Olney, Md. – September 24, 2026 -- Field of Screams Maryland, ranked #1 Best Haunted Attraction in USA TODAY's 10 Best Readers' Choice Awards, will not reopen this fall and is pushing its return to 2027, organizers confirmed.
The 24-year-old haunted attraction, a fixture named best haunted house and trail by the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun, had completed an 11-month redesign featuring 22 all-new stations, an updated haunted house, and new lighting, sound, and infrastructure.
A zoning approval holds up the reopening
The event will reopen once the Olney Boys and Girls Community Sports Association's (OBGC) Special Exception is amended to expressly include fundraising events on the property, according to organizers.
"We are enormously proud of what our design and planning teams have accomplished, which makes this an especially hard announcement to make," said John Dixon, Director of Operations for Field of Screams Maryland.
The event has raised more than $3.5 million for youth sports
Field of Screams Maryland has served as OBGC's single largest fundraiser, generating over $3.5 million to offset the rising costs of running the youth sports organization and to fund scholarships that keep sports accessible for disadvantaged families.
Dixon said the postponement weighs heavily on the roughly 320 seasonal team members who rely on the income to cover holiday expenses, tuition, and living costs into the new year. Olney restaurants and servers also depend on the tens of thousands of visitors the event draws to the small town each fall.
Event manager thanks county officials and the Olney community
Steelhead Events and Productions (SHP), which manages the event, credited Montgomery County's County Attorney's Office, the Department of Permitting Services, and the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for their guidance over the past year. SHP also thanked OBGC for a partnership spanning more than fifteen years that has supported thousands of local children and families.
Field of Screams Maryland says it will announce 2027 dates, ticketing, and preview details in the coming months.