Halloween Frights

10 best Dallas-Fort Worth haunted houses coming back after a scary year

Halloween season in 2020 was muted by the pandemic, but Dallas-Fort Worth 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 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, and food and drink, 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 Dillard's.

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.

Six Flags Fright Fest offers six haunted houses, three terrifying scare zones, and more.

Photo courtesy of Six Flags Over Texas

Six Flags Fright Fest offers six haunted houses, three terrifying scare zones, and more.

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Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep gets PG-spooky in new movie for the Halloween season

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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