Haunted Castle (Six Flags Great Adventure)

Haunted Castle
Postcard photo c. 1981
Six Flags Great Adventure
Coordinates	40°08′14″N 74°26′28″W / 40.1371°N 74.4411°W / 40.1371; -74.4411
Status	Removed
Opening date	1978 (1978) (Original) 1979 (1979) (as Haunted Castle)
Closing date	1979 (1979) (Original) May 11, 1984 (1984-05-11) (as Haunted Castle)
Replaced	Alpen Blitz
Replaced by	Botanical Gardens
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Haunted attraction

The Haunted Castle was a haunted attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure amusement park in Jackson Township, New Jersey. The original Haunted House was built prior to the fall "shoulder season"^[1] of 1978 to boost attendance and as a test for building a larger facility the following year. While it was intended that it be open only at night, the popularity of the attraction caused management to open it at the beginning of the day and keep it open until the park closed. At the end of the 1978 season, the attraction was disassembled and sent to Six Flags Over Mid-America, where it would continue to run from 1979 through 1982. The old façade was torn down and Botanical Gardens took its place. A medieval-styled façade was built for the Haunted Castle on the site of the Alpen Blitz across from the Muzik Express.

On May 11, 1984, a fire destroyed the attraction, trapping and killing eight teenagers. Six Flags Great Adventure and its parent company Six Flags were indicted for aggravated manslaughter and accused of recklessly causing the deaths by taking inadequate precautions against a fire. In the trial, the prosecution argued that repeated warnings by safety consultants to install sprinklers or smoke/fire alarms had been ignored. The defendants denied any culpability. They contended that the fire was arson, and that no amount of precautions would have saved lives. The trial jury found the defendants not guilty of criminal charges;^[2] however, Six Flags paid millions in civil damages to victims' families.^[3]