Every year Six Flags Great America hosts their annual Fright Fest. The Halloween festival runs from mid-September until Oct. 31 and aims to give people an extra incentive to visit the amusement park.

Beginning at 6:00, the parade signals the start of Fright Fest. Characters in scary costumes move throughout the park scaring and chasing people at random. On top of this, Fright Fest has many haunted houses as well as graveyard walks and tons of decorations set up all over the park to make it more Halloween themed.

The cost of attending Fright Fest is no more expensive than attending Great America on any other typical day. It averages out to be about $70 not including the $30 parking fee or any other food or drinks you buy when in the park. If the cost of attending doesn’t deter you from going then I do recommend the experience.

Fright Fest has several haunted houses set up, which each cost money, but I highly recommend as they are a fun way to get the most out of your experience at Six Flags. There are also “Scare Zones,” as Great America calls them. The Forbidden Forest and Rotten Hill, as well as others, are places set up throughout the park where costumed actors call home as they continuously harass people moving through the zones with the intent of scaring each and every one of them.

While it may seem excessive and maybe even a little cruel, part of the fun at Fright Fest is hearing the screams emanating throughout the park or seeing grown men running for their lives while an actor chases them with a fake chainsaw.

All in all, Fright Fest is worth going to. If you’re not already going for the roller coasters, go for the crazy characters and awesome decorations. Fright Fest is an overall great time with the effects throughout the park as well as the characters running around. Get to it before it ends on Halloween night.