Starting Friday, October 23, the Fear Factory has four nights left: October 23 and 24, then October 30 and 31. Admission is $10. Two coworkers built every room in it, the community and the Paden City Development Authority backed it, and local students act in it. This year it sits in a building that held pontoon boats over the winter, on the grounds of a plant that made Corning Ware for thirty years.
A lot of towns hire out their Halloween. Paden City built its own, and the place it built it is the town's old factory.
The four nights still on the calendar
The Wetzel Chronicle printed the full 2026 schedule. It lists six weekend nights in all: October 9 and 10, October 16 and 17, and the four below. Here's what's left as of Thursday, October 22:
- Friday, October 23
- Saturday, October 24
- Friday, October 30
- Saturday, October 31
Tickets are $10. The article doesn't give nightly start times, so check PCDA's posted hours before you head over. That matters most on the 31st, because the city's trick-or-treat falls on the same Saturday.
Two coworkers, a request to council, and 700 visitors
The Fear Factory began last year as a pitch. The Wetzel Chronicle reports that its creators, Kevin Yoho and Kenny Kline, went to town council with the PCDA and asked for funding to build a haunted house for the community. Their stated aim was doing "Something for Our Community." They built that first one inside the old Paden City Middle School.
More than 700 people went through it in that first season, according to the same article. The article says the turnout went well beyond the builders' hopes, and that's why the second year looks different. With the community and PCDA backing them again, Yoho and Kline set out to build something bigger and moved it out of the old school.
A crowd showed up in year one, and the PCDA offered a bigger room to fit it.
Why it moved to the old Corning plant
The Paden City business park has had several lives. According to the Wetzel Chronicle, Corning Glass Works took over the site in 1961 and made Corning Ware there until it closed the plant in 1991, and the PCDA bought the industrial park in 1999.
The Fear Factory is in a building that used to hold pontoon boats over the winter, which the authority offered to Yoho and Kline for this year's build. PCDA President Cork Bowen told the Wetzel Chronicle why the group backed a second, larger version:
"Our group saw the success at last year's undertaking, and realized the potential for a bigger and better event that could be had."
The rest of the park is still doing its regular job this fall. At the Oct. 5 Paden City Common Council meeting, Bowen reported that winter boat storage had begun and that the space would fill up quickly again this year, according to Tyler Star News. In the same report he said the Fear Factory was nearly ready to open on October 9.
So this October the same property is filling with stored boats while it hosts a community haunted house.
What's inside, as much as the builders will say
Yoho and Kline won't give away much. When the Wetzel Chronicle asked what visitors would see, they said only that there are eleven rooms, each with its own spooky theme. They put the walk-through at about 15 minutes.
The Chronicle did report how it was built:
- They started building in August, and Bowen described a process that went from ideas to storyboards to finished sets.
- Their employer, CertainTeed, donated many sheets of drywall. That made the rooms bigger, sturdier, and reusable next year.
- Local school students volunteered to help build the sets, and some are working as actors during the run.
- The larger building gave them room to add more rooms than last year's version had.
Because the walls were built to be reused, next October's version can start from this year's rooms.
Going through as a family
The builders gave the Chronicle a few points for families planning a visit.
- Stay together as a group. They asked families to keep everyone together for safety and so everyone gets the full experience.
- Don't let kids run ahead. They named this one specifically.
- Know that it's all in fun. The sets and actors are there to entertain you.
- Grown-ups get scared too. They said a few visitors were overwhelmed by what they saw last year, and those visitors were adults, not younger kids.
The article doesn't list a minimum age, so parents will have to decide for their own kids. Fifteen minutes and eleven rooms gives you a sense of the commitment.
Trick-or-treat and what comes after
The city's own Halloween night is set. At the Oct. 5 meeting, Common Council scheduled trick-or-treat for Saturday, October 31, from 6 to 7 p.m., according to Tyler Star News. That's the Fear Factory's last night, too. Since the haunted house's hours aren't in the coverage, confirm them with PCDA if you hope to do both.
Council set the next date on the town calendar at the same meeting: the Christmas parade is December 11. The route and time weren't in the report.
If you live near a hydrant, one more item from that meeting applies this week. Mayor Clyde Hochstrasser said the city would flush hydrants October 19 through 23, so the flushing runs through Friday, October 23.
At the same meeting, Bowen called this year's Marble Festival very successful and "by far the best in years."
Paden City keeps putting old buildings to new use, and the Corning plant is the latest example. If you'd like to know what your own Paden City home is worth this fall, Pathway Real Estate Professionals will give you a straight answer. Ask us for a Free Home Valuation and we'll walk you through the local numbers step by step.
