Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Columbus, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday. Ohio State football plays at USC that day and the Blue Jackets play at Dallas, so neither team brings a home crowd to Columbus on Halloween weekend, and the clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. The haunts are spread across the metro. Fear Columbus is in Northland, The Haunt Columbus is on Refugee Road on the southeast side, and Pataskala Haunted Forest is farther out the same road in Licking County. Blood Prison in Mansfield and Halloween Haunt at Kings Island in Mason are day trips. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, in the center of the city, where three kitchens stay open until 10:30 or 11 p.m.

I write the haunt guides on Mr. Fear, a Halloween site, and I am a guest here. Top of Columbus asked for the haunted houses. They supplied the tables.

The night, in order

Pick the haunt first, then buy the ticket before you leave home. Fear Columbus removed its box office, sells only online timed tickets, and says its nights sell out in advance. Blood Prison says all sales are final, and its gates open at 6:45 p.m. The Haunt Columbus says its tickets are valid any night and suggests Thursdays or Sundays as the less busy ones. Give the day trips a full evening: Mansfield and Mason are not a quick hop after dinner. Eat after, not before. A haunted house with a full stomach is a mistake you make once. Trick-or-treat is not one city rule here. Each Central Ohio community sets its own night and hours, which locals call Beggars’ Night, and as of September 14, Columbus, Dublin, Westerville and Grove City had not posted 2026 times. Check your own city’s website in October.

The haunted houses

• Fear Columbus, Northland: three indoor haunts for 2026, Shadow Pines, Dearly Departed: Critical Conditions and Oddballs, at 2605 Northland Plaza Drive. Select nights September 11 to November 1. The operator says it was previously 13th Floor Columbus and is now locally owned. Online timed tickets only. It is not recommended under 13, and anyone under 13 must have a parent or guardian along. Free parking.
• The Haunt Columbus, Southeast Columbus: two indoor haunts, Lugaroo Bayou and Black Hollow Medical, sent through in groups of about eight. Kids under 15 must have an adult in their group. No bags, food or drinks, and the operator warns of heat inside. Confirm 2026 nights on its ticket calendar.
• Pataskala Haunted Forest, Pataskala: an outdoor walk through the woods, run by the Pataskala Lions Club as a charity. Opens Friday, October 2, with tickets on sale September 28. Later nights and hours are not posted yet.
• Blood Prison, Mansfield: a haunt inside the Ohio State Reformatory, where The Shawshank Redemption was filmed. The tour lasts 40 to 50 minutes. Fridays to Sundays from September 25, ending with October 30 to November 1. It is not wheelchair accessible, and anyone who appears intoxicated is turned away.
• Halloween Haunt at Kings Island, Mason: six mazes on select nights September 25 to October 31, including the new JASON: Blood Reign and Metal Massacre. Not recommended under 13, and face coverings that conceal identity are not permitted.
• Haunted Ohio Statehouse Tours, Downtown: lantern-lit tours of a former Civil War hospital, with actors playing historical ghosts. October 16 and 17 and October 23 and 24, at 7, 7:30, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Ages 12 and up.

With kids

The organized events are the easy plan while the neighborhood hours are still unposted. Boo at the Zoo in Powell runs Saturdays and Sundays, October 3 to 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., included with zoo admission, with no dates on Halloween weekend. Adults there must keep their faces visible and leave uniforms, gore and weapons at home. All Hallows’ Eve at Ohio Village is Saturdays, October 17 and 24, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by the bonfire; advance tickets are required and children 3 and under are free. The Ohio Statehouse Trick-or-Treat Tour is free on Friday, October 30 at 10 a.m., and costume pieces that look like weapons are confiscated. That evening, Grove City’s Midnight Market runs 6 to 9 p.m. in Town Center Park, next to the season’s last Food Truck Friday. Kings Island’s daytime Tricks and Treats has a trick-or-treat trail and Peanuts shows, but Planet Snoopy and Camp Snoopy close at 6 p.m. on weekends during the Haunt, so ride early.

Twenty-one and over

COSI After Dark: Halloween Tattoo Carnival is Thursday, October 8, 7 to 10 p.m., with the Hell City Tattoo Festival, and nobody gets in without a photo ID showing a date of birth. Franklin Park Conservatory’s Spirits & Spells is Thursday, October 29, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., with vendor alcohol samples among the Pumpkins Aglow displays; tickets are advance only. Columbus Ghost Tours runs the 21+ Booze & Boos Downtown Walking Tour and an 18+ Night at Green Lawn Cemetery tour, which requires a car.

What is not open this year

No attraction on my list has been cancelled for 2026. Short North Highball Halloween had not posted a 2026 date, location or age rule when I checked on September 14, 2026, so it is not on my list until the organizer announces one.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and directions for every one of these, plus Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends, the ghost walks, the glass pumpkins and the farm patches in Hebron and Ostrander, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The Columbus haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 18 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

The haunts in this guide sit north, downtown, southeast and east of the city center. All three restaurants are in the center: Northstar Cafe on North High Street in the Short North, Wolf’s Ridge Brewing on North 4th Street downtown, and Valter’s on South High Street, so they are close to the Haunted Ohio Statehouse Tours and on the way home for anyone driving back through the middle of the city. These three are on the Top of Columbus romantic restaurants list. The scores are theirs, not mine.