The Top Haunted Houses in Massachusetts
From hayrides to haunted mansions, 15 killer attractions within driving distance from Boston. Boo!
Barrett’s Haunted Mansion in Abington, Mass. / Courtesy the experts at Halloween New England
We love a good homemade haunted house, but if you’re searching for a semi-professional scare, look no further than these spooky attractions in Massachusetts and beyond. They’ll give you all the chills and thrills you need this Halloween.
(Note: In general, most venues leave age appropriateness up to parents or recommend no kids under 10-12. In other words, make wise judgments and try not deliberately to traumatize your children for life.)
Updated October 10, 2024. Have a killer haunted attraction to suggest? Email us!
OPEN ALL SEASON
Courtesy
Boston’s Wicked Haunt Fest
Indoor + Outdoor | Charlestown, Boston
Haunted houses are usually the province of suburbs or exurbs, but this year Boston has one within city limits. New for 2024, this self-declared, self-contained “festival” spans two acres of Charlestown’s Hood Park and promises three distinct “Hollywood-caliber haunted house experiences”—walk-throughs bedecked with animatronics, live actors, and special effects. A $25 festival entrance fee grants access to one of the three haunted attractions ($40 for all three), along with the two-acre grounds of photo ops, food, a beer garden, an immersive graveyard with a vintage 1800s hearse, and more. A 13-minute walk from the Sullivan Square MBTA stop, Boston’s Wicked Haunted Fest offers three hours of free parking nearby, making this attraction far more accessible to urban dwellers than any other attraction on this list—if they dare!
Open daily from 4pm-11pm; 10 Stack St, Boston, www.bostonswickedhauntfest.com
Barrett’s Haunted Mansion. / Photo by Steve McGowan via Barrett’s Haunted
Barrett’s Haunted Mansion
Indoor + Outdoor | 20 miles South of Boston
With fall 2024 marking its 33nd year in operation, Barrett’s is a veritable South Shore institution. Run by the proprietors of Abington Ale House & Grill, located next door, longtime owner Mary Barrett Costello and her team of actors fully commit to the theatrics: out front sits a hearse; monsters and ghouls unnervingly patrol the ticket line; screens play horror-movie clips while you wait. Inside, the Haunted Mansion’s dramatic execution—pun fully intended—only gets better every year. A second attraction, Condemned, takes participants through an elaborately designed toxic zone and employs the next-level fright tactic of Bungee Scares. (Don’t look up the term if you want to be surprised.) Visitors can also buy tickets for special events like Devil’s Night, an amped-up version of the attractions where actors can touch you. No refunds if you can’t take it, you big baby.
1235 Bedford St., Route 18, Abington, 781-871-4573, bhmansion.com.
Connors Farm’s “Unexplained” corn maze for fall 2023. / Courtesy Connors Farm.
Hysteria at Connors Farm
Outdoor | 22-28 mile drive Northeast of Boston
By day, Connors Farm is a kid-friendly destination of pick-your-own bags, train rides, and family fun. By weekend night in the fall, it’s a much creepier affair. The main attraction is Haunted Fields, a 45-minute walking trail through corn stalks, orchards, and forest patches inhabited by scary actors. A more chill option is the Flashlight Maze, a seven-acre corn maze that Connors Farm proudly proclaims “received international attention when a family ‘got lost’ and called 911 to find their way out.” Charge your phone—this really happened.
30 Valley Rd., Danvers, 978-739-4192, hysteriadanvers.com.
Witch’s Woods
Outdoor | 30-36 mile drive Northwest of Boston
For Halloween, Nashoba Valley Ski Area dresses up as Witch’s Woods. Open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout October, the scream park’s premiere attraction is a haunted hayride, but there are three other macabre adventures to explore, including something called Castle Morbid. For the meeker ones in your group, send them to the Jack O’Lantern Jamboree—a display of hundreds of illuminated professionally carved pumpkins. The Jamboree is free to visit—no admission required—as is the Horrorwood Chamber of Chills, a more macabre walk-through that promises “past and present horror movie icons with a surprising twist.” Lovely.
79 Powers Rd., Westford, 978-692-3033, witchswoods.com.
Courtesy of Factory of Terror
Factory of Terror
Indoor | 50-55 mile drive South of Boston
Factory of Terror is not for the faint of heart. At this Fall River location, you enter a deserted factory where—so the story goes—113 workers were murdered, and wind your way through such spine-tingling sections as the Bloodworth Dungeon and the 4D Blackout. A unique set of chills and thrills await, offering up plenty of options for haunted house aficionados.
120 Pearl St., Fall River, 774-415-0153, factoryofterror.com.
Fear Town Haunted House
Outdoor | 60 mile drive Southwest of Boston
Fear Town is, according to its social media, more like a creepy county fair than one centralized walk-through attraction. Held at the Seekonk Speedway near the Rhode Island line, the mostly outdoor destination advertises three haunted houses for a combined total of “over 45 minutes of fear,” plus a midway of food concessions and horror-themed carnival games. Casket Ring Toss, anyone?
1710 Fall River Ave., Seekonk, 508-296-0661, fear-town.com.
13th World Fright Park
Outdoor | 70-75 mile drive West of Boston
A Bay State spinoff from the 13th World in Cumberland, Rhode Island, this Massachusetts fright park has its own haunted trail (something called Moonlight Mayhem), plus three additional attractions: Hellfire House, a “twisted maze of darkness, fog, and fire”; Prison of Torture, “a terrifying haunted experience that brings your nightmares to reality,” which could mean anything really; and North Pole Nightmare, which appears to be Killer Klowns from Outer Space meets Christmas. For an extra $5, you can let the monsters touch you—which, none for us, thanks.
1701 Park St, Palmer, 508-298-8653, 13thworld.com
DementedFX’s mascot, Bone Crusher. / Courtesy DementedFX
DementedFX Haunted House
Indoor | 90 miles West of Boston
This Holyoke creepshow comes highly recommended by the sorts of folks who take the horror-tourism circuit seriously: a Scare Factor reviewer called DementedFX one of “my personal top three favorite haunts in New England”; the Hauntfinder General named it the best Haunted House in Massachusetts for 2023. Located off Interstate 391, DementedFX promises immersion, disorientation, and special effects, all under the storyline pretense of trying to rescue a scientist from a ghastly laboratory of experiments gone wrong. Need some liquid courage before that harrowing challenge? Two on-site bars will be happy to help.
530 Main St., Holyoke, dementedfx.com
Photo courtesy of Six Flags New England Fright Fest
Fright Fest at Six Flags New England
Indoor + Outdoor | 100 miles West of Boston
Every fall, Six Flags morphs into Fright Fest. During the day, you can get classic scares on their rides, but it’s at night when the real ghouls come out to play. Watch out for the creepy creatures that wander the park’s Haunt Zones, looking to strike terror into visitors. Demons dance at a stage show called “The Awakening”; meanwhile, over in the Haunted Mazes, there’s Terror Tales in the Wicked Woods, where scary-tale characters and masked madmen take demented pleasure revving chainsaws in your general direction.
Route 159, 1623 Main St., Agawam, 413-786-9300, sixflags.com/newengland.
LIMITED ENGAGEMENT
Alden Haunted House
Indoor | October 18 + 19 | 35 miles Southeast of Boston
The former residence of Mayflower voyager John Alden, Duxbury’s Alden House officially becomes haunted for one weekend a year. For this annual event, visitors go on guided tours and hear about the house’s supernatural history—make sure to look out for historical spirits. But the night’s not all scares: The evening’s itinerary features such family-friendly fare as face painting and dance parties.
Alden House Museum, 105 Alden St., Duxbury, 781-934-9092, alden.org/haunted-house.
Frightful Friday Ghost Stories at Gore Place
Indoor | Fridays, October 11, 18, and 25, 6:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.
The 1806 mansion of former US Senator Christopher Gore is the backdrop to spine-chilling stories Friday nights during the Halloween season. The Federal-style estate sets the stage for haunted tales, and visitors get the opportunity to see the mansion’s elegant rooms and furnishings.
Gore Place, 52 Gore St., Waltham, 781-894-2798, goreplace.org.
Ghost Tours at the Mount
Indoor | October Fridays starting the 11th, plus 10/26, 10/30 and 10/31
The Mount, a century-old residence in the hills of the Berkshires, has the Ghost Hunters seal of approval. So it must be haunted, right? The house, previously the residence of Edith Wharton, an author renowned for her ghost stories, has its own fair share of reported hauntings. Sounds, shadows, and odd sensations follow visitors as they tour the servants’ quarters, stables, and formal rooms—all supposed breeding grounds for paranormal activity. Amusingly, the Mount also hosts spectacular weddings, so maybe the ghosts stay on their best behavior for love.
The Mount, 2 Plunkett St., Lenox, 413-551-5111, edithwharton.org.
BONUS
Beyond Massachusetts
Photo via Canobie Lake Park
Canobie Lake Park Screeemfest
Screeemfest it’s called, and scream you will. This Halloween season, Canobie Lake Park isn’t offering just thrills, but also chills—mwahahaha! In addition to haunted houses and rides, they’re also putting on live spooky shows and tributes to rock-and-pop stars like KISS and Taylor Swift.
Canobie Lake Park, 85 N. Policy St., Salem, New Hampshire, 603-893-3506, canobie.com.
Spooky World Presents: Nightmare New England
Indoor + Outdoor | 45 minutes North of Boston
Spooky World offers something for nearly every thrill seeker. There’s the obligatory Haunted Hayride. There’s Asylum 47, a time-traveling sanatarium of unpredictable lunatics. And there’s Nightmare in 3D, kind of neon-blacklit walk-through with jump scares and hairpin turns. And if you dare to enter the New Hampshire woods, you can explore the Colony, the Granite State’s answer to Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Decompress over communal fire pits, drink beer along the Monster Midway, or throw an axe because, hey, everybody’s doing it.
454 Charles Bancroft Hwy., Litchfield, New Hampshire, 603-424-7999, nightmarenewengland.com.
Lake Compounce Phantom Fall Fest
Starting in late September, Lake Compounce Amusement Park transforms into a nightmare world. Visitors can go on some of Lake Compounce’s classic rides or opt for such spooky attractions as the blacklit scary-tale mALICE in Wonderland: 3D or the abandoned garden Malignant: Overgrown Evil. Don’t pick the pumpkins from the evil pumpkin patch, though—they bite!
Lake Compounce, 186 Enterprise Dr., Bristol, Connecticut, 860-583-3300, lakecompounce.com.
With additional reporting by Lindsey Paradis, Sam Peters
