Spooky paintball, forest, zoo? Places in Washington that transform for Halloween season
It’s the season of transformation — as summer transforms to fall, and schedules are adjusted accordingly, many are preparing for another transformation: what they will become for Halloween. It’s the one night each year when everyone dons a costume and can be someone, or something, else for a while.
But people aren’t the only ones who transform for Halloween. With the popularity and commercialization of the holiday, organizations, places and companies are taking part in the festivities as well. Much like the Museum of Flight in Tumwater acts as the Museum of Fright or Point Defiance Zoo hosts Boo Zoo, the haunted renditions are temporary.
As you are brainstorming your costume or assembling pieces of an outfit, these locations across Washington state are preparing their spooky season makeovers.
Check out these seasonally-rebranded options in the Evergreen State.
Halloween transformations in eastern Washington
Benton & Franklin counties
Throughout the year, you might take the family or a group of adults to play paintball at Red Dot Paintball Field in Richland. At least, until October comes around, when the paintball field is transformed into the Field of Screams on Fridays and Saturdays.
Approximately an hour-long walk through several scary themes, you’ll experience a carnival, cemetery, survival bunker and more. Topped off with a zombie outbreak thrill ride complete with paintball shooters, you’ll definitely find your freaky fill at the Field of Screams.
Various price points are offered, starting at $32.18 for a Haunt Pass and Outbreak access. Order online for a reserved space. The haunt is recommended for ages 12 and up, but kids 8 and up can get in with parent permission.
Maybe you travel down Clearwater Ave. all the time. Maybe you use it every day, passing Bella’s Office Furniture and Mirage in central Kennewick. But once October is underway, you’ll be driving past a transformed space, a Frightmare.
Your ticket to the haunt, which is warned to be “extreme” and will “scare your pants off,” includes access to all of the festivities. Instead of waiting in line, your ticket ensures your spot at a specific time, so you can enjoy all the haunted happenings while you pass the time. There will be live entertainment, a beer and wine tap room, an arcade and a supply of food trucks.
Halloween transformations in western Washington
Pierce county
Ever wanted to go to the zoo in costume? Head to the Zoo Boo for a decorated zoo experience, with costumes encouraged. The animals don’t dress up, but they do enjoy pumpkins. Elephant pumpkin smashing is one of the many limited-time features at the Point Defiance Zoo.
Zoo Boo is held from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. October 14 and 15. A regular zoo ticket or membership will grant entry. You’ll also get to stop by the Pacific Seas Aquarium, so make sure to stop by the Northwest Waters habitat, where divers will be carving pumpkins underwater.
Ever stop by Frontier Park in Graham? Most of the time it’s used for casual recreation, but it also hosts the Pierce County Fair and other events. But from October 20 through Halloween, part of the park is closed for Haunted Headlights, a family-friendly Halloween light show.
Buy a ticket to drive through the path, meeting spooky characters along the way. Tickets are only available online for $10.
Most of the year, Grand Farms in Vaughn is an optimal outdoor event center, hosting weddings and parties. But October Fridays and Saturdays are reserved for My Haunted Forest, a horror-themed immersive haunt with a medieval twist.
A low-scare hour is offered from 6 to 7 p.m. for families with young children, where actors are in costume but do not try to scare participants.
The Historic Freighthouse Square/Station in Tacoma is a shopping center in modern times, but the large building used to serve as a freight house for the Milwaukee Railroad. But on fall weekends, you can head underground to Frighthouse Station, “where lights fade and hopes dwindle,” according to the haunt’s website. The 15,000 square foot basement was reportedly used for corpse storage during the second World War.
The horror experience is inspired by the literature of H.P. Lovecraft and takes place in a seaside village. Warnings for constricting corridors, strobe lights, complete darkness, foggers, strong smells, intense audio, uneven walkways and terrifying scarers.
Sound too risky? You can purchase a “Wand of Courage” for $5 to protect you. If you use it correctly, scarers will back off.
Tickets for the haunt are available online, between $17 and $20 depending on the night. The recommended age range is 12 and up.
King county
For one day each October, the Museum of Flight in Seattle becomes the Museum of Fright. On top of the air and space museum it normally operates as, interspersed throughout the galleries will be Halloween games and activities.
Admission is free for anyone in costume under age 18.
If you visit Wild Waves Water Park during the majority of the year, it is a themed water amusement park full of thrill rides. But if you visit during a weekend in October, you’ll catch the Wild Waves Fright Fest. As the park describes it, Fright Fest activities are “family by day, fright by night.”
Enjoy family-friendly Halloween fun in the park during the day. Once 6 p.m. hits, scare actors emerge, fog is turned on and scare zones are opened for willing participants.
Thurston county
Not impressed by a single location’s transformation? Head to Bucoda, the town that rebrands into Boo-coda for all of October. With a population of less than 600 people, the entire town is part of the festivities. There’s family-friendly fun and adult-recommended horror, whatever you desire.
Stop by the town gym for a spooky haunted house experience — rumor has it that the gym is actually haunted.
Boo-coda also hosts hearse processional events, casket races and a group recreation of the “Thriller” dance. For families, there is a less scary haunted house, a harvest festival and a “haunted market,” along with numerous costume contests throughout the month.
