Reno's Home Haunts: Four Neighborhood Scares Worth the Drive

Every October, a handful of Reno-area families do something unreasonable: they turn their own homes into haunted attractions, staff them with volunteers, open the doors to strangers, and charge nothing. This is the part of the haunt scene that runs on pure love of the craft, and if you’ve never done the home haunt circuit, you’re missing some of the best Halloween in Nevada.

Here are the four we track, all publicly promoted by the haunters themselves.

The Ambush Haunted House (Wingfield Springs, Sparks)

The big one. The Grubb family has spent nearly two decades building a full walkthrough haunt through their entire backyard, with 12 to 15 live actors a night and a front yard ruled by 12-foot skeletons. Construction starts in July. Ten thousand people have come through in a single season.

It’s free, and donations go to the Northern Nevada Children’s Cancer Foundation with dollar-for-dollar matching from the Pennington Foundation. There’s a bypass route for younger kids and a no-scare Kids Night mid-run. Late October, evenings, on Ambush Circle in Wingfield Springs.

Silver Raven Haunted House (Sparks)

The institution. Running since 2006 under the banner of K.I.L.L.E.R. Productions (an acronym of the founders’ names), Silver Raven is the longest-standing charity haunt in the area. Admission is a canned good for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. Handmade props, a scare-free Kids Night, food trucks, and a crew that has already announced its 2026 theme: the 20th AnniverSCARY.

Britt’s Wicked Manor (Damonte Ranch)

The showpiece. The Britt family’s corner-lot display grew from a few inflatables in 2009 into a production that competed on ABC’s The Great Halloween Fright Fight in 2023. The projection-mapped garage door runs shows from Beetlejuice to Stranger Things over a foggy tombstone graveyard. It’s a view-from-the-street display, free, and the cul-de-sac packs out on peak nights, so walk a block.

Deadwood Manor (Cold Springs)

The storyteller. The Tate family runs the only haunt in the area with a continuing plot: a missing daughter, a séance gone wrong, vanished hosts. It’s deliberately lit so you can actually read the clues on the walls, about 80 percent of the props are handmade, and it stays family-friendly with a no-touch rule. Check their socials before driving out; seasons vary.

Home haunt etiquette, briefly

These are people’s homes. Park legally, keep driveways clear, and keep the crowd noise neighborly; the haunt’s continued existence depends on the neighbors tolerating it. Bring cash or cans where donations are collected. An October night can cancel for weather or a family’s schedule, so check the haunt’s Facebook page the day of. And if the haunters are out front at closing, tell them it was great. Eleven months of work went into scaring you for free.

Run a home haunt we don’t know about? Get listed.