9 Sioux Falls-area haunted houses, trails and even a car wash to get you in the Halloween spirit
Story courtesy argusleader.com
Haunted Car Wash
Location: Silverstar Car Wash at 4916 S Marion Road
When: Oct. 27-30
Open: 6-9 p.m.
Cost: $18 (or free for Unlimited Pass members)
For the third year in a row, Silverstar Car Wash will be hosting a Haunted Car Wash with a portion of the proceeds and freewill donations going toward Feeding South Dakota. This year’s theme is “Carnival of Screams” with people popping up and scaring riders and they make their way through the car wash.
Terror 29
Location: 25753 Cottonwood Ave., Sioux Falls
Opening night: Sept. 30
Open: Thursdays 7-10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 7-11 p.m.
Cost: $12 general admission, $18 RIP Fast Pass
The 3,800-square-foot attraction leads thrill-seekers through an abandoned warehouse, a “claustrophobic room” and a circus theme every Thursday through Saturday through the month of October and the first weekend in November.
After the walk-through, visitors end up in a museum where they can purchase gifts and check out oddities of all varieties, such as a two-headed mummy, Michael Myers masks and to-scale Annabelle and Chucky dolls..
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Haunted Farm
Location: 47449 276th St., Worthing
Opening night: Oct. 9
Open: Fridays through Sundays 7-10 p.m.
Cost: $18.79 plus tax for scary attractions; $9.39 plus tax for non-scary attractions
After closing the Haunted Farm in 2020, visitors are invited back to this 25-acre farm a few miles outside of Sioux Falls. Scare-seekers can expect to experience a haunted woods, dark trail and a feature deemed the “loft of lunatics.” For the less brave, there will also be a hayride, dark trail and baby alpacas, goats and kittens to pet. A heated snack shack offers food and beverages.
The themes change every year because owner Paula Bell has to tear down and rebuild the haunted farm annually.
Heartland Country Haunted Maze
Location: 27455 SD Hwy 11, Harrisburg
When: Oct. 29 and 30 (its non-scary version is now open for visitors)
Open: 6-9:30 p.m.
Cost: $10 for adults, $7 for children 10 years and younger
A classic corn maze with terrifying twists and turns, the Heartland Country Haunted Maze has been around for more than 20 years. Each season, the 11-acre maze has a different shape — this year, it’s a lion. Maze-goers are given a map and a list of elephant-themed questions, with the goal of finding a hidden checkpoint, said proprietor Karen Sproul. Bring a flashlight!
Scarers will be stationed around the corn maze ready to surprise maze-goers. They will not chase or touch guests, Sproul said.
“The corn maze at night itself is a spooky place, but then we add spooks and haunts that make it even scarier for people,” she said. “Dress weather appropriate, and there might be a line. But come to have fun.”
Screaming Woods Haunted Trails
Location: 1811 N. Lowell Ave., Sioux Falls
Open: Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 29-30, 8-11 p.m.
Cost: $12 or $10 with canned food donation
While the annual haunted trail was closed in 2020, it’s back and ready for some scaring this year.
The Screaming Woods Haunted Trails invites visitors to peruse its “dark and daunting woods.” The 20-minute experience changes themes, characters and trail layouts every year.
Sioux Falls Jaycees Feargrounds
Location: 4000 W. 12th St., Sioux Falls
Opening night: Oct. 8
Open: Weekdays 7-9 p.m. and weekends 7 p.m.-midnight
Cost: $12 if you buy online, $17 if you buy at the gate and $5 for a Fast Pass (bring up to three canned goods and receive $1 of a full ticket price per item)
A Sioux Falls Halloween staple since 1974, the Jaycees’ haunted house began in a creepy old house on Minnesota Avenue but has since moved to the W.H. Lyon Fairgrounds, where it re-branded as The Jaycees Feargrounds.
Riverview Pumpkin Festival Haunted Trail
Location: 48392 278th St., Canton
Open: Sept. 25, Oct. 2 and Oct. 9, 7-9 p.m.
Cost: $8
Take a hike through the dark trails of Riverview Tree Farm and listen to stories of tragedy, hardship and woe. It has been said that the spirits of those grievous souls still wander through the trees and in the river valley below, searching for peace.
Arrive by 6:30 p.m. so scarers can begin compiling a list of guests and separating them into groups. The event is a fundraiser for the Canton High School FFA club and other school sanctioned organizations. Students are scarers and guides.
Twisted Nightmare
Location: 9700 E. SD Hwy 42, Sioux Falls
Opening night: Oct. 14
Open: Thursdays 7-10 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 7 p.m.-midnight, Halloween 7-10 p.m.
Cost: $12
Held at the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters in Sioux Falls, Twisted Nightmare does not have a central theme, but rather an assortment of scenes, including a clown area.
The haunted house does more than give visitors a good scare — it is an annual fundraiser for the Fraternal Order of Police and Feeding South Dakota. Last year, the haunted house raised 1,290 pounds of canned food for Feeding South Dakota.
Fear Asylum
Location: 216 6th St. W., Brookings
Opening night: Oct. 8
Open: Fridays and Saturdays 7-11 p.m., Oct. 21, 28, 31 7-10:30 p.m.
Cost: Starts at $25
Situated just across the street from Pioneer Park in Brookings, Fear Asylum has been scaring the pants off people for more than a decade. Ranked the No. 1 haunted house in South Dakota, owner Buck Burdick says the attraction is a destination and adventure.
This year’s theme will cover the “East Wing,” which is another area of the Fear Asylum that people have never seen before.
“I can’t scare everybody, but I can entertain everybody,” Burdick said. “People can expect movie quality sets, movie quality costumes, intense actors, high intensity animations and lots of visual effects.”