Plano's Dark Hour celebrates the holidays with "Wreck the Halls"

For eager haunt-seekers looking for the biggest and best haunted attractions in existence, Texas’s Dark Hour is an absolute must-see and should be added as a bucket-list item for any die-hard haunt fan. With a permanent location in Plano, Dark Hour enjoys what they like to call “Fear All Year,” holding seasonal events for everything from Valentine’s Day to St. Patrick’s Day, to their annual holiday tradition: “Wreck the Halls.” This isn’t just a cash-in where animatronic Satans might be replaced with animatronic Krampuses; rather, “Wreck the Halls” contains bespoke experiences and a brand-new narrative to terrorize guests.

After victims make their way underneath synthetic snowfall and dodge the attacks of demonic elves, a talking teddy bear offers a prologue: the toys in Santa’s Workshop have gained sentience and risen up in a mutiny, vowing to take revenge against St. Nick’s evil elves. Participants will eventually have to choose a side in the coming war, but choose wisely they must, for if they pick the losing side, the victors won’t be kind to prisoners.

What follows is, without hyperbole, one of the largest and most impressive mazes I have ever experienced. Scares are timed to impeccable precision, striking at the most vulnerable points, even when guests might have thought themselves expert scouts. These scares often serve only to distract and misdirect, setting victims up for gargantuan animatronics, from werewolves tearing through walls to a larger-than-life Abominable Snowman (in the style of old Rankin/Bass Christmas specials).

Dark Hour is no one-trick pony either. In addition to the main attraction, as well as various booths and vendors in a midway-style area, there is also Carl’s Playhouse, a twisted take on the Five Nights at Freddy’s-style tale of a children’s restaurant where the animatronics are more than what they seem.

Carl’s Playhouse couldn’t be more different from “Wreck the Halls,” tonally speaking, but nowhere else this haunt season offers such pure fun. Scareactors seemingly pick their battles in terms of when to strike, so it’s unclear when they’re real or when they’re robotic (if they’re ever robotic).

Dark Hour, between their “Wreck the Halls” Christmas maze and Carl’s Playhouse, can make a strong case for being unparalleled in the haunt industry. As with other powerhouses, like Atlanta’s Netherworld or Denver’s 13th Floor, Dark Hour doesn’t just throw size around and call it a day, but instead they use every single square inch to the fullest to provide a nightmare that quite simply never ends.

Who would want such a nightmare to end?