While some people use autumn as an opportunity to get cozy, horror fanatics see it as the time to get their adrenaline pumping. There are few better places to do this than at a haunted house, maze, or hayride. If October gets you in the mood to be terrorized by an actor in a clown mask, plenty of businesses across America are happy to provide that service. Whether they’re housed in a theme park or a historic prison, these are the most heart-pounding haunted attractions in all 50 states.
1. Alabama // The Haunted Chicken House
Location: Heflin, Alabama
The Haunted Chicken House wins our unofficial award for most creative backstory. According to the attraction’s lore, the Seven Oaks Chicken Farm took a dark turn in 2003, when a local farmer named Dan imported genetically-altered roosters to boost his business. The birds mutated into violent monsters, and Chicken Dan recruited an army of slashers and monsters to help fight them. The result is one of Alabama’s most bizarrely spooky attractions. After walking through the actual Haunted Chicken House, guests can take a spin onboard the haunted hayride or the “Crazy Train” bus. Tickets are currently on sale for Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays throughout October. —Michele Debczak
2. Alaska // Fright Nite Haunted House
Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Fright Nite has been freaking out patrons for more than three decades. Each production—usually open during the second half of October—features new actors, costumes, sound effects, and themes. And you can bet there will be evil clowns. —Kat Long
3. Arizona // 13th Floor Haunted House
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix’s spooky 13th Floor offers four different experiences with creepy backstories. You may find yourself harshly judged by an evil nun with a sinister agenda, enchanted by malevolent spirits from the deep sea, or hunting down zombies infected with a global virus (too soon, guys!). There’s also an optional, interactive maze adventure that takes place in total darkness. If you think you can handle it, 13th Floor runs through November 4. —KL
4. Arkansas // The Reaper Haunted House
Location: North Little Rock, Arkansas
Like a slasher movie come to life, The Reaper Haunted House—which has been scaring Arkansans since 2011—promises to shock its guests with more than 30 scenes of “blood, gore, and mayhem.” The terrifying tableaux continues through November 1. —KL
5. California // Knott’s Scary Farm
Location: Buena Park, California
Knott’s Berry Farm transforms into Knott’s Scary Farm during spooky season. The Southern California theme park is celebrating 50 years of frights this year. On select nights through October 31, the park is overrun with terrifying creatures. In addition to the 10 unique haunted mazes, the event features five sprawling scare zones and four chilling live shows. When they’re not getting their pants scared off, guests can decompress over themed treats like cereal killer funnel cake and spookghetti pie. Tickets for 2023 are available starting at $60. —MD
6. Colorado // The Frightmare Compound
Location: Westminster, Colorado
The Frightmare Compound is celebrating its 40th year of scaring the bejesus out of Coloradans in 2023, and the multi-experience complex of fear is not resting on its laurels. In addition to its legendary haunted house, which is populated with various blood-soaked ghouls, the Frightmare Compound also invites its victims into a museum of monsters and a coffin simulator that replicates the claustrophobia of being buried alive. If your heart can take it, there are also mini escape rooms that force you to figure out your own survival. The attractions open on September 15 and run through November 4. —KL
7. Connecticut // The Trail of Terror
Location: Wallingford, Connecticut
This isn’t your average walk in the woods. Connecticut’s Trail of Terror is a roughly hour-long walk through a medley of monstrous frights. The scare crew may all be volunteers, but don’t underestimate their ability to get your heart racing. The Trail of Terror is open Friday to Sunday from September 30 through October 29. —Kerry Wolfe
8. Delaware // Frightland
Location: Middletown, Delaware
Frightland, which has been in business for 27 years and counting, boasts eight separate experiences—Horror Hayride, Haunted Barn, Idalia Manor, Fear, Ravenwood Cemetery, The Attic, Ghost Town, and Zombie Prison—which span about 1800 acres and are all linked by a fictional backstory. Basically, Dr. Thaddeus Idalia lost his mind after his daughter’s death and devoted his life to trying to resurrect the dead. The vengeful subjects of his botched and terrifying experiments have now taken over his estate; not far, as it turns out, from the ghosts of his father’s equally chilling deeds. —Ellen Gutoskey
9. Florida // Halloween Horror Nights
Location: Orlando, Florida
Every Halloween season, Universal Studios in Orlando applies the movie magic of its theme park rides to epic haunted houses. Halloween Horror Nights runs from September 4 to November 2 in 2023, and each night features 10 haunted houses built around a different theme. Properties like Stranger Things, The Exorcist (1973), and Child’s Play (1988) are brought to life through Hollywood-level makeup, set design, and special effects. In between waiting in line for walk-through experiences, guests also have to face the live scare actors who prowl the park. Prices vary by night, and you can order tickets in advance through Universal’s website. —MD
10. Georgia // Netherworld Haunted House
Location: Stone Mountain, Georgia
It’s a rare Halloween attraction that can promise fun and excitement for the whole family, but Netherworld in Stone Mountain has entertainment for timid first-timers, terror enthusiasts, and those in between. For its 27th year this October, guests will be thrilled by two new haunts, “Cryptid Chaos” and “Primordial”—we hope they feature an epic battle between Bigfoot and, say, an iguanodon. Aside from those scares, Netherworld hosts escape rooms, a monster museum, and a Halloween midway with places to eat, snap a selfie, or chill with roaming costumed spooks. Netherworld runs through November 11. —KL
11. Hawaii // Haunted Plantation
Location: Waipahu, Hawaii
If you feel haunted houses are passé, leave your attitude at the door of the Haunted Plantation. Located on O‘ahu in Waipahu, the site of an actual former sugar plantation, the attraction spends most of the year as a living history museum. It transforms into an outdoor scare factory in October, complete with heart-pounding frights and more than 60 actors in professional special effects makeup. Timed reservations are required. —KL
12. Idaho // The Haunted World
Location: Nampa, Idaho
The Haunted World boasts a whopping 35 acres of frights, including Gristle’s cornfield, a 700-foot dungeon, “Hacksaw Jim’s Stanky Cellar,” and a 55-foot Slide Into Darkness. Cap it all off with a visit to Cannibal Lecter’s Carnival of Pigs, and you’ve got yourself a nice little evening. The Haunted World is open Monday through Saturday in October. —Stacy Conradt
13. Illinois // Basement of the Dead
Location: Aurora, Illinois
There are few things spookier than basements—and Basement of the Dead, located in Aurora, Illinois, takes those scares and ratchets them up to 11. The story revolves around a boiler explosion at Walker Laundry that maims two workers, who then disappear; soon people working in the laundry begin to vanish, only to later show up in pieces at the mouth of drainage pipes. The workers are still there, obviously, ready to snatch whoever comes into the basement next. Visitors report that Basement of the Dead has excellent actors who rarely fail to get a jump out of their victims, and the sets, music, and lights add to the terrifying vibe. There’s also a 3D haunted house. Basement of the Dead is open from late September to early November; you can get your tickets here. —Erin McCarthy
14. Indiana // Hanna Haunted Acres
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
With six separate attractions, there’s something for everyone at Hanna Haunted Acres. Visitors can make their way through Acres Manor, a grand haunted mansion that threatens to confront you with your deepest fears, or a carnival that promises to be a grotesque circus of nightmares. And if those don’t give you goosebumps, there’s also an Undead Underworld, the Horror Fields, Cannibal Chaos, and a Haunted Hayride. Hanna Haunted Acres is open every day in October—but they say their scariest days are November 3 and 4. That’s when your whole party has to make it through four of the haunts with a single glow stick. —SC
15. Iowa // Slaughterhouse
Location: Des Moines, Iowa
Slaughterhouse in downtown Des Moines is a cannibal-themed haunt with an elaborate backstory about “America’s most heinous cannibal empire” from the mid-1800s. It’s open for fresh meat Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in October, and also on Thursdays in the two weeks before Halloween. When it’s not spooky season, Slaughterhouse is also an escape room where you have 60 minutes to help one of the people-eating clan’s victims break free from the torture. —SC
16. Kansas // The Haunted Cannery
Location: El Dorado, Kansas
A visit to The Haunted Cannery starts with a covered hayride through Walters Farm and Pumpkin Patch. Once they arrive at the maze, guest will be forced to dodge clowns, zombies, and “anything horrific that comes to mind.“ A RIP-FAST PASS ticket gets you a ride on their “hell bound“ ambulance plus a special closed lid rolling casket ride (not recommended for the claustrophobic). The attraction is open Fridays and Saturdays through October. —MD
17. Kentucky // Waverly Hills Sanatorium
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Waverly Hills Sanatorium, one of the most haunted places in America, is a former tuberculosis hospital located in Louisville, Kentucky. It’s been estimated that 50,000 patients died at Waverly Hills while it was open from 1910 to 1961. While the historical society offers more fact-based tours year-round, they embrace the Halloween season by offering a haunted house on Fridays and Saturdays from the end of September through October—and if you buy the RIP pass, you’ll get a special mini tour of the upper floors of the sanatorium. Want even more? Private, eight-hour paranormal investigations start at $1100. —SC
18. Louisiana // The 13th Gate
Location: Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The 13th Gate doesn’t limit its frights to one theme. The 13 realms spread out across the 40,000-square-foot property include a realistic pirate ship, an outdoor graveyard with zombies, and underground passageways filled with live snakes. General admission tickets are currently available for $35. Be warned that the intense attraction isn’t recommended for guests with certain health conditions—including a weak bladder. —MD
19. Maine // Nightmare on the Ridge
Location: Auburn, Maine
Every year in October, Wallingford’s Orchard in Auburn, Maine, hosts the Nightmare on the Ridge. The haunted walk takes place outdoors, so it’s not recommended for people with a fear of the dark (or clowns). Tickets are now available for $25. —MD
20. Maryland // Bennett’s Curse
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
A ticket to Bennett’s Curse in Baltimore earns you entry into four terrifying attractions. The oldest and most critically acclaimed is House of the Demons, where guests find themselves in the crosshairs of a war between vampires and vicious underworld demons. There’s also a 3D experience, an asylum station, and Legends of Halloween, the last of which features every classic Halloween creature you can think of. —EG
21. Massachusetts // Witch’s Woods
Location: Weston, Massachusetts
Whether you want to see professionally carved pumpkins, venture into a darkened castle, or just go on a haunted hayride, Witch’s Woods delivers. The Jack o’ Lantern Jamboree and Horrorwood Chamber of Chills (a walking tour) are both free to visit—no admission required—but otherwise, tickets are usually $48 (though they’re offering $14 off coupons if you go on Sundays during October). The 2023 Halloween season runs through October 31. —Shayna Murphy
22. Michigan // Erebus
Location: Pontiac, Michigan
If you’re the type of person who can’t get enough scares, you’ll want to experience Erebus. With 100,000 square feet, four stories, and a half-mile of walking, Erebus held the title of World’s Largest Haunted House in the Guinness Book of World Records for a number of years. It has also been named the best haunted house in the U.S. by USA Today. Between getting buried alive and running across a few hungry dinosaurs, you’re sure to find scares at Erebus you won’t find anywhere else. It’s open most days in October. —SC
23. Minnesota // Dead End Hayride
Location: Wyoming, Minnesota
