The Waukee Brief
Every October the same questions come in: what night is trick-or-treat, is there a haunted house in town, and where are the houses that go all out? Here is Halloween in Waukee for 2026, every date checked against the organizer, in one place. We add Waukee events as they post through the month.
Trick-or-treat is Saturday, Oct. 31, 6 to 8 p.m. The haunt in town is Timberline Campground's haunted hall, Friday and Saturday nights all October. For the big scares, Linn's and The Slaughterhouse are about 25 minutes east in Des Moines, and the Tunnel of Terror car wash in West Des Moines is the easy family pick.
Watching for: in past years Waukee police and fire have hosted a Halloween open house at the Public Safety Building, and Shottenkirk Chevrolet has run a trunk-or-treat. Neither has posted a 2026 date yet; we'll add them here when they do.
The biggest list is FrightMaps, where homeowners register their own displays, with a map covering Waukee and the suburbs around it (FrightMaps: Waukee). Only a handful of Waukee homes are registered so far, and listings don't say whether a house is decorating this year, so treat it as a starting route. The best nights are the last weekend of October, when most displays are fully up.
Two more lists fill in through the month. The Des Moines Register is taking nominations for the best-decorated Halloween homes in central Iowa (the Register's call for nominations), and Des Moines Parent keeps a reader-submitted list of metro yard displays (desmoinesparent.com; check the year at the top).
Decorating in Waukee this year? Email your address and a line about the display to [email protected]. We'll add confirmed 2026 houses to this page and share the best ones in the Monday email. We only list a home with the owner's OK.
The Tunnel of Terror at Tommy's Express in West Des Moines (645 S 60th St, about 12 minutes) is a haunted trip through the car wash from the safety of your own car, Oct 23-24 and 30-31, 7 to 9:30 p.m., $21.40 in advance or $25 at the wash. Adventureland's Phantom Fall Fest in Altoona runs a daytime trick-or-treat trail, bubble dance parties and pumpkin painting from noon to 6 p.m. on weekends through Oct 31 (Adventureland). And the pumpkin patches and corn mazes are at their best right now.
These are genuinely scary and built for teens and adults. Nights and prices are for 2026; most sell tickets online, and buying ahead shortens the line.
About 30 minutes northeast, Uptown Ankeny hangs Fright Lights across its historic blocks every evening in October, free, and throws Halloween in Uptown on Thursday, Oct 8, 4 to 8 p.m., with four blocks of trunk-or-treating and a costume contest. For grown-ups, a 21+ haunted trolley leaves Whiskey River in Ankeny on October Friday and Saturday nights, $80 a person (Charters on Vine).
The Waukee Brief is a free weekly email. Every October we run the confirmed trick-or-treat hours, and every December the lights are on the list. Local, useful, no spam.
Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6 to 8 p.m. Waukee moved trick-or-treating from the old Beggars' Night (Oct. 30) to Halloween night starting in 2025.
Yes. Timberline Campground's Haunted Hall of Tortured Twisted Terrors runs Friday and Saturday nights Oct. 2 through 31, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. The metro's bigger haunts, including Linn's and The Slaughterhouse, are about 25 minutes east in Des Moines.
FrightMaps lists homeowner-registered displays in Waukee and the surrounding suburbs, though listings don't confirm the current year. The Des Moines Register and Des Moines Parent also collect nominations for the best-decorated homes each October.
The Tunnel of Terror at Tommy's Express car wash in West Des Moines is a haunted ride you take from inside your car, Oct. 23-24 and 30-31. Adventureland's Phantom Fall Fest in Altoona runs a daytime trick-or-treat trail from noon to 6 p.m. on fall weekends.
More for the season: pumpkin patches & corn mazes · Waukee holidays & the joke-for-candy tradition · what's on this week · events calendar
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