SCarowinds opens tonight which means the countdown to Halloween is on

The theme park’s annual fall fright festival features haunted mazes, scare zones, performances and all your favorite thrill rides.

The park is also packed with zombies, vampires, creepy clowns, murderous butchers and assorted other characters that sneak up on you without warning.

Enjoy your nightmares.

Not into the surprise encounters? You can buy a glowing No Boo Necklace for $10 to get scare immunity and signal to characters that they can’t approach you.

Thinking about bringing your kids? Maybe think again. The park doesn’t recommend the nighttime SCarowinds attraction for children under the age of 13.

New attractions this year include Dark Harvest, Psycho Circus and Blood Drums.

I’m not proud to tell you my group hauled it out of Dark Harvest, a corn maze, halfway through the production when a guy with a chainsaw came after us.

And we were told if you have an extreme fear of clowns, Psycho Circus is not for you. In addition to clowns everywhere, there’s also a creepy, mirrored circus maze will most certainly mess with your head.

SCarowinds is a nighttime production, but the regular park is still open for daytime hours.

SCarowinds is open Friday and Saturday nights in September starting tonight (9/16) and Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights in October (through 10/30). Hours are 7 p.m. – midnight but special late-night 1 a.m. closings will take place on October 15, 22 and 29.

Regular daytime park hours are 10 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October.

Buy your tickets online to save a ton of money.

The regular gate price for SCarowinds is $55.99 but if you buy online it’s only $28.99. Plus, if you buy a September SCarowinds ticket, you get a free Sunday daytime ticket too.

If you plan on visiting more than once, buy the SCarowinds Haunt Pass, which gives you unlimited visits for $59.99.

Bottom line, do not wait to buy at the gate.

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year so I am 100% about this.

And I’m not the only one. SCarowinds is a notoriously popular event so be prepared for big crowds and major traffic leading up to the park.

Oh, and don’t be the one Halloween superfan that shows up in costume. You’re not allowed to wear it inside.