Halloween countdown post #6: DC’s select international* haunted house attractions for the Halloween season 2016

* excluding Los Angeles (coming later)

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The Dent Schoolhouse (Cincinnati, Ohio)
The story of Charlie McFee is familiar to those well-versed in urban legends and American horror folklore: In Dent, Ohio (near Cincinnati) in 1942, children attending the local schoolhouse begin to go missing. They keep disappearing over the next decade, and in 1955, an angry mob discovers that Charlie, the school janitor, has been keeping the rotting bodies of murdered students in gruesome states of disarray in the basement. Charlie escapes and is never heard from again, while the ghosts of murdered kids roam the hallways, seeking revenge and release from their violent passing…but is Charlie really gone?

Josh Wells, Chuck Stross and Bud Stross are the owners of the Dent Schoolhouse haunted attraction. When they acquired the actual schoolhouse from a local charity organization, they discovered it had a dark history—one they could fully exploit for local Halloween enthusiasts. Fully theming the attraction around the story of the missing students and Charlie the janitor himself, the trio have created a fully immersive attraction involving the manpower of dozens of people, working all year long.

“We set Dent Schoolhouse up to be like a movie,” Bud Stross says. “You, the audience member, relive the horror of the schoolhouse and what Charlie McFee did to the students. From start to finish, our customers are engulfed by the building and its history. Before you even buy a ticket, guests are met by actors playing locals who are crazed by the grisly landmark in their town.”

 

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Justin Copeland’s Home Haunt (Scarborough, Canada)
Justin Copeland of Scarborough, Ontario has built an outstanding home haunt this year, with some of the most exquisite detail work we at Haunt Nation Magazine have ever seen in a home haunt. Justin’s work would rival most professional haunts. Here is what Justin told us about this award winning home haunt… “This year’s theme was a ‘Subterranean Tale of Terror’, with a Lovecraftian feel. Guests played the part of police investigating an underground cult, and had to navigate their way through a cave, catacombs, and a mine shaft, to reach the exit.”

 

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Andrewz Haunted Room (?, ?)
? Halloween is life ?

 

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Nightmare New England (Litchfield, New Hampshire)
The Bishop Family is no longer a threat to the people of Litchfield, NH this year. The police took matters into their own hands and shot, killed and locked up most of the family. It’s been said that a couple of members have taken to the hills, but only time will tell if the evil will ever return.

For now, Brigham Manor sits dark. Those in town swear they can still hear the blood curdling screams and cries for help coming from the house. Many have tried to walk through, but none have come close. Although supposedly abandoned, locals claim to have seen an eerie light coming from within the darkness of the condemned home, but many are too afraid to find out what is lurking inside.

A New Breed has taken over the wooded banks of the Merrimack River, transforming The Colony into something we couldn’t even have imaged. Enter this renovated labyrinth of chaos at your own risk, and meet a new strain of hell’s servants. Once hidden amongst the cover of darkness, these unnatural beings have reemerged and are looking for bodies to torture and souls to destroy.

What would it be like to be trapped in a nightmare that you could not wake up from? You have stumbled into a place where rot, decay, and the filth from the earth are a haven for evil. There’s no place to hide from nightly scavengers and life takers. You might make it out alive, but your soul will be gone. Try to make it out of Carnage.

 

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Krampus (Universal Studios, Orlando)
The Krampus maze takes us inside a typical suburban home filled with snow — on the walls, floors and ceiling. The unique look of the maze and interesting backstory combined with the detailed interiors and variety of scares made for the best experience of the night.

I loved the murderous gingerbread men running amok in the kitchen, and the terrified child stuck in the fireplace chimney. The best scene of the night put a horrified girl in the jaws of a giant jack in the box bent on devouring the helpless child in her bed.

 

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Dark Nightmares Haunted House (Elwood, Indiana)
We are a home haunt who want’s to become a pro haunt in the future. We feature 3 terrifying attractions, all in the same building and at one location. This is our first year in operation but we expect many more to come at this same location!

Dark Nightmares 3D: Revenge of the clowns is a 3D blacklight haunted attraction that will feature 3D based scares. From our crazed clowns who take you on a one of a kind tour of the 5 terrifying scenes we have to our amazing black light maze. This haunt is for kids and teens as well as adults. Open from 7-8pm on 10/21, 22, 28 and 29th only.

Blackout Nightmares is a in the dark haunt where you have to find your way out. There are 3 versions of this haunt we do… you can go through with bright glow stick, which helps you find your way better and is for kids and teens and those adults who are deathly scared of the dark. Then we have a flickering candle, which is for those who want a more “in to the unknown” type of experience. The candle will give you some light but not as much as the glow stick does. Then there is the “in to darkness” method. All you have is to feel your way through to the exit, in TOTAL darkness. You pick the way YOU want to experience this haunt! Parents are required to go through with their kids 13 and under. No groups, you must enter alone. From 8-9pm on 10/21, 22, 28 and 29th only!

Sensory Overload is our strobe haunt featuring 11 strobe lights and 4 fog units to bring this haunt to life. No actors but will be a lot of fun! Halloween Night only from 7-9pm.

Come on down and enjoy one or all the haunts! This is a family experience and we will have covered waiting under a 10′ x 20′ waiting area! Please also dress for the weather as we are expecting it to be cold all 5 nights we open and if we get rain, we will still be open depending how bad it gets. We WILL CLOSE in the event of lightning or seriously bad weather, so please be aware of this and watch our web site for the latest in weather details!

 

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Fright Night Haunted Dreams (Austin, Texas)
TEXAS – Fright junkies discovered more than they bargained for at a haunted house attraction over the weekend, when they stumbled upon what they thought was part of the show. The Fright Night Haunted Dreams attraction in Austin, Texas brought in hundreds of people looking for a good scare this Halloween season. But on Friday night, this “Haunted Dream” maze turned into a reality for one teenage boy.

Eyewitnesses say they were halfway through this macabre haunted house when they came across a scene with a crazy looking man biting into his victim that lay in a dirty bathtub. At first, it was just another scene within the haunted maze, but as they looked closer they saw the young boy that was screaming for his life was really in excruciating pain. For one witness, Paul Callaway, it was much too real. “I don’t think I can put into words what I saw. It will haunt my dreams forever,” said Calloway. “This sick ass man bit into this dude’s arm and I could literally see tendons being pulled out. The screams were unlike anything I had ever heard before. This boy was in some serious pain. I mean imagine being eaten alive!”

According to reports, once the group of fright goers realized this was not part of the haunted house, they decided to take action. Mike Sullivan, a Texas gun owner with a concealed weapons permit, said he had no second thoughts about taking action immediately. “I unholstered my weapon and drew on this creep,” said Sullivan. “I got about one foot away from him and shot him once in the leg, and again in the shoulder. Just enough to make him stop until police arrived.”

Police and emergency response teams arrived on scene within minutes, but it was too late for the young teenage boy who’s name has not yet been released. He was dead when medical staff arrived. We do know that he was a 17-year-old from the Austin, Texas area. Officers took 28-year-old Philip Harris into custody where he is currently being held without bond in solitary confinement at an Austin, Texas jail under the close supervision of officers and medical staff. The haunted attraction has been closed indefinitely.

 

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Uneasy’s Garage Haunt (Athens, Alabama)
OK after last year’s successful garage haunt for a large 10-12 yr old party I’m looking at going bigger and better this year, I started on the preplanning last year but am now going to get started as I have a lot to do. I purchased a lot of stuff after Halloween last year but have a lot to build myself. Here’s my idea and would appreciate critique or ideas from you guys. Last year I went with the black plastic walls which worked fair but this year I will have a combination of wood, plastic and heavy cardboard walls, since the plastic didn’t hold up so well particularly when kids tried making doorways where there wasn’t any haha. So here’s my plan below, keep in mind the drawing should be pretty much to scale with each block equaling 6 inches, I have a garage of 24’ wide by 21’ deep to work with, also I will try and incorporate something on the outside before they enter but not sure what or how I will do so, that’s next on my agenda. Once entering the garage I thought about an actor behind a scrim wall right off the bat then they proceed down a 3’ wide by 8’ hall then you will have to crawl into a 3’ wide by 3’ high by 8’ long wooden tunnel with holes in the left side with maybe fog and a strobe behind it, once inside the actor from scene 1 (scrim wall) will beat on the top of the tunnel with chains. After exiting this and standing up there will then be activated a drop down corpse reaching down from the ceiling then the guests go left across a wobbly floor. Then in front of you an actor is still in a chair which will cause a scare when they approach closer. Once past this they turn and go through another short hall into room 2 where there will be a “Frankencuted” prop and I am building a kicking hangman which will activate as they go by it then into a dark hall 30” wide which will be pretty dark with only dim spotlights on 3 pictures on the wall to the right the last picture will be a drop panel with an actor behind it, and hopefully I have everything set up so the same actor can do everything as you can see by the drawing. Then on to room 3 where it will be either blacklight lit or strobe, I haven’t decided yet. There will be white sheets hanging down they will have to go through then past that there will be hanging bodies in body bags they will have to pass and at the end I have an animated Gemmy Jason before the exit. There will be more static props and the lighting and sound will be good throughout but this is the major idea and would appreciate any suggestions from you guys that have more experience than I at this, as like I already mentioned I have been studying this and other forums for well over a year now and have learned a lot and after last year’s haunt went over so well, the kids from the party have talked about last year’s party all year but are expecting bigger and better this year and I don’t want to disappoint.

 

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Hysteria (Dubai)
It may be home to the tallest building in the world, but surprisingly, there has never been a haunted attraction in Dubai. Until now, that is… The folks at Extreme Fear Design & Production, who were responsible for the Hundred Acres Manor haunted house in Pittsburgh, PA, have gone ahead and created the first ever haunted attraction in Dubai. – 3,500 square ft. retail space transformed. – Located in The Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates. – Manor themed haunted house with custom props, sets and animatronics. – Sets built on-location in the Dubai Mall. – One-of-a-kind props built in the United States and shipped directly to Dubai. – First ever haunted house in Dubai.

 

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The Haunted Chicken House (Heflin, Alabama)
In 2003 Dan Hopkins made an attempt to revive the once thriving Seven Oaks chicken farm. He believed the answer to success was to order some rare genetically altered roosters from Katmandu. All was well until these roosters experienced tremendous growth. The 20,000 chickens started disappearing daily with no signs of FOWL play as if they never existed. As the hens vanished the roosters grew. Dan was sure these mutant roosters were to blame so he launched a massive attack to annihilate these super roosters. He immediately was mauled by overgrown yellow feathered ninjas ripping all of his hair and teeth out.

When released from the hospital he returned to Seven Oaks only to find less than 5000 chickens. He now declared war mounting assaults using machetes, knives, guns, poison, attack dogs and night vision weapons to no avail. All this done was to piss them off!!! His antics earned him the Name of “CHICKEN DAN” from the local Hollis residents. Soon Chicken Dan had no chickens only these damn six foot tall mutant BIG BIRDS. One final attack was launched to rid these evil creatures but the outcome was grim. With beaks and spurs they ripped Chicken Dan to shreds. Some wounds were so deep they actually tore out part of his voice box!

After a year of recovery Chicken Dan returned to the chicken houses only to find them totally empty. Finally he was rid of this resident evil or so he thought. In the fall of the year they returned and his battle resumed only now he had an army of 800 helping him exterminate these vicious killers. The birds survived!!! Now every fall they come back and Chicken Dan’s militants wage all-out war on them in the chicken house on wagons in the field and on foot searching the woods. Last year over 13,000 brave individuals joined the search and attacks but the birds survived.

 

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The Boneyard (Dallas, Texas)
The Boneyard Haunted House features high tech effects and good old-fashioned blood-and-guts scare tactics. In 2006, the Boneyard was submitted to the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest walk though haunted house in the world. The walk through Boneyard is more than a half a mile and includes more than 50 movie-quality sets, some with animatronics.

 

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Creepy CarnEVIL (?, United States)
This is the last trailer that I am uploading this year. I hope you enjoy the video! Shocking news from the old Kreepee’s carnival. It seems 13years ago tonight, there was a three year old boy, Thomas, who came with his parents, Marie and John. When they got there the first thing they saw was a clown with green hair. He greeted them into the carnival. They thanked him. When they passed the gates they darted their eyes to the carousel. The flashing lights were blinding. So they went over to this carousel. When they got there, there were only three seats left.one for each of the family members. So they got on and it started. But they realized it kept getting faster, faster, faster and faster. Then they looked over at the guy who was running it and it was that clown. It was going so fast.

So fast that the wires crossed and it malfunctioned and eventually exploded. When the police caught the clown they put him in jail. But the clown just got released. And the carnival just reopened its gates just for you! So have a ton of fun with the carnival. And the best thing is, they remade the carousel………

 

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McKamey Manor (San Diego, California)
Found in San Diego, McKamey Manor boasts a teribble past from the 1950’s that has left it haunted by the ghost. From the humble beginnings as an asylum turned into a eugenics nightmare of a doctor cloning patients for organ harvesting. A patient, Miss Mary Parker apparently got pissed and escaped the fate only to kill the doctor with an axe and is not prowling for her next victim.

Obviously you’re her next victim, but she isn’t going to be doing the basic jump-scream-scare tactic. Her posse of minions get to rough you up until you’re screaming at them to stop – only they won’t. Because you basically just signed away your life on a waiver that stipulates they can do almost anything to you except cause bodily harm. And safe word? What is this safe word concept you’re talking about. No such thing exists at the McKamey Manor.

Most people enjoy a little bit of a fright, but at what point is the line between terror and torture get crossed? It’s one thing to have the creature from the lagoon jump into your path screaming at your face and a completely different thing to get waterboarded. Both are equally scary, but he physical and psychological effects of one outweighs the other.

Here are a couple of online reviews to help you get the idea how victims of McKamey manner felt about their experiences:

“If you want to sign a waiver then be beaten, water boarded, put in a cage in a drowning pool and fed some god awful non-food all while you are blind-folded and have hearing protection on – then be my guest. Then after you have almost drowned several times and ask the facilitators to stop – they continue on because you signed the waiver. Know what you are getting into here folks.”

“Let me first start off, by saying that I was aware that I might be touched by the characters in the Haunted House, as I did sign a waver. But I never, ever, consented to be inappropriately touched by one of the men in the Haunted House. He touched me twice in the breast area. I am considering filing legal action, as this is rape of a woman. The owner is very rude, will never visit again.”

 

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Daiba Haunted School (Tokyo)
The scares begin early with the sound of movement, voices and the always sinister child’s laughter seemingly in the room with us, directly behind us and always – as best we can tell – live or at least from a recording of superior quality. We journey into the school proper and find that, though it is not difficult to find the correct path, it is full of winding corridors, pathways with windows, alcoves or gaps on both sides and many curtains and other obstructions blocking our already meagre line of sight. As expected of Japanese horror, we are not overwhelmed with loud sounds or a clear threat. We are never truly sure what to expect, leading our imagination to run wild – which any lover of horror will know is always more chilling. Even an experienced scarer begins to question whether or not those footsteps are really as close as they seem…

The more we travel in, the closer and more intense the scares become. Better (or worse) still, the attraction and the cast show us yet another trick they have in their repertoire; though we start with unexpectedly moving bodies or – disturbingly – even a hanging child that sweeps out of the darkness towards us and expertly done sound-based scares behind the walls or in the room with us, they soon add to that when the grim realisation sets in that – despite there being no clear hatches, curtains or trapdoors along the way – the cast are now somehow behind us as well as in front. We come across curtains that we must navigate, windows into classrooms on either side so that we cannot feel safer against either wall, even a smoke machine that is perfectly used to give us only a vague shape of movement ahead of us. When we finally find the Bon fire, making our offering in the form of a written blessing given to us by staff, a meak “arigato…” comes from the pitch black behind us. And, just when we think we have completed our task, we are chased from the attraction by an unseen entity.

Unseen. And therein lies the genuine brilliance of the Haunted School. It is hard to do justice to the level of atmosphere delivered by this attraction – it may soon occur to the visitor that the experience truly does feel like an exploration of the creepiest of all abandoned urban sites. The ability the cast have to sound right by us, or just a step ahead or behind, makes this writer wonder just how intricate this attraction is behind the scenes – it is easy to imagine a maze of passages behind the walls and hidden doors for the actors to go where they please. Several times, movement or voices were heard just out of sight or right behind and, when we turn, there is no-one to be found. In fact, on this visit, members of the cast themselves were only visible on 2 occasions; one, when a screaming face appeared briefly through one of many holes in the scenery and, two, when an actor was able to dart so quickly from the path of the provided torch that only a pair of trainers were visible under a curtain.

The set is supremely well dressed; from the high-quality mannequins used, to proper fixtures of doors and cabinets, even properly dressed ceilings at times (a startling difference to the scare actor all too accustomed to pipes and wooden joists). The practical effects – from snapping open doors to the previously praised smoke machine are slick and the mechanisms hidden and a high point of its design is a particular section where we come across dusty windows into an adjacent classroom; the space behind is thick with small, hanging bodies and the room appears to go back as far as the light will penetrate. Whether an ingenious use of space or simply a scared mind running wild, this – and many, smaller touches like it – drags us so firmly into a feeling of immersion in the setting.

 

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Dead of Night (Long Island, New York)
DEAD OF NIGHT on Long Island had one of the most brilliant haunt openings I’ve ever seen. Everyone waited in lines listening to a calming “we are here for your protection” recording, which was interrupted at intervals by an air raid siren and men in gas masks and suits, who each grabbed an unsuspecting patron and dragged them into the haunt. Some people were dragged in, one girl was zipped into a body bag, and I was thrown over someone’s shoulder and carried inside. The haunt opened with this very strong abduction scenario, then the focus shifted to humiliation, the smearing of strange substances, and hitting people in the face with laughably large and painfully heavy fake penises. Features: Violence, Sexual Undertones, Extreme Physical Contact, Submersion in Water, Humiliation, Must Sign a Waiver, There is a Safe Word.

 

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The House on Autumn Hills (Bloomington, Indiana)
The House on Autumn Hills is a home haunt in Bloomington, Indiana. What started out as a one-car garage covered in black plastic and spray paint has grown into a seven room walk through haunt.

 

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Haunted Hoochie (Patatskala, Ohio)
An enraged man sticks a gun in his mouth, pulls the trigger and slumps in front of the blood-splattered background. No question the scene is scary. But does it belong in a Halloween attraction? It’s acted out in Haunted Hoochie, a nationally known haunted house and forest in Pataskala. And some say the fright peddlers are going too far in their continuing quest to shock.

“There’s a line,” said Mary Brennen-Hofmann, coordinator of Suicide Prevention Services at North Central Mental Health Services in Columbus. Flesh-eating ghouls don’t exist, and even chainsaw-wielding murderers are, for the most part, imaginary. Distraught people kill themselves every day. “This is a real-looking person shooting himself with a shotgun,” Brennen-Hofmann said. “And people do shoot themselves a lot. We probably had 50 or so in Franklin County last year.”

Calls to the Haunted Hoochie/Dead Acres office were not returned, and the Web site’s “contact” link doesn’t work. The site does, however, feature a prominent “parental advisory explicit content” warning. It also includes a link to what had been called its “suicide video” but was renamed yesterday afternoon the “zombicide video.” Previously, the Web site had warned that: “This haunted house contains a graphic and violent suicide.” Now it says, “The haunted house contains graphic and violent horror.”

Either way, it wasn’t exactly the fare Stacy Ellis was looking for when she planned a family visit to a haunted house. “What could be neat or cool about that?” she said of the suicide scene. After her husband noticed the “suicide video” teaser on the Web site, they nixed a trip to Haunted Hoochie. “There’s no age limit,” said Ellis, who said her mother died by suicide two years ago. “If kids couldn’t go into a movie and see this without a parent, or buy a video that shows it, why should a group of 14- or 15-year-olds be able to line up and see that?”

 

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Super Scary Labyrinth of Fear (Fuji-Q, Japan)
Haunted House at Fuji-Q is the longest and most scary Haunted House in the world, and they keep modifying the process and interior of the hospital-scened house, from a horribly scary one to a suit for all, I was actually freaking out for the first ten minutes, but since get used to the dark and dead things, it was not so frighten for the next thirty minutes, but all in all, it was still the best Haunted House I have ever been to.

 

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Thrillvania (Terrell, Texas)
Located 20 miles east of Dallas, Thrillvania is one of the most decorated haunted attractions in the world. Spread out over 50 acres featuring eight attractions, Thrillvania frightens more than 20,000 visitors a year. The cornerstone of this fear farm is Verdun Manor, a two-story haunted house originally designed by Disney Imagineers and said to boast more props per square foot than any other haunted house in the country.

 

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The Hex House (Tulsa, Oklahoma)
WARNING!!! The Hex House is Tulsa’s only extreme haunted attraction (not intended for children). The Hex House is an intense multi-element, walk-through haunted attraction themed around a dark chapter in Tulsa’s haunted past. You won’t find any Freddy’s, Jason’s, or movie scenes in The Hex House (nor will you find any cheesy animatronics or goofy props). What you will find is that you’ve been fully submerged in an altered reality that is much darker and less predictable than anything you’ve seen in the movies. As you make your way through the flickering hallways and eerie rooms of The Hex House (assuming you don’t sprint out prematurely), you’ll descend from mere creepiness into a full-on, intense nightmare that you won’t soon forget. The goal of The Hex House isn’t to entertain you, it’s to completely remove you from your comfort zone and make sure you know what sheer terror feels like…. and if we don’t get you this time… rest assured that next time, we will…

 

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Gates of Misery (Rome, Georgia)
Experience one of the scariest haunted house in Georgia and Northwest Georgia Gates Of Misery Haunted House. Our 12,000 square foot walk through haunted house is filled with torture, torment, terrifying screams and nightmares your afraid to face in a dark atmosphere filled with live actors, special effects, props and more in an 95 year old 2 story building. We are located at 174 Chatillon Road, Rome, Georgia 30161 near Rome Braves Stadium, Fuddruckers Restaurant and across the street from Floyd County Board of Education. We are within 75 miles of Atlanta, Georgia, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Alabama surrounding areas.

Dolor Academy was once a prestigious private school settled back in the foothills of Rome, Georgia. It produced some of the finest students around, but that all changed the day the school custodian, Mr. Paymon accidentally unleashed a portal he discovered in his boiler room. Now reality has been warped as everything and everyone are being consumed by evil forces. Enroll for a night of wicked terror, but be warned this school is ready to give you the best DEAD-ucation.
But wait…the waiting list may be long the night you attend, Gates of Misery offers a second attraction The Labyrinth. Find your way through demented paths, black out mazes while being taunted and tormented by the creatures of the night that dwell within the walls. DON’T BE AFRAID COME FACE YOUR WORSE NIGHTMARES!

 

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Broken Spine Mine (Albany, California)
When Sam was 11, he told his mother, Holly DuBois, that he wanted to build a “cauldron creep.” She was skeptical. Still, she watched as Sam animated a plastic skeleton, using the motor from a Christmas reindeer. Combined with sound effects and a fog machine, the creep was a huge hit with trick-or-treaters that Halloween.

“The next year, when he said, ‘I want to build a haunted house,’ I thought, ‘Well, he probably can,’ ” DuBois laughed.

In the years since, she’s watched her son teach himself carpentry and electrical skills as he’s built his Haunt, first in their driveway and now in their backyard. Sam assembles everything for the event, from the lifelike gravestones in the front yard to a circus tent fashioned from an army parachute in the back. He even started fabricating his own line of Halloween masks. DuBois proudly points out that it wasn’t her idea to raise funds and food for the Alameda County Food Bank — she says Sam came up with that on his own.

But Kratkin doesn’t think the positive outcomes of the Haunt justify the unwanted effects on his family. Some of the Haunt’s scarier features frightened his son, whose bedroom faced the attraction when it took place in the driveway. Then there’s the noise, which isn’t limited to sound effects or shrieking children on just two October weekends. Kratkin says he suffers through months of construction-related racket, often during dinner or his son’s naptime.

The exact length of the Haunt’s construction time is up for debate. Kratkin says it can last as long as six months, while Sam says that in the past he officially began in mid-September. This year, between his high school schedule and having to plan ahead for fire inspections, he decided to get a one-month head start. He attributes additional construction-related noises that may bother Kratkin throughout the year to his other hobbies, not to the Haunt.

After 2014’s incident with the police, and before construction began this summer, Sam took his plans for his next Haunt to Albany’s fire marshal. They were approved, and Sam was set to build, until he got an email from Albany City Planner Anne Hersch, who had been tipped off by an anonymous complaint. She said he would need to procure a temporary use permit as well.

At an Albany Planning Division meeting in late September, Sam, his mother and about two dozen supporters tried to make the Haunt’s case. Kratkin did not attend, sending in a letter with his arguments.

The planning commission decided to let Sam open the house — after he paid $461 for a temporary use permit, plus $120 for a building permit. They also determined that the first pre-Halloween weekend of the event would not be open to the public, but would instead be an invitation-only dress rehearsal.

 

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Ghost Town Haunt (Portland, Oregon)
Ghost Town: Take a terrifying trip through the old haunted west! Along your journey you’ll visit the town sheriff, eerie cemetery, saloon, haunted mineshaft and more.. Make your way through live western shootouts and the gallows, if you’re lucky you may make it out of town without getting shot!

FarmHouse: Portland’s new and most intense and notorious fear experiences. You will be touched, restrained, and blindfolded. You will be tormented, challenged, and scared out of your mind.

You MUST be 18 years or older to enter this attraction, and willing to sign our waiver. No exceptions.

 

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Hundred Acres Manor (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
Hundred Acres Manor is Pittsburgh’s largest and most extreme haunted attraction spanning over 1 mile and ranked as one of the top in the world. You will come face to face with some of the most terrifying zombies, creatures, monsters and products of your worst nightmares. Named one of the best in the nation and world visit Hundred Acres Manor Haunted House this season to see what all the terrifying buzz is about.

Dead Lift: Board a century old elevator to take you to the depths of the Acres family estate and experience a hellish ride to the bowels of the horror within the manor. The first of its kind in Pittsburgh, Dead Lift will send you whipping around and begging for mercy. Discovered during excavation of the estate; the Dead Lift elevators were originally used to transport guests and staff from the families quarters to the manors deepest secrets hidden within the basement. GOING DOWN?

Damnation: Enter the dilapidated acres family estate and experience the terrifying world of the lost souls buried deep within the manor walls. Traverse the manor room by room and see what makes Hundred Acres Manor Pittsburgh’s Best Haunted House. During your journey you will encounter the most grizzly zombies, bloodthirsty minions of the night, and the restless spirits damned to spend eternity confined within the manor compound. Prepare for the most relentless, mind-bending journey through hell on earth.

Torture Tank: Take a tour of Hundred Acre Manor’s Torture Tank and try before you buy. Witness what our clients call a truly explorative experience. Clients of torture tank are allowed to select their scenarios, costuming, set designs and are provided with an innocent human. Our contracts are discrete and totally legal as long as you keep your mouth shut!

Vodou: Take a tour through the deep south where the spirits of the bayou beckon you. The Stitchers want your bodies, The Priestess wants your souls and the bodies of the damned look upon you. Do your best to keep your skin in tact as you run from man and beast alike through the Louisiana swamps.

The Maze: Feel the terror begin to overwhelm your body as you attempt to navigate your way through our all NEW 7,500 square foot maze from hell. Which way to go? Choose your direction and choose it wisely, chainsaw wielding maniacs among other undead creatures roam the premises. The maze will leave you in the dark feeling cold and disoriented! Don’t bother asking our minions for directions, the only thing they wanna do is hear you scream.

Brine Slaughterhouse: Originally opened as a butcher shop for the families of the estate, this slaughterhouse turned into a processing plant for the whole town. Enter the bowels of The Brine Slaughterhouse and witness the unspeakable horrors that await. Your turn of this turn of the century slaughterhouse will unveil torture, gore and more. But beware; legend has it that Mr. Brine still walks the halls of this now-abandoned meat processing plant, with an insatiable appetite for human flesh.

 

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Jaden’s Halloween Room 2016 (?, United States)
Hello Werewolf Army this is Jaden from jadensvideos! I am a haunter. Halloween has always been my favorite time of year ever since I was little. I soon grew to love it like crazy and made a YouTube channel back on March 29 2012. Now that its the Halloween season for 2016 I am going to be uploading hundreds of Halloween videos. And I want to thank you all for over 3,200 subs! I have never been so grateful! Thanks so much for supporting my channel! More videos coming soon! Keep howling at the moon my werewolves!

 

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The 17th Door (Tustin, California)
Barely surviving freshman year, Paula has decided to return to Gluttire University. After an attempted suicide and a mental ward sentence, she struggles to pursue her fading dream of becoming a doctor. Frequent psychiatric evaluations force Paula to revisit disturbing childhood memories. Now dealing with a painful traumatic pregnancy, Paula remains desperate to escape her past. Nothing can prepare her for what comes next.… sophomore year.

If you attended Gluttire University last year, know this: it has grown in both size and difficulty. The personal pig demons of Paula’s past still roam the campus waiting to haunt her… and you. Everything inside this decrepit institution, which assaults your five senses, is real. Your endurance will be tested as you progress through the twenty one unsettling rooms of this monstrous school. Can you walk in Paula’s shoes through the dissolution of her life and burning flashbacks of her past to withstand what’s behind that final door? Can you endure over 34 minutes of psychological terror or will you scream MERCY to be escorted out of this nightmare? Are you brave enough to make it through… The 17th Door?

 

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Shocktober @ Paxton Manor (Leesburg, Virginia)
Leesburg, Virginia’s Shocktober is a month-long event that invites daring souls to get their scream on in a historical setting. It is hosted on the elaborate Victorian estate called Carlheim, a property which includes a labyrinth of underground caves, several outbuildings, and the infamous Paxton Manor. Throughout the grounds and the house’s over thirty two rooms, event organizers have staged trained actors and planted plenty of equipment (spiders, snakes, a casket simulator, and a clown-themed tunnel2, to list just a few) to ensure that visitors experience full-on fear. But the event can’t just thank these modern additions for its success; Paxton Manor, a house whose list of occupants includes wounded soldiers, orphans, and a man accused of animal cruelty, has always been paranormally busy. For producers of a twenty first century scare ground, it was ripe for the plucking.

 

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Haunted Basement (Minneapolis)
Haunted Basement returns to its roots with two twisted pathways leading to artist created environments built throughout the entire 13,000 square feet of The Soap Factory’s basement. But the nightmare starts before you even get there, as you are forced to wait in line through a maze of visual horror above the basement. Once its your turn, you’ll separated into small groups and fed into the depths a handful at a time where you will then be given a choice: follow the signs to take the “easier” path or be brave and take the path filled with more horror and more torment than ever before.

Once a path is chosen, there’s no turning back. But beware; we may decide to switch the signs at any time. And still, be bold with your choice. You never know when bravery will be rewarded.

There is no set time. Maybe you’ll find your way out. Maybe you’ll be stuck in the nightmare until we decide to let you out. Be prepared. Our Basement Creeps are ready. And they’ve been waiting for you.

Returning with us this year will be custom smells by Art and Olfaction Award nominated St. Croix Sensory, a partnership featured in The New Yorker in 2014. Your worst fears brought to life with all five senses.

 

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p.s. Hey.  ** Kyler, Hi. Goodest morning, sir. ** Ferdinand, Hi. The only thing I’ve read by Virginie Despentes is ‘Baise Moi’, and I saw her film of the novel too. I liked the novel okay, and the film less so. I don’t think ‘Vernon subutex 1’ has been translated into English? I could be wrong. I’ll check. There are few things greater than early-to-mid- Butthole Surfers. ‘Locust Abortion Technician’ is way up there in my all-time faves. Gosh, on your question, I mean it depends on how musically adventurous or not your protagonist is, I guess. The span from REM to Husker Du to AC/DC is pretty huge. Can you narrow down the area of the characters’ interest a bit? Again, not to be too nerdy, but what’s your definition of ‘hardcore’ punk? Punk continued to live and evolve from the mid-70s onwards, and what constitutes ‘hardcore’ is debated. Like would, say, Black Flag be considered hardcore? Meanwhile, let me try to pass your questions outwards. Everyone, Ferdinand has a musical question re: some fiction he’s working on. Help him out with suggestion if you can, please. Here he is: ‘I wanted to mention that I’m finding inspiration in Butthole surfers while “pushing the pen” and I’m compelled to set my story in the late 80’s. I wanted to get some feedback from anyone here: What would a few albums be that a teen interested in Rock, punk, metal would pick up from a used records stall in 1988? R.E.M; Husker du, AC/DC, The Replacements, Dead kennedys, what else? I’m interested in a wide selection / consensus / impression of accessible albums available in that time. I could pick from a ready list of album releases but this removed approach seems wooden to me. I’m more interested in what other people find emblematic of that time. Also did Hardcore (Punk) still hold sway in 1988, would it be stretch to put some hardcore in this fictive stack of Rock records? Again the lists are available but I would rather get “personal” “first hand” accounts or impressions of this time.’ Minitel, interesting. I don’t think I know of that, and, yes, it does sound like potential post fodder, so I’ll investigate, Thanks, man. ** Jamie McMorrow, Bonjour à toi, mon ami Jamie! Oh, Thomas Moore came in and answered your question about his book’s birth, if you didn’t see it. Oh, wait, I just scrolled down an inch and saw that you did see it. Nice, very nice: your visit in general and the Beuys show. My Monday was kind of busy, yeah. Arranging some stuff, and had to work a bit more on the opera libretto proposal because we have a big meeting with the collaborators tomorrow morning. The opera project is pretty early on. Well, we’ve worked a lot on it, but the musician/composer hasn’t inputted his ideas and stuff yet, and since it’s an opera and all, that makes all the work we’ve done pretty preliminary. It’s definitely not a traditional opera. Even calling it an opera is pushing it, but it’s being produced by an opera house in Berlin, so … it’s an opera, I guess. If it works, and I guess it has to, ha ha, it’s going to be a very strange and adventurous opera, that’s for sure. I’ll say more about it, of course, as it develops. It’s sunny and cold here too! My favorite weather! Have the awesomest day! Love from me and here! ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T! Wonderful interviewer = you. Your book is out! Whoa! Yes, please do send me the post on your book when you can. In the meantime, … Everyone, Mr. Jackson isn’t the only superb writer-d.l. combo with a new book out or nearly right now. Thomas ‘Moronic’ Moore’s new novel ‘In Their Arms’, which the blog will be celebrating in the form of a post very soon, is available for pre-order or, wait, for ordering itself (!) as of today, right now. Go here. ** Dóra Grőber, Howdy! Oh, no, I don’t think I ever read my stuff aloud to myself. No, wait, I do sometimes because I’m really concentrated on the rhythms in my prose, and reading a sentence or paragragh or whatever aloud to myself helps me hear/feel the rhythm. So, yeah, I guess I do, but only in bits and pieces. I’m glad your thesis is beginning to be nailed down, and I can’t even imagine how hard to must be to stay ‘scientific’ in the writing. Although the challenge of doing that is kind of exciting to think about. Me too, re: the gif novel. I’m excited. Oh, I know those hazy days. I think haziness is underrated, though. I don’t know what I mean by that exactly, ha ha. Things are good with me. I’m mostly just chipping away at work I need to do. I have this crazy schedule this month because Zac and I have to keep jetting off to foreign places to show our film every handful of days, so I have to work in these tight periods at home, but I’m not complaning. What did Tuesday give you, my buddy? ** Liquoredgoat, Hi. Ha ha, you unnerver. I would definitely be surprised if that weren’t the case based on my poetry workshop experiences. How is your prof about your work? That’s kind of the key, right? Larry Levis, huh, cool you’re reading him. I think I somehow knew that Levis and Dubie were friends, strangely. Will be curious to hear about that documentary, naturally. You sound good. ** Bill, Hi, B. I’ve heard of ‘The Incident’. I just read something about it, like, the day before yesterday or something like that. Cool, thanks, man. ** MANCY, Cool, gotcha about keeping the collab under wraps for now. Of course. Excellent, yeah, send me that gif if it works for you, for sure. ** H, Hi. Busyness is cool, but not to the point of getting sick from it, so don’t wear yourelf out, okay? ** Kiddiepunk, Oh, my pleasure, even my severe pleasure, maestro. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. ** Steevee, Hi. That film sounds powerful, for sure. I can’t imagine it getting a release here in France, but I’ll watch other channels for it. Thank you! ** Sypha, Nice review of Jeff’s book, of course. Thanks for the share. ** David Ehrenstein, Morning, D. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Man, fingers very crossed if need be about the SOIL thing. The return of YNY is monumental! ** Jeff Jackson, Hi! Oh, my great honor, man! And now that Michael has some more copies in hand, I hope to get my paws and eyes and other faculties on it at long last. Wow, very, very interesting about you working on sculptures! Will you share some visual evidence of them at some point? I’m fascinated to see what you’re doing in probably my favorite art medium. ** Misanthrope, Happy almost bordering on Halloween to you too, bud. Dude, get your ‘sorry’ ass to a fucking haunted house! There’s probably one up above that’s driving distance from you, or, if not, I’ll hunt you down one. ** Chris dankland, Hi, Chris. No, I don’t think I feel the same way about sad movies. Huh. I should, shouldn’t I? I mean there must be a lot to learn from them too. But, no, for now, I just get saddened by them, or saddened by the ones that hit my sad button. I’ve been known to cry in the presence of sad movies, yeah. For whatever reason, my emotions seem to particularly be suckers for depictions of acts of great kindness and for emotional reunion scenes between estranged fathers and sons. I have no idea where that trigger comes from. Do you cry at tugging movies? I’ll go find the ‘Dr. Strange’ preview if I can. McDowell is only in the film for 10 minutes?! Wtf?! I thought he was the star. Oh, that’s very disappointing. Yeah, it’s weird how Zombie seems to have lost his filmmaking mojo. I loved his first two films, but, ever since then, they’ve either seemed so-so or bad to me. Thanks a bunch about the Xiu Xiu video editing. I’m looking forward to it. I love editing, and Zac’s an editing super-talent, so I think we’ll be able to get magical with it maybe. ** Okay. Back to Halloween. Today I’ve picked out some exciting looking haunted houses for those of you who are lucky enough to be ensconced in the USA. See you tomorrow.