Fright Fest Extreme is now taking place at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California through November 3rd. The acclaimed theme park claims that this is the largest haunt in the state. It includes 11 haunted houses, 9 scare zones, and two shows. Along with exclusive merchandise and Fright Fest-themed food and drinks.

Six Flags Magic Mountain invited us to the park this past weekend to check out Fright Fest Extreme. It’s important to note that I don’t usually cover too many horror events. Despite loving horror films and Halloween, I have slowly started to build my tolerance. So my perspective could be described as a casual attendee. So how was it?

THE HAUNTED HOUSES

As mentioned before, Fright Fest Extreme features a daunting 11 haunted houses. This year they have added more existing IPs to their line-up including:

Stranger Things
The Conjuring
SAW 20th Anniversary
Trick ‘r Treat
Army of the Dead

As well as original Six Flags houses that include:

Nocturnal Hunt
Condemned Forever Damned
Truth or Dare
Willoughby’s Resurrected
Vault 666 Unlocked
Sewer of Souls

Fright Fest Extreme

The big surprise for me was how much more I enjoyed their original houses. They seemed to be a lot more thought out and seemingly enhanced over time. This I felt delivered a better overall experience with a lot more clever scares, and detailed sets. One of my favorites ended up being “Condemned Forever Damned”.

The other haunted houses on the other hand offered a unique experience to jump into some of your favorite movies. I will always remember walking down a hallway in “The Conjuring” house and seeing hands wrap around the Nun portrait, only to reveal the demon behind it. Not to mention walking through a maze filled with some of Jigsaw’s most infamous “games”.

My biggest letdown of the night as far as houses are concerned has to be “Stranger Things”. While it had some fun jump scares, it felt incomplete. Especially at the finale where Vecna is an animatronic. Overall I felt it was a good set of houses. Just be warned that scare actors are people too. This means that there are some times throughout the night when certain parts of houses may not have all of the scare actors as they may be taking a break or changing shifts, which leaves some areas of mazes without a specific proper scare.

SCARE ZONES

The scare zones at Fright Fest Extreme were fun to walk through. Smoke in those areas makes it very easy for scare actors to surprise you. Here’s a quick tip, if you show fear, you will be targeted. This was fun to watch. There was one instance where a guest ran into a gift shop thinking she was safe, only to be stalked from the outside by a couple of scare actors, terrifying.

The scare zones are:

Underworlds of Oz
Plaza de la Muerte
Grimmlore Ridge
City Under Siege
Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy
Devil’s Triangle
CarnivHELL
Exile Hill
The Deadzone

I enjoyed how active the scare actors were not only scaring people but also interacting with them. I noticed lots of chats, photos, and just plain appreciation for the actor’s makeup. Some great characters were roaming the park. The funny thing is that in Plaza de la Muerte, we were captivated by the beauty of some of the makeup more than being scared. The scare zones made it so that you never felt “safe” no matter what part of the park you were in.

FOOD AND MERCH AT FRIGHT FEST EXTREME

As far as food is concerned they have some tasty Fright Fest Extreme inspired items These include the Honey Fire Pizza, the Hell Hound (a hot dog with nacho cheese, hot Cheetos and jalapeños), Roadkill Nachos (traditional nachos with jalapeños and topped with pulled pork), graveyard pudding (chocolate pudding with crushed oreos on top with gummy worms), Scaracha Wings, Zombie Birria Nachos (nachos with white queso, birria, onions, and a Tapatio infused sour cream), Dragons Leg (turkey leg soaked in gochujang chili sauce), Fright Fest Extreme Burger (burger with pepper jack, jalapeño poppers, and spicy ranch).

Thanks to Six Flags we got to try all of these items. I think my favorite of these were the Zombie Birria Nachos, as I am a sucker for white queso, but the burger wasn’t bad either. It really is going to depend on your preference of food, they seem to have a good variety as long as you like spicy food, specifically jalapeños. We found that while venturing through the park we were a lot more worried about staying hydrated than anything else.

When it comes to the merch, that sweet merch we all can’t get enough of, they had some very cool and unique designs for shirts and sweaters. It seemed that they had a terrifying design for everyone. A lot them had glow in the dark effects that would light up throughout the night. Could that had made you a bigger target to scare actors? Maybe. My biggest let down though when it comes to the merch is that they didn’t have hats, which I found strange.

Fright Fest Extreme

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE RIDES

Something we found really cool at Fright Fest Extreme was that the rides were still open throughout the night. So, while everyone was making sure to get in line for their preferred haunted houses, the ride lines were very short. If you have an Express Pass you can take advantage of this and enjoy the rides at night as you venture through the park. They can serve as a little scare break, and its really cool to ride the roller coasters in the dark. Especially ones like Scream and Tatsu.

OVERALL THOUGHTS ON FRIGHT FEST EXTREME

This was my first Fright Fest Extreme and overall we had a really fun time. I would say that our biggest complaint throughout the night was the walking as some of those hills get more challenging throughout the night. Two of the haunted houses and a scare zone required us to journey up those long stairs by Tatsu. There were different points in the night when a few of the houses were forced to close for whatever reason, which depending on how much time you have can be a bummer.

Quickly I did want to mention the new chaperone policy at the park. Throughout the night, I did notice some parents/guardians course-correcting some excited teenagers and kids, and I don’t recall any specific incident where security or police had to get involved. So it’s safe to say it’s working.

While Six Flags Fright Fest Extreme may not have the scariest haunted houses in the current world of attractions, they have a wide variety of balanced entertainment. Specifically, roller coasters and thrill rides that the other parks in the state cannot compete with. As mentioned before, the coolest part of some of the haunted houses was the opportunity to jump into your favorite horror film. A lot of smiles and families having a great time and at the end of the day, that is what it’s all about.