Now in its 33rd year, Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America has added three new haunted houses, bringing the grand total to five. The park has also revamped The Uprising Parade: Nightly Call of the Dead that kicks off every evening of the fest at 5:45pm in Hometown Square. Think the “Thriller” video come to life plus a fun storyline about how the demon overlord Nox and his undead army will suck out everyone’s souls, starting with several brave park employees desperately trying to restore order.
Last Saturday, I took my 13-year-old daughter and her friend to check out the new haunts, which open at 6:30, shortly after the Uprising unleashes the scare actors throughout the park (the band of marauders wielding real–but chainless–chainsaws is a highlight, as are the ghouls whose giant kneepads enable them to run and drop to the pavement for a scary slide up to unsuspecting patrons).
With the park closing promptly at 10, there are less than four hours to take in all the haunts, which you can access by purchasing a $40 Haunted Attractions Pass on top of regular admission. That’s a tall order, unless you pay another $40 for a pass that gets you into the fast lane for each house.
We took our chances with the regular lines. As a result, we were only able to get through four of the five haunts in the allotted time. The line at the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre house was too long for our taste (and the girls didn’t know if they’d be able to handle it). Here’s a read on the other four, including our surprising pick for best haunt.
Stranger Things
When you see the facade of Hawkins High School just past Orleans Place, you’ll know you’re about to be immersed in the world of Netflix’s monster hit about monsters emerging to terrorize the town of Hawkins, Indiana, and the teens who battle them to save the earth. Pro tip: By walking directly there at the climax of the parade, you can be among the first groups in line.
Once inside, we were impressed by the animatronics and the highly detailed tableaux that will be familiar to fans of the series. It’s definitely cool enough to warrant a visit, but it’s more sci-fi creepy than scary, and it’s all over in under two minutes. Understandable given the huge number of people they need to cycle through every evening, but we were left wanting more.
Saw 20th Anniversary
Great America has showcased Saw at Fright Fest before, but this is a new version to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the horror franchise. After passing the huge crowd waiting for Texas Chainsaw Massacre in the DC Universe zone, we came to the County Fair area, home to two haunts conveniently across from each other. The tour of Jigsaw’s twisted mind delivers a fair number of scream-inducing jump scares and plenty of blood-spattered horrors to appreciate. Plus, it takes maybe a minute more to get through than Stranger Things.
Big Top Terror
Directly across from Saw in what is normally Kidzopolis lies the Big Top Terror haunt. To our surprise, this veteran attraction was our favorite haunt of the evening. The line was nonexistent; we actually went through twice. But the haunt itself is great fun. Lots of jump scares in this circus-themed attraction, but also a creepy trek through a maze obscured by strips of plastic hanging from the ceiling and getting in our faces as we pushed through. There’s also a great physical fun-house effect I’ll let you discover for yourself.
The Estate at Wretched Meadows
Both girls enjoyed this older haunt in Southwest Territory more than I did. Like Stranger Things, it lacked scares. But this haunted mansion did have some fun physical tricks up its sleeve, such as a kitchen full of flying pots and pans. This is probably the most family friendly haunt, but Great America’s recommendation of not taking kids under 13 into the haunts is pretty wise overall. There’s a lot of gruesome nightmare fuel throughout the haunts that might linger in the minds of younger kids.
Oktoberfest Food Festival
One final pro tip: There’s a nicely self-contained Oktoberfest Food Festival on the Yukon BBQ Pit Patio running concurrently with Fright Fest. As we made our way from Stranger Things to Saw, I wished I had enough time to stop and sample the seasonal beers and maybe grab some German meatballs and apple strudel sticks. There were plenty of people there enjoying themselves, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the Halloween-themed attractions. Not a bad idea to set the kids loose to cruise the haunts while you enjoy a more relaxed fall tradition.
Fright Fest runs weekends and select weeknights through November 3 at Six Flags Great America.
Photo by Anne McDade
