Haines City, FL — Horror House Nights: Psycho Circus, a circus-themed haunted house with live actors, is open 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 is $19 before fees.
Inside Psycho Circus
Psycho Circus is 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 goal is a house that smells bad and feels dirty and dark. “We want you to feel like you’re somewhere wrong,” the media kit says. It also says the crew is not trying to match the polished sets of Florida’s major theme parks.
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 in 2022, and 2026 is its fifth season, according to the media kit. 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 Spain
- 2023: The Slaughterhouse, in Spain
- 2024: Macabre Animals, in Spain
- 2025: The Slaughterhouse, rebuilt for the haunt’s first season in the United States
- 2026: Psycho Circus
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 runs 15 nights, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from October 2 through November 1. Entry is by timed ticket, and the ticket page lists entry times every 30 minutes from 7:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.
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
Parking is free, and tickets are not refundable.
Ages and Rules
The haunt recommends Psycho Circus for ages 12 and up, and guests under 18 need a parent or legal guardian. Actors will not intentionally touch guests, according to the ticket page.
Other Independent Haunts in Central Florida
Horror House Nights is one of four independent haunts in my Orlando Halloween events guide. The other three are SCREAM-A-GEDDON in Dade City, where general admission starts at $27.95, Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail in Plant City, where it starts at $27, and A Petrified Forest in Altamonte Springs. Black Water Grave in Bartow, also between Tampa and Orlando, is a Silver Top Haunt on my Top Haunts list.
Horror House Nights: Psycho Circus runs through November 1 at La Loma Ranch, 1105 H L Smith Road in Haines City. Tickets and dates are at horrorhousenights.com.
