Whoever said “Everything is bigger in Texas” must obviously not be a fan of theme park Halloween events.
Six Flags Fright Fest is a semi-separately ticketed event at Six Flags Over Texas that runs thirty-two select nights between September 21, 2019 and November 3, 2018, every Friday, Saturday, Sunday, plus some additional nights and daily during Halloween week. In 2019, Fright Fest features six different additional charge haunted houses, as well five scare zones, live bands and entertainment shows, and all of your favorite Six Flags Over Texas attractions in the dark, including New Texas Giant, Mr. Freeze: Reverse Blast and Batman: The Ride.
Art of Torture
What looks to be an unknown and abandoned warehouse has quite a different tale. Within the decaying rusted walls is a studio like no other and in its hallowed halls is an artist, so sick and twisted that their creative work will live in your nightmares for the rest of your life. Those who enter the art gallery will see creations around each corner that consist of humans who were tortured until they could not take it any longer and were left to die. Visitors are only left to wonder, is it truly art? Does the artist really want you to come in and see his work? Or has he lured unsuspecting new blood to become one of his new projects. Art of Torture… will you be his next masterpiece?
Being among the “best haunts at Six Flags Over Texas” is hardly an accolade one should strive to achieve, but the (apparently) infamous Artist achieves that distinction. In a haunt very “Saw-flavored,” without ever particularly stepping on the IP, this is Fright Fest’s most gory offering for 2019.
Ample amounts of blood and body parts line the walls of this “art exhibit” for psychopaths. If you have a craving for graphic violence on a budget, the Art of Torture might just be for you.
Curse of Ra
When you enter through these ancient Egyptian portals you will be transported into the Valey of the Kings where the great Pharaoh Ra’s tomb is buried. Legend has it that the ancient Pharaoh buried all of his 67 children and his entire fortune of jewels and gold within the tomb. Explorers have been thirsting for the hordes of treasure that the infamous tomb is said to hold. However, this quest does not come without traumatic defeat because those who enter never return. Despite the warning etched above the entrance, “Death To All That Enter,” those who are eager to find the treasure trove are not deterred. This is despite their knowing that there is a curse of pain and torture to any that pass through the tomb’s opening. Enter if you dare to challenge The Curse of Ra!
From a distance, Curse of Ra is home to Fright Fest’s most detailed sets. Up close, however, it becomes instantly apparent that much of it is vacuform rock paneling. Despite their hollow stature, when combined with wooden archways, they get the point across that the intended setting is that of an Egyptian tomb.
Large Anubis statues draw attention, but unfortunately have no scares to offer. And what would a Six Flags haunt be without an over-used barely-animatronic; here, a comically oversized scorpion slides back and forth on a track. It all leads to a confusing finale with mummies sitting on a throne of a sacrificial alter, and a smoke blast? We don’t make the rules.
Alien Incubator
Within the secured walls of a secret military base, scientists have brought an alien back to study it. The life form has been kept secret for many years, that is until now! The aliens have escaped and are using humans as hosts for their newborn hatchlings. The life forms are spreading like wildfire inside the compound and the bodies are growing at an alarming rate causing the human hosts’ bodies to explode. As nourishment, the hatchlings eat the host bodies before going to spread more spores to more humans. The military base has become a full on Alien Incubator ruled by a giant Alien Queen.
Enter a barely generic spaceship all the way from the year 1880. Full of wooden walls and flashing lights, Alien Incubator hardly evokes an intergalactic flavor.
Relative to its location, Alien Incubator has some of the better costumes to be found at Fright Fest (again, not exactly a bar to reach for.) Space suited astronauts are on hand to battle to alien invasion, unless they get bored first. The aliens themselves are the epitome of ‘bad, home made, unlicensed’ of a certain movie with a very similar title. For good measure, the experience ends with a barely moving animatronic Alien Queen – surprising for Fright Fest, but that does not make it good.
Hell Block 6… Sentenced to Death
It’s the one place you hoped you would never go. This holding area is full of your darkest fears and imagination. Flies, stench, money and so much more await as you prepare to meet the wrath of Evil himself. There is NO escape from Hell Block!
Several times while venturing through Hell Block 6 we thought to ourselves, “we’re in hell.” The problem is, it had nothing to do with the story and everything to do with how low-quality the experience is.
Beginning in a court room, would-be prisoners them find themselves in the most secure jail (that Lowe’s faux brick paneling can offer.) For much of this haunt, there’s just not much more than that.
Random blacklight zombie scenes add to the disjointed hodgepodge that is Hell Block 6. Yet somehow, prisoners will quickly find themselves missing those Walmart undead masks upon realizing roughly half of this maze is made up of little more than black walls and curtains.
True to its tagline, prisoners are ultimately sentenced to death by way of the electric chair, only to end up in the most laughable take of a cheaply constructed “hell” one might ever see.
Piggy’s Blood Shed
A long forgotten roadside attraction along Route 666, this hog farm, famous for its bacon and BBQ, is open under new ownership. This genetically altered porker has taken over serving a whole new “Q” that tastes like anything but chicken. Piggy’s stockyards and smokehouse have turned the tables on man versus beast and now houses a very human livestock. So be leery travelers, you may find yourself as the next blue-plate special on Piggy’s menu. Stop in to Piggy’s Blood Shed… it’s horror gone hog wild.
Beginning in a generic country farmhouse, Piggy’s Blood Shed is the classic mix of ‘hillbilly + cannibal.’ It works well enough, especially in this environment where there’s little to truly wow haunt-goers.
In true Six Flags fashion, when you find something close to working, you make a hard left turn in the wrong direction. Here, the farmhouse makes way to… a sparsely themed gothic dungeon? Again, we don’t make the rules.
The flow feels muddled throughout, leading to the main course, serving humans in a cannibal hillbilly dinner full of prop monsters seated at banquette tables.
Blackout
Are you afraid of the dark? Try and navigate your way through the dark as your senses are assaulted from all directions. Look out for the demons that hide in the corners lying in wait to claim their prize. Those who show their fear will be the first to go, and despite the common phrase — the strongest will not survive!
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Wait, we can’t do that here? I mean, why not? After all, this haunt is intentionally blank. Blackout feels like the last haunt to be built, after the budget was entirely spent elsewhere. With the exception of one jarring section with hanging bodies, there’s quite literally nothing in this haunt but black walls and sheets.
Perhaps worst of all, somehow the haunt intended to be pitch black isn’t even as dark as sections of the nearby Hell Block 6. SMH, as the kids say.
Six Flags Fright Fest is home to five official scare zones, all included with regular park admission and do not require a haunted house wrist band to experience. Although solidly in the “better than nothing” category, scare zones are not typically Six Flags Over Texas’ strong suit. Minimal décor and lackadaisical actors do little to bring their respective storyworlds to life.
Squeel… Long Pig, located in the Texas section is home to half human / half pig hillbillies looking for fresh meat to bring to Piggy’s Blood Shed.
Anarchy Unleashed… Survive the Night!, sees Gotham City taken over by a roving band of criminals who escaped the nearby Hell Block Maximum Prison.
Voodoo Swamp, located in the Tower section, is home to zombies from a New Orleans bayou.
Freaktown Side Show is a twisted circus that rolls into Bugs Bunny Boomtown, full of playfully demented clowns.
And to end the evening, The Witching Hour takes over Bugs Bunny Boomtown and Mexico thirty minutes before park closing, acting as sort of a closing ceremony to Fright Fest.
Six Flags Fright Fest hardly carries the same lofty reputation as other heavy-hitting theme park Halloween events around the country, and sadly, that negative notoriety is rather well-placed. We’ve visited several Fright Fests at various Six Flags theme parks around the country over the years, and to be blunt, the haunt lineup at Six Flags Over Texas is among the worst we’ve seen from the company to date.
At the end of the day, though Fright Fest might have a handful of cool looking props that photograph well here and there throughout their haunts, it doesn’t make things any more fun to experience in person. This event becomes a sort of easter egg hunt for “Well, I guess that wasn’t as bad as the other stuff?” When that’s the sole benchmark one can strive to achieve, a pretty clear picture of Fright Fest’s quality is presented. It’s easy to forget that Six Flags is a multi-million dollar company by the looks of their haunts. Everything feels cheap, rushed and flows as if no thought or care was put into the experience what so ever.
Still, Halloween lures us in, even if just to disappoint us. Six Flags Fright Fest is that train wreck that you know is horrible for all parties involved, yet you just cannot look away.
You can find an extended photo gallery from our night at Six Flags Over Texas’ Fright Fest in this exclusive album on the Escape Authority Facebook page! While there, why not give us a “LIKE” if you haven’t already? We’ll give you candy!
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Venue: Six Flags Over Texas
Location: Arlington, TX
Dates: Select Nights September 21st – November 3rd, 2020
Hours: Haunt opening times vary between 5pm and 8pm depending on day of the week, and remain open until park close.
Cost: General Access Pass (all 6 houses) – $19.99 / VIP Express Access – $39.99 (Prices do not include theme park admission, which is required.)