These October attractions bring Halloween haunts for any age

Last Updated on October 6, 2024, 9:08 PM | Published: October 4, 2024

OKLAHOMA CITY — Halloween is all about casting off all the tired guidelines and boring guardrails of society and inverting things for a little while.

Whether it’s allowing children to demand candy and gifts from adults, scaring people just for fun, or wearing masks in public (something that used to be a novel idea,) the Halloween season offers a chance for mischief and a temporary respite from the rules before the winter season of charity.

It doesn’t have to be scary, but it’s more fun when it is.

At this time of year, everyone wants to get in on the fun and the frights, and that means everything from fantastical family-friendly events to full-on pulse-pounding horror shows.

Whatever your age or your threshold for fear, Oklahoma City has something in store for you through October.

For Young Children – Pumpkinville at Myriad Botanical Gardens: Mythical Creatures – October 4th through 20th

If you have young children and want to get them safely and calmly into the Halloween spirit, consider the month-long morning and afternoon events and activities at the Myriad Gardens.

Each year, the Gardens host Pumpkinville, one of the biggest annual traditions on their calendar, centering their activities around the pumpkin and the harvest time with costumes, crafts, and all kinds of outdoor fun tailored to the youngest amongst us.

This year, it’s all about mythical creatures, with garden displays and decorations all over, pumpkin-painting classes to transform your gourds into magical unicorns, and educational events to learn all about tea from some “dragons.”

There’s even set to be a “spooky pooch parade” of costumed pets.

Pumpkinville at the Myriad Botanical Gardens runs from October 4th through 20th with special events and activities throughout the month. For garden hours and a full schedule of events, visit myriadgardens.org/pumpkinville.

Kids 14 and under – Brick-or-Treat in Bricktown – October 28th 

If you’ve got older kids and early teens wanting to get in on some costumed candy collection, then get them down to Bricktown on Monday, October 28th for the annual Brick-or-Treat event district-wide.

Kids 14 and under can hit up a wide selection of Bricktown businesses and restaurants, and will even be able to interact with other spooky costumed characters roaming the streets and alleys and get their picture taken in costume at photo-ops scattered around the district.

All kids will need to be accompanied by a guardian, though, so parents, get your own costumes ready and maybe you can sneak into some of those photo-ops, too.

Bricktown Brick-or-Treat takes place Monday, October 28th from 4 pm to 7 pm across Bricktown. Event maps can be picked up at the Mickey Mantle Plaza of the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark.

Adults 21 and over – Science Museum Oklahoma – SMO 21+: Dreamscapes & Nightmares – October 25th

Adults looking to get in on some Halloween fun without getting the life scared out of them should check out the October edition of Science Museum Oklahoma’s regular SMO 21+, featuring a full evening of programming and activities aimed at adults with no kids in sight.

For October, the theme is “Dreamscapes & Nightmares,” unlocking the science behind sleep, dreams, and whatever lurks in between.

That means a museum-wide “slumber party” vibe complete with pillow fights, but also ghost tours, a breakdown of the science behind REM cycles, and the genuinely scary-sounding “sleep paralysis simulations.”

And, of course, there’ll also be alcohol. So that might take the edge off the fear and make all the scientific learning even more fun.

Science Museum Oklahoma’s SMO 21+ for October takes place on October 25th. For tickets and more information, visit sciencemuseumok.org/smo21.

All Ages (but only if you dare) – Haunted Houses – All month long

If you’re the type that just loves to be scared senseless for fun, then October is the month you come alive.

The whole Metro area is littered with blood-drenched haunted houses and horror-filled scare attractions occupying creepy abandoned warehouses, remote woods, and more.

The famed and beloved Bricktown Haunted Warehouse has been scaring Oklahomans with chainsaw-wielding madmen and movie-level horror sets for decades.

There’s Yukon’s Haunted Trail, covering 30 acres of the Dodge City Paintball course with zombies, graveyards, killer clowns, and more, all in a disorienting haunted wood that’s easy to get lost in, making it one of the Metro’s largest and longest haunted attractions.

And there’s Southside’s perennial favorite 13th Door, annually voted among the best and scariest horror attractions in the city with an indoor haunted corn maze, full-sized spooky grain silo, and the always terrifying spider maze.

Technically, these attractions are mostly for all ages, but they’re definitely not recommended for young children, and visitors of any age should be ready for some seriously grown-up thrills and chills, like horrifyingly costumed characters jumping right in your face, screaming, and chasing you with (mercifully fake) weapons.

For tickets, more info, and a full rundown of haunted attractions in Oklahoma, with operating hours, age requirements, and reviews, visit bricktownhaunt.com and okhauntedhouses.com.

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