PROSPECT, MAINE, Maine — Fright at the Fort is returning to Fort Knox for its 21st year. The annual haunted house is back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. The spooky fun kicks off this Saturday night.
The 160-year-old Civil War-era fort is getting a makeover for the month of October. Dean Martin, director of Friends of Fort Knox, said he considers it a PG-13 level of scary.
From start to finish, the haunted house takes about 20 minutes. It features all kinds of props, some new and some old, as well as several spooky characters jumping out at visitors along the way.
Martin said there's a new ticket limitation this year.
"Tickets are only available online, and they're limited to 3,000 tickets a night and 1,000 tickets an hour, so we're doing it hourly starting at 5:30-6:30, 6:30-7:30, 7:30-8:30 ... The idea is we control the amount of traffic in here because, in the past, that was a parking lot behind me; that whole bridge for about two hours in every direction there was nobody moving; the cars were stalled waiting to get into Fright," he explained.
Martin added there are only about 250 parking spots in their lot, so the more people carpool, the better.
Martin warned that there would be strobe lights, fog machines, and uneven surfaces throughout the haunted house, so it may not be suitable for everyone.
If you can't make it this weekend, it's happening on the following Friday and Saturday nights (the last two weekends of October).
Tickets must be purchased online ahead of time. For more information, click here.
If scary characters with chainsaws following you around a haunted house isn't your vibe, the fort also hosts daytime scavenger hunts, which Martin said are better suited for younger kids. Kids attending the scavenger hunt are encouraged to dress up in costumes. Each visitor receives a list of monsters to find around the fort, plus a bag of candy at the end.
All money raised for these events goes toward supporting Friends of Fort Knox, a nonprofit that preserves the fort and grounds it sits on.