Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Washington, DC, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday, and the clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. during Halloween night. The Tuesday before, October 27, the 17th Street High Heel Race closes streets in Dupont Circle for the evening. Almost every haunted house and trail worth a ticket is outside the District: Markoff’s in Dickerson and Laurel’s in Laurel on the Maryland side, Fields of Fear in Centreville, Milltown Haunt in Lovettsville and Workhouse Haunt in Lorton in Northern Virginia. Kings Dominion, north of Richmond, is a day trip. Inside the city, Halloween means lanterns at Congressional Cemetery, the National Zoo and Rocky Horror on U Street. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end: three fine dining kitchens in the District that serve until 10:30 p.m. or midnight on Saturday.

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

The night, in order

Pick the haunt before the costume, because the rules differ: Fields of Fear bans masks and full-head costumes, Workhouse Haunt allows no costumes or scary make-up on its trail, and the Station 7 Terror Trail welcomes costumes. Buy tickets ahead and read what the time on them means. Workhouse sells timed entry in 15-minute slots, but the time on a Markoff’s ticket is only a recommended arrival time; you wait for a numbered pass at the Midway. Laurel’s says lines get long near Halloween, and DC by Foot says its Georgetown ghost tour fills up fast around Halloween. Leave the city early, because the Markoff’s parking entrance closes to new cars at 10 p.m., or 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays. The outdoor trails can close for severe weather, so check the organizer’s notice that day. Eat after, not before. If anyone under 18 is riding back into the District with you on Halloween, the curfew starts at 12:01 a.m.

The haunted houses

• Markoff’s Haunted Forest, Dickerson, Maryland: a benefit for Calleva, an educational nonprofit, with a trail the organizer says is over a mile long and a separate zombie haunt, The Town, reached by wagon. Select nights October 2 to November 8. Every guest signs a digital waiver first, and it is not recommended under 12.
• Laurel’s House of Horror, Laurel, Maryland: an indoor haunted house in a former movie theater, four themes in one walkthrough of 20 to 30 minutes. Select nights September 19 to November 7. No phones or flashlights inside, and children under 10 are not recommended unless they are scare-friendly.
• Fields of Fear at Cox Farms, Centreville, Virginia: Cornightmare, the Dark Side Hayride, The Firegrounds and The Forest on more than 20 acres. Fridays and Saturdays September 25 to November 7, plus Sunday, October 11, last entry 10 p.m. Tickets are online only, and it is not recommended under 12.
• Milltown Haunt, Lovettsville, Virginia: one ticket for a haunted house and barn, a corn maze and a dark maze. Fridays to Sundays, October 2 to November 7. Extreme Night on November 6 is 18 and over. No bags past the ticket booth.
• Workhouse Haunt: Dark Encounters, Lorton, Virginia: an outdoor trail on the campus of the former Lorton prison. October 3 to 30 on Fridays, Saturdays and select Sundays. Not recommended under 13.
• AVFD Station 7 Terror Trail, Davidsonville, Maryland: a volunteer fire department fundraiser, Fridays and Saturdays in October, 7:30 to 10 p.m. Parking has moved to the Davidsonville Park-and-Ride, with a shuttle to ticketing.
• Halloween Haunt at Kings Dominion, Doswell, Virginia: six haunted mazes and five scare zones on select nights September 18 to November 1. Not recommended under 13, and guests 17 and under need a chaperone at least 21.

With kids

Boo at the Zoo at Smithsonian’s National Zoo runs October 16 to 18, 6 to 8:30 p.m., with trick-or-treating and after-hours animal houses. Everyone 2 and older needs a ticket, and adults may not wear full-face masks. On Halloween afternoon, Trick-or-Treating at Mount Vernon runs 2 to 5 p.m. with a costume parade at 4. For a first haunt, the Station 7 Boo Loop is designed for children under 8. By day, the Cox Farms Fall Festival in Centreville sends every visit home with a pumpkin, and Butler’s Orchard in Germantown holds its 46th Pumpkin Festival through November 1. The family tours at Soul Strolls in Congressional Cemetery are described as roughly PG.

Twenty-one and over

Night of the Living Zoo on Friday, October 23 is 21 and over, 7 to 11 p.m., with drinks from pop-up bars included, live music and after-hours exhibits. Every guest shows ID regardless of age, and full-face masks and costume weapons are not allowed. Workhouse Haunt runs a bar with themed cocktails, and the free Midway at Leech Woods in Damascus has alcoholic drinks and fire dancers. On Halloween night the Lincoln Theatre shows The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live shadow cast and a costume contest.

What is not open this year

Six Flags America in Bowie closed permanently after its final operating day on November 2, 2025, so there is no Fright Fest in the DC area in 2026. Field of Screams Maryland in Olney has posted no 2026 dates, and a Montgomery County zoning decision on its fundraising events went against the Olney Boys and Girls Club. Madhaunter’s Madhouse in Purcellville still shows its 2025 calendar, and the Del Ray Halloween Parade in Alexandria has not posted a 2026 date.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and directions for every one of these, plus the Georgetown and Old Town Alexandria ghost tours, the High Heel Race and Día de los Muertos on the National Mall, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Washington, DC haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 19 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

All three are inside the District, on the drive back in from the Maryland and Virginia haunts: Le Diplomate and La Grande Boucherie DC are on 14th Street NW, and AMBAR is on 8th Street SE on Capitol Hill. These three are on the Top of DC fine dining list. The scores are theirs, not mine.