What Is Haunt Season?

For some people, fall begins with the first cool morning.

For others, it starts when pumpkins appear on front porches, Halloween decorations return to store shelves, and horror movies start filling the television schedule.

But for haunted attraction fans, there is another milestone that marks the arrival of the season:

The haunts open.

That is Haunt Season.

Haunt Season is the time of year when haunted houses, haunted trails, haunted farms, scream parks, and other Halloween attractions come back to life. It is when actors put on their costumes, fog fills the air, chainsaws echo in the distance, and thousands of people across East Tennessee head out in search of something spooky to do.

But Haunt Season is more than a collection of haunted attractions.

It is an experience all its own.

More Than One Night Out

A visit to a haunted attraction is often treated like a single Halloween activity—something to do one Friday or Saturday night in October.

We think Haunt Season deserves to be looked at differently.

Just as people spend the Christmas season visiting light displays, attending holiday events, decorating their homes, and enjoying seasonal traditions, Halloween can be enjoyed throughout the fall.

That might mean visiting one haunted trail one weekend and an indoor haunt the next. It might mean attending a fall festival, watching a favorite horror movie, taking a ghost tour, carving pumpkins, or spending an evening with friends around a fire before heading out for a night of scares.

The attraction itself may only last an hour or two.

Haunt Season lasts for weeks.

Every Haunt Is Different

One of the best reasons to visit more than one haunted attraction is that no two experiences are exactly alike.

A rural haunted trail can feel completely different from an elaborate indoor attraction.

One haunt may focus on detailed sets and theatrical storytelling. Another may rely on darkness, isolation, and the unpredictability of wandering through the woods at night.

Some attractions feature large midway areas and additional activities. Others keep things simple and focus almost entirely on the haunted experience.

Some feel polished and cinematic.

Some feel rustic and old-school.

Neither approach is necessarily better. They are simply different experiences.

That variety is one of the things Tennessee Screams hopes to celebrate.

Rather than asking which haunted attraction is the “best,” we think a more interesting question is:

Which haunt should you experience next?

The People Behind the Screams

Haunt Season also represents an enormous amount of work that most guests never see.

Long before opening night, attraction owners and crews are building sets, repairing props, programming lighting, testing sound systems, creating costumes, designing makeup, rehearsing scenes, and preparing their facilities for another season.

Then the performers arrive.

Actors spend night after night hiding in dark rooms, running through the woods, crawling across floors, screaming until they lose their voices, and doing everything they can to give guests a memorable experience.

Behind them are makeup artists, technicians, ticket sellers, security teams, parking crews, managers, builders, designers, and countless others.

For many people involved in the haunt industry, Haunt Season is not simply a few weekends of work.

It is the payoff for months—or sometimes an entire year—of preparation.

A Fall Tradition Worth Growing

One of the goals of Tennessee Screams is to help make Haunt Season a recognizable part of fall entertainment throughout East Tennessee.

There are plenty of people who love Halloween but may not think of themselves as haunted attraction fans.

Maybe they have not visited a haunt in years.

Maybe they assume every haunted attraction offers essentially the same experience.

Maybe they simply do not know what is available nearby.

We want to change that.

By introducing people to the variety of haunted attractions in our region and encouraging them to explore more than one, we hope to grow the audience for haunted entertainment while supporting the attractions that make it possible.

A larger audience helps local haunts continue to improve, experiment, and create new experiences.

And that makes Haunt Season better for everyone.

Make a Season of It

You do not have to be a hardcore horror fan to enjoy Haunt Season.

You just need to enjoy a little suspense, a little Halloween atmosphere, and the fun of doing something different with friends or family.

Try a haunted trail.

Explore a haunted farm.

Visit an indoor attraction.

Go somewhere you have never been before.

Return to an old favorite.

Bring someone who has never experienced a haunted attraction.

And instead of treating Halloween as a single night at the end of October, enjoy the weeks leading up to it.

There is a whole season waiting in the dark.

Welcome to Haunt Season.