We missed the media night for Fright Fest this year due to scheduling conflicts, but were happy to be invited to attend on another evening. We started the night by hitting this year’s new add-on event — Spirits with Spirits — for some drinks and buffet food (priorities, amiright?). Located in the West Picnic Pavillion, Spirits with Spirits was minimally decorated but had great drinks, yummy food and very nice staff. We missed the roaming monsters but enjoyed relaxing and listening to their Halloween hits playlist while gaining the energy to start hitting mazes. If you haven’t been to Magic Mountain in the past, just know that the hills are no joke. Prepare yourself for a lot of walking!

Where Fright Fest consistently excels is in their unique and immersive scare zones. These areas, especially Nightmares – A Twisted Fantasy, City Under Siege, and this year’s Devil’s Triangle, are where I always seem to catch Fright Fest’s ‘A Team’ scareactors. Don’t take the scare zones for granted, try to hit them all if you can! They’re also included with your theme park admission which is cool for anyone wanting to dip their toe in the spooky fun without hitting the mazes.

Fright Fest has 6 maze offerings this year that are available for an additional fee. Without further ado, here’s our Fright Fest 2022 maze rankings:

1 – Condemned: Forever Damned — full of horrific haunts of a dilapidated home where the walls are alive and the spirits of those who once lived there unleash their fury on anyone who dares enter. 

My husband had never been to Fright Fest before and this was his favorite maze by far, mine too! The actors in here actually got me quite a few times, and I love the variation of levels and space in this maze (crawling through the ‘walls’ is my favorite part). It was an easy choice for first place and a delightfully creepy time!

2 – Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising — the region’s largest outdoor maze, covering more than 40,000 square feet where the spirits of the dead and the near-dead inhabit a post-apocalyptic city with larger-than-life props, fire, fog, and other special effects.

This maze has never been particularly scary to me but where it stands out is the sheer size of the sets and props, and the square footage it inhabits. Plus, pyro is always a good time! The two girls in front of us jumped at everything and you could tell the scareactors were thoroughly enjoying having them there. 

3 – Sewer of Souls — takes guests into an underground world of lost souls and terrifying tunnels where evil oozes.

I’m so relieved they don’t do this maze in smell-o-vision and just stick with the 3D glasses! Sewer of Souls is gross and fun and icky and silly. I hope they plan to keep it around a  while longer because it’s always nice to have a theme that’s out of the norm.

4 – Vault 666 Unlocked — demonic relics are locked in a dark and sinister antique shop, casting spells and haunting those who try and steal them

We really enjoy the theme of this maze. It felt a little empty as far as scareactors but actually seemed to work to its advantage. If you hit enough empty rooms you won’t really expect the next one to have someone!

5 – Willoughby’s Resurrected — where evil spirits roam the once-affluent Willoughby’s Family mansion.

A solid ‘haunted house’ maze. The sets and lighting are pretty but the scareactors in this one could use a little coaching. Everyone mostly seemed to be having fun though and that’s what we like to see. We always love running into Innocence Willoughby up on Exile Hill while we’re here too!

6 – Truth or Dare – A haunted facility that leaves guests questioning their every move, with never-before-done scares and effects in a warped game of Truth or Dare.

The event’s brand new maze for this year really missed the mark. The couple cooler stunts or ideas were overshadowed by the confusing storyline, bare black walls with lackluster spraypaint and actors that sometimes seems unrehearsed or confused themselves. The entry facade imagery and marketed theme of the maze were pretty cool, so we’d really love to see this idea come to life in future years.

In addition to all the elements listed above (mazes, scare zones, spooky spirits and more), guests are faced with the chance to ride some of the most exhilarating coasters around — in the dark! Round that out with the themed stage shows, food and drink offerings, ambient lighting and music and Six Flags Magic Mountain’s Fright Fest offers a well-rounded Halloween season event that most anyone in your family can enjoy! Fright Fest operates for 2 more weekends. Get tickets and more information HERE.