The Tulsa Metro celebrates Halloween in a big way, with something for everyone. From HallowZOOeen at the Tulsa Zoo and Brookside’s giant free BooHaHa celebration to library truck-or-treats, Woodward Park carnivals, and dozens of community trunk-or-treat events, there is no shortage of safe, fun, and mostly free ways to spend the season with kids. As a Top 100 Tulsa Realtor who has helped families settle into neighborhoods across the metro, I get asked every October where the best events are, so here is my honest local guide to the Halloween happenings I send my clients and my own friends to enjoy.
Tulsa Zoo, Oct 24-25 and 29-31, 2026, with daytime and nighttime sessions, Goblin Stops, carnival games, and the Haunted Train
Brookside parade and trick-or-treat on Peoria Avenue, Saturday Oct 24 from 9 a.m. to noon, free and open to everyone
Free community events like Hardesty Library's Touch-a-Truck and Woodward Park's Arbooooretum carnival run mid-to-late October
The Hex House, the 13th Ward in Broken Arrow, and Psycho Path near Sperry run their seasons through early November
The Two Big Dates to Circle
October 24, 2026 is the day the Tulsa Metro does Halloween. Both HallowZOOeen at the zoo and Brookside BooHaHa land on that same Saturday, which means you may have to make a choice, or get very good at splitting the weekend. Here is what you need to know about both.
HallowZOOeen at the Tulsa Zoo
Tulsa's marquee Halloween event for all ages, and it is the first thing I tell new clients to circle. The zoo transforms into a spooky-but-not-too-scary nighttime experience on Oct 24-25 and Oct 29-31, 2026, with kids collecting treats at Goblin Stops throughout the grounds, carnival games at the Pumpkin Patch and Arachnid Arcade, themed play areas, and the always-popular Haunted Train. Tickets go on sale in advance and the popular nights sell out, so grab yours early. If you want a calmer version, the daytime sessions are perfect for toddlers and little ones who are not quite ready for the dark.
Brookside BooHaHa
The other big date is also Saturday, Oct 24, 2026, and it is completely free. BooHaHa takes over Peoria Avenue in the Brookside District from 9 a.m. to noon with what is billed as one of Oklahoma's largest Halloween celebrations: a costume parade, trick-or-treating along the shops, inflatables and games in the Kid's Zones, face painting, and costume contests. It draws a huge crowd, so arrive early for parking and expect it to be busy and fun. Brookside is one of my favorite neighborhoods to show buyers precisely because of community events like this, and I cover the area in my full Brookside neighborhood guide.
Free Community Events: Library and Park Events
Some of the best Halloween events in the metro cost nothing at all. These are the ones I recommend when you want festive fun without the crowds or the price tag:
Touch-a-Truck: Truck or Treat
Saturday, Oct 17, 2026, 9:30-11:30 a.m. at Hardesty Regional Library, put on by the Tulsa City-County Library. Kids explore real vehicles and collect candy handed out from them, costumes are encouraged, and it is entirely free. For truck-obsessed little ones, this is the highlight of their whole October.
Arbooooretum: (Tree) Trunks and Treats
Friday, Oct 23, 2026, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Woodward Park Arboretum, a free community carnival hosted by the Tulsa Garden Center with games and activities from local plant societies and nonprofits. It is a gentle, low-key evening event that is ideal for preschoolers, and the arboretum is gorgeous in late October. My guide to Tulsa's best parks covers Woodward Park and the rest of the metro's green spaces.
Community trunk-or-treats across the metro
The weekend before Halloween, churches, civic groups, fire stations, and neighborhoods across Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Bixby, Jenks, and Owasso host dozens of free trunk-or-treat events in parking lots, with car trunks decorated and candy passed out from behind them. They tend to run 5:30-8 p.m., are wonderfully low-pressure for shy kids, and many add games, face painting, and costume parades. The Tulsa City-County Library and Tulsa Parks publish free Halloween event schedules every October, so check those calendars as the month gets closer.
When the Kids Are Older: Local Haunts Worth the Drive
If your crew has aged out of the pumpkin patch and wants real scares, the Tulsa Metro has a solid haunted house circuit every October. These are the ones locals actually go to:
The 13th Ward Haunted Attraction
In Broken Arrow, about 20 minutes from downtown Tulsa, with a 30,000-square-foot facility and multiple walk-through haunts. It is a real adrenaline experience, so save this one for teenagers and adults. If your house hunt has you looking at Broken Arrow, the close-to-everything location is one more thing buyers like about the area, which I break down in my complete Broken Arrow guide.
The Hex House
In west Tulsa off I-44, running its 2026 season from late September through early November with multiple haunted experiences at one venue. Expect intense, theatrical scares and long queues on October weekends; it is strictly for older kids and adults who love a good fright.
Psycho Path Haunted Attraction
Just north of Tulsa in Sperry, a dark-ride-through-the-woods haunt that leans into the outdoors. It runs its regular season through October and offers special Lights Out nights on Oct 30-31, 2026, where you navigate parts of the trail in the dark. Worth the short drive north for thrill seekers.
A bit farther afield: TwistedRoots and the Castle of Muskogee
If your crew really loves haunts, Muskogee is about 45 minutes away and is home to the TwistedRoots mile-long trail and the Castle of Muskogee, Oklahoma's largest haunted event with roughly a dozen attractions plus food vendors. Families who are visiting on a weekend often pair one of these with a day trip, since the drive also takes you through some of eastern Oklahoma's prettiest fall country.
My Halloween Event Strategy
Buy HallowZOOeen tickets as soon as they go on sale; the weekend nights sell out and resale prices climb fast. For BooHaHa, get there by 8:30 a.m. if you want easy parking, and bring a wagon if you have little ones, since Peoria gets crowded. The weekday library and garden events are the sleeper hits, quiet enough for toddlers to actually enjoy the games. And Oklahoma October weather is a coin flip, so check the forecast and plan a costume layer for anything from 80 degrees to a cold snap. If you are new to the area and want the full season, pair any of these with my guides to fall harvest fun and pumpkin patches and the broader fall festival calendar.
Why Halloween Is a Sneaky-Good Time to Explore Neighborhoods
Here is the Realtor angle you will not read in most event roundups: Halloween is one of the best weeks of the year to judge a neighborhood as a buyer. On Halloween night, you see the real character of a street. Which blocks have sidewalks and streetlights, which blocks draw trick-or-treaters by the dozens, how close neighbors actually are to one another, and whether porch lights are left on and driveways stay open. That is community data you cannot get from a listing photo.
I tell relocation clients to pick a neighborhood, drive through it on the evening of Oct 31, and watch how it behaves. A street full of porch lights and costumed kids tells you more about community fit than a school rating ever will. If you are thinking about moving to the Tulsa Metro, start with the community overview I put together, then let us get you out here in person to see the neighborhoods for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is HallowZOOeen at the Tulsa Zoo in 2026?
HallowZOOeen runs Oct 24-25 and Oct 29-31, 2026, with daytime and nighttime sessions. Kids collect treats at Goblin Stops, play carnival games, and ride the Haunted Train. Tickets are sold in advance and popular nights sell out, so plan ahead.
Is Brookside BooHaHa free?
Yes. BooHaHa is a free Halloween celebration open to everyone on Peoria Avenue in the Brookside District, Saturday Oct 24, 2026, from 9 a.m. to noon. It includes a costume parade, trick-or-treating, kids zones with inflatables and games, face painting, and costume contests, and it draws a large crowd, so arrive early.
What Halloween events are best for toddlers and young kids?
For the littlest ones, the daytime HallowZOOeen sessions, Hardesty Library's Touch-a-Truck: Truck or Treat (Oct 17), and the Arbooooretum carnival at Woodward Park (Oct 23) are all gentle, well-lit, and designed for small children. Community trunk-or-treats that begin midafternoon or early evening are also a great low-pressure option.
Are there haunted houses in the Tulsa Metro for older kids and adults?
Yes. The 13th Ward in Broken Arrow, the Hex House in west Tulsa, and Psycho Path near Sperry all run 2026 seasons through October and into early November. For an even bigger outing, TwistedRoots and the Castle of Muskogee are about 45 minutes away. Check each attraction's age policies and content warnings before you commit, since the intensity levels vary a lot.
Written by Jessica Ford, Realtor® | Chinowth and Cohen Realtors