11 best haunted houses near Boston

New this year, Boston’s Wicked Haunt Fest is a sprawling two-acre immersive Halloween experience with everything from chilling haunted walk-through experiences to an Oktoberfest beer garden. The centerpieces of the festival are three haunted walk-through experiences, with "Hollywood-caliber" details like professionally trained scare actors, 16-foot animatronics and tons of unexpected frights. Creative director Carl Rugato has worked in entertainment for decades with big names like Busch Gardens and SeaWorld Parks, so you won't find any sheet-covered ghosts here.

Short but sweet (or should we say scary), this intense, old-school scare attraction is labeled as the “scariest seven minutes in Salem.” Movie-quality walk-throughs and performances feature demons, ghouls, psychos and creatures of the dark. There are two ways to scream in October: the Halloween Horror show and the daytime Haunted House Terror Tour (don’t trust your live Ghoulish Guide). If you would rather keep your experiences intimate, check out Ed Gannon’s Fireside Ghost Stories, an evening of scary stories told by candlelight for up to 16 daring guests.

Celebrating its 20th season this year, Fright Kingdom in Nashua, N.H., features five haunted experiences sure to scare up some amazing Halloween entertainment. Amongst the hair-raising scenarios you’ll encounter here: Hiding from the gruesome family at the Bloodmare Manor; avoiding contamination in Apocalypse Z; finding your way out of the old farmhouse that is The Abandoned; running from crazed clowns in the Psycho Circus; and surviving a walk through a labyrinth of pure darkness within Grim.

This year’s Fright Fest lineup at Six Flags New England includes more than 20 experiences, including live shows, haunted mazes and rides in the dark. Daytimes through October bring family-friendly thrills like the Spooktacular Street Party and Trick or Treat Trail, while nights get spooky with fan-favorite haunted houses like Midnight Mansion, Slasher Circus 3D and Aftermath: Zombies Revenge. Live shows stir up all the season’s spooks, with The Awakening, Midnight Uprising, Mort’s Used Coffins and Creepshow Freakshow.

Enter the woods of the Nashoba Valley Ski Area and hope that you make it out alive. Starting September 27 and through November 2, Witch’s Woods is open every Friday through Sunday (and Thursday Halloween), for several different attractions such as Haunted Hayride, Castle Morbid, 3D Keeper’s Crypt, Horrorwood Chamber of Chills, Jack O'Lantern Jamboree—full of hundreds of carved pumpkins—and Vampire Passage.

Head out to Palmer to experience four terrifying attractions at 13th World Fright Park. Moonlight Mayhem and Hellhouse Firereturn this year, while new installations are themed Prison of Tourture—"your worst fear becomes real"—and North Pole Nightmare, in which evil South Pole clowns do their worst to what should be a festive season. For extreme scares, add on the Touch of Fear experience for $5, which allows the monsters to touch you. Need to come down from all the intensity? Grab a drink from one of the onsite bars and have a snack from one of the food vendors. The original 13th World site remains in Rhode Island, in case you haven't seen enough.

This massive outdoor haunted spot set deep in the woods in Seekonk consists of a trio of haunted houses that add up to 45 minutes of spookiness, earning Fear Town recognition as one of New England’s longest haunted houses. Expect skeletons, monsters and the feeling of entrapment as you attempt to navigate through heavy forest into and out of run-down buildings that have been hidden for decades. Had enough spook? There’s a midway full of games, experiences, food and entertainment.

Running six weekends beginning September 21, the amusement park in Salem, N.H., gets into the spirit with Screeemfest, an installation of terrifying haunted houses, roaming “creepy characters,” monster parades, music and Halloween-themed games. Among the returning haunted houses—Pinecrest Sanitarium, The Breach, Facility 235 and Cargo—2024 updates the popular Carnivis attraction with a new storyline about manipulative clowns seeking to extract your fear for something sinister.

Located in Fall River, this spot just unveiled a huge renovation ahead of last season. Housed within a factory building that's more than 125 years old, it maintains a decrepit ambiance. Before entering the now deserted building, you’ll be briefed on the tale that was the impetus for today’s haunted scene. We don’t want to spoil any of the frightening fun, but expect an experience sure to scare.

This Salem attraction takes you underground, where you'll wander through haunted rooms and past cursed artifacts, ghosts, monsters and more. It's part haunted house and part escape room, so expect it to be interactive. Bring your friends and figure out all of the clues to free yourself—all while battling blood-curdling special effects in one of Massachusetts' most notoriously haunted towns.

This award-winning horror show in Lee, NH, pulls out all the stops. The fright-filled, immersive trail features stunningly terrifying sets and costumes. Check out the Main Event (sound and lighting intensify the experience), Blackout Night (no lights at all!) and Glow Stick Night (you navigate it with nothing but a glow stick). If an evening of screams sounds too intense, Haunted Overload also offers a Day Haunt and a toned-down version of the show at Friday Night Lite, which allows patrons to experience all the sound and lighting effects without all the monster madness.