photo courtesy of old tucson studios Old Tucson Studios' Fright Fest features rides, a haunted house, a maze and a "Jerry Springer"-like talk show for monsters. In case you were wondering, monsters live in trailers too.

Old Tucson's Fright Fest replaces Nightfall

Where in Southern Arizona can you find a haunted house, monsters on the prowl and costumed kids of all ages dressed to (gulp) kill?

Fright Fest at Old Tucson Studios is the place to get all your tricks, treats and laughs this Halloween season.

Each October, OTS transforms from a quaint old west theme park to a frightfully playful environment for families and friends to get their fix of devilish shows, rides and activities.

Get there early though - Fright Fest attracts many hundreds of patrons every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from all over Pima County and beyond.

Originally called Nightfall, Fright Fest operates every weekend from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. (10 p.m. Sundays).

"We're in our 15th year this season and are the number one attended event in Tucson," said Joan Liess, spokesperson for OTS. "We have seven shows as well as rides, games and characters."

Good for a scare or a ghoulish surprise, the creepy characters at the event include Frankensteins, werewolves and chainsaw-wielding madmen.

The shows, rides and walk-thrus at Fright Fest are rated for their scariness on a map handout of the park that you get upon entering. One skull means that the event is suitable for all ages. Two skulls mean more parental guidance, and a rating of three might only be suitable for some older children.

For pure entertainment, guests can check out Scary Slinger, a play on TV's Jerry Springer. Scary's trash-talking monsters get gruesomely personal as the audience encourages. Also, crowds can check out Frightmares: Dead Again, a musical featuring zombie-like performers cutting a rug to some of your favorite scary hits like "Monster Mash" and "Thriller".

Really into audience participation? Check out OTS's Town Square, where perched high atop a building are two trash-talking gargoyles who just love to egg on the crowd below and play some tricks of their own.

If you're looking for a ride, Fright Fest has what you're looking for. "We've modified our train and mine cart rides especially for the event," said Liess. Check out OTS's Iron Door Mine which provides brave audiences with a tour through a creepy underworld. The OTS train (the Unlucky #13 of course) has been likewise modified to bring guests around the park and catch a glimpse of the studio's festive and frightful decorations.

If you're really adventurous though, there's a pitch-black maze not too far off from the main Town Square. Operated out of a tractor-trailer, guests go through a sinister maze in complete darkness, and some monstrous things await unsuspecting guests within.

As festive and devilish as Fright Fest and Nightfall have been, the event almost didn't happen this year. Due to budget cuts, the weeklong Nightfall had to be shortened to only a weekend event.

Old Tucson Studios CEO Pete Manglesdorf explained that this year, the event was only to be limited to a few private banquets.

"The feedback from our guests regarding the cancellation of Nightfall prompted us to make this entertainment available to the public as well. So we scheduled the park to be open on the nights we had groups booked. It's a win-win situation," said Mangelsdorf. And so Fright Fest lives again (pun intended), and for 13 nights this October, the event will run its spooky ghost town-themed fun park for all ages.

Fright Fest runs through Halloween, when it will host Tucson's biggest 21+ costume contest. May the best ghoul win.