Halloween marks an entire season of horror movies, chilling snacks, spine-tingling books and boisterous themed parties; but for those truly fearless among us it can also include haunted houses!
While many horror films may be criticized for subpar acting, fake blood effects and predictable monsters, others go the extra mile to deliver spine-chilling experiences. Here are the best of them.
McKamey Manor
McKamey Manor is an incredible, terrifying haunted house with two locations in San Diego and Summertown, Tennessee that draws thrill-seekers and horror enthusiasts. These attractions draw endurance enthusiasts and horror buffs alike!
A typical haunted house lasts 15 to 45 minutes, but The Manor stands out by offering an experience lasting eight hours or longer. Participants must endure various torture tactics including crawling spiders, simulated drowning, being tied up and forced to put their head in a box full of bees – just to name a few!
Russ McKamey, the creator of this attraction, claims he doesn’t do anything maliciously cruel with his participants, yet still pushes them as far as they will allow. Before joining his tour he makes them agree to a “no safe word” policy so his actors can continue scaring them even after they request for it to stop.
Pennhurst Asylum
Pennhurst Asylum, once an abandoned asylum, is said to be so haunted it has inspired its own paranormal cottage industry. Amid human suffering, torture, and death is said to reside a wide array of paranormal presences – people chained in adult-sized cribs; people pushed off roof; those never leaving walls; all are said to haunt this place.
This haunt offers a selection of attractions with distinct yet interwoven themes, designed to blend reality with fantasy in order to provide an immersive experience infused with an ominous sense of dread.
Pennhurst does not require visitors to sign a waiver form, though visitors should expect actors to touch them throughout their experience, especially in the first portion of the haunt which features constant aggression and an atmosphere of madness. Many performers at Pennhurst are disabled; some were once institutionalized themselves. Nathan R. Stenberg, an PMPA board member and doctoral candidate in theatre and performance historiography has written extensively on how Pennhurst impacts disability communities.
Saikyo Senritsu Meikyu
This haunted house is not for the faint of heart! Based on a hospital where doctors harvested and sold organs from patients, which led to their spirits coming back and killing doctors. At 900 meters long, The Labyrinth of Fear will leave your pulse racing, prompting 80% of visitors to exit before reaching its end!
This haunted attraction, or “obake yashiki,” is among Japan’s scariest attractions, featuring a skull castle, men wielding chainsaws, and other bone-chilling elements. Additionally, this spot makes an excellent outing with friends if they like horror films!
Takashi Shimizu, best known for Ju-On and The Grudge, recently completed work on The Shock Labyrinth as his latest project. Additionally, he’s developing an English-language film about an unsettling song that drives its listeners towards suicide; due out in 2020. Rarely is a movie so effective at disturbing you that it leaves you awake nights later – yet that is exactly what The Shock Labyrinth does!
DementedFX
Demented FX in Holyoke offers visitors looking for an intense scare an experience not to be forgotten. Boasting an original laboratory storyline that sets it apart as one of the premier haunted houses around, Demented FX provides visitors with one of the world’s best haunted houses that won’t fail to leave you screaming! Don’t take anything for granted when visiting this attraction as there are plenty of sinister rooms that will leave you gasping with fear!
This haunted house recreates an uncomfortable true story in which Carolann Smith duped two young women into living in her basement, handing over all their money, and doing her bidding. It features simulated movement, enhanced audio design, video, animatronics and lighting effects for maximum fear-inducing terror.
Beckham Osman, 7, loves Demented FX so much that his mom Jennie Lussier asked the staff members at Demented FX to dress him up as a zombie and let him scare people in line ahead of him. To his delight, they agreed, making Beckham one of many who can experience Demented FX as part of its Meat Tank attraction (a “PG-13 simulation experience”) or experience its other attractions such as its Meat Tank that are sure to give any stomach the run around!
