Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Dallas and Fort Worth, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday. TCU plays Kansas in Fort Worth that day, SMU plays Virginia Tech in Dallas, and the clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. that night. On Sunday at noon the Cowboys host the Cardinals in Arlington, near Six Flags on the last day of Fright Fest. The haunted houses are spread from Plano and Fort Worth to Bedford, Arlington and Terrell. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, in Deep Ellum and Lower Greenville, where all three kitchens stay open until 2 a.m. or later on Saturday.

Sep 11Fright Fest opens at Six Flags Over Texas. Dark Hour and Thrillvania follow on September 19, and Cutting Edge, Hangman’s and Moxley Manor on September 25.

21The minimum age of the chaperone Six Flags Over Texas requires for every guest 17 and younger.

33 miHow far Thrillvania is east of Dallas on Interstate 20.

I write the haunt guides on Mr. Fear, a Halloween site, and I am a guest here. Top of Dallas asked for the haunted houses. They supplied the tables.

The night, in order

Pick one side of the metro for the evening and buy the ticket before you leave. Cutting Edge sells entry by time slot and closes the park when the last slot starts, and Dark Hour warns that tickets may be sold out when you arrive. Go early in the season if you can: Thrillvania says Saturdays are usually its busiest nights and that lines are much longer on the last two weekends of October. The State Fair runs at Fair Park until October 18 and adds traffic in Dallas on those Friday and Saturday nights. Bring cash, because parking at Cutting Edge and Thrillvania is cash only. Check the costume rules too: Fright Fest bans costumes and face coverings, and Dark Hour and Moxley Manor allow costumes but not masks. Texas House Bill 1819 ended city and county juvenile curfews in 2023, so no curfew applies to teenagers on Halloween night. Eat after, not before.

The haunted houses

Dark Hour Haunted House, Plano: an indoor, air-conditioned theatrical haunt built around a witch coven story. Select nights September 19 to November 13. Friday and Saturday nights through Halloween run 6:30 p.m. to midnight. The organizer recommends ages 10 and up, and parking is free.
Cutting Edge Haunted House, Fort Worth: a large walk-through inside a century-old former meatpacking plant near I-30 and I-35W. Twenty nights from September 25 to November 13, including every Friday and Saturday in October and every night from October 28 to Halloween. Children under 12 need a guardian.
Fright Fest at Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington: select nights September 11 to November 1, with five licensed haunted mazes sold separately. Six scare zones and four shows come with park admission. Six Flags does not recommend it under 13.
Hangman’s House of Horrors, north Fort Worth: three attractions on the grounds of a former helium plant. Friday and Saturday nights in October run 8 p.m. to midnight, through October 31. The organizer says tickets are always available at the door, and it runs rain or shine.
Moxley Manor, Bedford: three indoor haunts on one ticket in its 17th season, open September 25 to October 31. The organizer recommends ages 10 and up, anyone wearing a mask is turned away, and parking is free.
Thrillvania Haunted House Park, Terrell: three attractions, on what the organizer calls almost 50 haunted acres. Select nights September 19 and October 2 to 31. It recommends the park for adults and teens.

With kids

The daytime events are the plan for small children. Boo at the Zoo at the Fort Worth Zoo runs October 23 to 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., included with Zoo admission, with six treat coupons per ticket; guests 13 and older must keep their faces visible. Frisco has two free events on Saturday, October 24: Heritage Halloween from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., which the city says has no jump scares, and Trick or Treat the Square from 1 to 4 p.m. Grapevine’s Trick ‘R Treat Trains run October 24 and 25. For pumpkins, Autumn at the Arboretum in East Dallas runs daily through November 1, and the Big Orange Pumpkin Farm in Gunter has hayrides, with children under 2 free. For an older child who wants a milder haunted house, Dark Hour runs Chicken Nights with no actors and no animatronics on September 20, October 15 and November 1, and Hangman’s keeps the lights on for Scaredy Cat Nights on October 11 and 18.

Twenty-one and over

The Dallas Halloween Block Party takes over the 3900 block of Cedar Springs Road in Oak Lawn on Saturday, October 24. Entry is free, the event is 18 and over, and drinks are 21 and over with ID. Grapevine Vintage Railroad runs the adults-only Witches’ Brew Train on October 30 and 31, a Halloween ride with Texas craft beer. On Halloween night itself, the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff hosts Joe Bob’s Halloween Spooktacular, a dusk-to-dawn party with five feature films, doors at 6 p.m. The event page does not state an age rule, so ask the theater before you buy.

What is not open this year

Screams Halloween Theme Park in Waxahachie is not coming back. The operator says it has closed after 28 years. Reindeer Manor and the Waxahachie Terror Trail have not posted 2026 dates; the official site still shows October 2025 only. Junkyard Haunted House says it opens in October 2026, but its page still mixes 2025 and 2026 dates, so I have not listed it.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and directions for every one of these, plus the Stockyards and downtown Dallas ghost tours and Denton’s Day of the Dead Festival, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Dallas-Fort Worth haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 19 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

Best Halal Restaurants in Dallas (2026) — Lower Greenville and Deep Ellum keep halal kitchens open long after the haunts close.

Deep Ellum sits just east of downtown Dallas, and Lower Greenville is a short drive north of it, on the way back from Dark Hour in Plano. These three are on the Top of Dallas halal list. The scores are theirs, not mine.

6.9Ariana CuisineOpen until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, including Halloween night, and midnight most other nights, closed Tuesdays. Afghan cooking on Lower Greenville, with kabuli pulao, mantu dumplings and fresh naan.

6.7WAVA HALAL GRILLOpen until 4 a.m. every night of the week, on the same block of Greenville Avenue as Ariana. Lamb and beef over rice, crispy falafel and hummus, the plate late-shift workers name as their end-of-night standby.

6.2Big Guy’s Chicken & RiceOpen until 4 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and midnight the rest of the week, on Elm Street in Deep Ellum. The chicken and rice platter, the lamb and beef gyro and the white sauce are the orders, in portions sized for the last stop of the night.

Sources. Organizer pages checked September 14, 2026: Dark Hour Haunted House; Cutting Edge Haunted House, tickets and schedule; Six Flags Over Texas, Fright Fest and code of conduct; Hangman’s House of Horrors; Moxley Manor; Thrillvania, calendar and schedule; Fort Worth Zoo, Boo at the Zoo; Dallas Arboretum, Autumn at the Arboretum; Preston Trail Farms, hours and admission; City of Frisco, Heritage Halloween; Frisco Square, Trick or Treat the Square; Grapevine Vintage Railroad, special events; Party at The Block, Dallas Halloween Block Party; The Texas Theatre, Joe Bob’s Halloween Spooktacular 2026; Screams Halloween Theme Park newsroom; Reindeer Manor; Junkyard Haunted House. State Fair of Texas, 2026 dates; TCU and SMU 2026 football schedules; Dallas Cowboys 2026 schedule; Texas House Bill 1819.