If you’re anything like me, you enjoy the spookiest places in fall. Haunted houses, scary hayrides, ghost tours… Activities that make your adrenaline go nuts. Luckily, there are places all across the nation that provide willing participants with the freaky-good scare they crave.
1. Erebus Haunted Attraction (Pontiac, MI)
This scary place is a 4-story haunted attraction that held the Guinness World Record for the largest walk-through haunted attraction from 2005-2009.
Ticket price: $20+ (date specific)
2. Bennett’s Curse (Baltimore, MD)
Running as Maryland and Washington D.C.’s #1 Halloween event, this spookiest place has operated as a family-owned small business since 2001.
Ticket price: $25+
3. Dent School House (Cincinnati, OH)
This haunted attraction is in the real school where dozens of children allegedly went missing from 1942-1955. It has also been named one of the spookiest places by USA TODAY, Buzzfeed, and Oprah Magazine.
Ticket price: $20+ (date specific)
4. Hangman’s House of Horrors (Fort Worth, TX)
This haunted house has been in business for over three decades and is based on real, scary legends.
Ticket price: Prices vary
5. Terror Behind the Walls (Philadelphia, PA)
Held in one of the most famous and expensive prisons in the country, the Eastern State Penitentiary, this haunted experience is one of the country’s top-ranked attractions.
Ticket price: $34+ (date specific)
6. Fright Factory (Philadelphia, PA)
Created in a 120+-year-old factory basement, this 25,000 square feet attraction is split into three themes and was featured on the Travel Channel.
Ticket price: $25+ (date specific)
7. Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride (Glen Mills, PA)
Listed as the “Best Haunted House in America” by CNN Travel, this haunted experience also offers laser tag and escape rooms.
Ticket price: $40+ (date specific)
8. Thrillvania (Terrell, TX)
This haunted house is based on legends including vampires and werewolves.
Ticket price: $35.95+
9. Netherworld Haunted House (Stone Mountain, GA)
Created by film and TV professionals, this haunted house has gotten attention from CNN, AOL, The Wall Street Journal, and more.
Ticket price: $25 (date specific)
10. The Beast (Kansas City, MO)
This haunted attraction has been around for 47 years and includes a live alligator, voodoo, phantoms, and more.
Ticket price: $27+
11. The Haunted Trail (San Diego, CA)
With one mile of terrifying twists and turns, this haunted attraction features Pennywise, steampunk clowns with chainsaws, and other scary sights.
Ticket price: $25+ (date specific)
12. The Haunted Hotel (San Diego)
Created in the hotel basement, visitors must find their way through the “suffocating boiler room, killer kitchen, musty old luggage room, spirit-saturated hotel bar, bloody bathrooms, and […] bone chilling chainsaw bridal suite.”
Ticket price: $25+
13. Hundred Acres Manor (Pittsburgh, PA)
Ranked as “Pittsburgh’s Best Haunted House,” this haunted attraction is also considered one of the nation’s spookiest places by USA Today, LA Times, Forbes.com, and more.
Ticket price: $27+
14. Knott’s Scary Farm (Buena, CA)
This place is a theme park-turned haunted Halloween attraction that includes a maze, shows, and over 1,000 terrifying creatures lurking in the fog.
Ticket price: $50+
15. Shocktober Fest (Sinking Spring, PA)
Positively rated by USA Today, Travel Channel, Buzzfeed, The Oprah Magazine, and more, this haunted attraction provides a wide range of terrifying scares.
Ticket price: $25+ (date specific)
16. Bayville Scream Park (Bayville, NY)
Found on Long Island, attractions in this haunted experience include a Bloodworth Haunted Mansion, Uncle Needle’s Funhouse of Fear, Bayville Haunted Asylum, Temple of Terror, Evil in the Woods, and The Cage.
Ticket price: $47.75+
17. The Haunted Mines (Colorado Springs, CO)
This spookiest attraction is built into an old abandoned mine that dates back to 1856 – more than a decade before Colorado Springs was founded. Evidence from the mine showed that the area was once populated, but was mysteriously abandoned in 1859.
Ticket price: $22+ (date specific)
18. Halloween Horror Nights (locations vary)
Held at Universal Studios, this iconic scary attraction features haunted houses like The Haunting of Hill House, Beetlejuice, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Bride of Frankenstein Lives, Revenge of the Tooth Fairy, and more.
Ticket price: $71+
19. Reaper’s Revenge (Blakely, PA)
Maybe the spookiest one of them all, this haunted experience requires a signed waiver before participation. Attractions include Lost Carnival, Delerium, Pitch Black, and Sector 13.
Ticket price: $50+
If spooky activities just aren’t your thing, I would highly suggest sitting these 19 attractions out. However, if you’re ready for a good scare, check out these places for a spook you’ll never forget.
About the Author
Emmie Pombo is a latte and tattoo-loving Tennessean who specializes in mental health and beauty writing. She holds a degree in Journalism and a certification in Makeup Artistry and Airbrushing. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.