TOP 13 HAUNTED HOUSES IN THE U.S.A!!

   So what makes a haunted house one of the best and scariest in America 2012?  There are several things a paying customer might look for in a haunted attraction prior to buying a ticket.  There are so many established haunted houses, plus so many more that open new each year, and a lot of over the top (potentially false) advertisements promoting them all in every city across America.  At Hauntworld, we suggest attending every haunt possible (of course), but for those of you on a budget, typically you’ll want to steer clear from the brand new haunted houses.  New haunts have yet to establish themselves and build up an arsenal of experience to make people scream.  Rather, we suggest you visit the established haunted houses, the ones with years of experience, the ones who spend tens of thousands of dollars every year to renovate for each season, and the ones committed to making their haunted houses the best scream factories in America. 

    There are scary haunted houses, and then there are THE SCARIEST haunted houses in America. What’s the difference?  Some haunts just want to make you scream, but some haunts go all out with over-the-top efforts trying to be the biggest, the baddest and the scariest haunted houses on the planet.  The haunts that have that WOW factor can make their guests scream, PLUS they provide horrific atmosphere creating realism in every scare.  They provide a Hollywood movie quality punch to the gut!  Who wants to watch horror movies anymore when you can visit a haunted house and be right in the middle of the action?  Below is our list of the best haunted attractions in America.  These haunts will put you on stage inside a horror movie atmosphere and basically make YOU the scream queen!  Before visiting a haunted house, use Hauntworld.com to find the best haunted houses in America, as we boast the largest and most informative database for finding haunted houses.  Shop by city, state and zip to find a haunted house near you or around the World. 

NUMBER ONE The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, LA The 13th Gate is Louisiana’s Ultimate Haunted House! Journey through 13 very frightening themed indoor & outdoor areas where your worst nightmares come true and anything can happen.  Crawl through a burning crematory oven, get lost in dark underground caverns, and find yourself standing on a rickety bridge overlooking hundreds of live snakes.  This 40,000 square foot haunted house is definitely not recommended for the faint of heart! www.13thgate.com  New for 2012:  Lost Creek Cave: Explore the many dark passages of a highly-detailed snake-infested, anxiety-inducing cave. New areas in The Swamp include a giant beehive and a monstrous cypress stump. The Keep: The dungeon keep filled with dangerous traps, bottomless pits and a dragon’s lair.

NUMBER TWO Netherworld Haunted House in Atlanta, GA Ever known as one of the best haunts in America, Netherworld offers two new haunted themes in 2012.  Banshee: Its Scream Means Death! The Massive Bloody Crawling Eye! Crushed by the Primordial Giant! Portraits of the Undying! The Slime Crawler! Mauled by Crows! The Underwater City! The Beast From the Abyss! Mermaids and Tritons! The Formorian Hordes! The Wail of The Banshee! The House of the Dead! The 21 Foot Tall Tree Beast! The Moray Pits! Feel the horrors of a Halloween gone mad as the sunken city rises and Banshees fill the skies! More repulsive monsters, shocking scares and wild special effects than you have ever seen! The HIVE: They Will Make Your Skin Crawl! New for 2012: The twisted gore in the Dark Basement of NETHERWORLD grows even more vile with an invasion of giant bugs! Can you face - The Bone Snapping Crimson Hulk! The Colossal Writhing Centipede! Wasp Warriors! The Unstable Cobalt 99 Missile! Cocooned Horrors! Giant Spiders! Live Arthropods! Attacking Maggots! The Hideous Human Blob! More crawling, skittering, bloody insect nightmares than you can imagine! To read more CLICK HERE or visit website www.fearworld.com

NUMBER THREE Headless Horseman in New York Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Houses is a force to be FEARED! Two thousand and twelve’s hayride theme is “The Horseman’s Cult”. . The 20th year haunted attraction celebration will also include: The Lunar Motel, Glutton’s Slaughter House, The Root Cellar, Dark Harvest Corn Maze, Nightshade Greenhouse, The Feeding, Dahlia Blood’s Manor, and new for 2012, Dr. Dark’s Black Spider Sideshow. Plus, resurrecting many of the popular monsters that have haunted the grounds throughout the years: Butcher Joe, The Necromancer, The Bogeyman, Dr. Blight, Dr. Dark, Prisoner X, The Tooth fairy, The Collectors, The Hollowmen and of course The Headless Horseman! In addition, there will be a new Magic and Illusions Show, line actors, stilt walkers and stunt performers. With a sizzle reel for a new reality show in the can and the recently established American Made Monster Studios, 2012 is the year to celebrate at “the #1 Haunted Attraction in American” Headless Horseman Hayrides and Haunted Houses. Visit Headlesshorseman.com today!

NUMBER FOUR Cutting Edge Haunted House in Dallas, Texas Cutting Edge Haunted House was recognized by Guinness Book of World Records as the longest haunted house in the WORLD!  Cutting Edge is located inside a hauntingly old meat packing plant, the perfect setting for a gruesome haunting.  Cutting Edge Haunted House features live sets, animations, and hundreds of live actors inside and outside the building.  One of the best features of the attraction is all the real meat packing plant equipment left behind from when the planet closed years ago.  Much of the meat packing theme has been incorporated into the setting of this attraction making this haunted house in Dallas Fort Worth Texas one of the most authentic haunted houses ever created.  Cutting Edge Haunted House is waiting for you…Will you make it out alive?  CLICK HERE to read a complete review of this attraction or visit online at www.cuttingedgehauntedhouse.com.

NUMBER FIVE House of Torment in Austin TX House of Torment is widely considered to be one of the most innovative haunted houses in the country.  Take a journey through each of its dynamic and ultra-creative attractions: The Awakening, The Slaugherhouse and Cursed – The Howling.  House of Torment brings a boundry breaking, heart stopping, thrilling adventure to customers with aerial stunts, award winning sets, mind boggling illusions, and a horde of meticulously detailed monsters are presented in wonderous environments that range from a post-apocalyptic city to a twisted gothic nightmare. Fall into the depths of the Nightmare Dimensions, brave the Dark Decent, fend off attacking fiends, attempt the Sewer Escape, enter the Undead Station and more! The highly revered House of Torment production team prides themselves on creating new and vivid experiences each year for its avid fan base.  To read a detailed review of this haunt CLICK HERE or visit their websitewww.thehouseoftorment.com

NUMBER SIX Erebus Haunted Attraction in Pontiac, MI Michigan is the haunted attraction capital of the world with more than 70 haunts in a 50 mile radius. Erebus prides itself as one of the most unique haunts in the country by building almost all of their own props in-house. This is not the haunted house you went to as a kid, but the one that makes you scream as an adult. Things will grab you, bite you, and land on top of you.  Walk through a swamp.  Be placed inside a room, door slammed, and get dumped on by 10,000 balls as you’re buried alive! How long can you hold your breath?  Erebus, in Greek Mythology, is the son of Chaos and the brother of Night, this year they are bringing in the "Mother" - Chaos is coming fall 2012. Chaos is unleashing an all-out assault! She'll hit you from every angle with full on fear... and show no mercy.  Visitwww.hauntedpontiac.com for more haunted house details.

NUMBER SEVEN The Asylum Haunted House in Denver, CO If there is less oxygen, can you scream as loud?  Visit The Asylum Haunted House along with 13th Floor Haunted House, Undead Haunted House and ZombieLand Haunted House all conveniently located in Denver, Colorado and you’ll find out.  There’s terror in the heart of the Mile High City.  These haunted houses offer intense graphic experiences, where attention is paid to every detail ensuring those who visit have a frightening good time.  It all begins with The Asylum, set in Gordon Cottingham’s Hospital for the criminally insane.  It’s a damp and musty place infested with unimaginable nightmares and coupled with the endless screams of tortured souls. This year guests will be scared out of their minds with an insanely redesigned layout featuring new sets and effects that create a truly mind blowing experience.  Then it’s onward to the 13th Floor, where the age-old question is answered…Where is the 13th Floor, and why is it absent in so many buildings? Find out as you board a haunted elevator for a heart-pounding ride to a thrilling adventure on the legendary 13th Floor.  Undead Haunted House is Denver’s newest haunt offering an interactive zombie experience, built to scale as an actual farmhouse underseige by the undead.  Inside ZombieLand, the city is under quarantine, and there’s NO WAY OUT!  These haunting experiences offer the cutting edge of screams!  Here you are guaranteed an amazing journey through the most sought after haunted experience in Colorado. To read a detailed article about this attraction, CLICK HERE or visit their website www.getscared.com.

NUMBER EIGHT The Dent Schoolhouse in Cinncinati, OH The Dent Schoolhouse is a haunted attraction that takes place inside an actual historical schoolhouse with a haunting history.  Shut down in the 1950's after a murdering Janitor worked and resided in the basement all the while children were missing.  Today, movie quality sets and Hollywood animations, combined with this real legend, makes The Dent Schoolhouse a haunted house attraction NOT to miss!  New for 2012, the entire 1st floor of the attraction went through a complete renovation.  Guests now get to witness the age of the building. Lockers are rusted shut, dry wall is falling apart, and the classrooms are in shambles.  Deadly dissections have taken place in the science classroom and the English class has become a make-shift morgue while the bodies in the basement continue to number.  Other new additions to the schoolhouse are the renovated automotive classroom with a rabid junkyard dog and two cars from hell, plus a new ending that has the guests mazing through the school's bus parking lot! Also new for 2012 is the re-themed outdoor maze called Detention Hall.  A group of thug clowns have taken over the facility and are ready for the last laugh!  Both The Dent Schoolhouse and Detention Hall are included with every ticket.  Visit www.frightsite.com for more haunted house details.

NUMBER NINE The Darkness Haunted House in St. Louis, MO The Darkness has been rated the best haunted house in the entire WORLD by many publications and haunted house fans nationwide.  The Darkness features four attractions inside two floors of fear.  First, venture through The Darkness first floor, an outdoor themed haunted adventure full of ancient curses where fear for your life seems all too real. Next, trek upstairs through the graveyard and then enter the mortuary house. Once inside, you’ll find the graveyard bodies are back from the dead and zombies are flocking the mortuary ready to pounce on your flesh at every horrifying turn. Then, enter Terror Visions 3D Haunted House, clearly the World’s premier 3D haunted clown house.  The clowns are running amuck and YOU ARE NEXT!  Finally, exit through a Monster Museum of life-size Hollywood props and toys.  The Darkness has some of THE MOST amazing and creative special FX of any haunted house with custom one-of-a-kind animations, sets, scenes, and tons of flesh eating zombies and monsters.  The Darkness is located in downtown St. Louis in the historic Soulard area.  Read more about The Darkness Haunted House CLICK HERE or visitwww.scarefest.com.

NUMBER TEN The Beast & Edge of Hell in Kansas City, MO The Beast is one of if not the longest running haunted houses in America and is one of the only haunted houses in America that is FIVE STORIES TALL!  In Kansas City, they feature not one but two of the best haunted houses including The Beast and Edge of Hell.  Both of these haunted attractions are amazing featuring incredible set design, and one of the only haunts featuring live and very real creatures like a 25 foot long Python, Gators and much more.  Both attractions feature a 5 story slide from the top floor all the way back down to the ground floor.  Both The Beast and Edge of Hell can be ranked as high as the best haunted houses in the country.  The combination of the two makes Kansas City a must stop when looking for the scariest haunted houses in America.  Read more about these attractions CLICK HERE or visit the websites www.KCBeast.com or www.fullmoonprod.com.

NUMBER ELEVEN The Bates Motel in Philadelphia, PA For over 20 years, The Bates Motel Haunted Hayride at Arasapha Farm has been making Philadelphia SCREAM!  This event is one of the biggest haunted house events in America featuring amazing props, digital FX, terrifying actors, professional makeup, pyrotechnics and multiple attractions in one location including a massive corn maze, an infamous hayride and a horrific haunted house.  The Bates Motel has been featured on multiple television shows and ranked as high as THE BEST haunted house in the nation by multiple media outlets including Hauntworld.com.  The Bates Motel dominates the Philadelphia market as well as every surrounding area.  People travel from miles away just to attend this haunting event.  To learn more about Bates Motel read their featured article CLICK HERE or visitwww.thebatesmotel.com.

NUMBER TWELVE 13th Floor Haunted House offering 3 locations: San Antonio, TX, Denver, CO and Phoenix, AZ  What is the terrible secret hidden within the 13th Floor?  Superstition? Conspiracy? Or something much, much worse?  As legend has foretold, The 13th Floor Haunted House provides a gut wrenching ride to untold nightmares STRAIGHT DOWN!  The 13th Floor Haunted House is a franchise haunted attraction located in multiple locations.  These attractions are a true testament to high action, in-your-face premium production value among all haunted houses.  Each attraction offers a massive haunted event, one as big as 40,000 square feet and another as high as 3 floors up!  Through the wickedness of its massive gothic cemetery and into its horrifically fantastic haunted hotel, 13th Floor customers get to experience a barrage of special effects, animatronic monsters and impeccably detailed sets.  Add to that some of the most talented group of performers in the industry, and you’ve got a top notch, first rate haunted house that’s 2nd to none. To read a detailed review of the San Antonio haunt, CLICK HERE.  To read a detailed review of the Phoenix haunt, CLICK HERE.

NUMBER THIRTEEN Nightmare on the Bayou in Houston, TX Located in the shadow of downtown Houston, TX next to Houston’s oldest graveyard, Nightmare on the Bayou is the name people think of when searching “HAUNTED TEXAS”.  Nightmare on the Bayou is entering its 12th year in operation and has grown even bigger, even better, and even scarier with every passing year.  Featuring newly designed scenes, Hollywood quality props, professional animatronics and dozens upon dozens of the most well-trained and highly supervised actors, CRAZED ACTORS, whose sole purpose is to scare you to death.  Nightmare on the Bayou boasts, “the only haunted house in Houston with REAL ghosts,” and with its location right next to the graveyard…I believe them!  Ghost sightings are frequent from both customers and employees alike.  Additionally, Nightmare On The Bayou is one of the only haunted houses in America with a WORLD CLASS Halloween retail store on site for your ease and convenience.  Learn more about Nightmare On The Bayou Haunted House in Houston, TX by visiting their websitewww.nightmareonthebayou.com