Six Flags Great America - Fright Fest

Fright Fest

Weekends in October, Six Flags Great America is for their annual Halloween event Fright Fest. The event started small in the early nineties, and has expanded significantly since then. During the event the entire park goes under the knife to be decorated into several different “Scare Zones” featuring haunted houses, frightening street characters, Halloween themed shows, as well as transformed rides.

The event features several haunts for an additional fee as well. The Mausoleum of Terror, located inside a special scare zone called Necropolis, has been with the event for many years, while the other haunts change every few years with past themes including Sleepy Hollow, a “dead” and breakfast, and a horror movie house called Studio 13. Past haunted trails have included an industrial area taken over by Demons, Area 51, and a Fallen Giant.

One of the most unique things about the event compared to other park’s Halloween events is the transformed rides. Many of the park’s rides receive special theming, notably Chubasco - the park’s teacup ride transformed into Terror Twister 2: A turn for the worse, in which the ride building is enclosed and a custom lighting design matched with a custom club style music mix is played. Also of note, Condor, Revolution, and King Chaos some of the park’s more thrilling flat rides actually run different cycles during the event and are known as The Birds, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Dying Trapeze respectively.

Another facet of the event is the shows. Love at First Fright has been presented in the Grand Music Hall every year since the events inception and follows the story of a couple on a dare to spend the night in a cemetery who get caught up in crazy antics when several classic Halloween creatures rise from the grave. The show is extremely popular often playing to capacity audiences during the event, and it is known for changing the show up each year to include various pop culture and newsworthy references. Other shows include Dead Man’s Party, Fantome, a parade featuring all the park’s various creatures, and Susan Rosan - A popular hypnotist who has been with the event for many years.

For several years a third party called JPM productions provided street characters and haunted house actors for the event. While the company was praised for it’s costumes and makeup, in 2010 Six Flags moved the entire production in-house for greater creative control.