There are two types of people in Southern California.

People who think Halloween starts sometime in October.

And people who saw one pumpkin at Target in August and immediately decided it was spooky season.

We are very much in the second group.

Luckily, if you're looking for Halloween things to do in Anaheim in 2026, you don't have to wait until October. Halloween Time at Disneyland is already underway, haunted houses start opening in September and by the time October rolls around there are spooky events happening pretty much everywhere.

And Anaheim has gotten alot better for Halloween fans over the last few years. We've got theme parks, independent haunted attractions, horror-themed escape rooms, a nearly century-old Halloween parade and even some spooky live shows this year.

We're also going to cheat slightly and include a couple attractions in neighboring Buena Park. Before anyone sends us an angry geography lesson: yes, we know Buena Park isn't Anaheim.

They're close. They're spooky. We like them.

They stay.

Here are 10 of our favorite things to do in and around Anaheim for spooky season 2026.

1. Get Scared at Eulogy Collective's New Shades of Hell

We're starting with one of the newer additions to Anaheim's Halloween scene.

Eulogy Collective is an independent, year-round haunted attraction located inside Anaheim GardenWalk, just down the street from Disneyland.

Their newest maze, Shades of Hell, opens September 11, 2026. Eulogy describes it as a trip through different forms of fear, with live actors, detailed sets, intense lighting and sound, dark spaces and close-up scares. Their haunted experiences generally run around 8–10 minutes.

And we'll admit we have a little bit of a soft spot for this one.

The people behind Eulogy are friends of ours, but we'd put them on this list regardless. We love seeing smaller independent attractions building genuinely creative experiences in Anaheim, especially in a city where it's pretty difficult to compete for attention with a certain mouse down the street.

If haunted houses are your thing, this should absolutely be on your 2026 list.

Eulogy also has its Spooky Boo-tique open year-round with masks, horror collectibles, clothing, oddities and other things you definately didn't need until you walked into a horror store and saw them.

Best for: Horror fans who want a true haunted house without committing to an entire theme-park night.

2. Experience Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort

We can't exactly write a guide to Halloween in Anaheim and pretend Disneyland isn't there.

Halloween Time at Disneyland Resort runs August 21 through October 31, 2026, with seasonal decorations, food, entertainment and Halloween overlays throughout Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.

At Disneyland, Haunted Mansion Holiday returns with Jack Skellington and the Nightmare Before Christmas crew, while Main Street gets its enormous Mickey jack-o'-lantern and hundreds of pumpkins.

Across the esplanade, Cars Land becomes Radiator Screams, complete with Halloween versions of Mater's and Luigi's attractions. Later in the afternoon, Guardians of the Galaxy transforms into Monsters After Dark.

Disney Halloween is much more festive than frightening, which makes it an easy choice for families or groups where half the people love Halloween and the other half consider the Haunted Mansion an act of aggression.

Best for: Families, Disney fans and anyone who likes Halloween considerably more than they like actually being scared.

3. Escape the 13th Basement at Exit Game OC

This recommendation comes with an enormous conflict of interest considering you're currently reading our blog.

But it's our list. We're putting ourselves on it.

13th Basement at Exit Game OC is our horror-comedy escape room in Anaheim. The story follows a serial killer who became slightly too obsessed with escape rooms and decided to build one of his own.

Which seems healthy.

Your group has 60 minutes to explore a large multi-room environment, solve puzzles and figure out how to get out.

There are creepy rooms, fake blood, questionable decorating decisions, body parts and a few surprises, but 13th Basement is deliberately more funny than terrifying. There are also no scare actors roaming the game.

That makes it a good spooky-season option for groups who want creepy atmosphere without spending the next hour being chased by someone with a chainsaw.

Every game is private, so your group also gets the room to yourselves.

Best for: Date nights, groups of friends, teens and people who want Halloween vibes without a full haunted-house experience.

4. Survive The 17th Door in Buena Park

Okay.

Here comes our first act of geographical rebellion.

The 17th Door is technically in Buena Park, but it's close enough to Anaheim that leaving it off this list would be ridiculous. It's also one of the best-known independent haunted attractions in Southern California.

And yes, we like them too.

Maybe Eulogy gets a teeny tiny extra Anaheim-home-team point from us, but haunt fans should absolutely experience both.

The 17th Door isn't really a traditional walk-through haunted maze. Groups progress through 17 separate interactive rooms, with each room essentially becoming its own short horror scene. The full haunt takes roughly 35 minutes, making it unusually long for a haunted attraction.

This one is also considerably more intense than most of the attractions on this list.

Actors may touch guests and the experience can include water, darkness, claustrophobic spaces, moving floors, loud sounds and other extreme effects. The attraction recommends it for adults and teens 16 and older, requires waivers and uses the safe word “Mercy” for guests who need actors to back off or want to bypass most rooms.

So if Grandma screamed because a cast member at Disneyland said “Boo,” maybe don't surprise her with tickets to this one.

Best for: Serious haunt fans who want something intense and interactive.

5. Spend a Night in the Fog at Knott's Scary Farm

While we're already breaking the Anaheim city limits, we might as well keep driving another couple minutes.

Knott's Scary Farm runs on select nights September 17 through October 31, 2026 in Buena Park.

Scary Farm is basically the opposite end of the spectrum from a small independent haunt like Eulogy.

Instead of one haunted experience, the entire theme park transforms at night with mazes, scare zones, shows, rides and more than 1,000 monsters roaming through the fog.

There's something very particular about walking through Ghost Town when the fog is so thick you know perfectly well there's someone hiding six feet in front of you, but you still can't see them.

And then they prove you correct.

Knott's Scary Farm has been doing this for more than 50 years, and if you're trying to fit one huge traditional Halloween event into your Southern California trip, it's hard to ignore.

It is not recommended for children under 13, so families with younger kids should keep reading because Knott's has another option for them during the day.

Best for: Teens, adults and anyone who wants an entire night of haunted mazes and scare zones.

6. Go to Oogie Boogie Bash

If regular Disneyland Halloween isn't enough, there's also Oogie Boogie Bash – A Disney Halloween Party.

The separately ticketed event takes over Disney California Adventure on select nights throughout August, September and October, with 33 event nights scheduled in 2026.

Oogie Boogie Bash includes immersive treat trails featuring Disney villains, special character appearances, costumes, entertainment and shorter waits for select attractions.

New for 2026 is Madame Leota's Swinging Wake, a Haunted Mansion-inspired street party hosted by Madame Leota.

The catch?

Tickets for Oogie Boogie Bash tend to be extremely popular, so this isn't really the sort of event where we'd recommend waking up on October 28 and casually deciding to go tomorrow.

If you already have tickets, fantastic.

If you don't, there are thankfully about nine other ideas on this page.

Best for: Disney Halloween fans, families and anyone who owns enough Disney villain merchandise to require dedicated storage.

7. Go Old-School at the Anaheim Fall Festival & Halloween Parade

For something completely different from the giant ticketed attractions, head to Downtown Anaheim on Saturday, October 24.

The Anaheim Fall Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Center Greens and Center Street Promenade, with local vendors, live performances, costume contests, a classic car show and other activities.

Best of all, the festival is free. 

Then at 7 p.m., the Anaheim Halloween Parade takes over Downtown Anaheim.

This isn't some new event somebody invented because Halloween got trendy. Anaheim's Halloween celebration has roots going back generations, and the parade has become one of those wonderfully weird local traditions filled with floats, costumes and giant Halloween characters.

It's one of our favorite choices on this list because it actually feels like

Anaheim doing Halloween, rather than an attraction that could theoretically exist anywhere.

You can also make a full afternoon out of it by grabbing food at the nearby Anaheim Packing District before the parade starts.

Best for: Families, locals, visitors on a budget and anyone who loves old-fashioned community Halloween events.

8. Take Younger Kids to Knott's Spooky Farm

Knott's wisely realized that putting a five-year-old in the middle of Scary Farm might result in some expensive future therapy.

So during the daytime, they have Knott's Spooky Farm, a much gentler Halloween celebration running on select days from September 24 through October 31, 2026.

Kids can trick-or-treat through Calico, see Halloween decorations and participate in family-friendly seasonal activities without monsters sprinting at them through the fog.

It's a nice alternative if you've got little kids who want pumpkins, costumes and candy but aren't ready for an actual haunt.

And then when they're older you can slowly escalate them.

Spooky Farm.

13th Basement.

Eulogy.

17th Door.

We have apparently created a Halloween difficulty progression chart.

Best for: Families with younger kids.

9. Catch a Spooky Show at the Grove of Anaheim

Not everything on a spooky-season list has to involve somebody hiding behind a wall.

The Grove of Anaheim has two extremely well-timed events this October.

On October 10, the venue hosts The Rocky Horror Picture Show Original Cast Spooktacular Tour.

Then on October 18, there's a Little Shop of Horrors 40th Anniversary event.

That gives you a fun Halloween-season night out that's completely different from the theme parks and haunted attractions filling the rest of this list.

You could also pretty easily pair a show at the Grove with dinner, an escape room or drinks somewhere around the Angel Stadium area.

Best for: Theater fans, cult-movie fans and anyone whose ideal Halloween celebration includes fewer chainsaws and more singing.

10. Do Some Halloween Exploring Without Buying a Park Ticket

Here's one for anybody staying near Disneyland who wants a little Halloween atmosphere without purchasing another theme-park ticket.

Downtown Disney gets into the season too, with Halloween shopping, food and decorations just outside the parks.

There is also Pluto's Pumpkin Pursuit, a seasonal scavenger hunt where participants purchase a map and search for Disney-themed pumpkins before turning it in for a keepsake. Maps are available at Downtown Disney as well as inside the parks.

Then you're already within walking distance of Anaheim GardenWalk, where you can browse Eulogy's year-round Spooky Boo-tique or come back at night for Shades of Hell.

It's an easy way to put together a spooky afternoon around the Resort District without committing to another full day inside Disneyland.

Best for: Disneyland-area visitors, families and anyone looking for a lower-cost Halloween activity.

So, What's the Best Halloween Attraction in Anaheim?

That completely depends on what kind of Halloween person you are.

If you want actual scares, we'd start with Eulogy Collective and then make the short trip to The 17th Door if you want to seriously increase the intensity.

If you want a huge all-night haunt, it's hard to beat Knott's Scary Farm.

If you've got younger kids, Disneyland Halloween Time, Knott's Spooky Farm and the Anaheim Fall Festival are much safer bets.

And if someone in your group wants something spooky but immediately starts negotiating as soon as the words “live actor” are mentioned, that's exactly where 13th Basement at Exit Game OC fits in.

Halloween around Anaheim isn't really one thing anymore.

You can spend one night walking through a tiny independent haunt, another surrounded by thousands of people at a theme park and the next watching giant Halloween floats roll through Downtown Anaheim.

Which is pretty great if, like us, you decided spooky season started sometime around mid-August.