Time to get ready for fall events before they sell out. That includes Old Tucson’s “Nightfall 2025 — 33 Years of Fear.”
This “Nightfall” is not the kind that happens after dusk. Instead, this one guarantees to scare the living daylights out of anyone.
The terror begins Thursday, Oct. 2, and runs every Thursday to Sunday in October. Timed entries begin at 4:20 p.m.
“My name is Dabney the Clown and ‘Nightfall’ belongs to me,” the nightmarish clown said. “In my ‘Nightfall,’ fear is fun, and fun is integral to just about everything I bring to the table.”
General manager Tony Sanders said now is the best time as tickets are priced to move.
“Right now, until Sept. 1, we have a great deal on season passes,” he said. “These season passes are $99, but they get you unlimited admission to ‘Nightfall’ and ‘Yuletide.’ That’s 19 days of ‘Nightfall’ and 26, 27 days of ‘Yuletide’ this year. They also come with two bring-a-friend tickets to bring a friend for free.”
After Sept. 1, the price increases to $119.
Regular ticket prices are $29 for adults and children ages 5 to 12 on bargain Thursdays. Fridays to Sundays, adults can get in for $44 and children ages 5 to 12 may come in for $34. Children 4 and younger may enter for free. Parking is free.
The antique autos are back. New attractions include a Halloween-focused train ride, a family adventure on the Pony Express, the classic carousel and The Old Tucson Petting Zoo.
However, if guests would like extra special treatment, they should purchase the 2025 “Nightfall” R.I.P. package for $99.
“It gives you a host of special perks and benefits,” Sanders said.
That ticket buys admission for one night with no timed entry, a skip-the-line pass at seven attractions, including all the haunted houses and multiple rides and attractions. RIP passholders have reserved seating for all the shows. They will receive a souvenir cup with free soda refills, beer specials, discounts on food, merch and carnival games. Guests with an R.I.P. pass will also get special parking and an exclusive entrance to “Nightfall.”
Three haunted houses sit on the property. There’s Dabney’s Hell House.
“Our icon of evil for 2025 is none other than Dabney the Clown,” Sanders said. “Dabney’s Hell House really has a lot to offer the guests when they come in. Fear is fun, as we’ve said, and the clowns of ‘Nightfall’ are in control. Under the direct command of Dabney the Clown, this sinister terror troop will stop at nothing to inflict as much fear as possible on our guests.”
Then there’s the asylum.
“The asylum is Jebediah Hyde’s place to be,” he said. “He has returned, and he’s reopened his father’s madhouse for the criminally insane. This hospital of evil, shrouded in a dark history of mistreatment, despair and experiments beckons the brave to uncover its chilling secrets.”
Finally, stop at Inferno.
“Inferno puts unsuspecting guests and thrusts them into the hellfire pits of the underworld,” Sanders said. “These pits are where many unfortunate souls get trapped for an eternity. On their journey guests will encounter rotting corpses, sinister demons and ghastly spirits looking for an escape.”
There are three scare zones including Carnival Row, which guests experience right as they enter the park. Look for the Cult of Crows, a mysterious maze inhabited by a band of dedicated cultists. Then there’s the Witch of the West, a coven of witches who have found a new home in the alleyways of “Nightfall.”
There will be an opening scare-a-mony, a “Nightfall” magic show, an audience-interactive, musical game called the Judgment, a light show and a seance where guests can sit down with the Rev. Templeton and Lady Theadora as they try to communicate with a haunted doll.
The park is all about fun.
“‘Nightfall’ is about to get a whole lot more fun and you remember what fun means,” Dabney the Clown said. “Fear is fun”
Nightfall 2025 – 33 Years of Fear
WHEN: Various times Thursdays through Sundays beginning Oct. 2
WHERE: Old Tucson, 201 S. Kinney Road, Tucson
COST: Visit website for information
INFO: oldtucson.com/nightfall-2025/
This article appears in Aug 7-14, 2025.