Six Flags Fright Fest promises Halloween scares to close out 50th season

As the weather begins to cool and pumpkins start to pop up on porches, the Halloween season has returned to Six Flags Great America, with the 35th season of the popular Fright Fest running through Nov. 1.

The park’s 50th season is closing out with plenty of fall celebrations and theming, from the family-friendly Kids Boo Fest, the celebratory Oktoberfest and the spooky Fright Fest, with the park transforming at 6 p.m. into an evening of horrors and scares.

Rachel Kendziora, public relations manager at Six Flags Great America, said Fright Fest is a popular season for the park, both for guests and for the many monster characters roaming the park and frightening guests in the haunted mazes.

The park’s “atmosphere is completely different” in the fall, she said. During the day, it has various family-friendly offerings, including parades, contests and Halloween treats.

But the real change starts in the evening, when Nox — the Demon Overlord of Fright Fest — rises to wreak havoc. They will show “no mercy,” Kendziora warned.

Nox is joined by hundreds of his many frightening “servants, sycophants and people too foolish to know they should be afraid,” as he put it, all dressed in horror-themed costumes and ready to scare those with “more courage than brains,” he said.

While his red skin, claws and towering figure may be frightening, his method of summoning is a little more mundane, he said on Thursday: a chaos circle with an offering of cured meat, soft bread and warm cheese.

“I get summoned by accident a lot,” he said.

He invited guests looking for some terror — and fun — to come join them.

“We have shows, we have food, we have games, we have roller coasters. We’ll strap you down and launch you into the sky,” Vox said. “It usually goes well for you.”

This year’s Fright Fest has seven scare zones around the park, along with five haunted mazes, two of them new — Blair Witch: No Signal and Nightmares. Members of the media were given a walk-through of Nightmares early Thursday morning, leading to plenty of shrieks from area newscasters.

Additionally, both tracks of American Eagle are again running simultaneously, meaning guests can race side by side through Nov. 1.

“There really is something for everyone,” Kendziora said.

Yukon Territory’s Camp Timber Trail — announced earlier this year — remains under construction. It represents one of the largest investments in the park in decades and will include a new roller coaster. It’s scheduled to open in 2027.

• • •

Six Flags Great America’s Fright Fest

When: Select days through Nov. 1

Where: 1 Great America Parkway, Gurnee

Tickets: Start at $45 online at sixflags.com/; $75 includes haunted mazes

Note: Fright Fest is not recommended for kids younger than 13 after 6 p.m.