Haunted houses and Halloween nights in Nashville, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday. All Hallows East fills Five Points in East Nashville from 4 to 10 p.m. that night, Murfreesboro trick-or-treats on its square the afternoon before, and the clocks go back an hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. The Titans play at home on Sunday, October 25, and are away on Halloween weekend. None of the haunted houses here are downtown. They sit in Madison, on Dickerson Pike, in Hermitage off I-40, and farther out in the woods of Lebanon and Spring Hill. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, back in town, where three kitchens stay open to 11 p.m., midnight and 2 a.m.

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

The night, in order

Pick the haunt before the costume, because the rules differ. Buy online where the attraction sells tickets, and expect no refunds: Beast House, Slaughterhouse, Dead Land, Creepy Hollow and The Hermitage ghost tours all say so. Creepy Hollow sells no tickets online, and the operator says cash is faster at the door. Beast House says its parking lots fill completely on busy nights and asks guests to carpool, and The Hermitage says its ghost tours sell out quickly. Eat after, not before. Two practical notes for Halloween weekend: Metro Nashville had not posted official 2026 trick-or-treat hours when I checked, and the woods haunts are outdoors, so Dead Land says its times can change for weather.

The haunted houses

• Nashville Nightmare, Madison: a multi-attraction haunt from Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, open select nights September 12 to November 13. The 2026 lineup includes Jason Universe: Survive the Night, a licensed Friday the 13th walkthrough that officially opens September 25, and the Clown Alley maze. The operator says it may be too intense for children 12 and under, and anyone 15 and under must stay with an adult.
• Beast House, Dickerson Pike: two indoor haunted houses, Beast House and Chaos, inside the old Isaac Ketchum mansion that was the Starlite Club from 1951 to 2014. The operator puts it about 15 minutes north of downtown. Halloween night runs 7 to 10:30 p.m. Any age may enter, every guest 13 and over signs a digital waiver, and it opens in any weather.
• Slaughterhouse, Hermitage: a self-guided walk through five theaters of the former Courtyard Theater, just off I-40, which the operator says takes about 40 minutes. It opens September 26, and the full night list was not posted when I checked, so confirm before driving out. Guests with asthma, heart conditions or seizure disorders are not admitted.
• Dead Land Haunted Woods, Lebanon: two outdoor trails in real woods, Where the Roots Remember and The Portal, Fridays and Saturdays September 18 to October 31, 7 to 11 p.m. No one may be carried in the woods, including infants, and the actors do not touch guests.
• Creepy Hollow Haunted Woods, Spring Hill: indoor haunted halls plus a woods trail, 2 miles off I-65 Exit 46. It opens Friday, September 25, then Fridays and Saturdays in October, 7 to 11 p.m. It is for ages 8 and older. The homepage prints no year beside its dates, so confirm before you go.
• Ghost Tours at The Hermitage, Hermitage: evening tours of Andrew Jackson’s home, grounds and family cemetery, Thursdays to Sundays September 17 to November 7, at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. About 1.5 hours, capped at 42 guests, rain or shine.

With kids

The organized nights are the plan. Boo at the Zoo at Nashville Zoo runs nightly October 16 to November 1, 5 to 9 p.m., with 10 trick-or-treat stations for ages 2 to 12, and the zoo does not accept walk-ups, so buy tickets and parking in advance. Cheekwood Harvest runs September 19 to November 1 with 100,000 pumpkins and three pumpkin houses, and every guest needs a timed-entry ticket. Trick or Treat on the Square in Murfreesboro is Friday, October 30, from 3 to 5 p.m., before dark. PumpkinFest in downtown Franklin is October 24 and 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with costume contests. On Halloween night itself, All Hallows East in Five Points welcomes families from 4 to 10 p.m. Entry is free, but registration is required.

Twenty-one and over

BOOze at the Zoo is Thursday, October 15, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., 21 and over with no exceptions, online tickets only, and no masks. Adventure Science Center opens after hours for Science of Spirits, Brews & Potions on Friday, October 2, also 21 and over. Ghost City Tours runs a Nashville Haunted Pub Crawl for 21 and over, limited to 15 guests, and Nashville Nightmare sells a 21+ Secret Bar Access Pass with an ID check. The Nashville Symphony plays a live score to the 1931 Frankenstein on Tuesday, October 27.

What is not open this year

No haunt has announced a closed season, but three had not confirmed 2026 when I checked. Devil’s Dungeon on Davidson Street shows only a countdown on its official site, with no 2026 dates. Millers Thrillers in Columbia prints no year anywhere on its website, so its October dates may belong to an earlier season. Backwoods Nightmare in Lebanon had no 2026 dates readable on its official site.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and directions for every one of these, plus the pumpkin farms, the Murfreesboro ghost walk and Día de los Muertos at Cheekwood and Nashville Ballet, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Nashville haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 20 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

Five Points Pizza is on Woodland Street in Five Points, a short walk from the All Hallows East block party. Hattie B’s is in Midtown and Skull’s Rainbow Room is downtown in Printers Alley. These three are on the Top of Nashville late-night list. The scores are theirs, not mine.