Castle of Muskogee and Hex House each offer unique and eclectic experiences to thrill-seeking Tulsans.
There are many options in Oklahoma for the adrenaline seekers who love Halloween. My personal favorite would have to be the Castle of Muskogee.
The Castle is truly an experience like none other. It’s a Halloween festival that spreads across 14 acres of land. Within the gates of the Castle, there are four separate attractions. Two of the haunted houses, Casa Morte and Domus Horrificus, are inside the castle itself.
Domus Horrificus is basically a gigantic maze with twisting corners and sharp turns. Each room in this experience is themed differently. For example, you might run into the Nun, Purge-goers or, if you’re like my friend, a tree.
Despite being in the same building as Domus Horrificus, the Casa Morte is a completely different experience. This haunted house contains anything from a creepy little girl who laughs maniacally and blocks your path to a butcher who wants to make you his next meal. The Casa Morte is more immersive as it contains over 35 actors inside.
Both of these experiences are sure to satisfy any horror lover. The Castle rates them as four skulls out of five on the festival’s horror scale.
There is only one five-skull-rated experience in the entire park, and it has definitely earned the extra skull. The attraction is called the Trail of Blood.
The experience starts as you wait in a queue to get on a hayride that takes you out into the woods. The guides for the hayride are zombies who hang off the end of the trailer you are sitting in.
The Trail of Blood is an outdoor trail that leads those brave enough into the woods. The only visible light comes from lanterns placed on the guardrail.
You never quite know what you’ll see on the trail. In previous years, there have been butchers with butcher knives, zombies similar to the ones in “World War Z” and chainsaw wielding psychos that chase goers of the haunted house.
The Trail of Blood is an experience like no other. It combines everything you might see in a horror movie: dark woods, terrifying noises, shrill screams and someone chasing you.
The Ultimate Maze is an outdoor maze with spooky decorations placed throughout. It really isn’t as scary as the others as there are no face actors in this experience.
There is one other attraction that must be mentioned: The Dark Tower Zombie Hunt is an interactive haunted house. Zombies have overrun the Tower and your job is to clear the area of zombies.
Upon entering, you are given a paintball gun and are told to shoot the zombies. What they don’t tell you is that the zombies are “running zombies,” not the type of zombies that drag their foot behind them. Zombies run at you from every possible angle. The game lasts until either you get overtaken by zombies or until you defeat all the zombies.
The Castle sells a package that contains these four attractions for $35. If you buy them separately, each attraction costs $10, except for the Trail of Blood which costs $15. The Dark Tower Zombie Hunt is a seperate experience and costs $15.
Besides the haunted houses, the Castle also has various vendors placed throughout the park. There are fortune tellers, mask shops, flower shops, food places, costume stores, etc.
In the park, it’s encouraged that you wear your Halloween costume. This just adds to the amazing atmosphere that the Castle already emits.
Unfortunately, the Castle closed on Oct. 26 as it is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. If you are interested, I highly recommend going next year. The Castle opens the last week of September.
However, there is another haunted house in Tulsa called the Hex House, which is located on 5610 W. Skelly Drive. The Hex House has been nationally recognized as one of the scariest haunted houses in the nation. According to an article written by Adrienne Berard for Fox News, the Hex House was voted to be #2 in the nation.
The Hex House has now added two new attractions called Rise of Living Dead and Westside Grim. These two attractions are separate from the Hex House itself, but they are all at the same location.
Just a warning though, in all three of these attractions, the actors are allowed to touch you. If you are afraid of this, I suggest you check out some of the other places in Tulsa. The Hex House also has a no mercy rule, which means that the actors inside will not take it easy on you if they see you’re scared. These attractions are not for the faint of heart.
The Hex House closes on Nov. 2, so you’ve still got time to experience the terror inside. The ultimate package costs $27 and all three attractions are included. If you buy them separately, each experience costs $20. I suggest buying tickets online as the ticket lines are notorious for being long.
However you’re spending Halloween, I hope it’s spook-tacular!
