the event’s new icon, the demonic portal master Kurvatu
- Sliders of the Night: Dreams of the Damned: the slide-or-die show, twice a night
- Nytewalkerz (NEW): a zombified extreme sports show of undead dancers, skaters, and trampoline artists at the Full Throttle Stage
- Margo Rita’s Monster Ball: a musical revue hosted by Margo Rita to crown a new Queen of the Monsters, now at the Gearworks Theater
- Hootenanny Band: live rockabilly-inspired music
Photos: Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Before dark, Tricks and Treats, the family event, adds a new Looney Tunes show this year.
The Haunted Attractions Pass Is Digital This Year
The Haunted Attractions Pass and its Express version are digital for 2026, and a phone is required. The pass cards at the park point guests to sfmmff.com, and the web app generates an entry code for each maze. Neither pass guarantees immediate access to a maze. On opening weekend, the Express Pass for all seven mazes was $129 per person, and a single-use Express entry to one maze was $65. Fast Lane, the park’s ride line-skipper, does not work for the mazes. Theme Park Insider reported bottlenecks at maze entrances as other guests worked through the app.
Photos and screenshots by Philip Hernandez, September 19, 2026.
Is Fright Fest Worth It?
It comes down to who is in your group, what you want from a Halloween event, and whether you already have a pass. I have a regional pass, so for me it is an easy choice to drive up, walk the mazes, and catch the entertainment.
If you have to buy a day ticket, the math changes. The Fright Fest Bundle starts at $74 for admission and the mazes, and general parking adds $42, so one night starts at $116 before tax. At that point, the rides have to be part of the plan, because I don’t think the haunted attractions stand on their own. I also don’t think that’s the point. If you might come back, look at a pass first. A day ticket starts at $49 and parking at $42, so a 2027 Silver Pass at $99, with free parking for the rest of 2026 and all of 2027, pays for itself on the second visit.
Rules to Know Before You Go
- Chaperones: from 4 p.m., guests 15 and younger must be with a chaperone at least 21 years old. Chaperones need a government-issued photo ID with date of birth, and one chaperone can bring up to 10 guests 15 or younger.
- Re-entry: guests who leave the park after 9 p.m. cannot come back in.
- Masks and costumes: masks and full-face coverings, including hoods with front zippers, are not allowed. The park’s signs say children 10 and under may wear costumes and masks only at the daytime kids’ events, in designated areas.
- Age and admission: Fright Fest is not recommended for children under 13, and every guest, whatever their age, needs their own paid admission or pass.
Photos by Philip Hernandez, September 19, 2026.
Fright Fest Food
Fright Fest has 11 limited-time dishes and six drinks this year. I tried every dish, and my Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest food guide ranks them, with the Last Leap Frog Legs and the Black Widow Wings at the top.
More Fright Fest and Southern California Halloween Coverage
- Fright Fest 2026 at every Six Flags park
- Knott’s Scary Farm 2026 guide
- Halloween Horror Nights 2026 at Universal Studios Hollywood
- Oogie Boogie Bash 2026
- The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor 2026
- LA Haunted Hayride 2026
- Haunted houses in Los Angeles and across California
Fright Fest runs on select nights through November 1, 2026. Passes and tickets are at sixflags.com/magicmountain/events/fright-fest.
