Halloween is a season full of horror movie marathons, creepy snacks and meticulous costume planning – but for the brave, it also presents spine-chilling scares at some of the best haunted houses!
These haunted houses will surely give you chills! From real graveyards to monsters right out of your worst nightmares, these unnerving places will certainly give you goosebumps.
1. Blood Manor
Haunted houses offer thrills and chills in equal measure, and since Georges Melies’ groundbreaking silent movie Le Manoir du Diable (1896), which initiated horror genre cinema, haunted houses have left an indelible mark on society.
However, today the traditional conception of haunted houses presents epidemiologists with their worst nightmare: crowds of potential super-spreaders crowding indoor sets in which sanitation standards may not be optimal and spreading untold droplets within inches of each other.
Blood Manor took measures to limit risk by hiring a pandemic consultant and instituting extensive safety protocols, including Covid-19 screening questionnaires at the door, frequent disinfection of surfaces and half-hour time slots for ticket sales.
However, the biggest change lies within how haunted houses interact with guests. Gone are the days where actors would pounce from shadows onto guests like predatory predators prodding their prosthetic eyes with forks while gibbering gibberish gibbering into their ears; now actors approach visitors from either side or simply follow behind them while walking through rooms and corridors.
2. A Haunting in Hollis
Nothing brings out your inner terror like visiting one of NYC’s many terrifying haunted houses this Halloween season. Don’t hesitate to get scared this year: NYC boasts some of the scariest haunted houses around!
Experience something truly terrifying at this New York attraction – an ordinary home is transformed into a nightmare, complete with foggy passageways, zombies and an experiment lab! Can you escape unscathed from these predators?
No matter whether you enjoy Amityville Horror or Fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, this haunted house will give you an immersive experience of living in an evil household. Visitors can tour the Whaley House and hear tales of Yankee Jim, Mrs. Whaley and a mysterious child believed to haunt it – this attraction is intended for adults only with waiver requirements to enter, plus guests may choose a fun scream-inducing game!
3. The Dent School House
The Dent School House in Cincinnati, OH is an iconic haunted attraction with a morbid legend attached. According to this tale, children started going missing in 1942 after becoming disenfranchised from school due to Janitor Charlie. Since then, Charlie is said to haunt its halls where guests find children killed by him still haunted and tormenting them.
Josh Wells, Chuck Stross & Bud Stross work tirelessly throughout the year to bring their haunt to life. Their meticulous design includes cafeterias, kitchens, auditorias, classrooms and body disposal rooms – complete with actors in costume making each experience feel truly authentic!
Be sure to visit their massive Monster Midway for an interactive experience before heading inside the schoolhouse – it includes 4 mini escape games, axe throwing, fresh donuts and the Spooky Shop gift shop among many other features!
4. Pennhurst Asylum
If you want to add some genuine terror to your Halloween adventure, there are numerous haunted houses throughout the United States. Some are more famous than others and known for scaring visitors out of their minds or sending them fleeing in fear back home.
Pennhurst State School and Hospital, more commonly known by its former name of Eastern Pennsylvania State Institution for Feeble Minded and Epileptics (EPSISFE) was notorious for the cruelty it inflicted upon those with disabilities. With an infamous history of abuse and death that continues even today on campus grounds, its legacy of traumatism and death has created a cottage industry of ghost hunting on campus grounds.
Haunted house and museum now coexist on one property, creating tension over who should tell its stories. Some claim that turning an asylum into a haunted house trivializes its past victims while others insist it is necessary to remember those who died there.
