Another year, another set of theme park scares. Over at Six Flags, Fright Fest is once again taking over the park with ghoulish encounters and haunted houses. 

We hit Six Flags Magic Mountain to check out this year’s scares. Check out our ranking of the scariest 2025 houses below so you can plan your park visit for maximum frights.

*Note: The park features 8 houses this season; however, Condemned: Forever was closed at the time of our visit. So, this ranking covers the 7 houses we experienced.

7. Truth or Dare

Truth or Dare has an interesting theme (a sort of “game show gone wrong”, for those new to the house). The experience does a good job of carrying this theme throughout the house. However, it’s definitely the least scary of the bunch at Fright Fest. It’s a little too much TV set and not quite enough horror. If you don’t have time to hit every house, this is my pick to skip.

6. Willoughby’s: Resurrected

Willoughby’s: Resurrected brings classic spooky haunted house vibes. It’s been a part of Fright Fest for a while, and for good reason. The theming in this house remains on point. However, the age of this one is starting to show. It lacks the jump scares and surprises of other houses. Although it’s more spooky than scary, it’s still worth a visit. You can’t not do a literal haunted house walkthrough while you’re at an event for walking through haunted houses, right?

5. Carnage

Carnage probably lands on a similar scare level as Willoughby’s. But I’m giving Carnage the edge here for its creative use of its space. This house features a lot of different set pieces, and really puts in the work to make you feel like you’re exploring a city post anarchist-clown takeover. It’s easily one of the most immersive experiences at Fright Fest, which should justify the wait in line for anyone picking and choosing their preferred haunts to hit.

4. Vault 666

Vault 666 is eclectic. For some, this may make it a little hit-or-miss as a themed haunt. But personally, I really like the range on display here. Does Vault 666 sort of feel like a mish-mash of random scary things thrown together, one after another? For sure. But that also keeps you on your toes. You never know what’s going on around the next corner! Maybe every single set piece isn’t your cup of horror tea, but you’ll still experience a few that get to you. (As opposed to Carnage or Willoughby’s, where you’re getting a very specific scare vibe.)

3. The Conjuring Universe

This isn’t intended as a “most improved” list, but I’m giving The Conjuring that title anyway. I experienced this house when it debuted at 2023’s Fright Fest, and I honestly found it underwhelming. But the 2025 version has made a lot of improvements, making it one of the better spots for scares in the park. The use of scare actors is more creative than before, they’ve added some big scares (literally… you’ll see what I mean), and the layout makes good use of dark nooks and crannies to surprise you.

2. Saw

The Saw house previously impressed me with its excellent scare actors and set pieces ripped right from the franchise. It was already one of the best haunts in the park, and 2025 Fright Fest really upped the game. This year’s Saw house features meticulous and devilish planning worthy of Jigsaw himself. The layout is configured to draw your attention to the Saw Trap set pieces and actors, and cleverly uses that as a distraction to keep you unaware of the people about to jump out at you from another angle. Whatever evil mind configured this one, I salute you.

1. Trick ‘r Treat

Though Saw came close, ultimately Trick ‘r Treat proved my favorite house of the night. As someone who’s done a fair number of haunted walk throughs, you get used to spotting the places where scare actors will pop out at you – the dark cutaways in walls and the shadowy blind corners. But Trick ‘r Treat does an incredible job of hiding the scare actors among the set pieces, or convincing you that one is just a mannequin – until it reaches out to grab you at the last second! (Seriously, I filmed less than 10 seconds of this house because the first surprise scare caught me so off guard I accidentally tapped the “stop recording” button.) Saw may reign supreme at Fright Fest for fans of the gruesome. But for seasoned haunt aficionados hoping something makes them jump out of their skin, it’s Trick ‘r Treat all the way.

Bonus Non-Scary Recommendation: Margo Rita’s Monster Ball

Now that we’ve covered the best scares, I want to give a shout out to a not-so-scary new addition to Fright Fest 2025: Margo Rita’s Monster Ball! 

If you’ve gotten the chance to check out Fright Fest in the last few years, you may have run across ghoulish divas Margo Rita and Tequila Sunrise. They’re super fun characters to chat with, and now they’re helming a high-energy stage show. The production is in the vein of RuPaul’s Drag Race, but with monster-themed pop performances from a team of scare actors. The singing and group choreography was impressive, and the DJ and high-energy of the performers made it a great experience. Definitely recommend taking a haunted house break and checking this one out! 

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