Best Haunted Houses in New Hampshire 2026: Confirmed Dates and What's Still Unannounced

Every "best haunted houses in New Hampshire" page you'll find today lists five attractions with confident dates next to them. Most of those dates are from last year.

Here's the actual state of play, checked against each venue's own website on July 31, 2026: one major New Hampshire haunt has published a 2026 calendar. One. The rest haven't announced yet, and one operator's website is still showing its 2025 season.

That's not a failure of research — it's the last week of July. Haunts announce late. But it means any page quoting you an October date for Spooky World right now is making it up.

The state of the 2026 season

Fright Kingdom, Nashua — the one you can plan around

12 Simon Street, Nashua. The only major New Hampshire haunt with a full calendar published, and it's a long one.

Opening night is Friday, September 25, then weekends through Saturday, October 31 — with Sundays added from October 9 onward. They also run In the Dark on November 6–7 and Fright Before Xmas across two December weekends, which makes this effectively a three-season operation.

Tickets are $41.00 online, all fees included. At the box office it's $45, cash only — they don't take cards at the door. It's timed entry in half-hour slots, they say it sells out, and there are no group, VIP, or Fright Pass discounts this year. Buy ahead, and note that your ticket time is your arrival time, not your entry time.

The three that haven't announced

Screeemfest at Canobie Lake Park, Salem. The park has confirmed Screeemfest returns in autumn 2026 — its page says so outright — but lists "2026 Information Coming Soon" where the dates and pricing should be. Six haunted houses inside a working amusement park, so rides and family areas run alongside the scares. Worth watching for: no costumes or makeup permitted, which catches people out.

Spooky World, Litchfield. New England's largest haunted attraction — hayride, multiple haunts, a midway, free parking, at 454 Charles Bancroft Highway. Two things to know. First, it's Spooky World now; the Nightmare New England name and web address still point here, and older roundups list them as separate attractions. Second, when we checked, the site's own banner still read "FINAL NIGHTS OF 2025." We can't confirm a 2026 season from that, so we haven't claimed one.

Haunted Overload, Lee. At DeMeritt Hill Farm on Route 155, and the best-looking haunt in the state by a distance — an outdoor walk through the woods past hand-built sets, some of the monsters north of thirty feet, most of it made by founder Eric Lowther. Its website is built entirely from frames and returns no readable content at all, so we could verify nothing beyond the location. Check their social channels; that's where this one announces.

If you need something confirmed and family-friendly

Ghosts on the Banke at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth has locked its dates: October 16–17 and October 23–24, arrival at 5pm or 6pm, ending at 8pm. $17 public, $16 early bird, $8.50 or free for members. It's designed for ages 4 to 8 and the museum calls it "spooky, not scary."

It's the opposite end of the spectrum from Fright Kingdom, and for a household with small children it's the only confirmed New Hampshire Halloween booking on this page. Full detail is on our Portsmouth guide.

How to use this page

Check back. We'll update this as venues announce, and re-stamp the verification date at the top when we do. That date is the entire point — it tells you how much to trust the table.

Book Fright Kingdom now if you want a specific night. Timed slots plus a stated tendency to sell out is not a combination that rewards waiting.

Don't trust an October date you can't trace to the venue. If a page quotes you dates for Spooky World, Screeemfest, or Haunted Overload today, ask yourself where it got them. We couldn't get them, and we tried.

If you spot an announcement before we do, tell us and we'll verify and update.

If you're building a weekend around this, the haunted hotels list includes Three Chimneys Inn in Durham — ten minutes from Haunted Overload, and a building that has been standing since 1649.