Haines City, FL — Horror House Nights: Psycho Circus, a circus-themed haunted house with live actors, ran at La Loma Ranch in Haines City, between Orlando and Tampa, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through November 1. A Spanish crew started the haunt in Spain in 2022 and brought it to the United States last year, and general admission was $19 before fees.
Inside Psycho Circus
Psycho Circus was this season’s theme for Horror House Nights, a walk-through haunted house with live actors: a circus with ringmasters, performers, and acts gone wrong alongside the clowns, according to the haunt’s media kit. The crew tears the house down after every season and rebuilds it around a new theme, the kit says.
The rooms use practical effects, sound design, temperature, and scent, and the kit says the crew is not trying to match the polished sets of Florida’s major theme parks.
“We don’t want you to walk through an amazing, polished set and just admire the décor. We want you to feel like you’re somewhere wrong, somewhere that smells bad, feels dirty, dark, and makes your skin crawl. That’s real fear,” said Sheyla Montanes, the haunt’s manager and director of operations, in the media kit.
The walk through the house took about 8 minutes, Horror House Nights told HAN.
Outside the house, the grounds at La Loma Ranch have food trucks, carnival-style games, and photo spots.
From Spain to Central Florida
Horror House Nights started in Spain’s Canary Islands in 2022, and 2026 is its fifth season. The kit describes the crew as a Spanish team that fell in love with American haunted attractions, and it lists a theme for each year:
- 2022: Icons of Horror Cinema, in the Canary Islands
- 2023: The Slaughterhouse, in the Canary Islands
- 2024: Macabre Animals, in the Canary Islands
- 2025: The Slaughterhouse, rebuilt for the haunt’s first season in the United States, at Port 27 on Lake Hamilton, Florida
- 2026: Psycho Circus, at La Loma Ranch
The kit says the haunt drew 4,000 guests in four days during its Halloween run in Spain, and it calls the American-style haunted house a rare concept there. At PortAventura World, the resort near Barcelona, this year’s Halloween has five haunted houses, which I cover in my PortAventura World Halloween article.
Horror House Nights is a different event from Halloween Horror Nights, Universal’s event in Orlando.
Dates, Hours, and Tickets
Psycho Circus ran 15 nights, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from October 2 through November 1. Entry was by timed ticket, and the ticket page listed entry times every 30 minutes from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The haunt was open until 11 p.m. on Sundays as well, Horror House Nights told HAN.
On October 4, the ticket page listed these prices for Friday, October 9:
- General admission: $19, or $22.04 with fees
- Teen admission, for ages 12 to 18: $16, or $18.84 with fees
- Fast Pass, which uses a priority entry line: $30, or $33.77 with fees
- Group of 4: $68, or $74.28 with fees
- Fast Pass with a T-shirt: $40, or $44.43 with fees
Active-duty military and veterans get in free this season by showing a valid military or veteran ID at the entrance, according to Horror House Nights.
Parking is free, and tickets are not refundable.
Ages and Rules
The haunt recommended Psycho Circus for ages 12 and up, and guests under 18 needed a parent or legal guardian. The ticket page said actors would not intentionally touch guests.
Other Independent Haunts in Central Florida
Horror House Nights was one of five independent haunts in my Orlando Halloween events guide. The other four were SCREAM-A-GEDDON in Dade City, where tickets started at $33.95 for the remaining nights as of October 10, Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail in Plant City, where it started at $27, A Petrified Forest in Altamonte Springs, and Black Water Grave in Bartow, a Silver Top Haunt where general admission was $25.
Horror House Nights: Psycho Circus ran through November 1 at La Loma Ranch, 1105 H L Smith Road in Haines City. The haunt’s site is horrorhousenights.com.
