Anna Johns rounds up the spookiest haunts to get your scare on.
Hex House and Westside Grim
Declared one of America’s best haunted attractions by Hauntworld Magazine, the Hex House features two attractions: its namesake and Westside Grim. Both are billed as “not your average haunted house.” Instead, the customers are touched by the actors, and the barriers between reality and horror are blurred as it becomes more interactive.
Hex House markets itself as being inspired by a true story in Tulsa’s past. The story goes that two women were forced to live in an unheated basement and give their paychecks to the woman they served. The victims were presumably under hypnotic or occult control for seven years and were promised great rewards in Heaven. The Hex House was an infamous site that young people visited for years — now its story lives on in the form of a walk-through haunted house.
The remaining dates to visit the attractions are from Oct. 22–28 and Oct. 31–Nov. 3. Doors open at 7 p.m. and close at 11 p.m. Passes to enter both houses are $25 and fast passes are $30.
Psycho Path
Spanning 40 acres, the Psycho Path is a Halloween attraction featuring two distinct experiences: Dark Ride and Shadow Box.
Dark Ride is operated like a theme park ride. Guests ride from scene to scene with the scares of a traditional haunted house jumping out at you along the way. Those who participate in the Dark Ride will board the Scareage, a custom vehicle designed for Psycho Path. The journey is 20 minutes and features custom props, buildings and jump scares.
The Shadow Box is an indoor haunted house. The experience plays with a more psychological element. The guest is given the backstory of being trapped in a home and unable to sleep for days, and as they maneuver, they hallucinate horrific images and sounds.
The ticket booth is open from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10 p.m. on Thursdays. It is open until Oct. 27. Dark Ride is $20, Shadow Box is $15, and a combination pass is $30.
The Nightmare
The Nightmare differs from other Tulsa attractions in that it is tied to a religious organization, GUTS Church. It is a walkthrough of modern-day struggles within a world in which Jesus did not die on the cross. The attraction features many real-life scenarios that are topical and ends with members of the church offering to pray for its customers.
The attraction runs every Friday and Saturday in October with doors opening at 7 p.m. There is no set closing time, and general admission is $15.
Oklahoma Asylum
Oklahoma Asylum is an immersive experience in Nowata. It has won the Oklahoma People’s Choice Award in both 2017 and 2016 and was ranked the top haunted house by Oklahoma Haunted House Reviews and Tulsa Haunt Review from 2014 to 2017.
The Asylum is one of the more interactive haunted houses, where the guest will experience a high-security mental research facility that is actually a guise for cruel experiments performed on sane individuals. The guest will perform surgery, hiding and crawling from the monsters and sometimes getting bloody.
Ticket window hours are from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday. It runs until Oct. 28.
The Chicken Pass, which features no blood, is $16.35. The Blood Pass is $21.90. For a fast pass with optional blood, it is $38.15.
The Castle Halloween Festival
Located in Muskogee, The Castle Halloween Festival features 11 attractions, such as a trail of blood and a haunted hayride. A skull rating system is used to rank the attractions based on level of scares. At the highest ranking of five skulls, Domus Horrificus is an inside haunt where the creatures focus on hunting their guests. The Torture Chamber, ranked at one skull, is a museum displaying means of justice from the past. The Ultimate Maze is three skulls and located outside, using darkness and confusion as a challenge for guests to escape.
The Castle Halloween Festival is open Fridays and Saturdays until Oct. 27. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and ticket sales end at 10 p.m. Prices range from $3 to $15, depending on the attraction.
