Here's your gore galore guide to 9 scary Halloween haunts in the Des Moines metro area

Paris Barraza and Jay Stahl, Des Moines Register
Updated ·6 min read
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Our guide to nine haunted houses and Halloween haunts in the Des Moines metro area spans from sure-to-scare outdoor haunts to sprawling scream parks. As the leaves turn colors and temperatures start to drop, those who love thrills will stand in long lines for a chance at 10 to 30 minutes (or more!) full of frights. This horror-bly good guide includes information about admissions and ticket pricing, schedules with dates and times, and locations. Get ready for some scares.

Adventureland Park Phantom Fall Fest

See performers such as the Mad Hatter, played by actor Bennie Ulin, at Adventureland Park for Phantom Fall Fest.
See performers such as the Mad Hatter, played by actor Bennie Ulin, at Adventureland Park for Phantom Fall Fest.

  • Address: Adventureland Park, 3200 Adventureland Drive, Altoona

  • Price: Tickets start at $34.99 online

  • Hours: Saturdays through Oct. 28 from 1 to 10 p.m., Sundays through Oct. 29 from 1 to 8 p.m. and Fridays on Oct. 20 and Oct. 27 from 6 to 10 p.m.

Palace Entertainment, the owner of Adventureland Park, hosts nationwide fall festivals at their amusement parks. This event features trick-or-treating for families Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m., Halloween-themed food, haunted houses, and four new scare zones in the theme park. Daytime activities are suitable for all ages.

More: 8 haunted attractions are part of the biggest Halloween event in Iowa at Adventureland

Ames Haunted Forest

  • Address: 1400 S. Fourth St., Ames

  • Price: $25 cash only

  • Hours: 7 to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in October

Touch down in the Iowa State University college town for frights at the longtime favorite Ames Haunted Forest on Fridays and Saturdays in October. The attraction is set in a fantasy world involving a protagonist Vincent with frightening scenes and one 30-minute spooky walk down you-may-want-to-lose-your-memory lane.

Barnum Circus of Freaks

  • Address: 97 Indiana Ave., Des Moines

  • Price: $25 general admission

  • Hours: Fridays and Saturdays from 7:30 to 11 p.m.

This new attraction to Des Moines takes daring visitors into a "chilling journey through the macabre" with dark corridors and "spine-tingling spectacles" in a circus that no one would call family-friendly, according to its website.

Halloween on the Hill

  • Address: Sherman Hill in Des Moines

  • Price: Free, but donations to Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry are encouraged

  • Hours: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 31

This longstanding popular Halloween night event returns for 2023 to the Sherman Hill neighborhood near downtown Des Moines. The streets are blocked off for visitors to roam around and enjoy food trucks, see live performances of "Thriller," a full-size pirate ship and more. New events this year include a Halloween bazaar at Hoyt Sherman Place, and live, theatrical shows staged outside the historic theater, according to event chair Ryan Howell. The local favorite is free, but visitors are asked to bring perishable food as donations for the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry or donate via a QR code.

More: Phantom Fall Fest brings haunted houses, scare zones, kids' activities to Adventureland

The Haunted Woods

  • Address: 1478 Gateway Drive in Carlisle. Travel on Highway 5 and take exit 72, where Gateway Drive turns into E. County Line Road. The attraction will be a quarter mile down on the left-hand side with signs and lit tiki torches to guide you.

  • Price: $20 for adults and $10 for students with a valid student ID on Saturdays. Cash only.

  • Hours: Weekends in October from 7 to 11 p.m. The last weekend of October will open through Oct. 31.

Take your chance on about a 15-minute walk through The Haunted Woods Mare Witch Project II, a haunted path that will require an extra set of pants, according to owner Marilyn Harris. Lit with just tiki torches, go on and try to see what lurks in the shadows, if you dare.

Linn's Haunted House

Linn's Haunted House
Linn's Haunted House

  • Address: 3805 Sixth Ave., Des Moines

  • Price: $25 for adults, $5 off coupon available on Linn's Haunted House website good through the first weekend of October. $15 for children 10 and under.

  • Hours: Weekends in October, hours vary. Open 7 to 10 p.m. on Oct. 26, 30 and 31.

Linn's Haunted House, which is also known as Linn's Super Market Haunted House, is known in the metro for the "scariest night ever." A laser hallway, self-proclaimed "claustrophobia-inducing" tunnels, a swamp, dozens of horror-filled scenes, and pitch-black hallways make for a long way through this haunt in a dark supermarket basement.

More: Find a pumpkin patch near Des Moines to visit this fall

Slaughterhouse

A staff member at the Slaughterhouse holds a fake pig's head.
A staff member at the Slaughterhouse holds a fake pig's head.

  • Address: 500 Locust St., Des Moines

  • Price: Starts at $25

  • Hours: Weekends in October and Thursdays Oct. 19 and 26. Starts at 7 p.m.

Longtime metro favorite Slaughterhouse is the brainchild of local Halloween mastermind Ian Miller. Dark hallways, gore, and plenty of drama take center stage at this Halloween haunt in the basement of a downtown building.

More: Everything to know if you dare to get tickets for Slaughterhouse in Des Moines this October

Sleepy Hollow's Haunted Scream Park

Sleepy Hollow’s Haunted Scream Park is a collection of haunted houses, haunted walks and other attractions.
Sleepy Hollow’s Haunted Scream Park is a collection of haunted houses, haunted walks and other attractions.

Address: 4051 Dean Ave., Des Moines

Price: Starts at $28 for children 11 and under and $30 for adults ages 12 and up

Hours: Friday and Saturday the first weekend of October. Fridays through Sundays starting Oct. 13. Open Oct. 26 and Oct. 31. Admissions end at 10:30 p.m. and the park closes at midnight.

The haunted scream park returns to Sleepy Hollow, the metro's favorite place for family fun during any season. For one price, families can enjoy more than 10 haunted attractions including an intense strobe light attraction called "Chaos" and the carnival-themed "Freakshow" with clowns and creatures full of gore galore.

Tormented Souls Haunt & Scream Park

  • Address: Catch a ride on the terror bus at the southeast end of Edgewood Park, located on West Eight and Main Streets, in Madrid. It’s the only way to reach the scream park.

  • Price: Starts at $22

  • Hours: 7:15 to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in October

There's sure to be screams at this Iowa outdoor haunted park. Torment your soul and run through the park's haunted maze or contain zombies on the zee-pocolypse zombie hunt paintball game, which includes live zombies and lots of frights. To experience all the scary sights that will haunt you this Halloween, catch a ride on the terror bus in Madrid. The haunt's website states that the event may be too intense for young children and children under 12 should be accompanied by an adult.

One haunted attraction not returning to Des Moines for 2023

Scare DSM, the family-owned scare facility that started frightening Des Moines in 2021, announced on its website its closed indefinitely, citing "irreconcilable differences with our financial investors."

Editor's note: The address for the Haunted Woods was updated.

Paris Barraza contributed to this article.

Jay Stahl is an entertainment reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow him on Instagram, Twitter, or reach out at jstahl@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa haunted houses in the Des Moines metro for Halloween 2022