A key part of what makes Southern California great is the abundance of Halloween events. If you thought Knott’s Scary Farm and Halloween Horror Nights was all that mattered, you’d be mistaken. Halloween conventions like Midsummer Scream really put into perspective how many places around us all go all in for the spooky season.
Another major player is Six Flags Magic Mountain. Fright Fest has been running since 1993, so this isn’t something new for them. This year, they have 8 mazes and 9 scare zones, so let’s dive in and see how they turned out!
It’s worth noting that if you’ve never attended Fright Fest, it’s slightly different from other events. They don’t empty the park after the daytime operation concludes. Instead, admission to the mazes requires a wristband. So don’t be confused if you buy a ticket for the park and get denied access to the mazes. This year, they have also begun offering season wristbands, allowing you to visit multiple times without worry.
The keystone of the park is Willoughby’s Resurrected. It’s been here in one form or another since the event began, although this year at Midsummer Scream, they strongly hinted it might be the last year. As to what that means, only they know. But it’s a great maze, and there’s a reason it’s lasted so long. It’s an old mansion, and all the rooms feel lived in and spooky, like it’s been here even before the park itself. It can be a bit of an effort to make your way to it right now, but it’s worth it.
Vault 666 Unlocked is another classic that’s been revamped once or twice. As the name suggests, it’s a vault full of spooky artifacts and terrors. It’s definitely a keeper and is exactly what you want in a Halloween maze.
Nearby is Condemned – Forever Damned. It’s literally a house that should be condemned, and it’s perfect, but also disturbing as a maze concept. You’re walking through kitchens, closets, passageways, and more, but it’s all the most dilapidated you’ve ever seen a place. Like a Discovery Channel hoarder’s nightmare come to life. Good stuff.
And finishing out the trio near the entrance is a recent favorite, Truth or Dare. The idea is that you’re on a game show and trying to survive as a contestant. It’s a fun and engaging maze that features numerous tricks, including one that utilizes a projector inside the inflatable balloon hallways, which works exceptionally well. There’s even a narrative that you can follow if you read the headlines of the newspapers that line the walls of some of the rooms.
Trick ‘r Treat has a maze here, and despite what most would assume, it actually draws more from the comic books, as the movie itself is an anthology series. They’re fantastic books, and we are eagerly awaiting the completion of the latest book, Witching Hours. The maze itself takes place on Halloween night as you walk by houses and are reminded of all the rules of Halloween. It’s a little confusing because you don’t go into the homes, but walk by them. Towards the end, there’s a mirror maze decorated as a cornfield, which works well, as cornstalks hide the edges of the mirrors. (If you get trappe,d there are arrows on the ground) At the end, you’ll be greeted by a maskless Sam, which is pretty disturbing. All in all, it’s fun, but definitely not a recap of the movie, which is what most people expect.
The Conjuring Universe also has a maze, and it’s pretty hit or miss. Some of the set pieces are amazingly intricate, including the opening room and the giant Annabelle doll at the end. However, some areas feel somewhat sparse, as if some choices had to be made to accommodate everything. We still got scared at a few points, so all in all, it’s worth the wait.
And the final IP maze is Saw, one of our favorite franchises. It’s hard to capture this series because so much relies on intricate ironic traps that people have allegedly ended up deserving. You can’t really communicate that kind of information in the 5 to 10 seconds it takes someone to walk through a room. And that’s especially true when the entire premise of the series is that it takes place in an empty, abandoned warehouse. As such, this maze can be a little disappointing. It’s primarily barren rooms with a few references to the earlier films, like the shotgun collar or the reverse bear trap. Billy the puppet can also be seen in a few spots. But it does end well, with the final scene being a well-done recreation of the bathroom from the first film, with Dr. Gordon begging for your help as the hacksaw is just out of reach. Seeing that in person, and most people choosing to be silent and walk by, is something that sticks with you.
The final maze is the new one this year, Carnage. It’s a clown-themed maze that accompanies the nearby scare zone, City Under Siege. The idea is you’re entering the dark and seedy underworld of the evil clowns to see about becoming Carnage’s new recruit. It’s definitely not a circus test or carnival by any stretch. It’s closer to a blood rave out of the first Blade film, but replacing the vampires with evil clowns. It’s fun and it works, especially as you exit the maze and you’re now among the other Carnage disciples.
As mentioned earlier, one of the nine scare zones is City Under Siege. It’s an appropriate fit for the DC Universe area. Basically, an area like the Joker took over, but without any DC references.
At the entrance is Devil’s Triangle, which is themed to the Bermuda Triangle and demon pirates and the like. It works well paired with the lake in the background.
In the kids’ area of Looney Tunes Lodge is CarnivHELL, which you would think would be full of clowns like City Under Siege, but from what I saw, it was mostly creepy animal-hybrids of what you’d find in a park at night, like raccoons and carnies.
Plaza de La Muerte was a beautiful area, full of sugar-skull decorated characters. It felt less intimidating and more welcoming. The decorations and characters were the most beautiful and our favorite of the evening.
Nearby Willoughby’s was Exile Hill, filled with characters who shared that haunted palace as their home, but we didn’t see any of them as we walked around. It was just a lot of fog.
Grimmlore Ridge is designed to be an Edgar Allen Poe-style area, full of creepy ravens. And it pulls it off. I just wish it were larger.
Underworlds of Oz was another favorite of ours. The set pieces here were equal parts disturbing and wonderful. The flying monkey statues are just fantastic, and on the flipside, the little munchkin skeletons are something that will haunt my nightmares for years to come.
Nightmares: Reign of Blood is a slightly new scare zone. In previous years, it encompassed all fairy tales, but this year it’s completely dedicated to Alice in Wonderland. All hail the red queen! All the card statues were amazing, but there were a few decorations we thought were missing, maybe repurposed for other scare zones. Of all of them, this is the one we wish were expanded upon. Great area, but it feels like it is half the length that the previous Nightmares scare zone used to be.
Finally, there was Thunderbolt Alley, an area teeming with rockabilly greaser monsters. It’s fun, slightly goofy, and a good time. It was the newest of all scare zones this year, but I hope it sticks around and gets fleshed out. It’s definitely a unique take on scare zones and something that is full of a lot of possibilities. We wish we had taken more photos around the area, because it’s the characters that really set the mood in this zone.
And that was our overall issue with all the scare zones. They all felt a little more compact than they could be, especially compared to years past. All too often, we’d be walking around the zones and realize the border of it was already behind us. It makes it hard for people to watch and stroll around when they’re sparsely laid out around the park. We understand Magic Mountain has a gigantic footprint, but we just wish the scare zones would be a little more spread out.
Rounding out the event is the entertainment. In addition to the opening act and the slider show, there’s a new show this year, starring the hit character Margo Rita, who was a runaway success during the Scream Break event during the spring. While Scream Break might be six feet under right now, Margo Rita is back, alongside her frenemy Tequila Sunrise, to host her eponymous show. It’s a drag-style show where the audience cheers on one of her three children to be crowned the winner of the Monsters Ball. It’s about 20 minutes, held multiple times a night, and is really well choreographed. We loved it. It has way more effort put into it than we expected, and everyone had a good time. Even employees walking by ended up captivated by it and got distracted.
Magic Mountain is a special place for locals, and every visit is full of surprises. Fright Fest definitely feels like a work of passion at this park. They do it for the love of Halloween, and it definitely comes across. And this doesn’t even touch on the daytime Tricks and Treats events for kids, or the Oktoberfest food options. Or all the awesome shirts and other merchandise on hand. We have a real affinity for the Halloween DC character sweaters.
Fright Fest runs select nights through November 2nd, and tickets, maze passes, and more are all available at SixFlags.com.
