The Winchester Mystery House is one of the most famous haunted-reputation buildings in the country — a sprawling San Jose mansion that heiress Sarah Winchester kept building for 38 years until her death in 1922 — and for a second year it is hosting a full-scale Halloween haunt produced by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, the team behind Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor and the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride. For 2026 the event has been rebuilt around guest choice rather than a single set route. Here is what is confirmed, what changed, and how to plan a night.

When is Festival Fright Nights 2026, and where?

Festival Fright Nights runs select nights from September 18 through November 1, 2026 at the Winchester Mystery House, 525 S. Winchester Blvd. in San Jose, California. It is not open every night in that window, so the exact calendar matters: check the official date picker for the night you want before you buy, because availability and pricing move date to date. If you are pulling together a wider Bay Area weekend, it pairs naturally with other haunted houses in the San Francisco area.

What’s new in 2026: the open-festival format

The biggest change is structural. Last year guests walked the estate as a linear, one-way show, moving through the acts in a fixed order. For 2026, Thirteenth Floor has opened the estate up: the experience now spreads across four festival zones with 13 attractions and experiences, and you choose your own path through them. The stories are built to connect, so guests who pay attention will find clues, characters and details that carry between attractions and add up to a larger mystery about the evil taking over the estate.

The 2026 storyline is set in 1926, four years after Sarah Winchester’s death, with something newly awakened in the house. A new cast populates the grounds: Sarah’s loyal butler stays behind to keep the house under control, his son goes missing during a game of hide-and-seek, a character called Nina Nightshade tends the greenhouse, and a figure known as The Collector patrols the darkest corners dragging a heavy sack behind him.

Which attractions are included?

Three main haunted attractions come with every admission. The House of Spirits is the new one, following the butler as he uses ghost traps to fight the spirits overtaking the mansion. The Final Descent is a reimagined attraction set in the fallen estate, where its consumed staff stalk the halls. The Root of All Evil is set in the greenhouse, where twisted roots reveal an ancient evil that has fed on the estate since before Sarah Winchester arrived.

On top of those, several add-on experiences go deeper into the story for an extra charge: The Underhouse, which follows The Collector through the shadows; a live Harry Houdini seance built around the famous skeptic; Hide and Seek: The Lost Children, a new experience that leads guests into the mansion’s attic; and The Seance Society Speakeasy, a new hidden bar. The festival zones also add a cider mill, a roast-your-own s’mores station and midway games, so there is downtime between scares.

How much are tickets, and how does pricing work?

Tickets are on sale now through a discount presale, and Festival Fright Nights uses dynamic pricing: prices are lowest early, rise as each date approaches, and are highest when purchased day-of. General admission has been listed starting around $60.99 on select nights, but the exact number depends on the date you pick, so treat that as a floor rather than a fixed price and confirm the current cost on the official site for your night. Because the run is a limited number of nights and demand is high, buying early is the way to lock the lowest price and guarantee the date you want. Add-on experiences and any front-of-line or priority options are priced separately on top of admission.

Is it scary, and who is it for?

Festival Fright Nights is a professionally produced haunt built on live scare actors and theatrical storytelling rather than a gentle walk-through, so plan it as a genuine Halloween scare event. How intense it feels can vary by attraction and by night, and some add-ons — a speakeasy, for instance — are aimed at adults, so if you are bringing younger or more sensitive guests, check the official event’s age guidance and content notes before you commit. If a full haunt sounds like more than your group wants, the mansion’s standard daytime tours run separately from this event. For a sense of how a big, multi-attraction seasonal event tends to flow, our guide to Knott’s Scary Farm 2026 is a useful comparison point.

Planning your visit

Pick your date first, since the calendar is select-nights-only and pricing climbs toward each date; buy the presale early for the best price; and decide up front whether you want any of the paid add-ons, because those can sell out separately from general admission. Arrive with time to park and get in, and go in expecting to wander — the whole point of the 2026 open-festival format is that you build your own route through the four zones. Hunting for more options this season? Start with our directory of haunted houses near you.

Planning a Bay Area Halloween night? Confirm the 2026 dates and prices on the official Festival Fright Nights site, then compare more haunted houses near you.