Bates Motel
(Glen Mills, Pennsylvania): You don’t need reservations — only courage — to check into the Bates Motel! If you’re not staying the night, you can also take a haunted hayride on the grounds or face down some revenge-minded scarecrows.
The Dent Schoolhouse
They teach you about dissection at the Dent Schoolhouse.
Bud Stross/The Dent Schoolhouse
(Cincinnati, Ohio): This attraction is at an actual former school, but the lessons you learn here make literary stalwart Edgar Allan Poe and his ravens look tame.
Erebus
(Pontiac, Michigan): Erebus bills itself as a “four-story tower of terror.” It’s a half-mile walk filled with zombies, monsters and a time-travel experiment gone terribly wrong. Erebus is just outside Detroit.
Freakling Bros. Trilogy of Terror
(Las Vegas): What scares in Vegas slays in Vegas. Choose from this terrible troika: Castle Vamprye, Coven of 13 and Gates of Hell. Head ups: They’re planning to put a stake in the heart of Castle Vampyre — this is your last year to see it.
Haunted Overload
Scarecrows gone wild! Haunted Overload is set on a farm.
Artifact Images
(Lee, New Hampshire): Have you always wanted to see monsters roaming a frightening farm where the harvest is a bumper crop of fear? Then head to one of New England’s top Halloween attractions.
The Haunted Trail of Balboa Park
(San Diego): Take a mile-long walk of horror through a “grove of twisted pines and gnarled oaks” that hide a host of gruesome delights. But before you can even get there, you’ll have to make your way through a malevolent maze — the rumor is Michael Myers hangs out there.
Netherworld Haunted House
(Stone Mountain, Georgia): This Deep South classic has been bringing a chill to participants for years. “Enjoy” two themed attractions: Night of the Gorgon and Cold Blooded.
Scared by the Sound
(Rye, New York): The usual happy noises of children at the classic Playland Park are replaced by shrieks, screeches and yells every Halloween season. Walk through an enclosed haunted house and outdoor cemetery.
Screamtown
(Chaska, Minnesota): Near Minneapolis, Scream Town offers seven attractions, including the “Ludicrous Labyrinth,” “Oak Blood Forest” and “Circus Asylum.”
The 13th Gate
The 13th Gate is where folks in Louisiana find their thrills.
13th Gate
(Baton Rouge, Louisiana): They definitely know a thing or deux about putting on a haunted show in Louisiana (you have seen “True Blood,” right?) And what awaits you here? Look out for iron-hot pokers, swamp pools of REAL snakes, mad scientists and a “Carnevil” that isn’t playing around.
Bonus attractions
Can’t make it to any of the places above? Here are some other ghoulish recommendations that might be closer to you:
