People are afraid of a lot of different things.
From clowns to dolls to chainsaw men, Haunted Houses pick out those fears and maximize them. Personally, I’m afraid of basically everything that goes into a haunted house. I don’t like small spaces, I don’t like people chasing me, and I definitely don’t like clowns. My imagination runs away with the slightest notion of fear.
As a kid, I was so terrified of an episode of Boy Meets World that I hid, huddled with my cousin on the stairs of his home, clutching a bible and praying that the episode would end and Mr. Feeny would go back to being a nice, old man.
To be fair, I’m not the only child who was traumatized by that work of 90’s television. But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve made friends who for some reason, do enjoy being frightened.
Which is how I found myself a few years ago laughing/crying my way through a haunted house all while being filmed. I know that it seems like I was having fun on the surface, but deep down, trust me, I was terrified.
If for some insane reason, you’re interested in having a terrifying experience, we’ve got some great haunts. Here are the best in the area, guaranteed to give you jumps and scares.
| Haunt | Town | Drive from downtown | 2026 nights | Tickets from |
| The Haunt Columbus | Columbus (Refugee Rd) | 12 min | Select nights through Halloween | $30 |
| Fear Columbus | Columbus (Northland) | 16 min | Sept 11 to Nov 1 | $25 |
| Pataskala Haunted Forest | Pataskala | 26 min | Fri and Sat in October | $25 |
| Haunted Mountain | Chillicothe | 55 min | Thu to Sat in October | See site |
| Brimstone Haunt | Wilmington | 1 hr | Select nights, Sept 11 to Nov 13 | About $36 |
| Blood Prison | Mansfield | 1 hr 10 min | Fri to Sun, Sept 25 to Nov 1 | $35 |
What: This is the haunt on Refugee Road that ran as Carnage Haunted House from 2017 through last season. New owners took it over for 2026 and renamed it The Haunt Columbus, so the building will look familiar and the inside won’t. One ticket covers both stories. Lugaroo Bayou is a swamp walkthrough. Black Hollow Medical is an abandoned hospital in a dead mining town. It’s all indoors, so weather doesn’t cancel a night, and groups get sent in about a minute apart in batches of up to eight. Kids under 15 need an adult in their group. The haunt says Thursdays and Sundays are the quiet nights. There’s also a no-scare Kid’s Haunt on October 25th from noon to 5 p.m.
When: Select nights through the Halloween season. The calendar on their site has each night’s hours.
Tickets: General admission $30, Fast Pass $50, Scream Pass (instant access) $80, plus fees. Groups of 12 or more pay $25 a head. Buy online here.
Where: 3770 Refugee Rd, Columbus (the old Eastland Lanes bowling alley). About 12 minutes from downtown. Parking is free.
Website: The Haunt Columbus
What: Fear Columbus is the 40,000-square-foot building off Northland Plaza that used to be 13th Floor Columbus, and owners Nick and Jess Francis rebuild the attractions every season. Shadow Pines is brand new this year. Dearly Departed picks up a new chapter called Critical Conditions, and the Oddballs circus gets a Show Stopper theme. Expect movie-grade sets, fog, dozens of actors and a merch shop on the way out. Everything is timed entry and sold online only, and the popular October Saturdays sell out ahead of time. The haunt doesn’t recommend it for kids under 13.
When: September 11th through November 1st. In October, Fridays and Saturdays run from 7 p.m. to midnight and Sundays from 7 to 10 p.m. Most weeknights are open from October 20th on, and closing night is Sunday, November 1st.
Tickets: General admission starts at $24.99 and changes by night, with Fast Pass and Immediate Access upgrades on top. Buy online here.
Where: 2605 Northland Plaza Dr, Columbus. About 16 minutes from downtown, with free parking on site.
Website: Fear Columbus
What: I love a good forest stroll as much as the next girl, but this is more like a forest “run for your life” kind of vibe. The Pataskala Haunted Forest has been scaring people in these woods since 1989 and bills itself as central Ohio’s longest-running haunted attraction. It’s run entirely by volunteers and the profits go to the Lions Club of Pataskala Charitable Foundation, so you can get really scared for a good cause. The walk takes 30 to 45 minutes, it’s fully outdoors, and the trail is rough enough that it isn’t a fit for wheelchairs or strollers. Tickets are $25 plus fees, online only, and each weekend’s tickets go on sale the Monday of that week.
When: Every Friday and Saturday in October, with arrival times from 7:30 to 11 p.m.
Where: 8838 Refugee Rd SW, Pataskala. About 26 minutes from downtown. Parking is free.
Website: Pataskala Haunted Forest
What: The people who stage Tecumseh! every summer turn the Sugarloaf Mountain Amphitheatre into a haunt every October, and it’s the most family-shaped night on this list. One ticket gets a stage show (this year it’s “The Immortal Dracula,” about an hour, starting at 7:15), a 25-minute haunted trail that opens at 8:45, a 30-minute escape room, tomahawk throwing, a scavenger hunt and a free horror movie on the big screen. The film changes nightly, from Hocus Pocus and Corpse Bride to Alien and Halloween. The recommended age is 6 and up, which you won’t see at any other haunt here. October 15th is a sensory-friendly trail night and October 29th is trail and escape room only, no show.
When: Thursday through Saturday nights in October. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and the grounds close at 11.
Tickets: General admission and VIP (reserved seating, a drink and a timed trail slot) through hauntedmountain.org.
Where: 5968 Marietta Rd, Chillicothe. About 55 minutes down US-23 from downtown.
Website: Haunted Mountain
What: Brimstone is a scream park an hour down I-71 in Wilmington, and this is its tenth season. Three attractions run on one property. The Haunted Hayride goes out through the fields and The Bog goes on foot through the woods. The Boogeyman is new this year. It’s the indoor house and the wheelchair-accessible one, though the parking lot is grass. In between there’s a midway with food, a bar, games and photo ops, so it’s easy to make a night of it. Buying online is cheaper than the gate.
When: Select nights from September 11th through Halloween, plus three November nights on the 6th, 7th and 13th from 7 to 11 p.m. Most September and October nights start at 7:30 p.m., Sundays run from 7 to 9:30 p.m., the attractions start after dark, and closing time varies by night, so check their calendar.
Tickets: General admission runs $35.99 to $43.99 depending on the night, and a Fast Pass version starts at $49.99. Spectrum News lists a single attraction at $24.99. Buy online here.
Where: 525 Brimstone Rd, Wilmington. About an hour from downtown Columbus, just off I-71 on State Route 73.
Website: Brimstone Haunt
What: Blood Prison is the one haunt on this list where the building does half the work. It’s staged inside the real Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, the prison from The Shawshank Redemption. The cell blocks are unsettling with the lights on. This year’s edition is called Blood Prison: Apocalypse. Entry is timed in half-hour slots. Everyone has to be at least 10. The optional Touch Pass is 18 and up, and there’s a 21-and-up lounge with themed cocktails for the priority-pass crowd.
When: September 25th through November 1st, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Gates open at 6:45 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays run from 7 p.m. to midnight, and Sundays from 7 to 10 p.m.
Tickets: Experience Columbus lists tickets starting at $35, with Ultra Lightning and Instant Access tiers above that. Buy online here.
Where: 100 Reformatory Rd, Mansfield. About an hour and ten minutes up I-71 from downtown.
Website: Blood Prison
Three of these are small operations that post their schedules on Facebook, so check their page the day you go.
The Haunted Farm, Pleasantville (5450 Old Millersport Rd NE, about 36 minutes): a farm with a haunted barn and a haunted corn maze. Columbus on the Cheap lists it running September 25th through October 31st with admission from $20.
Nightmare in Nashport (7200 Frazeysburg Rd, Nashport, about an hour) runs a half-mile “Trail of Terror” through real woods outside Zanesville. This year’s schedule, per Columbus on the Cheap, is Friday and Saturday nights in October from dark until midnight, $20. The website still shows last season’s dates, so check Facebook for this year’s.
Adams Family Haunted Woods, Marysville (about 45 minutes): a seven-acre trail that Columbus on the Cheap puts at 19698 Barnett Rd and has open every Saturday in October from 8 to 11:30 p.m., $20 a person, cash or Venmo only. The same listing has a no-scare kids’ trick-or-treat night on Friday, October 30th from 8 to 10 p.m. for $5 a child.
Field of Fright at The MAiZE at Little Darby Creek, Milford Center (8657 Axe Handle Rd, about 40 minutes): the corn-maze farm’s haunted path, open Fridays and Saturdays October 9-31 after dark. Admission with the daytime farm activities is $25 online or $27 at the farm, and a Fast Pass that skips the virtual waitlist is $45 online.
The post The Best Haunted Houses in Columbus and Central Ohio appeared first on Columbus Navigator.
