Strange(r) things will be happening at Six Flags

Fight Fest Extreme to bring brand-name Halloween haunts to parks

With Halloween Horror Nights, the Universal parks have pretty much owned the spooky season when it comes to walk-through haunted houses and scare zones based on popular movies and TV series. Sure, other parks, including Six Flags, have dabbled in the space. Last year, for example, two of the chain’s flagship properties, Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey and Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, presented houses based on “The Conjuring” and “Saw” as part of their annual Fright Fest events. This year, however, those parks as well as Six Flags Over Texas (and possibly others) will be giving Universal a run for its blood money.

According to Six Flags, the expanded Fright Fest Extreme will attempt to scare the hell out of guests with mazes themed to “Stranger Things,” “Annabelle,” “The Nun,” “Trick ‘r Treat,” and “Army of the Dead,” as well as the returning “The Conjuring” and “Saw.” The New Jersey park will also add “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” to the macabre lineup. At the Texas park, “Stranger Things,” “Saw,” “The Conjuring,” “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and “Trick ‘r Treat” will be featured.

(Six Flags Entertainment Corporation)

It’s a major gamble, especially in the Southern California market where fans can visit Universal Studios Hollywood to get their brand-name horror fix (the park will be showcasing “Insidious,” “Ghostbusters,” “A Quiet Place,” and a yet-to-be-revealed intellectual property) as well as the granddaddy of theme park Halloween events, Knott’s Scary Farm at Knott’s Berry Farm. Farther south, SeaWorld San Diego will be presenting Howl-O-Scream. The G-rated Oogie Boogie Bash and other Halloween Time happenings at Disneyland don’t go for the jugular, but nonetheless celebrate the fall season in grand theme park style. Seeing Leatherface wielding a chainsaw or encountering the maniacal “Saw” ventriloquist dummy, Billy, on his squeaky tricycle will be more of a novelty–and potentially more of a draw–in New Jersey and Texas.

It’s likely that Six Flags had to cough up some major dough to get the licensing rights to properties such as Netflix’s “Army of the Dead” and “Stranger Things” (which had a multi-year run at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights). Will the chain provide the budget and lavish the considerable creative capital that Universal brings to its haunts? That seems doubtful. But how else would it compete with the well-established HHN?

(Six Flags Entertainment Corporation)

Six Flags will be rounding out Fright Fest Extreme with houses and scare zones based on original content. It will also include shows, select coasters, and other rides at the nighttime events. A Six Flags spokesperson says that announcements will be made shortly about additional parks that will host Fright Fest Extreme and, presumably, feature clones of some of the high-profile haunts. There are plans to introduce the expanded event at about half of the chain’s parks in the U.S. The separate-ticket event cost $105 online for Great Adventure’s Fright Feat Extreme and includes all mazes. A $150 Express Pass grants front-of-the-line access to the mazes. Those are special advance-purchase prices. Tickets for Universal’s HHN start at $77 online.

The recent merger between Six Flags and Cedar Fair brings the Six Flags-branded parks under the same corporate umbrella as Knott’s Berry Farm. Might the So-Cal scaremeisters bring their haunt expertise to Fright Fest Extreme? It’s highly unlikely that there will be any cross-pollination this year as the former park chains continue to operate more or less as separate entities in the near-term. Moving forward, I’d expect the merged company to leverage its respective strengths for Halloween events and, more broadly, across all operations.

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Have you been to Fright Fest? Did you visit Magic Mountain or Great Adventure last year and experience the “Saw” or “The Conjuring” mazes? Will you check out Fright Fest Extreme?