As Halloween approaches, the ghosts of the city begin to rise. If you’re looking to test your courage or simply want to take this spooky season to the next level, you should head out and explore Toronto’s haunted houses downtown. With cutting-edge animatronics, film-quality set design, and live actors hiding in every corner, these haunted houses downtown will make you jump with fear.
If you’re a fan of horror haunted house downtown Toronto movies and have always wanted to see the real thing, Toronto After Dark is the perfect festival for you. The festival takes place over 5 Thrilling nights and screens around 40 amazing horror features and shorts at the Scotiabank Theatre in downtown Toronto’s Entertainment District. The filmmakers are often in attendance for lively Q&A’s with the audience after the screenings.
One of the longest-running haunted house experiences in Canada, Screemers offers a night of terror and blood-soaked fun for adults and teens. The experience is made up of seven frightful mazes, unlimited rides on the Midway of Madness, and an all-you-can-eat Vampire Lounge with witchy brews and spooky drinks. The experience is not for the faint of heart, and it’s recommended that you bring a group.
The haunted house at Casa Loma gets a scream-inducing makeover with this annual attraction. Guests brave the attraction’s haunted tunnels and the unsettling showrooms of Biolux pharmaceutical facilities as they’re stalked by undead scientists and horrified patients.
A former home of Toronto’s first mayor and leader of the Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada to overthrow British rule, Mackenzie House is one of the most haunted buildings in the city. Many believe that the house is still occupied by the ghost of William Lyon Mackenzie, who died in his bedroom on the second floor of the building in 1861.
This former residence in the Church-Wellesley Village neighbourhood is known for poltergeist activity, including cold spots, opening and closing doors, and mysterious noises. The spectre of a woman wearing a black dress has also been seen at the property.
Martino Manor in Etobicoke is one of the scariest haunted houses in the city and is open on select nights during the month of October until Halloween. The experience includes both an indoor and outdoor mazes, with live actors lurking behind every corner.
This haunted house is the most popular in the area and has a reputation for being extremely harrowing. Located in a dilapidated mansion in the heart of Toronto, the house is filled with disturbing and gruesome scenes that are sure to turn even the strongest of people into screamers. Guests are encouraged to go through the house alone, as the attraction isn’t suitable for groups of friends. A new addition to the attraction this year is the Zombie Apocalypse attraction, a terrifying zombie-themed maze that will have you escaping through the eerie Biolux Pharmaceutical facility.