Your guide to spooky season in Salt Lake
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A claustrophobia tunnel at Night Stalkers Haunted Trail. Photo: Erin Alberty/Axios
Salt Lake's Halloween attractions are launching earlier and earlier, with most of the biggies opening this weekend.
Why it matters: Halloween is so big in Utah that it's hard to fit all the fun into one month.
Here's where spooky season is already underway — or arriving soon:
Haunted houses: The Big Three haunts in Salt Lake all have earned national accolades, and you can check our guide to learn how the experiences differ at each one.
- Castle of Chaos, which opened last week, trained its actors to provide varying levels of fear, depending on the tickets you buy.
- Nightmare on 13th and Fear Factory open Friday, with glitzy sets and immersive atmosphere.
Spooks under the stars: Here are the major outdoor haunts and festivals, in order of available scariness. All start Friday:
- Nightfall Halloween Park is an up-and-comer in West Jordan, with a truly terrifying corn maze alongside a family-friendly corn maze and games — and a light-and-music enchanted path starting next weekend.
- Kuwahara Thriller Park is a longtime classic with two corn mazes (one is quite scary), a fantasy walkthrough, a Diagon Alley-esque village, bounce houses, ball pits, pumpkins, food trucks and a stage with dance parties and excellent performers.
- Cross E Ranch Fall Festival has live animals, a corn maze, pumpkin patches, games, bonfires and an adventure park with a ropes course, climbing wall, zip lines and more.
- WitchFest at Gardner Village includes displays, live witch visits, photo ops and scavenger hunts.
Zoom out: Boo Lights at Hogle Zoo starts next Thursday with lighted displays, activities and animals during their most active hours.
- Wheeler Farm Pumpkin Days kick off a day later with wagon and cow train rides, a corn pit, mazes, games and pumpkins.
- Pumpkin patches open next weekend at Mabey Farms and Schmidts Farm.
Big screen screams: The Tower of Terror Film Series began last week at the Broadway with a lineup that includes homegrown horror, iconic villains, live music and the festive annual screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
- For mellower fare, Monday night Halloween movies begin Oct. 5 at the Viridian Event Center.