Turning the corner in the Southwest Territory, spiderwebs float along the wood columns, and fog obstructs the path. A clown jumps out and screams, while the people exiting the tunnel sprint away, giggling anxiously. This is the scene at Six Flags Fright Fest, a Halloween tradition for many teenagers.

Fright Fest is a Halloween-oriented event held annually at Six Flags theme parks in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Many people attend, including me. Usually, Fright Fest operates for more than a month, 45 days to be exact. This year, the festival started on September 17 and ended on Halloween, October 31. During Fright Fest, park guests can enjoy the usual amusement park attractions with the added bonus of Halloween haunts.

For example, at Six Flags Great America, actors in make-up and costumes, many of them terrifying, are “released” from a big door for a Halloween parade. The entire park is decorated for the holiday, which really sets the whole mood for the spooky season. At night, there are many smoke machines that are located around the map, so when guests walk through a tunnel, white, cloudy smoke splashes their faces. As patrons walk around, they may see many fake clowns, skeletons, and spider webs scattered everywhere.

Spooky decor is just one of the ways Six Flags sets the experience. A large part of the entertainment involves the actors who are hired to chase guests as they walk from one ride to the next. While the idea of actors chasing guests around the park may sound odd to those who have never been, their participation in Fright Fest is a large part of the experience. These employees try to jumpscare guests when they least expect it, which lends a haunted house feeling to the park experience.

While all the above may sound exciting, keep in mind that while a general admission adult ticket to Six Flags costs $49.99, the “Admission + Haunted Attractions Pass” costs $59.99 per person. This additional pass allows Fright Fest attendees to ride rollercoasters and go into haunted houses when they open. So, there is a bit of an upcharge for the full Fright Fest experience.

This year, many guests, myself included, felt Fright Fest was not worth the hype. The prices (not just admission, but food and beverage, too) and high, and the lines are long. Someone attending might only manage to go on four or five rides in a single day because the crowds are so extreme.

“There are not that many things that I liked about Fright Fest this year, but the only things that I liked were the decorations, all of the red lights with the smoke made everything come alive for the spooky season,” said senior Jasmine Munoz.

The Fright Fest haunted houses were not worth the long wait. The first one I went to was located inside of Southwest Territory: Manslaughter Manor. Once I entered it, there was an extensive line circulating throughout a large room. There were so many people that I could not even tell which way the line was moving: it was a mess. After almost two hours of waiting, I finally entered the haunted house and while I enjoyed it, I was angry that the actual experience (excluding wait time) did not even last five minutes.

In total, I went to three haunted houses and was there until closing time, which was at 10 p.m. None of the haunted houses open until 6 p.m., however, so I averaged about one haunted house per hour. Of the three, only the clown-themed haunted house, Big Top Terror, made my trip to the park worth the money and drive. This haunted house was filled with frightening clowns, and there was no one in line when I entered the building, a small miracle. Now I am absolutely scared of clows, so the attraction was horrifying for me.

My overall park experience might have also been soured by the fact it started raining at the park thirty minutes before closing, which promoted my cousins and I to run to our final attraction, hoping not to slip.

“Hopefully, next year’s Fright Fest is way better. I think that if we go to different haunted houses, we can have more fun,” said my fellow park attendee Juan Garcia.

After this year’s Fright Fest at Six Flags, I can only recommend going for the rollercoasters, not for the haunted houses. There are a good number of haunted houses around Illinois that are worth visiting and that will for sure fulfill your desire for frights during spooky season – I suspect these other haunted houses will provide more bang for your buck.

Additionally, it seems guests at Six Flags Great America have to deal with racism, too. The park caused a stir a couple of weeks ago, when a group of white teens was seen at Six Flags Great America wearing Blackface and racially harassing park visitors by asking them if they liked their face paint. The teens were accused of Airdropping racist memes and slurs to troll whoever was in the immediate area. Most recently, the mother of one of the teens apologized for the incident but claimed her son was just using black eye paint to look like a zombie.

A user tweeted a post about the incident, “Hi, Grant Bulldogs! One of your students, Isaac Handley, decided it would be funny to go to Six Flags in blackface and ask some black children if they liked his and his friend’s painted faces. This is disgusting behavior!”

Under that, that same user also added, “Also, Isaac and his friends airdropped some racist memes while waiting in line for a ride. Here is a photo of Isaac and his friends in blackface and one of the memes that were airdropped to black kids.”

So, beware: if you go to Six Flags Great America’s Fright Fest, there will be an awful number of long lines, and the waiting time for attractions is not so fun. If you want to waste your time and money, then go ahead, but I will skip next year’s event.