SCarowinds 2026 guide: Dates, haunted mazes, tickets, rides, and more
SCarowinds returns to Carowinds on select nights from Sept. 11 through Nov. 1, 2026, bringing haunted mazes, scare zones, live entertainment, nighttime rides and more to the Carolinas’ largest Halloween event.
While Carowinds has only begun revealing details for this year’s event, Attractions Magazine will continue updating this guide as additional announcements—including haunted attractions, entertainment, food, merchandise and ticket information—are released.
SCarowinds is a nighttime experience inside the Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte on the state line of North and South Carolina. There’s a lot to see and do.
Here’s your guide to planning a sensationally spooky visit to Scarowinds 2026.
Scarowinds 2026 tickets
Last year, admission to Scarowinds was included with a Carowinds daytime ticket. Although not officially confirmed, the same model will likely return for 2026. There is no fee to be at Scarowinds, but the haunted mazes cost an extra fee, even for season passholders.
Guests can purchase a Haunted Attractions Pass (ranging from $10-$30 in 2025, depending on the night) for access into the haunted mazes. An option to add Express, a skip-the-line benefit, is available for an extra charge.
“The Conjuring: Beyond Fear” (attraction details below) is charged separately and is not included with Carowinds admission and is also not included with the Haunted Attractions Pass. Entry into “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear” ranged from $15-$25, depending on the night during its debut last year.
The park doesn’t close between the transition from Carowinds to Scarowinds. If you’re visiting the park on a Scarowinds day and planning on staying for the haunts, you don’t have to exit and come back. Conversely, if you happen to be at Carowinds and didn’t plan on staying for Scarowinds, you can spontaneously decide to do so at no extra cost.
Carowinds single-day tickets — which, on event dates, include admission to Scarowinds, Tricks and Treats, and Oktoberfest — started at $44 2025 when purchased online (pricing for 2026 has not been published).
Seeing as Scarowinds doesn’t require a separate ticket, Carowinds gold season pass holders receive entry into Scarowinds with their pass (but still require extra payment for haunted mazes and “The Conjuring”).
An All-Season Haunted Attractions Pass was available for $89 in 2025, granting unlimited entry into all haunted mazes + one entry per visit into “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear.”
Explore all Scarowinds ticket options on Carowinds’ website.
Scarowinds dates and hours 2026
Scarowinds takes place select evenings from Sept. 11 through Nov. 1, 2026. Individual nights for 2026 are not yet listed.
On nights when Scarowinds happens, the event’s operating hours for 2025 were:
- Thursdays: 6 p.m. – 12 a.m.
- Fridays: 6 p.m. – 12 a.m.
- Saturdays: 7 p.m. – 12 a.m.
- Sundays: 7-11 p.m.
Again, though, guests already at Carowinds prior to Scarowinds’ “opening time” do not need to leave, nor does the park close and reopen. The hours above merely refer to the operations of Scarowinds, not Carowinds.
‘The Conjuring: Beyond Fear’
Returning for 2026, “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear” is a 20-minute walkthrough attraction set in the world “The Conjuring” movies from Warner Bros. It’s the most elaborate experience Scarowinds has ever created. The pace is fast, the scares are fun, and the special effects are impressive.
Photo courtesy of Carowinds
Your mileage may vary as to whether you think the extra cost is justified, but we loved it. Read our full review of “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear” for more of our thoughts, as well as our recommendations for how to decide if it’s worth it for you.
Scarowinds mazes and scare zones 2026
Scarowinds usually hosts five haunted mazes (also called haunted houses; nearly all of them go in a linear path, no maze element involved).
In 2025, “Defex 2.0” took place in a creepy doll factory filled with scary toys and plushies. 2025’s version of “Silver Scream Studios” was something of a greatest hits of mazes from Scarowinds’ past in honor of the event’s 25th anniversary.
(2026 to be determined) A fan favorite haunted maze at Scarowinds remains “Paranormal Inc.,” which originally debuted at Knott’s Scary Farm before moving to Carowinds in 2022. In 2023, we got a lights-on tour of “Paranormal Inc.,” billed as “a forsaken hospital marred by a chilling history.”
Photo courtesy of Carowinds
Four scare zones populated the park during Scarowinds 2025: “Harvest Fear,” “The Hollow,” and “Glitch” (themed to a rogue AI) and “Cleaver Brothers: Sideshow of Dreams” (themed to a haunted circus).
Once announcements are made for 2026, we will provide an update.
Scarowinds live entertainment 2026
An extensive lineup of live shows provides a nice balance to the haunted attractions (and a great detour if the mazes’ lines are too long for your liking).
2026’s lineup has not yet been revealed. For now, let’s review last year’s entertainment: “Wake the Dead: A Murder Mystery Musical” performing inside the Carowinds Theater. Shipped over from Cedar Point, a sister park of Carowinds, “Wake the Dead” features four possible endings. The audience determines the killer in real time, and the finale is different based on which character the guests choose.
For families who happen to be staying in the park as Scarowinds begins and find themselves wandering into the Carowinds Theater: just because this is a musical doesn’t mean it’s family-friendly; the show is decidedly PG-13.
Other shows during Scarowinds 2025 included:
- “The Awakening,” an opening ceremony at the beginning of each event night
- “DepRAVEd,” a techno-based show
- “The Bon Bons Burlesque Troupe,” a “forbidden cabaret”
- “Halloween Hootenanny,” a folk rock band
Check the Carowinds app for showtimes during your visit.
Merchandise (including ‘No Boo’ necklace)
Scarowinds’ signature retail shop is located near Starbucks toward the front of the park. The store sells a wide variety of items, including the “No Boo!” necklace, available for $19. If you’re wearing this necklace, scare actors will not jump out to frighten you in the scare zones.
An interactive lantern syncs with the lighting throughout the park.
Other merchandise that is usually available includes pins, hats, hoodies, drinkware, and a t-shirt with all of the logo designs for the haunted mazes.
During 2025, merchandise celebrating “The Conjuring” was sold at the gift shop at the exit of “The Conjuring: Beyond Fear.”
Scarowinds tips if you don’t like being scared
Is it possible to attend Scarowinds if you don’t want to be scared? Kind of. As seen above, the park sells a “No Boo!” necklace at Evil Emporium. Performers (in scare zones) will not scare or approach guests wearing the necklace.
Wearing noise-canceling headphones while walking through the haunted mazes also helps mitigate the experience’s sensory overload.
In contrast to the mazes, scare zones are more palatable for guests who are nervous about attending Scarowinds. With most scare zones taking place in open spaces — designed to accommodate huge amounts of foot traffic during regular park hours — many performers openly walk about. This means you can better prepare yourself for a scare; you can see them coming.
Scare zones are less-scary (but still, often, startling) alternatives to haunted mazes for those who prefer a tamer Scarowinds evening, or those lingering in the park for a while after a full day.
That being said, if the vibe itself — loud atmospheres intensely themed to horror and gore — is what you’re hesitant about, Scarowinds probably isn’t the event for you. Fortunately, there’s a daytime alternative, Trick and Treats, with a full lineup of seasonal activities that are spooky rather than scary (see below).
Daytime events: Tricks and Treats + Oktoberfest
During the daytime, guests can participate in Tricks and Treats for family-friendly Halloween activities or Oktoberfest for German-inspired cuisine and entertainment. The activities and shows for the event happen park-wide, and do not require a special event ticket.
Guests can visit trick-or-treating stations throughout the park to pick up candy, and participate in a costume contest.
Photo courtesy of Carowinds
Guests can embrace the spirit of Oktoberfest by participating in a stein-holding contest or a brat-eating contest, or by taking part in the color-by-numbers mural.
This guide was last updated July 2026 by Dani Meyering and will continue to be refreshed as Carowinds announces additional details about SCarowinds, including haunted attractions, ticket information, food, entertainment and special experiences.
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