Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Little Rock, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday, and most central Arkansas haunts run their longest hours on Friday, October 30 and Saturday, October 31, with several also open Thursday, October 29. The Arkansas State Fair takes the two weekends before that, October 16 to 25 in south Little Rock. On Halloween afternoon, UCA plays its homecoming game in Conway, and the Razorbacks play Missouri in Fayetteville. The haunts are not downtown. They are spread from south Little Rock to North Little Rock, Jacksonville, Conway and Benton, with Magic Springs in Hot Springs about an hour southwest. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, in Hot Springs.

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

The night, in order

Pick the haunt first, because ticket rules here vary more than in most cities. Bring cash for The Reaper. Buy the Creepy Trail’s timed ticket online and arrive 15 minutes early, because walk-ins wait for the next open slot. A Haunted Hotel ticket has no time slot and works on any night except Halloween, which needs its own date-specific ticket. Fear Factory 501 says its line closes when the last guest enters and asks people to arrive early on weekends. If you are driving south Little Rock between October 16 and 25, the State Fair adds traffic near the Creepy Trail and the Haunted Hotel. NOAA normals put the Halloween low at 45°F, and three of these are outdoors, so bring a layer and closed shoes. The dinner tables below are in Hot Springs and close at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, so if Magic Screams is the plan, eat first and go in for the after-dark half. Clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1.

The haunted houses

• The Reaper Haunted House, North Little Rock: an indoor haunt with more than 30 scenes plus an outdoor section called the Haunted Hollow, open since 2011 by the operator’s count. Fridays and Saturdays October 2 to 31 from 7 to 11:30 p.m., plus September 26, the Sundays of October, October 29 and November 1 from 7 to 10 p.m. Cash only at the gate. With the optional Extreme Pass, actors may lightly touch you. It is not wheelchair accessible.
• Creepy Trail of Willow Creek, Southeast Little Rock: an outdoor haunted hiking trail through Willow Creek Woods every weekend October 2 to 31, in its fourth year with an extended route and a new Creepy Cabin. Timed tickets. The organizer recommends ages 10 and up, and Halloween masks, personal flashlights and cameras are not allowed.
• The Haunted Hotel of Arkansas, South Little Rock: an indoor walk-through haunt on Arch Street that promises over 50 live monsters. It opens Friday, September 25 at 7 p.m. and runs Fridays and Saturdays; the full night list is not posted yet.
• Fear Factory 501, Jacksonville: live-actor horror mazes rebuilt each season, an outdoor midway and a separate escape room. Open September 26 and select October nights from 7 p.m., rain or shine. It is a no-touch haunt, and the operator recommends ages 12 and up.
• Creepy Works, Conway: an indoor haunt open Fridays and Saturdays October 2 to 31 from 7 p.m. to midnight, plus a few Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights through November 1. Ticket and age details are not on its site.
• Royal Haunted House, Benton: a walkthrough haunt inside The Royal Theatre, a 1948 theater building downtown. The theater says October 15 to 31; the City of Benton lists October 16 as opening night. Hours are not posted yet.
• THE BARN at Reaper’s Night Off, Donaldson: a 7 to 15 minute dark maze in an old barn south of Malvern, Fridays and Saturdays October 2 to 31 plus October 29, last entry 10 p.m. It is not connected to The Reaper.

With kids

Magic Screams at Magic Springs in Hot Springs is the easiest haunt night to split by age. Saturdays and Sundays from September 26 to November 1, Kiddieland becomes Booville from 2 to 6 p.m. with a trick-or-treat trail and costume contests, and the park says scare characters stay out of Booville and the scarier ones wait until dusk. The haunted house and scare zones open after 6 p.m. Children 3 and under are free, and guests over 13 may not wear full-face masks. On Halloween morning, Bryant Parks Fall Fest at Bishop Park has free trick-or-treating from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in its 39th year. The Little Rock Zoo has no Boo at the Zoo on its 2026 calendar, but GloWild Opening Weekend, October 29 to November 1 from 5 to 9 p.m., invites kids to come in costume. For daytime, Motley’s Pumpkin Patch in southeast Little Rock has pig races and a 250-foot mega slide, and Schaefers Pumpkin Patch in Mayflower runs a hayride past Halloween scenes. City trick-or-treat events had not been posted as of mid-September.

Día de los Muertos

From October 16 to 31, the Little Rock Zoo sets up the Beloved Pet Ofrenda at its Nature Playground, a community altar for pets inspired by the Día de Muertos tradition. Bring a photo, drawing or written note to add. It runs during zoo hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and zoo admission is required.

What is not open this year

Boo at the Zoo is not on the Little Rock Zoo’s 2026 events calendar; GloWild Opening Weekend is the zoo’s Halloween-week event instead. Arkansas Frontier Pumpkin Patch in Quitman says in its listing that it is closing temporarily this year.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and addresses for every one of these, plus the pumpkin patches and the Arkansas Paranormal Expo in the 1840 Tower Building downtown, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Little Rock haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 15 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the official links.

Where to eat after

Magic Screams runs at Magic Springs in Hot Springs, and these three pizza kitchens are downtown on Ouachita Avenue, Central Avenue and Exchange Street. All three close at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, earlier than the park’s 11 p.m. Saturday close. These three are on the Top of Little Rock Hot Springs pizza list. The scores are theirs, not mine.