Halloween Frights

Dallas-Fort Worth area haunted houses make a comeback after scary year

Frights 'n Lights in Frisco is one of a slew of Halloween season attractions located around Dallas-Fort Worth.

Photo courtesy of Frights 'n Lights

Halloween season in 2020 was muted due to the pandemic, but Dallas-Fort Worth area haunted houses and other attractions have made a big comeback in 2021. Every weekend in October features a good variety of chilling and fun options.

We've rounded up some the best haunted houses/Halloween attractions for your enjoyment and/or terror. We've tried to stay within the accepted limits of Dallas-Fort Worth; other options can be found if you venture a little further out.

All of the haunted houses will stay open open every weekend through at least Halloween; check each event page for additional dates and times. Also, make sure to plan your trip in advance, as most attractions have certain rules in order to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Cutting Edge Haunted House
Cutting Edge is a dark attraction filled with terrifying live actors, amazing special effects, and incredible monsters. Located in a 100-year-old abandoned meat-packing plant in Fort Worth, it is an intense, multistory, multi-themed haunted house that uses the building's former tenant as wicked inspiration. Set aside some time for this one, as it takes visitors an average of 55 minutes to explore Cutting Edge.

Dark Hour Haunted House
The rare year-round haunted house, Dark Hour in Plano boasts sets worthy of a Broadway production, professional actors, and a strategic use of technology to produce a genuine theatrical experience. Themed around the Witch of Coven Manor, it almost guarantees you're not likely to see higher quality scares or more attention to detail anywhere in the area. Even better, you can come back at Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and other times of year to enjoy other holiday-themed terror.

Frights 'n Lights
A new Halloween attraction this year, Frights 'n Lights at Riders Field in Frisco promises to fill the gap between pumpkin patches and haunted houses. Guests can explore a trail lined with thousands of jack-o-lanterns carved in the shape of favorite superheroes, princesses, cartoon characters, and more. It also has a Trick-Or-Treat Trail for kids in costume, games, Halloween-themed rides, food and drink, and a retro drive-in with movies on a 40-foot screen, among other things.

Hangman's House of Horrors
Some haunted houses come and go, but Hangman's House of Horrors seems to be eternal. Now over 30 years old, the haunted house in north Fort Worth includes two separate attractions: the classic Hangman’s House of Horrors and Outbreak!, a smaller yet equally intense attraction where zombies abound from the dark corners and hidden chasms.

Howell Farms presents Pumpkin Nights
On the milder side is Pumpkin Nights at Howell Farm in Arlington, where guests can venture along a half-mile walking path where they’ll discover the Forbidden City, a Pirate’s Cove, and more fantastical lands built using over 5,000 hand-carved real and artificial pumpkins. The celebration continues with entertainment and games in The Village, the festival area.

J&F House of Terror
The J&F House of Terror is based on urban legends. The haunted house maze does something different every year and offers up intense scares in every situation. Actors are not allowed to touch visitors and will practice social distancing. This year the haunted house maze is completely inside, located at Firewheel Town Center in Garland, east of Barnes & Noble and Dillards.

Moxley Manor Haunted House
The claim to fame for Moxley Manor in Bedford seems to be unique on this list: It was featured in the 2014 feature film The Houses October Built, about a group of friends traveling across the country looking for the best haunted houses. It offers three haunted attractions for the price of one, with the original Moxley Manor joined by Regan's Revenge and Big Top Terror.

The Parker House
The Parker House in Denton features two main attractions: The Haunted Walkthrough at The Parker House, where guests become completely engulfed in the murderous mayhem in which Mary Parker subjected her victims; and Outbreak, where guests can take an interactive ride around the property in specially-equipped attack vehicles, going on a mission to defeat the zombies and save the world from the chaos created by failed attempts at finding a cure for the Outbreak virus.

Reindeer Manor Halloween Park
Don't get fooled by the cute and cuddly name of this haunted house complex in Red Oak; it just masks the horrors it has in store. The oldest haunted attraction in Texas features four separate areas: Reindeer Manor Estate, 13th Street Morgue, Dungeon of Doom, and The Bunker. The event also includes a less-intense area for kids, dances, stage shows, axe throwing, and more.

Six Flags over Texas presents Fright Fest
Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington transforms for the Halloween season, offering both Thrills by Day, a family-friendly daytime experience where younger park guests can enjoy trick-or-treating and character interactions; and Fright by Night, featuring six haunted houses, three terrifying scare zones, and roaming hordes of zombies and sinister souls wreaking havoc throughout the park. There will also be six all-new shows and frightening updates to some favorite rides.

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Wicked News

Wizard of Oz ruby slippers bought by mystery bidder for $28 million

Heritage Auctions

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A pair of iconic ruby slippers that were worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz and stolen from a museum nearly two decades ago sold for a winning bid of $28 million at auction on December 7.

Dallas-based Heritage Auctions had estimated that they would fetch $3 million or more, but the fast-paced bidding far outpaced that amount within seconds and tripled it within minutes. A few bidders making offers by phone volleyed back and forth for 15 minutes as the price climbed to the final, eye-popping sum.

Including the auction house fee, the unknown buyer will ultimately pay $32.5 million.

Online bidding, which opened last month, had stood at $1.55 million before live bidding began late Saturday afternoon.

The sparkly red heels were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in her hometown of Grand Rapids, Minnesota, in 2005 when Terry Jon Martin used a hammer to smash the glass of the museum’s door and display case. Their whereabouts remained a mystery until the FBI recovered them in 2018.

Martin, now 77, who lives near Grand Rapids in northern Minnesota, wasn’t publicly exposed as the thief until he was indicted in May 2023. He pleaded guilty in October 2023. He was in a wheelchair and on supplementary oxygen when he was sentenced last January to time served because of his poor health.

The shoes were returned in February to memorabilia collector Michael Shaw, who had loaned them to the museum. They were one of several pairs that Garland wore during the filming, but only four pairs are known to have survived. In the movie, to return from Oz to Kansas, Dorothy had to click her heels three times and repeat, “There’s no place like home.”

As Rhys Thomas, author of The Ruby Slippers of Oz, put it, the sequined shoes from the beloved 1939 musical have seen “more twists and turns than the Yellow Brick Road.”

Over 800 people had been tracking the slippers, and the company’s webpage for the auction had hit nearly 43,000 page views by Thursday, said Robert Wilonsky, a vice president with the auction house.

Among those bidding to bring the slippers home was the Judy Garland Museum, which posted on Facebook shortly after that it did not place the winning bid. The museum had campaigned for donations to supplement money raised by the city of Grand Rapids at its annual Judy Garland festival and the $100,000 set aside this year by Minnesota lawmakers to help the museum purchase the slippers.

After the slippers sold, the auctioneer told bidders and spectators in the room and watching online that the previous record for a piece of entertainment memorabilia was $5.52 million, for the white dress Marilyn Monroe famously wore atop a windy subway grate.

The auction also included other memorabilia from The Wizard of Oz, such as a hat worn by Margaret Hamilton, who played the original Wicked Witch of the West. That item went for $2.4 million, or a total final cost to the buyer of $2.93 million.

The Wizard of Oz story has gained new attention in recent weeks with the release of the movieWicked, an adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, a prequel of sorts that reimagines the character of the Wicked Witch of the West.

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