17 Halloween-themed Utah activities to do this October

5192

Pumpkins and a tractor at Provo Corn Maze. (Provo Corn Maze)
A group rides the tractor train through rows of pumpkins at the Provo Corn Maze. The Provo Corn Maze is a popular October activity. (Provo Corn Maze)

Utah has no shortage of opportunities to get scares in before Oct. 31. Nearby activities range from a witch festival to a haunted train ride and ghost tour. Here is a list of Halloween-themed activities in Utah throughout the month of October.

1. Fear Factory

Fear Factory doesn’t have to pretend it’s haunted because many people believe it really is, said Heidi Dunfield, co-owner of Fear Factory. Fear Factory is housed in an old cement warehouse where many workers were killed in freak accidents. She said some of these workers were dismembered in the factory machines, while others slipped and burned in vats of boiling water.

A group of people walk through Fear Factory. (Fear Factory)
A group of people walk through Fear Factory, which is located in Salt Lake City and opens in October. (Fear Factory)

Dunfield said many ghosts have been spotted at Fear Factory.

“There’s a spirit of a little girl, there’s a guy named George and there are some different ones who died in some pretty gruesome accidents when it was a working factory,” Dunfield said.

Dunfield also said Fear Factory is unique for more than just its ghosts.

“When you go through — you’re actually going through tunnels that people used to go through to move cement and products. You’re going through the towers that they used to go through,” Dunfield said. “It’s kind of a neat piece of history.”

2. Castle of Chaos

The Travel Channel and USA Today named the Castle of Chaos one of the best haunted attractions in the country, according to the Castle of Chaos website. Castle of Chaos has updated its haunted house with new scares, high quality sets and a longer tour.

3. Lagoon Frightmares

Lagoon shows its dark side with seven different Halloween-themed attractions and a Halloween-themed area of the park.

Harrison Kasper (left) is in his first year of working at the Haunted Circus. The Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus has come to town, and the people behind the scenes love what they do. (Ryan Turner)
Harrison Kasper (left) worked at the Haunted Circus in 2015. The Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus has come to town, and the people behind the scenes love what they do. (Ryan Turner)

4. Strangling Brothers

Strangling Brothers has been named “the #1 scariest haunted house in Utah,” according to the Strangling Brothers website. It features three equally terrifying attractions: the original Haunted Circus, Zombie Hunt paintball and the Eskape room.

5. Witch Fest

The Witch Fest in West Jordan is another Utah October favorite. The Witch Fest has a “Six Hags” Witch Adventure, a 5K witch run, Witches Night Out and a witch display.

The Bigfoot corn maze design at Provo Corn Maze. (Provo Corn Maze)
An arial shot of the Bigfoot corn maze design at Provo Corn Maze. (Provo Corn Maze)

6. Provo Corn Maze

Provo Corn Maze decided to pattern its corn maze design after Bigfoot this year. Provo Corn Maze also has a U-Pick pumpkin patch, a new Halloween-themed zipline and Zombie Paintball.

7. Heber Valley Halloween Train

The Heber Valley Halloween Train bills itself as a milder Halloween attraction. The 90-minute train ride features costumed characters and seasonal sing-a-long songs. Every guest also gets to take home a pumpkin and pumpkin cookie.

8. Sundance Halloween Ski Lift Ride

From Oct. 20-31, people can catch a Halloween-themed ski lift ride at Sundance.

9. Haunted Forest

The American Fork Haunted Forest guarantees to “scare your pants off.” It opened on Sept. 16 and will run through Oct. 31. This scare has been running for over 25 years according its website.

10. Halloween Cruise

This Halloween-themed riverboat ride will allow people to float down the Provo River with more than 100 hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns.

11. Riverwoods Parade of Pumpkins

Pumpkins will line the streets of the Shops at Riverwoods on Oct. 23. The Pumpkin Parade features face painting and live music and is a scare-free event for people of all ages.

12. Crazy Corn Maze

People can pick their own pumpkins, navigate the corn maze or brave the haunted corn maze at the Crazy Corn Maze in West Jordan for a Halloween adventure.

13. Pedal Provo Ghost Tour

A group sits on their bikes outside Provo Cemetery on a Pedal Provo tour. (Derek Jacobs)

The Pedal Provo Ghost Tour is a 90 minute, leisurely bike ride tour to the creepiest, haunted places in Provo. The tour starts and ends at the Provo Cemetery and includes true stories about every haunted stop.

Creator Derek Jacob said the tour isn’t very scary, but that it’s spooky enough to bring people together.

“We connect best when we’re emotional, and it’s kind of hard sometimes to open up on a date,” Jacobs said. “But I think it’s really easy to open up with each other when you’re biking and when you’re both experiencing fear, because fear is a really powerful emotion.”

Clowns scare people in the shooting gallery at Nightmare on 13th. (Nightmare on 13th)
Clowns scare people in the shooting gallery at Nightmare on 13th. (Nightmare on 13th)

14. Nightmare on 13th

Nightmare on 13th is another haunted house to add to the list. It includes ghosts, clowns, an abandoned mansion and a creepy research lab.

15. Cornbelly’s Maze

Cornbelly’s provides many activities, from a hayride, to a zipline, to a jumbo inflatable jumping pillow. It features three different corn mazes with varying levels of difficulty, as well as a completely separate haunted corn maze featuring animatronics, live scares and other spooky surprises.

16. Dia De Los Muertos Celebration

The day after Halloween is more commonly known as Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, in Latin America. The Riverwoods will come together on Nov. 1 to celebrate death, life and loved ones.

Grimm Ghost Tours investigates the Fear Factory in Salt Lake City. (Rachel Smith)
Grimm Ghost Tours investigates the Fear Factory in Salt Lake City. This tour is a 1.5 hour tour. (Grimm Ghost Tours)

17. Grimm Ghost Tours

Utahns can hunt down ghosts in a 90 minute tour of Salt Lake City’s most haunted spots or during an all-night paranormal investigation. This investigation gets attendees in the building, up close and personal with ghosts.

Tour guide and paranormal investigator Rachel Smith said she has seen ghosts on the tour on multiple occasions.

“I’ve seen two of them with my own eyes. I’ve got (pictures of) shadow figures, faces … and I’ve been touched at Asylum 49 and Fear Factory,” Smith said. “The more that I’ve been doing this, the more my eyes have been opened and the more I feel them.”

Print Friendly, PDF & Email