Haunted Houses around the Country worth visiting - Halloween Attractions

Every Halloween a frightening transformation sweeps the nation with haunted houses, mazes and hayrides popping up everywhere. If you dare, check out these Halloween attractions for lots of terrifying thrills.

Dread Hollow

Address: 321 Browns Ferry Road, Chattanooga, TN 37419
Website: Dread Hollow

Dread Hollow is a unique attraction that adds a new level of fear to the traditional haunted house. Dread Hollow appears to be like any other unassuming small town, but visitors are unaware of what truly lies within: 20,000 square feet of pure terror.

The Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride

Address: 1835 Middletown Rd, Glen Mills, PA 19342
Website: Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride

For 27 years, the Haunted Hayride at Arasapha Farm has been scaring its visitors! The special effects and superb acting at the Bates Motel will take you to a different level of terror.  The Hayride has been featured as the Number 1 Haunted Attraction in America by Hauntworld Magazine.

If you like Haunted Hayrides, check out the one at Fear Farm in Glendale, AZ.
Or visit the Bates Motel at Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood at at Universal Studios, CA.

The Ghoullog

Address: 1 Skimobile Rd, North Conway, NH 03860
Website: The Ghoullog

The crew behind The Ghouldog are committed to giving their visitors a most terrifying experience. The approximate 50 minute haunt features over 15,000 square feet of indoor space through a series of dark rooms and scary mazes. Plus an outdoor element which leads through the dark woods . with plenty of scares and screams.

Fear Overload Scream Park

Address: 15555 E 14TH St., San Leandro, CA 94578
Website: Fear Overload Scream Park

By the same people who bring you Scarizona in Mesa, AZ. Fear Overload is noted as being the best Haunted House Bay Area attractions and was voted as one of the scariest attractions in California. The Scream Park features two haunted houses full of monstrous creatures.

Knott’s Scary Farm

Address: 8039 Beach Boulevard, Buena Park CA 90620

Knott’s Scary Farm is the largest and most haunting Halloween experience in Southern California, the fully transformed theme park features unique haunted mazes and attractions, sinister shows and more than 1,000 horrifying creatures lurking in the fog and hiding in every corner of the park.

Fright Dome

Fright Dome 2018 will not be hosted by Circus Circus Las Vegas this year.

"Circus Circus has informed Egan Productions that it will not move forward with Fright Dome for 2018. While we regret this bad news, we are grateful to the people of Las Vegas for supporting Fright Dome over the past fifteen years. We look forward to many successful Halloween events in the future."
-Egan Productions

Dark Harbor

Address: 1126 Queens Hwy, Long Beach, CA 90802

The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor annual Halloween haunt, features 6 haunted mazes, a 4D theater experience, immersive attractions and live entertainment including hundreds of monsters. As an added bonus, the place is truly haunted: Time Magazine has named Queen Mary as one of the “Top 10 most haunted places on Earth”.

The RavenHearse Family Classic Haunt 

Address: 6541 E Tanque Verde Rd, Tucson, AZ 85715

One of the only haunted house attractions open year round. They offer a unique experience (Green, Yellow, Orange and Red Tours), different from the normal commercial haunted house attractions.  Additionally, they cater a haunting experience to the needs of sensitive children or children with disabilities by having opted out of using smoke machines or strobe lights.

Check out their Halloween Tour starting September 28th 'Into the Shadows and Into the Dark'.

Dent Schoolhouse

Address: 5963 Harrison Ave, Cincinnati OH 45248
Website: Dent Schoolhouse

Like the Queen Mary, this is a real haunted location. In 1894 the Dent Public School was open, but in 1942 several students, mysteriously vanished. In 1945, 1952 and 1955, more students went missing. After students began to complain about strange smells, the basement was found covered with the decaying remains of the missing students. They were killed by Charlie, the janitor. This place sure knows how to make the place even more haunted.

Chris Birkett's Haunted Graveyard - Scottsdale, AZ

Chris Birkett's Haunted Graveyard, began as a small display in 1986, starting out with only a pumpkin patch and a few gravestones.

In 2001, Chris Birkett and his cousin Shawn Silberblatt increased the display and designed "The Haunted Graveyard presents Halloween Town" based on Halloween Town from the movie "The Nightmare before Christmas” directed by Tim Burton.

Since then it has become a free to the public, 13 minute long Haunted House, with 26 scare actors and has approx 3000 visitors a night.

It is a five (5) night event from October 27th - 31st, 2018 and runs from 06:30 PM to 10:00 PM.

It runs on donations and as it takes a lot of time, energy and commitment to make things like this happen, there is a suggested donation of at least $5.

Haunted Graveyard AZ
8414 E Valley Vista Dr
Scottsdale, AZ 85250

Fourth Annual Enchanted Pumpkin Garden - Carefree, Arizona

You are invited to experience the many artfully carved pumpkin characters on display at the Enchanted Pumpkin Garden hosted by the town of Carefree.

October 19th – 28th, 2018

Entry is Free! FREE parking is available in and around the Gardens and throughout the downtown area!

For more information about this annual event, visit CarefreePumpkinGarden.com or call 480-488-3686.

Live Pumpkin Carving
October 19th – 28th, 2018, Daily from 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.

Family Pumpkin Carving Nights 
Wednesday, October  24th and Thursday, October  25th from 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Desert Foothills YMCA presents Family Carving Nights at the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion Main Stage. Additional fees apply; advance reservations suggested as space is limited.

Enchanted Pumpkin Beer Garden
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m.–9 p.m.
Sponsored by Four Peaks Brewery at the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion Main Stage and Historic Spanish Village.

Harvest Market
Fridays–Saturdays, 10:00 a.m.– 7:00 p.m. and Sundays 10:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
The market will feature a variety of vendors offering Halloween trinkets and be located along Ho Hum Road and Easy Street.

Costume Contests
Join the annual Costume Contests, held on the Sanderson Lincoln Pavilion Main Stage. On Saturday, Oct. 27th.

• Kids Contest at 2:00 p.m.,
• Family/Group Contest at 3:00 p.m. (note: costumes need a unifying theme in this category)
• Adults Contest at 4:00 p.m.

Haunted Happenings Area
Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Prepare for a frightfully good time at the Haunted Happenings area located in Historic Spanish Village. With family friendly activities for kids between ages 3-8 years old! The $5 admission gets you access to all activities, including an inflatable Corn Maze and Bouncy House, a Petting Zoo and Pony Rides, a spooktacular Haunted House, Face Painting and Kid’s Arts and Crafts.

Gourmet Food Trucks

• Munch Box AZ (gourmet grilled cheese) 
• Tom’s BBQ Pig Rig (Chicago-style BBQ) 
• Cousin’s Maine Lobster (gourmet Maine lobster creations) 

About Ray Villafane
With a workshop and gallery based in Arizona, Ray Villafane is an internationally acclaimed sculptor who fashions exceptional figures and scenes out of pumpkins, sand and snow. He holds two entries in the Guinness Book of World Records. He’s also known for Food Network’s Outrageous Pumpkins competitions, which he won in 2008, 2009 and 2010. For information about Ray Villafane and Villafane Studios, visit Villafanestudios.com.

Inclement Weather Puts a Scare into Fear Farm's Operating Dates

If you follow Fear Farm's Facebook page, you will continue to see notices posted this season "Fear Farm is closed tonight" due to weather.

Unlike the last few years where a general admission ticket was useable for any date and time the event was open, this year you are restricted to the date and time on your ticket and the website states "Tickets are valid only for the date you reserve. Should you fail to show up for your reserved date, your tickets will no longer be accepted. There are NO REFUNDS or exchanges of any kind.". I immediately saw this as a mistake on their part this year and felt it would create problems for their customers.

Shortly after reading that notice and purchasing tickets myself, over $530 worth. These tickets ended up being for a date which I was no longer able to attend (due to an emergency surgery in the family) and after contacting Fear Farm I was met with the response "Give them to a friend: and "Sorry that is our policy". Not much understanding at all from Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group's customer service team.

Well now the tables have turned and Fear Farm finds itself unable to operate or operate fully due to weather for a decent portion of the nights it sold advanced tickets. Some of these dates include October 4th, 7th, 13th and 14th. Additionally they have had to close one (1) haunted maze and so are only running 4 of the 5, as well as having closed the Haunted Hayride a number of additional nights.

They have posted "If you have any questions or have purchased tickets for tonight, Please contact: info@fearfarm.com". I am interested in knowing how they are responding to customers now? I expect they are expecting compassion and consideration in modifying ticket dates now that the issue affects them.



This was not meant to be a rant, as much as it was meant to be advice to Fear Farm and Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group that General Admission should mean General Admission and should be good any date and time the event is operating. This would save customers like me hundreds of dollars if an emergent situation arises and surely would have saved their customer service a lot of man hours on resolving the issue of their closures.

I do see the the need for Fast Pass and Skip the Line tickets to be reservation date/time based because they should only be sold in limited quantities and so Fear Farm would still have to satisfy these customers due to these weather based conditions, but I also think pre-purchased tickets should be available for date/time adjustment by customers do to personal issues resulting in inability to use on original date. In short "There are NO REFUNDS or exchanges of any kind." is a bad policy, especially when it is clear both vendor and customer may have need for compromise.

Here are some comments on their Facebook from customers with similar concerns:

• Please email us back ASAP. I think you all should have proactively refunded tickets automatically after deciding to close for the night. We shouldn’t have to email and wait for a response.
• I don't live here, specifically bought tickets for fear farm as well as hotel near.. I emailed and was told I would get a refund if rain closure, as I saw weather reports several days ago. This is my daughters 18th b day and I sit here in a hotel room I couldn't cancel anymore and they seem to only respond and want to exchange tickets... :/ how am I supposed to come another day..I don't live here. Spent almost 400$ on tickets. None of us live here, we came here specifically for this. No rain in sight.
• This was the worst year yet! Not worth 10 bucks a ticket let alone 50 a piece. Not all the attractions we open, people smoking inside the houses and the actors were very young kids laughing mostly. Defiantly NOT scary and total waste of time and money.

My two Cents:
Now onto the actual Fear Farm Review... Yes, I purchased a ticket and went anyway to provide a review.

Admission varies based on date: $27.99, $29.99 & $33.99 (tax not included), last years rates were $26.99, $29.99 & $33.99, so price has increased slightly for the lowest cost ticket. Prices are up to $5 more at the door.

If the weather permits the Phoenix Haunted Hayride can be added for an additional $10. This is nighttime ride through the cornfields in a trailer of loose hay being pulled by a tractor while experiencing a themed haunt. This generally is the part of this Haunted Attraction that makes it worth going to for me, since the 13th Floor is actually a better haunted house in my opinion. However the hayride was closed when I went this year and I am unsure what the theme is.

Additionally Legends: The Witch was closed due to flooded fields as well. They did say you could go through one of the other Haunted Houses twice, but not sure that is an equal value in replacement, at least to me it isn't. There should have been a 20% refund maybe even as a food voucher or game voucher.

Fallout replaced the Clown Haunted Maze, which is good because who wants to see the same thing year after year. I like seeing when venues implement changes. I also think this was one of the best.

Slaughterhouse is basically strobelights and chain saws, nothing spectacular and my least favorite. I say it every year about most every Haunted Attraction, "chain saws are not scary, just loud and smelly", especially in enclosed spaces.

Undead and The Bunker: Area X are the other two Haunted Houses this year. They appeared to be modified slightly as the corn fields were flooded, which also was a nice change.

The scenes and props are decent, where the fear lacks at The Farm is in the scare actors who pretty much stand in a corner screaming at you, rather than hide and jump scare you. Also this year seemed to be lacking in scare actors (hiring events must have had less turn out than usual) some rooms had no one in them at all. The scariest Monster Award this year goes to The Weather.

Increase your cost vs value by not spending the money on front of the line tickets (Fast Pass and Skip the Line), as there are separate lines for each of the 5 four (4) houses, which reduces wait time especially if you pick the order based on the length of the line.

One advantage over The 13th Floor is food vendors. Between food vendors and a few carnival style games (extra cost) like  Zombie Brain Toss, you are able to hang out and enjoy all the scaredy cats running around screaming.

All in all what is normally an average attraction was disappointing due to closures and customer service policies and you may look to try something else in town! Here are some other local Haunted Attractions.

Schnepf Farms Pumpkin and Chili Festival

Every Thursday through Sunday during the month of October its Pumpkin and Chili party time at Schnepf Farms.

Admission includes hayrides, the petting zoo, carousel rides, miniature golf, four-acre and 10-acre corn mazes and more.

Food, pumpkins and tickets to ride the train are available for an additional cost.

There is a lot to see and do: pig races, extreme canines stunt dog shows, the pumpkin patch, hay rides, rides on the farm train, rides on the Swingin Ladybugz, a 4-acre corn maze, Stuntmasters BMX show, fresh goodies from the farm bakery, eats from the Farm Cafe, and lots more, including the chillies.




Every Thursday – Sunday from October 4 – October 28
Thursdays 10am-9pm
Fridays & Saturdays 10am-10pm
Sundays 10am – 9pm


Where: 24610 E Rittenhouse Rd, Queen Creek, AZ 85142
Contact: 480-987-3100


Cost: $20 admission per person at the gate. Children 2 and under free.

Discount Tickets: available at all FRY’S Food Stores for $15.00.

SRP Thrifty Thursdays: Salt River Project is sponsoring 2-for-1 admission to the event every Thursday in October from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Print your coupon here.

Military will get FREE admission October 4th-7th, October 11th-14th, October 25th-29th. All others in your family, will need discount tickets from Fry's or the above SRP coupon on Thursdays.

Police will get FREE admission October 11-14. All others in your family, will need discount tickets from Fry's or the above SRP coupon on Thursdays.

Firefighters will get FREE admission October 25-28. All others in your family, will need discount tickets from Fry's or the above SRP coupon on Thursdays.

Grandparents get BOGO every Friday, if you are a grandparent, show a photo of your grandchild and you can buy one ticket and get a 2nd person in for FREE!


My Two Cents:
Between admission, food and the Spooky Train ride, costs can add up fast. It is a fun family friendly event, but to maximize cost vs value, I urge you to take advantage of some of the above discounted admission rates. For more detail on costs and what is included and not included in admission, see last years post ---> Pumpkin and Chili Festival.