_______________

Sweet Dreams (Mobile, Alabama)

‘Dare to enter Sweet Dreams, the ultimate haunted house in Mobile, Alabama, where nightmares are real and fear is waiting around every corner. This is not your average Halloween attraction—it’s a full-throttle descent into darkness. Looking for the scariest haunted house near you? Whether you’re from Mobile, Saraland, Daphne, or just passing through the Gulf Coast, Sweet Dreams is your must-visit destination for thrills, screams, and unforgettable Halloween terror.’

 

_______________

Haunted Pirate Ship (Chandler, Arizona)

‘An elaborate, multi-room homemade pirate-themed Halloween walk-through experience.’

 

________________

HardWay Haunt (Hot Springs, Arkansas)

‘Step into the unknown & prepare to be terrified! Our haunted house is not for the faint of heart. Are you brave enough to face your fears? Enter if you dare, but remember, once you step inside, the only way out is the Hard Way!’

 

________________

Horror Theater Haunted House (Denver, Colorado)

‘This immersive and free home haunted house, located just South of Denver, is packed with the lingering souls of its tortured victims. The Only Price of Admission… is Your SOUL.’

 

________________

The Curley’s Haunt (Wilmington, Delaware)

‘The Curley’s Haunt, a homegrown haunted house open to the public at the Concord Mall, returns Friday, Oct. 2. It’s the second year for the walk-through attraction located inside the former Hollister Co. clothing store in the mall off Concord Pike. The haunted house is near the still-operating Foot Locker store. The dying Concord Mall seems like a more than appropriate setting for the haunted house, given the number of vacant storefronts and the location’s vast and somewhat creepy, ghost town feel.’

 

_______________

The Storyteller Of Vennetta (Orlando, Florida)

‘Storyteller of Vennetta‬ is a unique home haunt in Windermere, Florida that doesn’t need to use scare actors because the sets, rooms, scenes & animatronics each present a well done haunt in a theater setting. Lots of surprises await its patrons as you’ll become apart of each different theater. Beware of Theater 13!’

 

_______________

13th Acre (Monroe, North Carolina)

‘Just east of Charlotte, North Carolina, in Monroe, The 13th Acre Haunted House and Trail has been giving thrill-seekers chills since 2018. Covering 25 acres of pure mayhem and expanded in 2023, this haunt drops you right into eerily silent woods where creatures lurk just out of sight. Once the sun goes down, they come alive to stir up chaos, and it’s up to you and your friends to find out what’s waiting in the dark.

‘The atmosphere hits you before you even step inside, with a large pond and a fence screaming “Horrorwood” in big blood-red letters. Once you cross that line, you get one chance to turn back. After that, you’re in for it. Around every corner, the dead and dearly departed wait to drag you deeper into their nightmare world.’

 

_______________

The Nightmare B4 Halloween (Rantoul, Kansas)

‘Every fall, the Hough family’s yard is transformed into your worst NIGHTMARE!!! We’ve been scaring the Hell out of guests since 2008.’

 

_______________

Ravenclaw Manor (New Orleans, Louisiana)

‘Grab your guts, a friend, and prepare to be scared! You’re invited to tour our haunt. Located in the Lower 7th Ward. Face your fears and enter if you dare! We come alive.’

 

______________

Sandlin Haunt (New Prague, Minnesota)

‘6th Annual Sandlin Haunt is already making huge progress everyday! Although it is still in the early stages, we feel great and beyond excited for the longest maze we have ever had. While still housed inside the 3 garage stalls, we designed it so it will feel much longer than the last 5 years!’

 

__________________

The Missoula Haunted House (Missoula, Montana)

‘Indoor walkthrough haunt that has been Missoula’s primary Halloween scare attraction since 2013.’

 

_________________

Twisted Trails (Staten Island, New York)

‘Twisted Trails is Staten Island’s premier haunted forest walk-through experience — and it’s unlike anything else in New York City. This is not your typical haunted house. With 25 immersive scenes to explore, each uniquely themed and packed with a mix of animatronics, live actors, cinematic sets, and interactive photo ops, Twisted Trails delivers a Halloween adventure that’s both terrifying and unforgettable. One of our most intense attractions is the Corn Stalkers Maze — a pitch-black labyrinth where your group is given a single candle to navigate eerie corridors filled with hidden animatronics and sudden jump scare actors. (Don’t worry — if that sounds a little too intense, we offer a bypass route for those who prefer to skip it.)’

 

_______________

Akron Haunted School House (Akron, Ohio)

‘The Haunted Schoolhouse offers you the rare opportunity to face your deepest fears… your darkest thoughts… and the twisted night terrors that haunt your dreams. Ms. Alvah, was never your typical school librarian. She wasn’t content to simply ‘tell’ stories of creepy castles or dark dungeons. She wanted her students to appreciate the books she held so dear… to actually ‘experience’ them, as it were.

‘Having discovered ancient texts long hidden within the library’s walls, she finally found the way to do just that. She learned spells that forced her students to literally enter, and become a part of, each and every terrifying tale. Word of these missing students got out, and as they were never found, the school was forced to close its doors.’

 

_______________

Elysburg Haunted House (Elysburg, Pennsylvania)

‘Can you brave haunted pathways through the woods and a terrifying walk-through, two-story haunted house & cellar at the Elysburg Haunted House? Recognized as one of the top three haunts by a Dark Attraction Magazine, this haunted house is one of the longest-running and is so scary that “emergency escapes” have been added for those who are too spooked to continue.’

 

________________

Twisted Nightmare Haunted House (Brandon, South Dakota)

‘One of the most popular local Halloween attractions is the ‘Twisted Nightmare,’ which has moved to a new location this year in rural Brandon. “Scaring people is a whole lotta fun,” Twisted Nightmare owner Garrett Williams said. “We’ve always been in kind of warehouses and whatnot before and now we’ve got an actual house to turn into a haunted house, which is a little different. It’s kind of what it should be, right.”‘

 

________________

Spooked on Spurlock (Krum, Texas)

‘Cherry Hughes ran the haunted house fund raiser for the high school band in the little town we were all in YEARS ago. She asked me if I would be interested in helping. The rest is history 😁 I LOVED IT! That was such a fun time working the Ranger band haunt. Such good memories. And… that haunt was the shizzo! People came from all over the area and would tell us it was the best haunted house they had been to. Such good times …and here we are. I couldn’t let it ago. Now we run Spooked on Spurlock, our home haunt in Krum, TX … because the haunt bug bit me and infected me forever.’

 

_______________

Castle of Chaos (Midvale, Utah)

‘Castle of Chaos was voted “One of America’s Scariest Halloween Attractions”. “The Castle” is an original and unique haunt experience. From actors that are trained to feed on your fears, to rooms that are continually re-designed to keep you guessing, they give you a reason to scream.’

 

______________

Scareville Grave Schoul (Saint Albans, West Virginia)

‘Nearly 60 people signed up to act in this year’s Scareview Grave Schoul, the former site of the Fairview Elementary School in St Albans. Scareview’s founder James Bonnett said at 14-years-old, he fell in love with haunted houses. “Michael Myers got me started into it and I’ve been rolling with it every since…You have art people and you have these art people.” Bonnett said seeing kids scared one year and dress up in character the next, keeps him coming back. “That’s the next breed of haunters,” Bonnett added.’

 

_______________

The Nightmare Chamber Haunted House (Medford, Oregon)

‘Due to circumstances beyond our control, after 18 years of haunting, the Nightmare Chamber Haunted House in Medford, Oregon, is for sale. We want to sell the entire haunt to someone that would like to continue the tradition, or move it someplace else. If it’s not sold by September 1st, we will have one last glorious year.’

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** scunnard, Me too, which I guess was already clear. Excellent re: the post, thank you. Nate seems to be a very nice guy. Pilot is killing it, I think. And Rich seems super. ‘Interiors’ is more impressive than I remembered it being. Very Woody Allen in his great period with the humor curiously drained. Allen doing Bergman. It works quite well. Beautiful and stupid and precise and charismatic at the same time. I love that effect. Enjoy whatever ‘Pokopia’ is. A Pokemon related dealy, I’m guessing? ** Dominik, Hi!!! Welcome back! I’ve been fine enough. And so nice that your mom’s visit was lovely and the weather was encouraging. There are artists where you really need to see a large-ish number of their works at one time to fully get, and, yeah, I think Tasset is among them. I wonder that too, and I suppose it has a lot to do with an excessive reluctance to offend? Love remembering to collect and store some water before they turn off the water in his building for an unknown amount of time at 3 pm today, G. ** _Black_Acrylic, Worthwhile, for sure. ** Carsten, I remember having that logic and frustration back when I wrote poetry. By the same logic, people should be longing to read short novels and watch short movies, but they appear to desire the opposite. Why? You got me. How is that poetry-film going so far by your estimation? I have not seen ‘Statues Also Die’, but, whoa, what a powerhouse combination. Thank you a lot for the alert and link. I will, with bells on. ** laura w., I think during his peak period, from ‘Annie Hall’ through ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’, Woody Allen was a great filmmaker. Sure, I’d love stickers, and awesome that they’re helping people stop underrating you. The terms sophisticated and elegant when applied to art tend to be negatives to me. Writers making those qualities their goal is why most fiction sucks, IMO. The Recorder is the tapeworm of musical instruments. ** HaRpEr //, ‘Jubilant and laconic’, very well put. I remember ‘The Bellboy’ being pretty great. My memory is that it and ‘The Nutty Professor’ are the standouts amongst his movies. If that happened to Anderson, it would not shock me, yes. Oh, yeah, fuck the interim stuff like entering and exiting. A blank in those spots is so much more effective. ** Dev, Poquito Mas is kind of god in my book. Good luck. I haven’t dressed up for Halloween since I was a young teenager, and at that advanced age I only dressed up so people wouldn’t recognise me when I was egging houses and spraying unsuspecting kids with shaving cream. I hate parties, otherwise I would dress up, I guess. Good costume idea. Go wild. ** Uday, The Andes would be nice. You know, during a shortish time when I had money, I traveled to Antarctica for goodness sake. I would say I should have saved the money, but, no, it was amazing. I think the Renaissance Faire thing is the furthest that love or a crush ever got me off course. I did try to believe in Meher Baba very briefly because a crush of mine did, but it didn’t take. ** Thom, The secretive materials is definitely a big part of the charm, for sure, for me. Psyched, perfect! Where can I read that interview? Or can I? ** Right. Today you get the second volume of my annual theoretically favorite home haunts of the year posts, this time scattered across the USA, so maybe people visiting here might be lucky enough to be driving or even walking distance to something up there. See you tomorrow.