Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest 2021: General Review

Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, CA

Another day, another haunt. After quite a limited amount of haunt updates in September last year due to the Coronavirus outbreak, we're well in the thick of a busy and more typical haunt season coverage this year. And on this first day of autumn, we briefly shift away from Knott's Scary Farm and head up north to the third of our big theme park haunts of Southern California: Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain. We had the privilege of attending the park's media night last Saturday to experience the new offerings from this year's event, and while we encountered surprisingly exorbitant crowds surpassing even past years' non-pandemic Fright Fests, we also found unexpected additions, familiar fiends, and a fun atmosphere anchored by a terrific veteran scareactor cast that made the best out of the staffing challenges that were unfortunately noticeable during our evening's visit.

The relative scarcity of talent in The DeadZone was not unique to just this area.

Lets talk about that last item before we continue with our general review. This year, although the offering of COVID vaccines has greatly mitigated the risk of the Coronavirus for those who are vaccinated and has allowed commercial haunts to open back up after last season's hiatus, the issue of worker shortages--one that has plagued many industries including food services, retail, and hospitality--has also affected professional haunts. This is not endemic to Fright Fest alone. Haunts across the industry have struggled to fill monster rosters to their usual level, and although some places--like Knott's and Universal--have been able to buffer this better, the fact remains that the Coronavirus pandemic has forced all haunts to cautiously and conservatively plan their operations this season, factoring in the possibility that a sudden surge could very well shut them down.

As a result, the pro haunts that have returned this year have all exercised some amount of restraint--be it utilizing more repeat IP's at Halloween Horror Nights, going with only one new maze instead of two at Knott's, or reducing operating hours and/or the length of a season run for some independent haunts. At Magic Mountain, although this year's Fright Fest is scheduled for more evenings than ever before, and the quality of theming and ambiance of the scare zones and mazes has been retained, the give has been staffing. The scare zones and mazes are sparser than in past years, and if multiple performers call in sick on any given night, the scareactor scarcity becomes particularly apparent.

This was unfortunately the sobering case during our Fright Fest experience last weekend. We're giving Magic Mountain a pass for this given the extenuating circumstances of this year. We realize the unsteady footing that haunt planners--who normally have to make decisions on the scale and features of a haunt well over half a year in advance--have had to deal with in plotting out the extents of their haunts in 2021. But we feel a need to acknowledge the issue directly, because as the attrition of a haunt season drags forward, we certainly don't expect conditions to improve.

The talent at the event marched on, still able to inflict big enough scares to some that they had to be carried.

That said, this year's Fright Fest delivers a mixed bag that tries to make the best out of a challenging situation, with a variety of mazes, scare zones, and even some new entertainment offerings in order to stay competitive in the bountiful Southern California haunt market.

The event returns six mazes for 2021--all of them repeats from 2019. But surprisingly and without much initial advertisement, the oldest maze of the bunch has received a dramatic facelift that has catapulted it from the bottom to the top of this year's rankings. Willoughby's Resurrected, in a collaboration with the Discovery+ show, Ghost Adventures, has been rethemed and relit, with an actual audio track overlaying a supernatural explorers story enhancing that we've considered to be a drab and unfulfilling maze in years past. Two rooms in this maze have been completely redone, and the lighting throughout the maze has been cleaned up, amplified, adjusted, and redirected to reveal the details that have always been present.

Willoughby’s Resurrected has received some new effects that have enhanced the story!

The sumptuously lit room of candles and the occult in the second to last room is a photogenic spectacle!

The other five mazes are unchanged, which brings about varying degrees of success.

Across Exile Hill from Willoughby's Resurrected, Sewer of Souls once again takes guests through a colorful cornucopia of a wretched subterranean cesspool, with deformed creatures and ghastly ghouls stalking throughout. The maze is visually stimulating, but it was hurt by the relative emptiness owing to the staffing shortage.

Sewer of Souls is colorful but a bit soulless this year. — Sewer of Souls is colorful bit a bit soulless this year.

Over by Apocalypse, Aftermath 2: Chaos Rising continues to shine through its thoroughly epic quality and large-scaled sets. Magic Mountain veterans will recognize many of the sets pieces from the old Gotham Stunt Show, but their towering size and convincing post-apocalyptic feel really help dial in the immersive environment of this open-air maze. The largest of the park, it also commands the comparatively biggest maze cast, allowing it to weather out the scareactor shortages.

At the front of the park, the trio of Red's Revenge, Vault 666: Unlocked, and Condemned: Forever Damned are also unchanged from the past couple of seasons. Of the three, Vault 666's more recent enhancements make it the standout and most scenically striking. Condemned's scareactors had good energy, although their distribution through the maze was somewhat sparse. That paled in comparison to Red's Revenge, however, which seemed to have half the talent that we've seen in past years, including an unmistakably noticeable absence of Red herself in the climactic scene in the maze where she rails her revenge. It's hard to ignore when a maze's main character is not present.

Red’s Revenge lacking its main character just after Fright Fest opening was endemic of the talent scarcity at the event.

Vault 666 was unchanged from 2019 but still scenically rich.

Condemned: Forever Damned had good scareactor energy.

The mazes aren't the backbone of expectations at this year's Fright Fest, though. That honor goes to the scare zones, which return the same six from 2019 plus two additional zones brand new for this year.

First and most prominent, as announced at Awaken the Spirits, is The DeadZone, located in the Underground themed area housing Magic Mountain's latest addition, West Coast Racers. This scare zone has been structured like a pseudo maze and gauntlet layout, similar to what we've seen at the Metro Backlot area at Halloween Horror Nights, and features a unique, neon-filled, cyberpunk zombie theme. We can't fault Magic Mountain for swinging for the fences, because that's certainly a combination we've never seen before. Unfortunately, the execution doesn't quite hit home for us. Although The DeadZone is very fitting and at home in The Underground, it lacks the talent to make use of the hiding places and angles designed to help enhance the scares. It is also limited to a small portion of the overall Underground area, and, in that sense, feels less like an actual scare zone and more like a half-maze--something dropped in and less organically integrated.

Fright Fest’s newest scare zone, located in The Underground part of the park.

The opposite is the case in the park's other new scare zone, Terror Rising: Dark Developments. Located in Baja Ridge, this domain (also of the undead) is much more effective in establishing a moody and creepy ambiance through the use of tombstones spread across the hilly planting area, dramatic lighting and quick strobes, and carefully placed fog machines that blanketed the uphill stretch with a nice canvas of mist. Unfortunately, Terror Rising suffers from a similar but even more exacerbated problem as The DeadZone--during the two times we passed through this scare zone, we saw a total of two monsters. No matter how visually evocative a scare zone appears, it's not very effective without actual talent. So Terror Rising ended up suffering the inverse of what we observed at Halloween Horror Nights' Chainsaw Rangers scare zone a couple of weeks ago--plenty of theming, but hardly any talent.

The other new kid on the block, Terror Rising, conceived to have “Instagrammable” photo ops. Well, the hilly graveyard looks cool!

Fortunately, where the new scare zones fall short of their potential, the park's favorite returning scare zones pick up the slack.

Nightmares: A Twisted Fantasy once again brings a colorful, blacklight-amplified fantastical aesthetic with delightful street characters from dement versions of your favorite fairy tales. It was great to see the deliberate, stalking movements of the spidery stilt walker, the mischievous in-and-out strikes of Banshee, the unsteady ramblings of the Mad Hatter, and of course, the delightfully wicked musings of our favorite Fright Fest witch, Loraine Loraine. Ask her about her special spa treatments. She can sell her pitch for hours.

Loraine Loraine is a favorite in Nightmares.

Just up from Nightmares, on top of Samurai Summit, Exile Hill returns with its somber, haunting atmosphere made effective simply through the use of fog effects, blue lighting, and an experienced crew of sliders and monsters who excel at catching guests off guard. Principal among these actors is fan-favorite Innocence Willoughby, whose agonizingly slow, unnerving movements and cold, piercing stare leave even the bravest and most macho of guests disturbed and scuttering away. Always in character, and always looking soulless, Innocence is an absolute icon of both Exile Hill and Fright Fest overall.

On the far side of the mountain, in the DC Universe, the clowns are back once again in City Under Siege. This repeatedly acclaimed scare zone was returned to its original form in 2018 after a couple of years under a Suicide Squad overlay, and it continues to fire on all cylinders. How could you not when the area is inhabited by a host of demented, wise-cracking clowns? Flanked by a stream of lasers overhead and a few elements of urban upheaval, City Under Siege transforms the former Gotham City Backlot into a district where maniacal chaos reigns, and we love every second of it. In addition, every Fright Fest evening, an hour before closing, City Under Siege plays host to the awesome Sliders of the Night show--a can't miss for haunt fans.

Blue has taken over City Under Siege, but don’t tell Pink!

In the Metropolis area, between City Under Seige and The DeadZone, Witches Lair returns in a form that has been impacted by current construction underway for SFMM's unannounced next new roller coaster. A half-maze, gauntlet-style scare zone similar to The DeadZone, Witches Lair lacks the real estate of its previous iteration, and as a result is made up of little more than head-height walls and lots of fog, surrounded by a few large cauldrons in adjacent planter areas, and a couple of towering, spooky-looking trees. From a visual perspective, it's disappointing, but the scareactors within try their best and deliver plenty of energy. There were plenty of screams when we passed by during media night, underscoring the effort delivered by the talent that was present.

The extent. of most of the theming at Witches Lair.

Moving back into the Screampunk District, Terrortory Twisted is back for another year of steampunk-inspired horror. The scenic in this area is interesting, though not entirely immersive, but this scare zone also falls victim to a lack of monsters, with only a small handful of mechanized monsters roaming the grounds.

Finally, at Demon's Door, a dual experience describes the night. There is a notable absence of monsters here as well, despite it being the entrance scare zone of the park. But much of the plaza is filled by guests waiting in long lines for funnelcakes or Fright Fest add-on processing. But for the final hour, all the street monsters in the entire park leave their homes and congregate here, offering a most terrifying version of a "kiss goodnight" as only Fright Fest can do! This is a great opportunity to see different scare zone monsters interact with each other, grab a favorite photo op, and just enjoy the general disorder of the best degree when parks' fiends come together.

Monsters gather. at Demon’s Door at the end of the night.

Entertainment-wise, Fright Fest has never really been known for its shows, but the event organizers are trying to turn that around with a couple of new additions this year. Grave Games is a dangerous and daring show featuring acts of crossbows and fire juggling. Meanwhile, Dark Minds is a mentalist show exploring the deep, disturbing thoughts lurking within the darkest depths of the mind. The former won't actually debut until this upcoming weekend, so we did not have an opportunity to see it, while the latter we unfortunately missed because of lack of communication--there are no showtimes on the Fright Fest map (yes, unlike HHN and KSF, Fright Fest is actually offering physical maps this year!), and guests are directed to the Magic Mountain app, but when we perused the app on Saturday, the showtime wasn't there either.

The showtimes for the mentalist show, in case you’re curious.

We were able to check out the returning Fright Fest entertainment, starting with Unleashed, the traditional Fright Fest opening ceremony at 7:00pm where all of the street monsters surge out from their dark and musky holes. This year, the festivities occur at the old Twisted Colossus location, due to construction stretching into DC Universe. It’s a lively event to kick off the evening and a great way to get pumped up for Fright Fest itself!

The Fright Fest monsters emerge at Unleashed!

Throughout the evening, Voodoo Nights alternates a drum show and DJ music with a live cover band called Rose Colored World. Located in Full Throttle Plaza, the show brings a dance party atmosphere that isn't particularly Halloween-ish, but it remains a popular attraction that Fright Fest guests seem to enjoy en masse.

Voodoo Nights once again fills Fright Fest with pulsating dance energy.

Finally, as mentioned above, Sliders of the Night runs an hour before Fright Fest closing in City Under Siege. This intricately choreographed "slider Olympics" show brings together sliders from Demon's Door, Exile Hill, and City Under Siege in an adrenaline-filled stunt show that showcases the talents of Magic Mountain's sliders. And with Dark Harbor no longer in operation, it's the only slider show in Southern California this fall! Sliders of the Night was a huge success in its debut two years ago, and if last Saturday was any indication, that popularity certainly hasn't gone away!

Sliders of the Night is a can’t-miss show.

The sliders give it their all to entertain the crowd!

That brings us to one final topic before we close out this general review: the crowds. Fright Fest is unique among SoCal's big-name Halloween events in that it is not a separate ticket admission. Instead, it is included with general daytime admission, with only the mazes requiring an upcharge for guests who would like to experience them. That means that folks can come for the roller coasters by day and stay for the scare zone frights and PM entertainment by night. It's a great value and clearly, news has caught on, because last Saturday's media night was the most crowded we had ever seen Six Flags Magic Mountain. Numerous food stands had lines stretching dozens of people long, sometimes across the entire pathway, while the more popular sectors of the park had large, packed influxes of people. For anyone who has anxiety around crowds--especially COVID-related anxiety, we cannot in good conscience recommend attending this event, at least not this year. Sunday evenings might be better, since they are traditionally deader nights for haunts in general, but this is a reality that is worth considering.

Lines and long waits were common sights last Saturday.

This. was especially noticeable at food service queues.

Also note that since Six Flags Magic Mountain is located in Los Angeles County, masks are required to be worn at indoor attractions including all five of the indoor Fright Fest mazes (everything but Aftermath 2). In addition, L.A. County will also be mandating proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test for large events of 10,000 guests or more starting Thursday, October 7. Unless Magic Mountain severely caps its capacity, this will apply to Fright Fest, and that may have an impact on the crowd situation if sufficient enough people are dissuaded from attending due to what some perceive as a hassle or a jurisdictional overreach.

Credit the monsters who were present for their enthusiasm and energy.

That concludes an information and commentary-laden overall review of this year's Fright Fest at Six Flags Magic Mountain. This year’s Fright Fest faced a log of challenges—both from COVID and from accelerated schedules and builds. But through it all, it’s the talented cast of monsters that have driven the event forward, even in the face of challenges set in front of them. Despite a disproportionate guest-to-monster ratio, the Fright Fest talent pushes through with their energy, engagement, and commitment, and while the event’s overall line-up has its ups and downs, the monsters that can be found at the event form its highlight.

As we're doing with Knott's and did with Universal, we'll return with a closer look at the mazes, scare zones, and shows. And beyond that, we've got more haunts to come, including Delusion: Reaper's Remorse, Creep L.A., Halloween at Speedzone, and a lot more. So buckle up, because thanks to a heavy return of commercial haunts this year, this haunt train's just getting started!