Things To Do · Halloween
Fright Fest 2026 at Six Flags Magic Mountain
Southern California's biggest Halloween event is in our own backyard. New mazes, seven scare zones, rides in the dark, and a full family-friendly daytime program. Here is everything you need to plan the night.
Updated September 11, 2026 · by Sam Silver
Sam Silver
22-year SCV resident · Community advocate
Every October the Santa Clarita Valley gets one of the biggest Halloween productions in the country, and it is seven miles from your front door. Six Flags Magic Mountain's Fright Fest is so close that families here treat it like a neighborhood tradition: scare-seekers get the Friday night mazes, parents bring the kids for daytime Tricks and Treats, and everybody rides the coasters in the dark. Here is my complete guide to Fright Fest 2026, from the new mazes to the trick for beating the crowds.
Dates
Sept 18 - Nov 1
Evening Hours
7 PM - midnight / 1 AM
Where
26101 Magic Mountain Pkwy, Valencia
33rd Year
7 mazes · 7 scare zones
The Basics
What Is Fright Fest?
Fright Fest is Six Flags Magic Mountain's signature Halloween event, transforming the park into a haunted destination on select nights each autumn. For 2026 the park is celebrating its 33rd Fright Fest with a slate of seven haunted mazes, seven scare zones, four live shows, and the coasters running after dark. It runs on select nights from September 18 through November 1, with the full weekend schedule firing up from late September.
Event hours are 7:00 PM to midnight on Thursdays and Sundays and 7:00 PM to 1:00 AM on Fridays and Saturdays, with daytime Tricks and Treats family programming on Fridays through Sundays from September 25. In other words, this is one event with two very different experiences: a family daytime version and a full-bore haunted evening.
New This Year
Two Brand-New Mazes Headline 2026
This is being billed as the park's biggest licensed horror lineup ever, with two new mazes joining the rotation for 2026.
Final Destination: Death's Playground
Based on the New Line Cinema franchise, this maze drops you into a world where one premonition sets off a chain of deadly events. The park is warning thrill-seekers to beware the woodchippers. It replaces the long-running Condemned maze and is the biggest new build of the season.
Wolves' Blood
An original werewolf maze that lands guests in a remote town overrun by werewolves on their way to an underground rock show. It is the park's first collaboration with the creative team from Knott's Scary Farm, and locals are already calling it the surprise hit of the season.
Returning favorites round out the maze lineup, including an updated The Conjuring Universe, Trick 'r Treat, SAW: Legacy of Terror, Carnage, Vault 666: Unlocked, and Willoughby's Resurrected. New and returning scare zones include Grimmlore Ridge, Carnivhell in Looney Tunes Land, and Carnage's City Under Siege in the DC Universe area.
Family Friendly
Daytime for the Kids: Tricks and Treats
Fright Fest isn't only for thrill-seekers. On Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from September 25 through November 1, the park runs Tricks and Treats during the day: a Happy Halloween Town with a Trick-or-Treat Trail, kid-friendly activities, seasonal shows, and rides, minus the monsters and gore. It is the closest thing SCV families have to a hometown Halloween theme day, and it means the Magic Mountain trip works for a four-year-old in the afternoon and a teenager at night.
- Trick-or-Treat Trail with candy stations throughout the park
- Characters, shows, and photo moments designed for little ones
- Coasters and flat rides running normally during the day
Insider Tips
Sam's Playbook for Beating the Crowds
After two decades of SCV Halloweens, here is how locals get the most out of Fright Fest.
Book the Date, Then the Ticket
Tickets and the new Haunted Attractions Pass (which bundles admission with maze access for the night you pick) sell out, especially Halloween weekend. Buy online ahead of time, and note that Thursday and Sunday nights run until midnight, an hour earlier than Friday and Saturday.
Arrive Before 7 PM
The park is open in the afternoon before the fog machines fire up. Get there by late afternoon, knock out the coasters while the mazes are still loading, then convert to haunt mode when the evening event begins.
Maze Order Matters
Head for the new mazes (Final Destination and Wolves' Blood) first, while lines are shortest, then circle back to the returning favorites at the back of the park, which thin out later in the evening.
Dress for the Walk
You will cover a lot of ground between mazes. Comfortable shoes and a light jacket for after sunset beat costumes with long tails, and the park requires face coverings that don't obstruct vision for safety.
Know the Age Cutoff
Evening Fright Fest is intense: mazes are not recommended for small children, and some scare zones get heavy after dark. If you are bringing kids under ten, make it a Tricks and Treats daytime visit.
Make It an SCV Night
You're five minutes from Valencia's dining row. Pair the evening with dinner at one of the valley's new restaurants or a brewery stop, and the whole adventure stays in the neighborhood. See what is new on the dining scene in the fall openings guide.
Beyond the Park: The Rest of the Spooky Season
Fright Fest is the headliner, but the valley has a full October calendar. The October & November events guide rounds up the Haunted Jailhouse, neighborhood home haunts in Valencia, Saugus, and Canyon Country, the costume bike ride at West Creek Park, and every other spooky tradition worth your October weekends. For pumpkins, see the SCV pumpkin patches guide, and for the season's full calendar of festivals and events, start with the Fall 2026 guide.