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

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday. World of Khaos in Tyler and Doc Wilkes House of Horrors in Longview are both open that night, and World of Khaos opens once more on Sunday, November 1. Clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. that Sunday, at the end of Halloween night. The East Texas haunts sit along Interstate 20: one in Tyler on East Oakwood Street, one in Kilgore and one in Longview, both east of Tyler and each under an hour away. A farm west of Tyler in Canton turns spooky after dark. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end, back in Tyler.

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

The night, in order

Pick the haunt first, because the nights and the rules differ. World of Khaos sells tickets at its booth with no refunds, and the booth closes at midnight. Doc Wilkes sells online and at the gate. Imminent Doom sells online but has not posted its exact nights, so check its site before you drive to Kilgore. If you want to eat after, go early. The three kitchens at the end of this guide close at 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and World of Khaos and Doc Wilkes open at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The other choice is to eat first and take a late ticket. If you are planning a three-haunt night, Doc Wilkes, Imminent Doom and Graystone Scream Park in Longview make up the new Triangle of Terror, and Imminent Doom says guests who show all three wristbands at the last one get a free themed prize. Graystone has not posted its 2026 season, so the full set may not be possible yet. On the Rose Festival weekend, October 15 to 18, allow extra time to reach World of Khaos. Late-October nights are cool, with an average low of about 57 degrees.

The haunted houses

• World of Khaos, Tyler: two haunted houses on one ticket at 816 East Oakwood Street. INHUMANE is set in a clinic that offers experimental treatments, and FREAK’D is a circus freak-show house. Fridays and Saturdays, October 2 to 31, 7 p.m. to midnight, plus Sunday Blackout nights, October 4 to November 1, 7 to 10:30 p.m. On Halloween it opens at 7 p.m. and has not posted a closing time. A Fast-Pass is sold, and the organizer recommends ages 10 and up.
• Doc Wilkes House of Horrors, Longview: the organizer says 2026 is its 24th year and calls it East Texas’ oldest haunted attraction. One ticket covers four attractions: the house, the Ringmaster Madness circus haunt, The Boneyard Theater and the Fright Show Museum. September 25 and 26, then Thursdays to Saturdays through October 31. Fridays and Saturdays run 7:30 p.m. to midnight, Thursdays 7:30 to 10 p.m. Photos are allowed only in the museum, and no age guideline is published.
• Imminent Doom Haunted House, Kilgore: in its second season, off Interstate 20 next to East Texas Carports. The organizer describes nearly 13,000 square feet with live actors and animatronics, and one ticket covers three walkthroughs: Hacksaw Creek, Midway Massacre and Hex Ov Skeledemon. Open September 25 to October 31, nights and hours not yet posted. It warns of intense audio, dim lighting and high-impact scares.
• Yesterland Farm Spooktacular Nights, Canton: Fridays and Saturdays, September 19 to November 1, from dark to 10 p.m., included with Fall Festival admission. The farm rates its night attractions on its own 1 to 5 scare scale, from the Goblin Glow haunted hayride at 2 to Chuckles Clown House at 4 and the Creepy Corn Maze at 5. Timed arrival is required, and all sales are final.

With kids

The farm is the easiest start. Yesterland Farm calls its nights spooky but not gory, children 2 and under get in free, and the hayride rated 2 is a gentler test than the corn maze rated 5. Parktober at Tyler State Park is Saturday, October 24: Spooky Stories with a Ranger at 5 p.m., a costume contest at 5:30 p.m., and ranger-led trick-or-treating through the Big Pine and Lakeview camping loops from 6 to 8 p.m. Bring a flashlight, a candy bucket and a family-appropriate costume, and plan for up to a mile of walking. Jellystone Park in Tyler runs six Halloween weekends, September 25 to November 1, with a haunted trail, a pumpkin patch and trick-or-treating by golf cart, but its Halloween pass is an add-on to a campsite reservation, so treat it as a camping trip.

Ghost tours

The Historic Jefferson Ghost Walk is just over an hour northeast of Tyler. It leaves from The Kahn Hotel, at the corner of Austin and Vale, every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and lasts about an hour and a half, narrated by local historian Jodi Breckenridge. The operator says it has run for 24 years and warns of large crowds in October, so buy ahead online for Halloween weekends. It is a history walk, not a haunted house.

What is not open this year

Nothing is confirmed closed, but four regulars have not posted 2026 dates. Graystone Scream Park in Longview says details for its 16th year are coming soon, and its ticket site still refers to 2025. Caldwell Zoo has removed its Boo at the Zoo page. The downtown Tyler Día de los Muertos celebration and the Historic Haunts and Legends of Longview walking tour have not posted 2026 dates either.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and addresses for every one of these, plus the Texas Rose Festival and the events still waiting on a date, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full Tyler and East Texas haunted house and Halloween guide on Mr. Fear has all 8 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

All three are in Tyler. Two are on Shiloh Road and Oak Hill Boulevard, and Ruby’s is on East Gentry Parkway, so they work after World of Khaos or on the drive back west from Longview and Kilgore on Interstate 20. None of the three serves Sunday dinner, so skip them on a Blackout night. These three are on the Tyler Insider best tacos list. The scores are theirs, not mine.