Oct 2026: The haunted houses are open only on the dates on the operator's calendar, even if an online listing shows hours. Buy a timed ticket in advance, because busy nights sell out.
Brighton Asylum At A Glance...
- Three haunted houses on one ticket, all indoors: Brighton Asylum, Subculture and The Bleeding Grounds.
- A Horror Museum of film-used props and costumes from Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Resident Evil and Underworld.
- The Bleeding Grounds sends you through a second floor of the building that the story says has been sealed off since 1952.
- Escape rooms, a Hack Shack axe-throwing range and horror carnival games on the outdoor midway.
- Todays Sunrise: , Sunset:
- New Jersey Gateway Region Passaic County
About Brighton Asylum
Brighton Asylum is a walk-through haunted attraction on the Passaic and Clifton border, built around the story of a long-closed asylum that has reopened. A single ticket gets you into three haunted houses, all indoors: Brighton Asylum, Subculture and The Bleeding Grounds, a second-floor area of the building that the story calls the staff quarters. The operator describes it as live actors, horror-movie scares and special effects, and says guests report it takes between 40 minutes and an hour to get through all three, at your own pace.
The waiting area and the midway are outdoors. They hold photo ops, roaming characters, a Horror Museum of film-used props and costumes from movies such as Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street, a Fear Shop, horror carnival games, mini escape rooms and axe throwing at the Hack Shack. A higher-priced Scared Stiff package adds the Horror Museum, one escape room and one carnival game to the haunted houses.
The haunted houses run in the fall, with special haunts on a few other nights of the year such as Friday the 13th. The escape rooms run all year, Tuesday through Sunday, by reservation.
How scary is it? The operator calls it the state's scariest haunted house and does not offer a milder version. There is no age limit, and the operator says plainly that it gives no discount for children and that kids must walk through on their own two feet, with no carrying and no strollers. It asks parents to know their kids. Actors will not touch you, though the operator warns that incidental contact can happen in tight spaces, and you must not touch the actors. The houses use many strobe lights, some fog, dim light, moving floors and walls, and stairs.
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Amenities:
- Parking Lot(s)
Rules/Regulations:- Entrance Fee Required
- Dogs Not Permitted
Contact / Location
Special / Seasonal Events
Halloween season is the main event. The haunted houses run on the dates marked on the operator's calendar, from late September through November 1 for 2026, mostly Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and a few weeknights in late October. Outside the fall, the operator runs special haunts on other nights, such as Friday the 13th, and has run Christmas, Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day haunts.
Tips and Tricks
Arrive at the time on your ticket, not earlier, because guests cannot enter the timed waiting area until 15 minutes before it. For the shortest wait, come earlier in the season, on a Thursday or Sunday, or on the last arrival time of the night. A Fast Pass is the only way to avoid the general admission wait on busy nights.
Dress for the weather. The queue lines and midway are outdoors, and only the main queue lines have cover. Leave Halloween masks and large bags in the car, since masks, hoods and handheld items are not allowed inside and only small purses and shoulder bags may come in. No photos, video, flashlights, food or drink inside the houses, and no heels or flip-flops. There are no lockers.
The operator does not recommend the houses for anyone who is pregnant or has asthma, heart, joint, back, neck, anxiety, sensory or neurological conditions, or epilepsy, because of the strobe lights and the walking, stairs and moving floors. It does not allow casts, leg braces or crutches inside. Guests in a secured wheelchair are let in with a guide. The Bleeding Grounds on the second level is not wheelchair accessible, and the operator provides bypasses for rooms a guest cannot go through.
Admission & Guidelines
Buy tickets online ahead of time. It is the only way the operator guarantees entry, and tickets are sold by arrival time and in limited numbers. Prices are on the operator's ticket pages.
General admission and Fast Pass tickets include all three haunted houses. The Scared Stiff package adds the Horror Museum, one Fear Pressure escape room and one horror carnival game. The 60 minute escape rooms are sold separately. Group rates start at 20 tickets. There are no child discounts.
The time on your ticket is an arrival time, not an entry time, and a general admission ticket does not skip the line. Only a Fast Pass lets you skip the general admission line. Groups enter 10 at a time at most, and larger groups are split up. Everyone signs a waiver before entry, and a parent or adult guardian signs for minors. Guests are wanded by security at the entrance, and anyone 18 or older with an advance ticket shows ID.
Hours / Season of Operation
For 2026, the haunted houses are open on the dates marked on the operator's calendar. They start Friday and Saturday, September 25 and 26, then run Friday and Saturday every weekend in October with Sundays on October 4, 11, 18 and 25, and also open on Thursday, October 22, Wednesday, October 28, Thursday, October 29 and Sunday, November 1. The haunted houses are closed on other days, even when an online listing shows hours.
Nightly opening and closing times are on the operator's Dates and Hours page. The haunted houses stay open past box office closing time, and guests must be on site 15 minutes before the posted box office close. The operator says the haunted houses are open rain or shine. The escape rooms are open all year, Tuesday through Sunday, with reservations required.
Quieter nights are earlier in the season and on Thursdays and Sundays. The operator says Friday and Saturday nights near Halloween can sell out and run to a one to two hour wait in line.
Parking
The haunted house is at the back of 2 Brighton Avenue. Do not use Sade Street to enter, and if you see a Manhattan Marketing sign you are at the front of the building and need to go around to the back. The operator offers limited free on-site parking, so book an early arrival time to use it. During the Halloween season only, a free parking lot and shuttle run from Clifton High School at 333 Colfax Avenue in Clifton, about a 4 minute bus ride, with shuttles about every 10 minutes until the last guest is dropped back off. The shuttle does not run for the escape rooms or for the haunts outside the fall.
Do not park in neighboring business lots. The operator says cars in the next-door lot will be towed. Follow the haunted house parking signs and the attendants.
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Nearby Places
- Brighton Asylum (~0 miles)
- Memorial Park (~2 miles)
- Yogi Berra Stadium (New Jersey Jackals) (~3 miles)
- Brookdale Park (~3 miles)
- Presby Memorial Iris Gardens (~3 miles)
- Garret Mountain Reservation (~3 miles)
- Mills Reservation County Park (~4 miles)
- Montclair Hawk Lookout (~4 miles)
- Anderson Park (~4 miles)
- Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park (~4 miles)
- Van Vleck House and Gardens (~5 miles)
- MetLife Stadium (~5 miles)
Passaic, New Jersey 07055