The Bay Area’s 2026 Halloween season spans immersive theater in a historic San Francisco mint, the narrative event at the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, and the East Bay’s biggest professional haunt in Pleasanton. This guide covers the multi-day, ticketed events across the San Francisco Bay Area, sorted by opening date. Single-day events and home haunts are not listed. For the full statewide list, see our Haunted Houses in California guide.
Bay Area Haunts at a Glance
| Event | Location | 2026 Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Festival Fright Nights | Winchester Mystery House, San Jose | Sept 18 – Nov 1 |
| The Great Big BOO at Gilroy Gardens (family, not scary) | Gilroy Gardens, Gilroy | Sept 25 – Nov 1 |
| Six Flags Fright Fest | Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo | Not on the 2026 calendar |
| Terror Vault | The San Francisco Mint, San Francisco | Oct 1 – Nov 1 |
| Pirates of Emerson | Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton | Oct 2 – Nov 1 |
| Goblin Jamboree at the Bay Area Discovery Museum (family, for young kids) | Bay Area Discovery Museum, Sausalito | Weekends, Oct 3 – 31 |
| The Black Cat Hotel | The Palace Theater, San Francisco | Oct 8 – 31 |
Looking for a not-scary option? Gilroy Gardens’ The Great Big BOO, in the South Bay, is a family Halloween event rather than a haunt, running select nights September 25 through November 1 with BOO Trail trick-or-treating, a sing-and-dance-along musical, and night-lit rides. For younger kids, the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito becomes Goblin Jamboree on October weekends, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., October 3 through 31. Families dash beneath a larger-than-life spider at the entrance, meet the Beetlelady’s live bugs, dig for bugs in glowing play dirt, and mix fizzing brews in Goblin Village. Tickets are $25 through September 30 and $30 after, and babies are free.
Festival Fright Nights
Festival Fright Nights returns to the Winchester Mystery House on select nights from September 18 through November 1, and it is dropping last year’s linear haunt for an open festival format, adding a new haunted house, The House of Spirits, and a 1926 estate-wide mystery.
| Dates | Select nights, Sept 18 – Nov 1 |
| Location | Winchester Mystery House, San Jose |
| Tickets | Discount presale open (details) |
| New for 2026 | Open festival format, new House of Spirits haunt, 1926 estate-wide mystery |
Six Flags Fright Fest at Discovery Kingdom
Update (September 4, 2026): Six Flags Discovery Kingdom’s 2026 events calendar lists Tricks and Treats, a family-friendly daytime event, rather than Fright Fest, a change from prior years. See our update on the 2026 Six Flags changes for the full picture.
| Dates | Not on the 2026 calendar |
| Location | Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Vallejo |
| Tickets | No Fright Fest tickets for 2026 (see the all-locations Fright Fest guide) |
| New for 2026 | Tricks and Treats, a family daytime event, Saturdays and Sundays, September 19 through November 1 |
Terror Vault
Terror Vault returns to The San Francisco Mint in 2026 with a new production titled Slashed: Return to Hellville.
| Dates | Select nights, Oct 1 – Nov 1 |
| Location | The San Francisco Mint, San Francisco |
| Tickets | GA $64.42–$90.30 (details) |
| New for 2026 | All-new 1980s-slasher theme |
Pirates of Emerson
Pirates of Emerson is back at the Alameda County Fairgrounds on select nights through November 1 for its 36th season.
| Dates | Select nights, Oct 2 – Nov 1 |
| Location | Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton |
| Lineup | 4 walk-through haunted houses on six acres, plus Frightmares & Oddities and live bands |
| Tickets | From $38 (details) |
| New for 2026 | Midway games now included with every ticket tier |
The Black Cat Hotel
The Black Cat Hotel is a walk-through immersive theater show at The Palace Theater in North Beach, back for its second October with a vampire story. Guests go through in groups of about 15, and the show runs about an hour.
| Dates | 18 nights, Oct 8 – 31 |
| Location | The Palace Theater, 644 Broadway, San Francisco |
| Tickets | From $39 (details) |
| New for 2026 | A new story, A Host of Vampires, with new rooms |
Beyond the Bay: Sacramento
Heartstoppers Haunted House in Rancho Cordova, about 90 minutes northeast, runs October 2 through November 1 with four haunts, a new VIP club experience, and a new hourly stage show.
Not a haunted house: Davis also throws the free, all-ages Zombie Bike Parade Halloweekend Festival on Halloween, October 31, at Community Park, just west of Sacramento. It is a community Halloween festival with a costumed bike parade, a BMX stunt show, and a skydiving-zombie finale, and it benefits NorCal Trykers.
Bay Area Haunt FAQ
What is the biggest haunted house in the Bay Area?
Pirates of Emerson in Pleasanton is the region’s largest professional haunt, running four walk-through houses on six acres of the Alameda County Fairgrounds.
Is there a haunted house in San Francisco itself?
San Francisco has two this year. Terror Vault at The San Francisco Mint is an immersive theatrical horror experience inside the 1874 building, and The Black Cat Hotel is a walk-through immersive theater show at The Palace Theater in North Beach that runs 18 nights from October 8 through 31. Want to work at one of these haunts? See how to become a scare actor.
