Haunt at Kings Island (Mason, OH)
“Jason Reigns Supreme”
By Noah Wullkotte: Visited on 9/23/26
We were cordially invited to the 2026 preview night for Halloween Haunt at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. It’s been years since we last toured the haunts and experienced the scare zones. The stage shows weren’t open that night, but everything else was operational including a few rides. The rides open included The Beast, Banshee and Mystic Timbers. It was hard to experience everything at Kings Island even with a press pass to skip the regular lines. But we were valiant and determined to succeed.
Kings Island has a variety of merchandise to purchase. There’s T-Shirts, hoodies, jackets, stuffed animals, mugs and just about anything you can think of. The lineup of memorabilia was impressive and the prices weren’t too bad either. Kings Island is chock full of food and refreshment options like BBQ, Larosa’s Pizza, burgers, Cinnabon, chicken tenders, Ice Cream and so much more. 21 and Colder Frozen Cocktail Bar offered specialty drinks such as Blood Bags. Yes, I said Blood Bags. These drinks included Vampire’s Kiss, Purple People Eater, Zombie Juice and so much more.
The park was beautifully decorated with scary props and frightening decor. It definitely got us in the mood for the Halloween season. The Eiffel Tower was illuminated in red and featured glowing eyes that would get anyone’s attention. The Royal Fountains were synchronized to music and beautiful lights. I couldn’t help but bob my head to Metallica’s Enter Sandman as flames shot high into the air. The park wasn’t too crowded since it was Employee Appreciation Night.
We couldn’t contain our excitement since this is of course our favorite time of the year. It’s haunt season and we were ready to get the living daylights scared out of us at Halloween Haunt. Kings Island no longer has paper maps to locate the different attractions. You can scan a barn code that will take you to a PDF file of the map. Make sure that you sign into Kings Island’s WIFI since the map might be a little blurry or not show up if you use cellular data.
The park was full of thick fog which helped hide the various monsters that were ready to strike. My favorites were the actors who slid on the ground (sliders) and an actor dressed as Bigfoot. Halloween Haunt features 5 haunts (aka Mazes) which are Order of the Dragon, Alien Abyss, the new Metal Massacre, Killmart, Slaughter House and of course the brand new Jason: Blood Reign. The Conjuring: Beyond Fear is an add on experience that’s 20 minutes long and starts at $10 per victim, I mean customer. The sinister Scare Zones where you never know what to expect include Pumpkin Eater, Coney Maul, Abandoned and Hook.
The undead entertainment included the shows Nytewalker, Ghouls Gone Wild and Dr. Nightmare’s Game Show. These sensational shows were unfortunately not open. All I can say is that they’re usually our favorite part of Halloween Haunt. Throughout the park there are carnival games like Allihoop, Tub Toss, classic arcade games and much much more. We really enjoy all that Kings Island has to offer, but we were there for one main reason and that was to get into the Halloween spirit and have our hearts racing from pure terror.
Click here to view all the pictures taken at this year’s Halloween Haunt!
It took us 2 hours and 30 minutes to tour all the mazes and scare zones. This includes walking from one area to the other. If you aren’t familiar with Kings Island then you might get a little lost especially since it can be pretty foggy out this time of the year. The first haunt we toured was Killmart which is a play on the Kmart. A big box store has been taken over by the living dead. Enter different parts of Killmart like the gardening section, pharmacy (aka Harmacy), the camping section and so fourth. Killmart has been a staple at Halloween Haunt for many years now and it’s not much different from how I remember it. That’s not a bad thing though. It’s an exciting haunt while it lasts. It’s chock full of flesh eaters, a few animatronics and some frightful fun. Most of the mazes are 5 minutes or under.
Alien Abyss returns for another year of alien research. Let the tour guide show you the way. Watch a short video before it begins. Aliens have run amok and it’s your job to make it out in one piece instead of pieces. There are plenty of survivors who will jump out and block your path. The lighting was great and they creators did an excellent job incorporating darkness. There are few animatronics in this haunt and it’s mostly actor based. If you’re a fan of aliens then you’re in for a treat. It’s not very intense, but it’s fun none the less while it lasts.
Order of the Dragon is a haunted castle of sorts. A massive king’s table leads to a great surprise. There are hooded characters, crazy ghouls, bats, projection mapping and more. You’ll feel like you’re entered a real medieval castle. The acting for most of the haunts (aka mazes) consists of jump scares and Order of the Dragon is no different. That’s not to say that there isn’t some decent acting you’ll find. The costumes, makeup, prosthetics and masks are stellar in most of the haunts you’ll come across. You might even see a dragon or two inside of this detailed haunt.
Jason: Blood Reign is the haunt I was most anticipating. I wasn’t sure how they would incorporate the Friday the 13th Franchise into a haunted attraction, but they pulled it off for the most part. Gory scenes come to life. If you’re a fan of Jason then you’ll notice fine details and be able to recognize which movies they recreated. Your favorite Friday the 13th movies come to life in 5 frightful minutes. Hopefully they are able to bring back Jason: Blood Reign next year and feature a scene that’s a tribute to Jason X when Jason was in space.
Slaughter House has been at Halloween Haunt for as long as I can remember. It’s a gory maze with crazed hillbilly killers and murderous madmen. You’re like a pig being led to the slaughter. It’s not an original concept since every other haunt you visit has a slaughter house. This entire haunt is themed after it. Tortured victims trash back and fourth as they scream out in pain. There are a few bloody animatronics here and there and one room that’s full of glorious gore. This is one of the better mazes at Halloween Haunt and we quite enjoyed it.
Metal Massacre is the newest maze along with Jason: Blood Reign. Enter Gate 13. Enter inside the cemetery and areas that pay tribute to mazes that are no longer at Halloween Haunt. So, if you’ve been touring Halloween Haunt for many years then you will definitely get a kick out of Metal Massacre. If you’re new to Halloween Haunt then some of the little details might be a bit confusing. It’s like entering a haunted rock concert. Be careful of the mosh pit! This was my least favorite maze at Halloween Haunt, but it’s a novel concept none the less.
Overall we had a great time at Halloween Haunt. Now, if we were waiting in the regular line on a busy night, my opinion might change. The haunts are rather short, but we expected that anyway since we’ve toured Halloween Haunt in previous years. The only haunt that has a good length is The Conjuring: Beyond Fear which wasn’t open on preview night. It’s usually 20 minutes long and is the most technically advanced maze at Halloween Haunt.
There’s a lot of bang for your buck at Halloween Haunt. There are entertaining mazes, rides, games, shows, food and fun. Yes, the admission can get a little expensive especially if you’re paying for an entire family. This is to be expected at a theme park style haunt. Please visit King’s Island’s website for all the details on pricing. It can get a little confusing. We definitely recommend that you visit them on a Sunday night when they are less crowded. It can be pretty difficult to see everything unless you show up when they first open and have and Express Pass.
Please note: Halloween Haunt has been reviewed, but not rated since it was preview night where certain things weren’t operational.