Halloween in Houston: Haunted Houses and Family Events

Houston does Halloween at two speeds: candy stations and pumpkin tunnels by daylight, chainsaws and clowns after dark. The trick is knowing which is which before you load the car, because a haunt that warns "may be too intense for children 12 and under" is not where you take a seven-year-old dressed as a bumblebee.

This guide sorts the Halloween events in Houston that come back year after year into two lists: family events you can do in a stroller, and haunted houses for teens and grown-ups who want to scream. Then there's a short section on trick-or-treating, a few pumpkin-patch drives, and a "Save this" plan for the big weekend.

The quick list

• For little kids: Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo, or the Children's Museum's Halloween takeover.
• For space-obsessed kids: Galaxy Frights at Space Center Houston, with candy stations and astronaut talks.
• For a free night out: Boo on the Boardwalk in Kemah.
• For a pumpkin patch and a corn maze: Dewberry Farm in Brookshire or Froberg's Farm in Alvin.
• For the most haunts in one parking lot: Phobia on Beltway 8, with eight haunts at one site.
• For a movie-monster scare: 13th Floor Houston on FM 1960.
• For first-timers who don't want to be grabbed: Creepy Hollow, which sells a No-Touch Pass.
• For history with your goosebumps: a ghost walk on The Strand in Galveston.

How we chose

Every pick below is a recurring Halloween event or seasonal attraction, not a one-off party, and each was checked on its own official website when we last verified this guide: the event page had to be live with a current season. We left out anything we could only find on third-party listing sites.

Dates, hours and prices change every season, so treat the details here as "typically" and check the official site before you go. Haunted houses in particular can close for weather, and the last two weekends of October bring the longest lines.

Family Halloween events

Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo

Hermann Park · included with zoo admission · daytime plus select late nights

Zoo Boo is the zoo's month-long fall celebration, running from late September through Halloween. Expect a Pumpkin Lantern Tunnel, Peek-a-Boo Pumpkins hidden around the grounds, and photo spots built for your holiday card. The zoo says the event is included with general admission and free for members, and on select evenings it stays open until 9 p.m.

Insider tip: read the costume rules before you leave home. Faces must be fully visible, and the zoo asks adults to skip heavy makeup and face paint, costume weapons, gory props and inflatable costumes. The Fall Fun Pass bundles admission with a souvenir bracelet and unlimited rides on the Scary-Go-Round carousel. Our full Houston Zoo guide covers parking, which is the hardest part of any Hermann Park visit in October.

Halloween at the BOO!seum, Children's Museum Houston

Museum District · 1500 Binz St. · ticketed through the museum

From late September to Halloween, Children's Museum Houston turns itself into the BOO!seum, with costume crafts, spooky scavenger hunts and a Halloween Happy House trick-or-treat party. It's indoors and air-conditioned, which matters more than you'd think when a Houston October still feels like summer. Make a day of it with the rest of the Museum District.

Galaxy Frights at Space Center Houston

Clear Lake / NASA area · included with general admission · last weekends of October

Galaxy Frights is trick-or-treating, NASA style. On its event days, Space Center Houston sets up trick-or-treat stations around the building, adds spooky photo backdrops, and keeps its regular programming running, including NASA astronaut presentations on Saturdays. Costumes are encouraged.

Insider tip: time your visit around an astronaut presentation and you've turned a candy run into the most educational Halloween on the block. Plan the rest of the visit with our Space Center Houston guide.

Boo on the Boardwalk, Kemah

Kemah Boardwalk · free · Friday to Sunday in October

Boo on the Boardwalk is a free event on October weekends, billed as Freaky Fridays, Spooky Saturdays and Scary Sundays: crafts, trick-or-treating, costume contests and special performances. It's a long-running Kemah fall tradition. Arrive before sunset, eat on the water, and let the kids burn off the candy on the boardwalk. Our Kemah Boardwalk guide has parking and ride tips.

Heads-up for mixed-age groups: Phobia runs two of its haunts in the Kemah Boardwalk parking garage. Little kids get the costume contest; the teenagers get a scare one level down.

Houston Arboretum and Houston Botanic Garden

Memorial Park area and southeast Houston · ticketed programs, register ahead

If your family prefers leaves to latex masks, the city's two big gardens run smaller fall programs. The Houston Arboretum hosts a Halloween event it calls ArBOOretum, plus a fall native-plant sale. The Houston Botanic Garden runs pumpkin crafts for families and Spooky Pooch, a morning for dogs in costume. These are small, change year to year and need registration, so check each site's calendar in September.

Pumpkin patches and corn mazes

Dewberry Farm, Brookshire

West of Katy · 7705 FM 362 · weekends, mid-September to early November

Dewberry Farm's fall festival is the big one: the farm counts more than 40 attractions, including an 8-acre corn maze, a pumpkin patch, a small carnival with a Ferris wheel, barnyard animals and a train. On late-September and October evenings, its BOOriffic Nights add glowing jack-o'-lanterns and three haunted attractions, included with admission. Fireworks typically close out Saturday and Sunday nights. Parking is free; tickets are sold online.

Froberg's Farm, Alvin

South of Pearland · 3601 W. Highway 6 · weekends, late September to early November

Froberg's is the low-key alternative: a corn maze, an outdoor pumpkin patch in October, and kids' festival activities on weekends, weather permitting. Know before you go: the farm requires a completed waiver before you enter the festival area, so sort it out before you reach the gate with a toddler on your hip.

Haunted houses in Houston

These are for teenagers and adults. Most run on Friday and Saturday nights from late September through Halloween, plus a few extra nights in the final week. Buy tickets online, arrive early, and expect lines.

Phobia Haunted Houses

South Houston, Beltway 8 between Hwy 288 and I-45 · plus two haunts at Kemah Boardwalk

Phobia packs eight haunts into its Beltway 8 site, with names like Clown Mania, Mind Control and Dawn of the Machine, and sells tickets in bundles of three, four or five houses. The whole thing is built around a fictional villain, Dr. Phylo Darke, and here's the detail we love: Phobia's official website isn't "phobia" anything. It's darke.com. Allow about 15 minutes per house, and note the ticket booth closes before the posted closing time.

13th Floor Houston

Northwest Houston · 7075 FM 1960 W.

13th Floor is operated by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group and leans on big-budget themes, and its lineup has included officially licensed horror-franchise haunts. There are add-ons, from fast passes to mini escape games and axe throwing. The haunt itself warns it may be too intense for children 12 and under, and we'd take that seriously. Official site.

Creepy Hollow Haunted House

Rosharon, off Hwy 288 · about 25 minutes south of downtown, per the haunt

Creepy Hollow combines three haunted attractions with shows, food and games, so plan to stay a while. It is a full-contact haunt, meaning actors may touch you, which is why its best feature for nervous first-timers is the No-Touch Pass: a small add-on that tells the characters to keep their hands to themselves. A Speed Pass skips the lines. Official site.

Terror Isle Adventures

Texas City · 518 6th St. N.

A good pick if you're coming from Clear Lake, League City or Galveston County. Terror Isle builds its haunt around a themed storyline with live actors in every scene, adds escape rooms and a fortune teller, and runs only a limited number of nights in October. Its posted prices include fees and tax, which is rarer than it should be. Official site.

Galveston ghost walks

The Strand, Galveston

Prefer stories to jump scares? Eddy Specter's Ghost Tours of Galveston runs historical ghost walks from The Strand, along with paranormal investigations, including one at the Grand 1894 Opera House. Tours run year-round, but a walk among Galveston's old buildings in late October is hard to beat. Pair it with our Galveston day-trip guide. Official site.

Trick-or-treating in Houston

Houston's best trick-or-treat streets are the ones neighbors decorate together, and they change every year as families move in and out. We don't publish lists of private homes. Instead, three ways to find the good blocks:

• Ask your civic association or HOA. Many Houston neighborhoods publish trick-or-treat hours, street closures or a decorated-house map.
• Look for bungalow neighborhoods with sidewalks. Older, walkable areas such as The Heights draw crowds for a reason: front porches close to the street mean more doors per block.
• Go to an organized event instead. Zoo Boo, Galaxy Frights, Boo on the Boardwalk and the Children's Museum all build trick-or-treating into the day, with restrooms and no traffic.

Whatever you choose, bring a flashlight, check the forecast, and remember October storms can cancel outdoor events on short notice.

Save this: the Halloween weekend game plan

1. Saturday morning: Zoo Boo or Galaxy Frights while the kids are fresh and the costumes are clean.
2. Saturday afternoon: pumpkin patch at Dewberry Farm or Froberg's (sort out Froberg's waiver first).
3. Saturday night, adults only: one haunt. Phobia if you want quantity, 13th Floor for big production, Creepy Hollow if anyone in the group needs the No-Touch Pass.
4. Sunday: Boo on the Boardwalk in Kemah, dinner on the water, then a ghost walk on The Strand if you still have energy.
5. Before you go anywhere: buy timed tickets online, check costume rules (no props, faces visible at the zoo), and check the weather.

Done with Halloween? The lights go up a few weeks later: start planning with our Houston Christmas events guide, or browse more family activities in Houston.

This year's dates

From each official site, for the 2026 season. Check before you go.

• Zoo Boo: September 25 to October 31, with late hours (to 9 p.m.) on select nights.
• Children's Museum BOO!seum: September 26 to October 31.
• Galaxy Frights: October 24 and 25, and October 31.
• Dewberry Farm: fall festival September 12 to November 8 (Friday to Sunday); BOOriffic Nights September 26 to November 1.
• 13th Floor Houston: select nights, September 12 to November 13.
• Creepy Hollow: Fridays and Saturdays, September 25 to October 31, typically 7:30 to 11:30 p.m., plus extra nights listed on its schedule.
• Terror Isle: 14 nights between October 3 and 31.

Last verified: October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best family Halloween events in Houston?

Zoo Boo at the Houston Zoo, Halloween at the BOO!seum at Children's Museum Houston, Galaxy Frights at Space Center Houston and the free Boo on the Boardwalk in Kemah all build trick-or-treating and costumes into the day. Check each official site for this year's dates.

What is the scariest haunted house in Houston?

That depends on what scares you. Phobia offers eight haunts at its Beltway 8 site, 13th Floor Houston on FM 1960 runs big licensed themes, and Creepy Hollow in Rosharon is a full-contact haunt. 13th Floor warns it may be too intense for children 12 and under.

Is there a haunted house in Houston where actors don't touch you?

Yes. Creepy Hollow is full-contact by default, but it sells a No-Touch Pass add-on so characters will not touch you. Check its official site for the current price.

Is Zoo Boo included with Houston Zoo admission?

Yes. The zoo says Zoo Boo is included with general admission and free for members. Costumes are welcome, but faces must be visible and adults should skip heavy makeup, weapons and gory props.

When do Houston haunted houses open?

Most open on Friday and Saturday nights from mid- to late September and run through Halloween, with a few extra nights in the final week. Exact dates are posted on each haunt's official site.

Where can I find a pumpkin patch near Houston?

Dewberry Farm in Brookshire runs a weekend fall festival with an 8-acre corn maze and pumpkin patch. Froberg's Farm in Alvin has a corn maze and an October pumpkin patch; it requires a waiver before you enter the festival area.