Formerly the Tribute to the Walking Dead but now called River’s Edge, the Haunted Attraction is a Halloween production at Mission Raceway Park in October.

PERMANENTLY CANCELLED

The River’s Edge attraction was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its place was the River’s Edge Short Horror Film Festival, which occurred as an online event.

Unfortunately the Mission Arts Council announced that the River’s Edge Haunted Attraction has been permanently cancelled as of 2021.

A different haunted house does still take place in Mission. For details about it, see our article about the Mission Nightmare Haunted House. Other awesome haunted houses in the Fraser Valley include Reapers Maze of Terror in Chilliwack, Maan Farms Haunted Corn Mazes in Abbotsford, and Brinkworth Dungeon in Langley. Also more or less in the same region, there is Cougar Creek’s House of Horrors in Surrey.

River’s Edge: Knight’s Terror

Presented by the Mission Arts Council and known in previous years as the Tribute to the Walking Dead, the Mission Haunted Attraction is an annual Halloween event that involves walking through a maze of gruesome scenes past dozens of scary actors.

In 2018, instead of being called the Tribute to the Walking Dead, as it had been in previous years, the event’s name was changed to River’s Edge and its theme for 2018 was “Home for the Criminal Mind.” Consequently, we saw insane asylum patients instead of the zombies.

The theme for 2019 was Knight’s Terror and it promised a thrilling experience involving new sights and sounds.

The event takes place almost every year at Mission Raceway Park at 32670 Dyke Road in the community of Mission on the last three weekends of October, plus an extra evening or two leading up to and including October 31st.

Walking Dead 2019 Dates

In 2019 the River’s Edge Halloween event ran from 7 to 10 pm on the weekends of October 11-13, 18-20 and 25-27, as well as on the Wednesday and Thursday of October 30 and 31.

Attraction Admission

Admission to the River’s Edge Attraction cost around $13 per person and payment was to be made by cash, credit card or debit.

Proceeds from the event benefited the Mission Arts Council, so not only was it a decent price compared to other similar attractions, but funds raised went to a valuable local cause.

Note: The attraction is a scary place and participants must be at least 8 years of age. Also, children between the ages of 8 and 12 need to be accompanied by an adult.

About the Attraction

2018’s River’s Edge: Home for the Criminal Mind attraction was a unique haunted experience as it wasn’t a haunted house, nor like the railway forests you find at Vancouver’s Stanley Park or Surrey’s Bear Creek Halloween attractions. At the 2018 attraction it was more of a maze of structures, part indoors and part outdoors, that you walked through.

In the attraction you passed insane asylum scenes while scary patients jumped out at you (or, in past years, zombies and other half-dead creatures jumped out and screamed around every corner).

With the Knight’s Terror theme for 2019, guests were surprised by knights in not-so-shining armour.

The Mission attraction relies more than most Halloween attractions on its live actors who are typically teenage volunteers from local high schools who have participated in a couple of hours of rehearsals.

Don’t expect the acting at the Knight’s Terror event to be Academy Award-winning, but it’s still pretty good. The attraction is dark, the scenes are scary, the creatures are frightening, and the experience is both fun and chilling at the same time. The organizers, actors and set producers all do a really good job.

Attraction Location and Directions

The River’s Edge Haunted Attraction venue is located on the eastern side of the grounds of the Mission Raceway Park at 32670 Dyke Road just over the Mission Bridge.

The venue can be a bit challenging to find, especially in the dark and if you don’t know Mission well.

Important Note: Once you finally arrive at 32670 Dyke Road you still need to turn right and drive a little further to get to the venue and the Mission Race Ways parking lot.

Side Note: Years ago, when we arrived at the 32670 Dyke Road address, it was so dark and there didn’t seem to be anything there – we didn’t actually believe our GPS! It wasn’t until another car came and we followed it down what seemed like a strangely dark and not well-marked road that we finally found our destination.

Hopefully the signage is highly visible this year, and no doubt most people will have a better sense of direction and superior GPS systems than we did! Because of our experience, however, we provide detailed directions below.

Directions Via Abbotsford

If coming via the Trans-Canada Highway and from the Abbotsford direction, you cross the Fraser River over the Mission Bridge. The raceway is just a couple of minutes from the bridge, but via a slightly confusing series of turns and off ramps.

From the Abbotsford Mission Highway (BC-11 North), very soon after the crossing the Mission Bridge over the river, take the London Avenue exit. At London Avenue, turn left. The road will then take you back over top of the highway and to Dyke Road.

Turn left onto Dyke Road, but then shortly after take a right (or else you’ll find yourself very soon on the highway heading back to Abbotsford).

Directions Via Lougheed Highway

If heading to Mission via the Lougheed Highway, from either the Maple Ridge or Harrison Hot Springs areas, turn south onto the Abbotsford Mission Highway (BC-11) and take the first exit on your right onto Dyke Road and then turn right again at the first road.

If you miss the turnoff you’ll end up on the highway in the direction of Abbotsford and will need to follow the directions above to figure out how to get back to where you wanted to get to.

Other Information

To learn about the organization behind the event, see the Mission Arts Council‘s website.

There are many great things to see and do in the Fraser Valley in autumn including pumpkin patches, corn mazes and various haunted attractions. While you’re in the area, consider checking out any of the following:

• Reapers – a haunted house and Maze of Terror in Chilliwack that’s open for about 20 evenings in October.
• Maan Farms – a farm in Abbotsford with a pumpkin patch and corn maze. At night it also has a Haunted Corn Maze.
• Chilliwack Corn Maze and Pumpkin Farm – a farm in Chilliwack that’s open in the fall and ideal for young children.
• Mission Nightmare Haunted House – a spooky attraction at 8760 McLean Street in Mission that is open on a couple of weekends in October and then just before Halloween.

For a list of other Halloween attractions in various parts of Metro Vancouver and the surrounding area, click Lower Mainland Haunted Houses.