Sept. 25 to Oct. 31, 2026 Kings Island, Mason OH Not recommended under 13 Updated Sept. 20, 2026

Kings Island Halloween Haunt 2026: Dates, Hours, Mazes & What Costs Extra

Halloween Haunt runs 22 nights from September 25 through October 31, 2026: every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, plus every Thursday in October. Two mazes are new, headlined by Jason: Blood Reign, and there's a change that catches people off guard this year: maze access is no longer part of park admission. Here's the whole picture, including the family daytime side.

The full picture, straight from Kings Island's event pages

Last checked September 20, 2026, against Kings Island's official Halloween Haunt page and park calendar. Prices are online starting prices before processing fees, and they climb on peak nights.

Going on a Saturday or Sunday, when the park is open all day? The Kings Island crowd calendar shows the daytime picture. It's free and needs no account.

Halloween Haunt 2026 dates and hours, night by night

Kings Island's announcement only said "select nights." The park's own calendar is more specific: Haunt runs 22 nights, and that includes five October Thursdays and five Sundays that most guides still leave out. Fridays and Thursdays are Haunt-only, with the gates opening at 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays the park opens at 11 a.m. for Tricks and Treats, then Haunt takes over at 6. The exception is opening Saturday, Sept. 26: no Tricks and Treats that day, and the park opens at 7 p.m. for Haunt.

Most mazes open with the event at 6 p.m. The scare zones and Metal Massacre start at 7. Thursdays and Sundays end at 11 p.m., so you get five hours instead of six. And there's no Haunt on Sunday, November 1: that day is Tricks and Treats only, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the park closes at 7.

Hours are from Kings Island's operating calendar as of September 20, 2026. Parks do adjust hours, so check the official calendar the week you go.

All 6 mazes, plus The Conjuring

Six mazes are on the Haunted Attractions Pass this year. Two are new, and two 2025 mazes (Hotel St. Michelle and Cornered) were retired to make room.

1. 1 Jason: Blood Reign New for 2026. A licensed Friday the 13th maze set in the woods around Jason's summer camp.
2. 2 Metal Massacre New for 2026. A heavy-metal nightmare where the dead come to play. Replaces Cornered.
3. 3 Order of the Dragon The Vampire King's catacombs, back after its 2025 debut.
4. 4 Alien Abyss The Department of Alien Research keeps cross-breeding things it shouldn't.
5. 5 Killmart A post-apocalyptic grocery store where the cleanup on aisle 5 is you.
6. 6 Slaughter House Rivertown's butcher shop of horrors.

The Conjuring: Beyond Fear returns as its own separate add-on from $20 a night: a roughly 20-minute walkthrough of the Conjuring universe with The Nun and Annabelle. It's not covered by the maze pass.

Scare zones and shows (no extra charge)

Four scare zones come with admission: Pumpkin Eater (a dark town with something in it), Coney Maul (the ghosts of a traveling circus that never left), Abandoned (the lumber mill where 66 workers vanished), and Hooked (a sunken pirate ship's crew, ashore). Three shows are included too: the acrobatic zombie show Nytewalkers, Ghouls Gone Wild, and Dr. Nightmare's Game Show.

And the quiet headliner of the whole event: The Beast at night during Haunt season. The night rides on Beast, Orion, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers, and Banshee come free with your admission.

Mazes and night rides compete for the same few hours. Ride Ready shows what Beast and Orion are running right now, so you can spot the dips between mazes.

Family daytime vs. scary night

Planning around younger kids? Note that during Haunt, the Camp Snoopy kids' area doesn't open at all on Fridays and closes at 7 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Saturday or Sunday daytime is the family window; clear out before the fog rolls in.

What everything costs

These were the online starting prices on Kings Island's official pages as of September 20, 2026. Maze pass pricing is dynamic, so peak Saturday nights near Halloween will run higher.

Single-day park admission

From $45 online. Covers the event, scare zones, shows, rides, and Tricks and Treats.

Haunted Attractions Pass

From $15 a night for all six mazes.

All-Season Haunted Attractions Pass

From $49 for maze access every Haunt night. The $29 launch price from this summer is gone.

Halloween Haunt Bundle

From $64 for admission plus maze access in one ticket.

The Conjuring: Beyond Fear

From $20 a night. Separate from everything above.

A skip-the-line Express upgrade exists for both maze pass tiers, but Kings Island hasn't published its price. We don't sell tickets or passes, and we don't do affiliate links; this is just the lay of the land before you buy from the park.

How to pick your night

With 22 nights on the calendar, you've got more room to choose than the "select nights" line suggested. Saturdays will be the crunch nights, late-October Saturdays the heaviest, and the per-night maze pass gets pricier exactly when the park is fullest. If the mazes are your priority, I'd look at a Thursday or a Sunday first. They're the nights most people don't know exist, and the trade-off is an 11 p.m. close instead of midnight.

Two rules worth knowing before you pick: there's no re-entry on Haunt Thursdays and Fridays, and guests 15 and under need a chaperone who's at least 21 (from 4 p.m. most days, 2 p.m. on Saturdays).

The park runs its regular ride lineup on Haunt days, so check the crowd calendar for the daytime picture before you pick a date.

Halloween Haunt 2026 FAQ