Calgary's Stampede Park is about to get a lot less friendly. Screamfest, which bills itself as Canada's largest Halloween event, returns to GMC Stadium across eleven nights in October 2026, running 7 p.m. to midnight from October 9 through Halloween itself.
The centrepiece is seven themed haunted houses, each with its own flavour of dread. There's The Dollhouse, full of toys that shouldn't move, and Slaughterhouse, a blood-spattered meat locker that gets worse the deeper you go. The Clinic is a post-apocalyptic surgery ward, while Bates Motel recreates the Psycho setting. Afraid of the Dark removes your sight entirely — you navigate complete blackness by touch and sound. Clown Town lures you in with smiles before sending you to a basement you won't enjoy, and Zombie Outbreak is the finale: the only haunt where actors can grab, pull and chase you, requiring a signed waiver to enter.
It's not all jump scares. A slingshot ride hurls passengers over 200 feet into the air at speeds past 160 km/h, and Area 51 Monster Trucks lets you ride in a monster truck through a dark course. The Midway of Mayhem serves up Halloween carnival games — think tossing a severed head into a monster's mouth or spinning the Wheel of Misfortune — while the Screaming Room screens horror, sci-fi and fantasy films all night if you need a breather.
Practical stuff: general admission starts at $35.40 and covers one pass through all standard haunts. The Killer Cash Combo (from $44.96) adds $16 in on-site credit for games. For $55.42, the SpeedPass adds front-of-line access and two extra entries of your choice, and the SpeedPass Plus Zombie House, from $64.97, throws in the waiver-required zombie experience too. Tickets are date-specific, non-refundable but exchangeable, and worth buying online — capacity is limited and busy nights mean door queues.
New for the calendar is an Adults Only Night on Thursday, October 22, restricted to 18-plus with cocktails and an after-dark film festival. Bring government photo ID for that one. The rest of the event is open to all ages but rated PG-13 and best suited to guests 12 and up, since the houses are designed to rattle grown adults.
Costumes are welcome but optional; masks are banned for safety, as are prop weapons of any kind. The site is partly outdoors, including the haunts themselves, so layer up for a Calgary October night. Parking at Stampede Park runs $15, though the Erlton/Stampede CTrain station is an easy walk away if you'd rather skip driving.
If a Halloween trip to Alberta is on your radar, this is an easy anchor for an autumn city break — pair it with the Calgary Tower, Bow River walks or a Banff day trip while you're in town. Credit: Curiocity
