Haunted houses and Halloween nights in New Orleans, and where to eat after

Halloween 2026 is a Saturday, and the clocks go back one hour at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 1. The Saints are not in town: Halloween weekend is a bye week, and their next home game at the Superdome is November 8. The biggest Halloween crowd downtown comes a week early, when the Krewe of BOO! parade rolls through the French Quarter on Saturday, October 24. The haunted houses are not in the Quarter: they are in Mid-City, Jefferson and Covington on the Northshore. This is the scary half of a night out. The eating half is at the end.

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

The night, in order

Pick the haunt before the costume, because each one runs its tickets differently. At The Mortuary and The Sawmill, the time on a timed ticket is your place in the queue: arrive 30 minutes early, bring the card you paid with and your ID, and expect to go in an hour or more after that time on busy nights. The Sawmill says a weeknight is the way to shorten the wait. City Park sells its Halloween events online only and says Ghosts in the Oaks traditionally sells out weeks ahead. October here is warm, with a normal high of 81°F. The Mortuary and The Sawmill say they may close for bad weather. Eat after, not before. If you are going out on October 24, plan around the parade route in the Quarter and the Warehouse District that evening.

The haunted houses

• The Mortuary Haunted Mansion, Mid-City: a multi-floor haunted house inside a former funeral home on Canal Street. The 2026 show, Through the Looking Glass, is what the operator calls its 20th chapter, with twisted fairy-tale characters, water effects and live snakes and rats. Select nights September 19 to November 7, plus Black Out Fearfest in near-total darkness on November 13. Guests under 18 must be with a legal guardian.
• New Orleans Nightmare, Jefferson: Jason Universe: Survive the Night, an officially licensed Friday the 13th haunt, plus House of Flesh, set in an abandoned city morgue. Select nights September 19 to November 1. The organizer says it may be too intense for children 12 and under, and every guest signs an online waiver.
• The Sawmill Haunted House, Covington: new for 2026 from the creators of The Mortuary, with a swamp sawmill theme at Coquille Parks and Recreation. Select nights October 2 to November 1, opening between 6 and 7:30 p.m. depending on the night and at 6 p.m. on Halloween. The operator notes the times may change.
• Ghost City Tours, French Quarter: the Ghosts of New Orleans Tour leaves the Royal Street storefront at 6 and 8 p.m. nightly and lasts about 90 minutes. It is for all ages, and children 5 and under go free. Two more tours at 7 and 8:30 p.m. are for ages 16 and up.
• Haunted History Tours, French Quarter: the company says it is the original New Orleans ghost tour company, running since 1995. Walking and bus ghost tours last about two hours and meet at Rev. Zombie’s Voodoo Shop on St. Peter Street.
• Bloody Mary’s Tours, North Rampart Street: ghost hunts and a séance in its own haunted museum. Tour times and age rules are not on its main page, so check the booking page.

With kids

The city’s big family nights come before Halloween, not on it. Ghosts in the Oaks fills City Park’s Carousel Gardens and Storyland October 15 to 18, 5 to 9 p.m., with unlimited rides and a trick-or-treat path of more than eight stations. City Park’s own answer to whether it is scary is no. Boo at the Zoo at Audubon Zoo runs October 16 to 18 with trick-or-treating for children 12 and under and a haunted house; Friday is Li’l Boo, with an outdoor movie, and last entry is 4 p.m. all three days. The Krewe of BOO! parade on October 24 is free and family-friendly; the krewe suggests a shoulder bag for the throws. On Halloween weekend itself, Spirits in the Park in Covington is a free festival with a Kids Zone, October 30 to November 1, on the same grounds as The Sawmill.

Twenty-one and over

Brews and Boos gives City Park’s rides to adults on October 23 and 24, 8 to 11 p.m., with open beer bars and jambalaya. Everyone must be 21, and tickets are online only. New Orleans Nightmare has a Secret Bar for guests 21 and over, and Ghost City Tours runs a haunted pub crawl for the same age. Halloween New Orleans, in its 43rd year, is an LGBTQ+ Halloween weekend benefiting Project Lazarus, with a costumes-required party at The Fillmore on October 31, 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. The Endless Night Vampire Ball fills the House of Blues on Halloween night with a dress code the organizer says it strictly enforces. The Monster Mash at Generations Hall is the parade’s after-party on October 24. Those last three do not print an age limit on their event pages, so read the ticket page first.

What is not open this year

House of Shock has not announced a 2026 season, and its website still shows copy from its 25th season advertising attractions new for 2017. Scout Island Scream Park in City Park has not announced one either; The Mortuary team lists it among its past attractions.

The full list

Dates, ticket rules, ages and addresses for every one of these, plus the Krewe of BOO! second line and the Zombie Run on parade morning, are on my beat, not a restaurant site’s. The full New Orleans haunted house and Halloween events guide on Mr. Fear has all 16 listings checked against each organizer’s own page, with the links to buy.

Where to eat after

The French Quarter and the Warehouse District sit at the river end of Canal Street, the same street as The Mortuary in Mid-City, and the ghost tours start a few blocks away. These kitchens close at 10 p.m. on Saturday, so they fit after an early haunt ticket or the 8 p.m. ghost tour, not after midnight. These three are on the Top of New Orleans best restaurants list. The scores are theirs, not mine.