Review: Festival Fright Nights at Winchester Mystery House

Does Festival Fright Nights boost the PKE readings inside San Jose’s famous haunted attraction?

To hear frightened Reddit users tell it, the scariest thing about Festival Fright Nights is the prospect of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group taking over Winchester Mystery House’s annual Halloween haunt: Thirteenth Floor? They ruin everything! They just take existing haunts, scale back the budget, and raise the ticket prices! 

Were they right? Read on to find out…if you dare!

Festival Fright Nights Review: Organized House Haunting

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We approached Festival Fright Nights with a simmering sense of dread, not so much because of Thirteenth Floor’s involvement; more because Winchester Mystery House’s annual Halloween haunt has been, in our estimation, slowly but steadily declining since 2019’s Unhinged (one of our all-time favorites). In particular, last year’s Unhinged Hotel offered an interesting concept and lots of atmosphere, but it felt a bit like walking through a haunted house where half the ghosts had been exorcised, and what remained seemed often out of place (a yeti in an icy tunnel – in a haunted hotel?).

Much as we might enjoy bashing the corporate Goliath buying up haunts nationwide, Festival Fright Nights raised our spirits, in addition to raising the spirit of Sarah Winchester and many other long-dead inhabitants. Thirteenth Floor utilizes the house and its surrounding property in clever ways, yielding a full evening’s worth of eerie entertainment. It’s not radically different from its predecessors, but the presentation has been organized in a way that makes for a comfortable user experience, allowing one to savor the scares in judicious bites without growing exhausted within the seemingly endless corridors of the famous tourist attraction.

Basically, Festival Fright Nights is divided into a handful of walkthrough experiences (billed as Acts I, II & III), which are laid out in a linear fashion so that you go from one to the next in order, with small breaks in between to take a breath, use a restroom, or stop for food and drink. This is different from previous years when the Halloween experience consisted of a single 90-minute walk through the house coupled with some kind of entertainment on the surrounding grounds that could be enjoyed before or after the tour.

The linear approach eliminates the free-roaming aspect to the outdoor portion of the haunt (which we enjoyed), but it pays off. Instead of roaming the grounds hoping you don’t miss some little bonus attraction, you follow a path from beginning to end, ensuring that you experience everything you paid for, both inside and outside the mansion.

This flow alleviates some of the waiting. Entry is still timed, but it’s not policed closely; it just keeps everyone from arriving at once. Previously, you would be placed in a group of ten-to-twenty people and then wait for your specific entry time; now you just get in line when you arrive and proceed into the haunt as soon as the line allows (obviously, wait times depend on whether you buy General Admission of VIP tickets).

There is one area where you can wander at your leisure, a sort of improvised food court with barbecues and mobile bars. Here you can enjoy one of the bonus attractions (axe throwing) for an additional fee, peak inside the stables, or just relax before you head back inside the Mystery House for more horror.

All in all, it is a nice way to cover a lot of territory without feeling rushed or confused. With that downside eliminated, it is easy to fully enjoy every fright the festival has to offer.

Festival Fright Nights Review: The Full Experience

This section takes you through the entire Festival Fright Nights experience, including VIP privileges and add-on options.

Arriving at Winchester Mystery House, you see that parking has been moved to a structure across the street. The venue’s own lot now serves to process visitors before they enter the haunt, and it is very efficient at checking you for weapons and checking you in. After that you move through a gate to the front grounds instead of heading into the gift shop as in years past.

This is where Festival Fright Night begins, with lines for General Admission and VIP leading into the house for a sinister masquerade…

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Festival Fright Nights Review: Maestro’s Masquerade Ball (VIP Only) & Masquerade of Shadows (General Admission)

Besides front-of-the-line privileges, VIP tickets grant access to the Maestro’s Masquerade Ball, which consists of complimentary cocktail (Black Widow Lemonade, available with and without vodka) on the porch outside followed by passage through the front entrance. Inside, you can finish your drink while glancing at a few roped-off rooms (including one haunted by a projected ghost). There may also be a costumed character lurking behind one of the ropes, but little else is happening. VIP ticket holders are given masks, so presumably the concept is that you will form an impromptu party with your fellow guests, but mostly you will find yourself swiftly downing your drink in order to move onto the main portion of the walkthrough (your complimentary cocktail is not allowed past the front rooms).

Consider the Maestro’s Masquerade a prelude to the main event, of which the First Act is the Masquerade of Shadows (available to general admission ticket holders).A costumed hostess invites you to proceed; your path quickly leads through a gaping hole in a brick wall, taking you to a variety of rooms where you will encounter masked partygoers and a servant or two. The concept is that you are back in 1924, a couple years after the death of Sarah Winchester, so Winchester Mystery House is allowed to play itself with little additional Halloween decor. The authentic atmosphere is unbeatable, but some rooms lack sinister lighting, making them seem hardly haunted.

The masquerade theme is nice but would have benefitted from higher population density – you never find yourself in a ballroom filled with mad, masked revelers. The overall vibe is more eerie than shocking: characters flitter and flirt, sometimes mocking guests for not wearing their masks, but seldom delivering scares. We’re fine with the subtle approach, but it requires more creepy interaction to get your skin crawling.

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Eventually, you encounter the Maestro who leads you to the “greatest creation ever seen,” which looks like a mysterious portal to another dimension or perhaps the afterlife. There is also a chanting mystic warning you not to trust the Maestro and summoning spiritual forces to protect you. The portal effect is very nice, and the scene offers a memorable highlight to the Masquerade of Shadows.

Is that enough to make up for the low ghost-to-room ratio? Not quite, but you will feel you got something worthwhile.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: Speakeasy (Separate Pass Required)

Partway through the Masquerade of Shadows is an entrance to the Speakeasy, which requires a special pass for an additional fee of $5. This is not included with VIP admission, which makes sense because the Speakeasy is located shortly after the Maestro’s Masquerade Ball, which means you will have just chug-a-lugged your complimentary Black Widow Lemonade before having the opportunity to buy another cocktail. Three options are available, two cocktails and one mocktail.

The speakeasy itself is fairly nondescript – a mobile bar in a smallish room lit in ghastly red – but there is a nice view of the outside through a window lit in ghastly purple hues. Basically, this is for non-VIP ticket holders who want to fortify their courage before completing the Masquerade of Shadows walkthrough. There is no seating, but you can take a breather and nurse your drink before proceeding.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: The Root of All Evil (General Admission)

Act II, The Root of All Evil, is situated in a greenhouse. This provides a change of pace from the other walkthroughs, with lots of plant-based horror.

The setting is convincing, and there is a lot happening inside. Besides a creepy character or two lurking around corners, the interior makes liberal use of small-scale mechanical effects: writhing vines, chomping plants, and a cocooned corpse in the grip of a spider. There is one great jump-scare involving a mechanical figure flailing out of the darkness.

It’s all good creepy-crawly fun, but what puts this one over the top are a couple of oversized mechanical monsters outside the greenhouse, one of which rises to tower above you like an awesome hybrid of dragon and tree, its limbs twisted into rudimentary claws. This attraction has little to do with the ghostly legends of Winchester Mystery House, but who cares when it offers Kong-sized horror on this scale.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: The Underhouse (Separate Ticket Required)

Masquerades and greenhouses are fine for some creepy fun, but what about some real scares? For those, you must purchase a separate ticket to The Underhouse, which is located a short distance from The Root of All Evil. As the name suggests, this one takes you downstairs to the basement, where who knows what awaits.

The gimmick here is simple but surprisingly effective. You are outfitted with a hard hat and a small flashlight. The tiny beam will pinpoint objects and monsters lurking within the almost total darkness, but the pressure required to hold the on button down will strain your fingers beyond endurance. Consequently, the light will never be on more than a few seconds at a time, barely enough to light your way, let alone reveal what’s sneaking up on you before it’s in your face.

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We’ve been through more than one blackout maze, and mostly they are a way to save money. The Underhouse is something much better. The darkness, rather than hiding a low budget, provides black screen upon which you project your fears, while the flashlight proves the horrors are more than mere imagination. There is also just enough ambient light to provide a suggestion of your surroundings, and (as always) the authenticity of the Winchester Mystery House casts its spell over you.

We suspect the darkness multiplied the horrors in our mind beyond those that actually existed. Whether or not that’s true, this one delivered a more visceral level of scare in a form more compressed than we expect from the vast Winchester house. Definitely worth the extra $10.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: Midway (General Admission) and Axe Throwing (Separate Pass Required)

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After The Underhouse, the path leads to the Midway, an outdoor area with food and beverage options. This is the one section of Festival Fright Nights that provides a bit of free-roaming atmosphere. You can saunter through the decorated area, enjoying the Halloween decor while passing an occasional costumed character. Even if you do not stop to eat and drink, it’s a good place to relax and recharge your batteries before heading back inside the house of horrors.

Besides food, the Midway includes Axe-Throwing, which is another upcharge event ($5). Check it out if you have a mind to. Otherwise, those interested in the actual Winchester house can take advantage of the opportunity to check out the stables. Outside of a little eerie lighting, they are not decorated for the season, and nothing nefarious is lurking there. But why not?

When you feel it’s time to move on, find your way to a sign pointing toward “The Last Attraction.” This leads to a spooky outdoor walkthrough, which is not in fact the last attraction but merely a path to The Final Descent, which takes you back into the Winchester house, including another descent into the lower depths.

Worth Mentioning: The Final Descent is the “last attraction” only if you restrict yourself to the walkthroughs available with General Admission. Those willing to pay extra can enjoy one more event at Festival Fright Nights.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: The Final Descent

Serving as Act III, The Final Descent offers another lengthy walk through Winchester Mystery House, and it exploits the location’s inherent spookiness for maximum impact. It begins with a funereal scene, haunted by a woman in black (presumably Sarah Winchester), before heading up and down multiple staircases, including another descent to the basement (with hardhat protection).

Unlike The Masquerade of Shadows, The Final Descent does not expect the antique interiors to do all the work. The space feels haunted from beginning to end. Rooms are lit to embellish their shuddery potential, and numerous ghosts appear, tracking you through the dark or engaging you in brief conversation. One even forces you to choose between two paths, which can separate you from the safety of the group you are travelling with.

Along the way you have a ghostly encounter with a female “philosopher” (more like a good witch) and an evil spirit (who shows up later in the Houdini show). Their dialogue implies an overarching story to Festival Fright Nights, as if explaining the evil force behind the haunting, but the narrative threads were lost upon us. What mattered was enjoying this cool interlude using projection effects to bring the phantoms to life. Perhaps more important, there were enough live actors elsewhere so that we were not left feeling “this is all they’ve got?”

Is The Final Descent an ultra-intense scare-fest? No, but it offers something equally good: a truly immersive sense of wandering through a haunted house – not a fun house or a simulation but the real thing. We’re not saying Winchester Mystery House is truly haunted, just that the experience feels authentic, convincing.

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Festival Fright Nights Review: Do Spirits Return (Separate Ticket Required)

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Following through on Festival Fright Nights’ theme that we are in the year 1924, Harry Houdini Presents ‘Do Spirits Return?’ purports to be a stop on the escape artist’s famous 1924 tour, in which he gave a series of lectures debunking mediums and seances. (It was on this tour that Houdini stopped by Winchester Mystery House. He also gave an interview to a San Francisco newspaper that helped popularize the legend that Sarah Winchester was inspired by an unscrupulous medium to build the house in such a way as to deceive ghosts killed by Winchester rifles.)

Houdini is a no-show (at least when we attended), but the event takes place in the capable hands of an assistant, who seeks audience participation for a seance, in which he will reveal how mediums achieve their allegedly supernatural effects. Needless to say, the demonstration is crashed by a real ghost, leading to terror in the aisles as Houdini’s possessed assistant grabs an axe to threaten the audience. What can stop the malevolent entity…except perhaps intercession by a ghost more at home in the Winchester residence?

With its seance gone wrong, including a blackout section punctuated by brief strobing flashes, Do Spirits Return uses the template of The Summoning of Samuel at Queen Mary Dark Harbor. Regardless of similarity, the Winchester-specific details give this show its own flavor. It’s brief, funny, scary, and worth the extra $10.

 

Festival Fright Nights Review: Conclusion

With its shaky start inside the Masquerade of Shadows, Festival Fright Nights initially had us searching our mental thesaurus for pejoratives – and for more fancy ways of saying there weren’t enough ghosts. The Halloween shows at Winchester Mystery House have been hit-or-miss since 2021, and last year’s presentation almost had us wondering whether we should make the annual trek to San Jose to experience the dwindling ectoplasm of a once-great Halloween attraction.

Bit by bit, however, Festival Fright Nights renewed our belief in things that go bump in the night. Each successive walkthrough and show added its own flair for scare, and almost before we realized, the balanced had flipped in its favor. We are loathe to cite our impressions as facts (walking through a darkened Halloween haunt can be a very deceptive experience), but to us Festival Fright Nights felt more fully inhabited by live actors. Whether there are actually more of them or they are simply utilized in a way that makes them more apparent, you don’t feel like you’re walking through a half-empty haunt desperately hoping for something to be lurking in the next room.

Festival Fright Nights walks a neat line between consistency and variety. Whether it adds up to a real narrative, the overall theme tying the haunt’s elements together does provide some consistency; you never feel as if something was thrown in for its own sake (unlike the abominable snowman in Unhinged Hotel). And though Root of All Evil may have little to do with the ghostly legends surrounding Sarah Winchester, it offers an effective change of pace without intruding upon the Winchester residence itself. Also, the overall experience feels more professional in presentation and production value, edging away from the slightly amateurish feeling that had been creeping in (suggesting a high-quality home haunt rather than a ticketed event).

Memorable scare inside Root of All Evil

One potential issue with Festival Fright Nights is the profusion of separate ticketed events, which are not included with VIP admission. In a way this is good, because it allows visitors to pick and choose specific attractions without shelling the full amount for VIP. Nevertheless, it seems weird that a VIP ticket does not include the whole twinkie (that’s a Ghostbusters reference in case you missed it).

Since we started off making jibes at Thirteenth Floor Entertainment, we’ll admit that it’s a pleasure to have our jaded cynicism proved wrong. In the end, they achieved that goal with Festival Fright Nights.

Festival Fright Nights: Photo Gallery