Best Haunted Houses in Texas 2026: Fort Worth, Austin, Terrell & Beyond

Texas does not do haunted houses small. The state holds the haunt USA TODAY readers voted #1 in America for 2026, an America Haunts Top 5 scream park spread across 50 acres, a full-contact charity haunt where the actors can actually grab you — and four major houses still open in November, after Halloween itself is over. This guide ranks the best haunted houses in Texas for 2026 the way Texans actually visit them: by metro, with 2026 dates, ticket prices checked in October 2026, drive distances and an honest intensity read on each one. Three of them also place in our national ranking of the scariest haunted houses in America — here, they get the full Texas treatment.

Timing matters this year. Halloween falls on Saturday, October 31, 2026, so this is the final full week for the houses that close with the holiday — and the start of bonus season for the ones that don’t.

The Texas Short List (Comparison Table)

Starting prices are from the haunts’ official sites or their official ticket listings, checked October 2026; every house here prices by night, so Halloween-weekend tickets cost more than the floor. Two clusters do most of the work — Dallas–Fort Worth (Cutting Edge plus Thrillvania) and Austin (three haunts within about 15 miles of each other) — with Houston and San Antonio as standalone trips.

Fort Worth: Cutting Edge

Start with the champion. Cutting Edge, at 1701 E. Lancaster Avenue in Fort Worth’s Hell’s Half Acre district, was voted #1 in America in USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for 2026 — and it also sits at #1 in our own national guide. It is the only Texas attraction in USA TODAY’s top 10 this year, and the building does half the scaring before an actor ever appears: a 100-year-old former meatpacking plant, multi-story, with its original equipment still in the show — including the conveyor that hoists mannequin “corpses” up through the processing line. The haunt holds Guinness World Records for the longest walk-through haunted house and the largest haunted attraction, and the walk-through runs about 55 minutes, two to three times a normal haunt.

The Texas-specific part nobody tells you: Cutting Edge is a timed-entry operation with hard edges. You choose a date and time slot online, reservations are limited, and the park closes when the last time slot starts — arrive after your final slot begins and you are done, no refunds. Parking is $20, cash only, with no ATM on the property. The operator’s own warning bars children under 12 without a guardian and flags pacemakers, pregnancy and heart conditions. It runs rain or shine.

Best of all, its season outlasts Halloween by two weeks: Cutting Edge is open through Friday, November 13 — a Friday the 13th finale — long after most Texas haunts have gone dark. If you are building a Dallas–Fort Worth weekend, pair it with Thrillvania below: the two sit about 85 miles apart, which is one haunt per night, not a double-header.

Austin: House of Torment

Austin’s flagship is the professional end of Texas haunting. House of Torment (2632 Ridgepoint Drive, northeast Austin) packs three full haunted houses into one ticket on select nights from September 12 through November 8, with tickets starting at $19.99 and sold online only (checked October 2026). The 2026 lineup: Jason Universe: Survive the Night, an officially licensed walkthrough; Return of the Abominations, a post-apocalyptic wasteland; and Beyond the Veil, a cult-guarded manor built around a book that writes itself. We rank it #14 in America in our national guide, and the production polish is why — this is the Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group’s flagship Texas build.

New for 2026 is the Director’s Cut upgrade: a camp counselor walks your group into a cabin and hands you four buttons — Panic, Slash, Strike, Stalk — that control how Jason attacks the group coming through behind you. It is extremely limited each night. Around the houses: Phobia: Sensory Overload, a hands-on dark course where staff never touch you but you feel, duck and squeeze your own way through; the 21+ Nocturne Sanctum secret bar; mini escape games; a GellyBall zombie simulation; axe throwing; and a Respawn Pass that runs you through all three houses a second time.

Take the house warning seriously — House of Torment flags its show as potentially too intense for children 12 and under, and it is a loud, actor-heavy production. Running to November 8 makes it Austin’s pressure valve: when Halloween night itself sells out, the November nights are the same show with thinner crowds. For the rest of an Austin Halloween weekend — Sixth Street, Pumpkin Nights, Freaky Deaky — see our full Austin Halloween 2026 guide.

Terrell: Thrillvania Haunted House Park

Thirty-three miles east of Dallas, Thrillvania trades Cutting Edge’s industrial squeeze for open Texas land: three haunted attractions across roughly 50 acres at 2330 County Road 138 in Terrell. America Haunts named it to its Top 5 Scariest for 2026, and it places #12 in our national guide. The headline act is Verdun Manor, reached through a cemetery and Voodoo Bayou and built on the operator’s legend of Baron Michael Verdun — a werewolf baron who, in the lore, built the manor in 1901 and experimented on the travelers who wandered in. Around it: Cassandra’s House of Clowns, whose Labyrinth storyline has been freshly torn open for this season, and Sam Hain’s Trail of Torment, a walk through dark woods. Budget about two hours for the full park.

Practical notes, because this is a country haunt, not a mall haunt: the season opened September 19 and runs Fridays through Sundays, plus Thursday, October 29 — and it ends on Halloween night, Saturday, October 31. There is no November safety net. General admission covers all three attractions once each; a Speedpass tier cuts the wait to little or nothing on peak nights. Parking is $10, cash only, and there is no ATM — the same cash warning as Fort Worth, half the price.

More Texas Haunts Worth the Drive

Bat City Scaregrounds — Buda. Fifteen miles south of Austin, Bat City is the festival version of a Texas haunt: everything outdoors, everything on one ticket. The 2026 lineup is RITUAL (new this year), Castle Orlock and Slaughter Mall 3D, wrapped in live stage shows, live music, roaming monsters, food and vendors. Hours run 7:30–11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, 7:30–10 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays. Its Tixr listings start at $27.81 on Thu/Sun nights and rise to $38.93 on Saturdays and Halloween (checked October 2026) — and Halloween night is the finale: the park closes for the season on October 31. Of Austin’s three haunts, this is the gentlest on-ramp.

Scare for a Cure — Manor. The outlier on this list, and for hardcore fans the main event. Scare for a Cure is a 100% volunteer production whose proceeds support the Breast Cancer Resource Center and other local charities. Its 2026 show, TerrorToys, is an interactive, full-contact adventure inside a fictional Texas toy company: you sign a waiver, travel in groups of about six, crawl and crouch through scenes with the actors, and come out covered in stage blood. It runs about an hour and is recommended for ages 13 and up. Nights run October 2–30 at $25 for the preview, $40 on Thursdays and $50 on Fridays and Saturdays — and note the quirk: it is dark on Halloween night itself, finishing Friday, October 30.

13th Floor Houston. House of Torment’s sibling brings the same formula to northwest Houston (7075 FM 1960 Road West): select nights September 12 – November 13, tickets from $19.99, online only. The 2026 houses are Jason Universe: Survive the Night, Containment: Sector 9 (an alien-pathogen lab break-out) and Cannibals Crossing, plus the Director’s Cut upgrade, a 21+ secret bar and a zombie GellyBall range. Tying Cutting Edge for the latest close in Texas, it is still running on Friday, November 13.

13th Floor San Antonio. Downtown at 1203 E. Commerce Street, a short walk from the River Walk, San Antonio’s 13th Floor runs select nights September 12 – November 8, also from $19.99. Its second house is its own: A Dose of Decay, a chemical-plague city run by a deranged pharmacist, alongside Jason Universe, secret bars and a zombie shooting range. At about 80 miles up I-35 from Austin, it pairs naturally with a House of Torment night for a two-city weekend.

Tickets, Lines & Final-Night Tips

Book the slot, not the night. Texas haunting in 2026 is an online-first business. House of Torment and both 13th Floor locations sell tickets online only, Cutting Edge runs on timed entry slots, and Thrillvania’s group rates are online only. On Halloween weekend, the question is rarely whether a haunt sells out — it is which time slot you are stuck with.

Do the final-night math before you commit. Thrillvania and Bat City Scaregrounds both end on Saturday, October 31; Scare for a Cure ends a night earlier, on Friday, October 30. If your first choice is gone, the November map is generous: House of Torment and 13th Floor San Antonio run to November 8, Cutting Edge and 13th Floor Houston to November 13 — and those post-Halloween nights are reliably the least crowded of the season.

Bring cash for the gate. Cutting Edge parking is $20 cash; Thrillvania parking is $10 cash. Neither property has an ATM. It is the cheapest mistake in Texas Halloween to avoid.

Buy speed only where it pays. Thrillvania’s Speedpass and the Thirteenth Floor houses’ fast-pass tiers earn their money on Friday and Saturday nights in late October. On Thursdays, Sundays and any November night, general admission lines are a fraction of the peak — save the upgrade.

Watch the sky for the outdoor two. Thrillvania and Bat City are open-air; a Hill Country rain night changes both. Cutting Edge, by contrast, states it opens rain or shine — the safest bet on a wet Halloween weekend.

Intensity Guide: Who Should Skip Which House

Intensity scores are ours, carried over from our national guide, where the same scale runs across all 15 ranked houses.

• Cutting Edge — 9/10, the endurance test. Fifty-five minutes, multiple stories, fog and a building that feels industrial because it is. The operator’s warnings flag pacemakers, pregnancy, and heart and back conditions, and under-12s need a guardian. If a normal 20-minute haunt already maxes you out, this is not your first Texas house.
• Scare for a Cure — the true deep end. The only full-contact show on this list: actors interact with you physically, you crawl, you get messy, you sign a waiver, and it is 13+. Skip it if “nobody touches me” is your first rule at a haunted house.
• House of Torment and both 13th Floors — 8/10, loud and tightly controlled. Big-cast, high-volume productions where actors never touch you — the intensity is sound, darkness and proximity. House of Torment’s own guidance says the show may be too intense for children 12 and under. The one add-on to think twice about is Phobia in Austin: a physical, hands-on sensory course (staff still never touch you) that is not for the claustrophobic.
• Thrillvania — 8/10, with terrain. The scares come with a country walk: outdoor trails, woods after dark and about two hours on your feet across 50 acres. Allow for uneven ground in the dark on Sam Hain’s Trail; the manor and clown house are the more contained experiences.
• Bat City Scaregrounds — the mildest entry point. The festival midway between houses lets you come up for air — music, food, open sky — and it is the easiest of these nights to leave early. Best first Texas haunt for a nervous teenager.
• The first-timer’s ladder: Bat City, then House of Torment or a 13th Floor on a November night, then Thrillvania, then Cutting Edge — and Scare for a Cure when you are ready to sign the waiver.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best haunted house in Texas in 2026? Cutting Edge in Fort Worth — voted #1 in America in USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2026, and #1 in our own national ranking as well. For an outdoor park, Thrillvania (America Haunts’ #5 scariest for 2026); for Austin, House of Torment.

Which Texas haunted houses stay open after Halloween? Four of them. Cutting Edge and 13th Floor Houston run to Friday, November 13, and House of Torment and 13th Floor San Antonio run to November 8. Thrillvania and Bat City Scaregrounds close on Halloween night, and Scare for a Cure finishes on Friday, October 30.

How much do haunted house tickets cost in Texas in 2026? From $19.99 at House of Torment and both 13th Floor locations on select nights (checked October 2026). Bat City’s official listings start at $27.81, Cutting Edge is priced by date and time slot, and Scare for a Cure runs $25–$50 depending on the night. Peak Halloween-weekend nights cost the most everywhere, and fast-pass upgrades sit on top.

Can I visit two Texas haunted houses in one weekend? Yes — the state is built in clusters. Cutting Edge (Fort Worth) and Thrillvania (Terrell) sit about 85 miles apart: one per night across a Dallas–Fort Worth weekend. In Austin, House of Torment, Bat City Scaregrounds (15 miles south) and Scare for a Cure (Manor) split across two nights, and San Antonio’s 13th Floor is about 80 miles from Austin for a two-city trip.

Are Texas haunted houses suitable for kids? These are teen-and-up shows. House of Torment warns its experience may be too intense for children 12 and under, Cutting Edge admits under-12s only with a guardian, and Scare for a Cure is 13+ and full-contact. Bat City’s festival format is the gentlest introduction, but the houses themselves are built to scare adults.

The Texas Bottom Line

Every state has a haunted house. Texas has a season: a reader-voted national champion in a real meatpacking plant, a 50-acre scream park, a volunteer charity haunt that will actually touch you, and four houses still screaming a week after Halloween. Pick your metro, book the slot, bring cash for parking. Road-tripping in from out of state? Our guide to the best Halloween events in the USA builds the rest of the trip around your haunt night.