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13 Haunted Houses That Will Make You Wet Your Pants

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Have plans for Halloween? Love to be scared, scare someone else or delight in watching others wet themselves in fright?

If so, this is the post for you. Compiled here are the 13 best American haunted houses, and each has its own specialties in gore and fear. These 13 are sure to terrify even the most seasoned haunted house goer. So, if you’ve got a plight for fright, check out one or more of these locations to ensure a positively hair-raising October.

This list is composed of a number of attractions ranging from professional haunted houses to hayrides to a steamboat. Yes, a steamboat. But each one is unique and offers something for anyone who is looking for a good scare. Counting backwards, let's start with number 13.


13. Haunted Overload - Exeter, New Hampshire

The number 13 haunted house is a haunted house that rivals any professional haunted house out there. The elaboration in detail is said to be uncanny and really gives this place a worthy reputation, not to mention the fact that half the proceeds are donated to help the animals of the New Hampshire SPCA. Expect a lot of chainsaws, lots of actors in costumes and fog that makes it virtually impossible to see what's gonna get you next. (Halloween)



12. USS Nightmare - Newport, Kentucky

Following the story of an ill-fated crew of sailors, this haunted house is set upon a real river steamboat. Every quarter in the ship has its own haunted scene whether you are in the captain's quarters, the mess hall or what appears to be a room full of torture devices. Be prepared for a lot of scary looking baby dolls strewn about the boat as well. Even more frightening than the decorations is the knowledge that once you enter this boat, you've only have two ways out...the entrance plank or the icy ocean. (Halloween)


11. Asylum & Hotel Fear - Las Vegas, Nevada

Next up is a haunted house with an equally odd location: semi-truck trailers. Being that space is scarce and expensive in Las Vegas, the owners of this haunted house resorted to taking old semi-trucks and turning them into haunted houses. An interesting and ingenious use of resources I'd say! There are two different attractions: the Asylum and Hotel Fear. Both of which get the terrifying job done. The main component working well here is the compact space, which makes house goers uneasy and anxious with the knowledge that someone or something may be very, very close. (Halloween)


10. Seven Floors of Hell - Cleveland, Ohio

Coming in at number 10 is the Seven Floors of Hell. The name alone will send shivers up your spine, yeah? The structure is massive and actually includes, as the name suggests, seven different haunted houses. It is said to be the longest linear walkthrough of any haunted house. With a 1 million dollar budget, you can bet this haunted house is going to be fancy. The seven haunted houses have, among others, a haunted cemetery, Cellblock 13 (full of dead inmates), the bloody Butchers Block, and, of course, a haunted circus. So you're pretty much going to get every scary thing ever in this one place. Enjoy! (Halloween)


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Comments
Oct 13, 2006
by dave (not verified)

haunted houses

how could you leave off New Orleans' House of Shock?! Easily the most disturbing haunted house in the country!

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

You got to be kidding about

You got to be kidding about the Nightmares website intro (hauntedhousenyc.com). What was so scary about it? You are a complete ween if you found that disturbing. Makes me question the validity of your list since I suspect Barney probably makes you wet your pants...

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

I think the house of shock

I think the house of shock in LA should be on this list. Has any one been to it.

I went to the Fright Dome in Vegas and it totally flipped me out.

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

I've been to two of these.

I've been to two of these. Shocktoberfest in Reading is fairly decent, but I've been to better.

"Terror Behind the Walls" in Philly is an effing joke. I had to take a tour of the Eastern State Penitentiary in broad daylight and it was kind of spooky like that. For their Halloween show, they put all kinds of fake, neon dragons and crap in there and it's more fit for a rave than a haunted house. So dissapointing. Whoever's in charge of it should be fired, because it SHOULD be 100 times better.

Oct 13, 2006
by joe (not verified)

face your fear?

so you "had to click the "skip intro" icon immediately after it started because the intro was so disturbing...no lie"

If that's the case you're a pussy. It was like eight seconds of still images that showed absolutely zero worth being frightened over. Go review knitting groups or something if this is your idea of scary.

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

No house of shock? List

No house of shock? List blows

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

.... Not like Orlando's

....

Not like Orlando's Universal Sponsored Halloween Horror Nights, which contains more actors (scharacters), Haunted Houses, Midways, Rides, Attractions, Props, Sets, Shows, etc. than ANY of these half-assed productions would possibly make such a list as this.

Stupid list, do more research.

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

I liked the list. I agreed

I liked the list. I agreed with the ones I've been to. If you don't agree with the list, why don't you go create your own.

Oct 13, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

This is fg gay

This is fg gay

Oct 14, 2006
by Alexis

Solution

First off, thanks for visiting our site.

However, if you disagree with the list, why don't you pick your own top 13 (not just the best one but 13) and put it up in the comments. Let's see if everyone agrees with your list. We've had over 50,000 reads on the article and only a few complaints so we're going to assume that this is a great list unless you can prove otherwise.

Alexis
American Inventor Spot Team

Oct 14, 2006
by Amused and Bemused

Great real houses by real

Oct 14, 2006
by Seth Plattner

my list

For those of you that disagree with my list all I can say is that I'm sorry and remember that this is, in fact, opinion. Like Alexis said, if you think you've got a better list by all means try and get it on the website.

And I must say I was amazed at the amount of hostility at what scares me. There are some people out there getting really angry about some trivial stuff. Such is life though, right?

Seth

Oct 14, 2006
by Anonymous Casper (not verified)

They are just "tough guys"

or should I say "teeny boppers". Nothing scares them! They can handle it. Those "gay" references are also childish. To respond that YOU weren't scared just shows how immature you are--and suggests that you WOULD be scared IF the houses were a little scarier. That makes you vulnerable, afterall.

I agree that the hostility/aggressiveness over an article offered for their enjoyment is the scariest part.

BOO!!!!! [Who did I scared?]

Oct 14, 2006
by Anonymous Casper (not verified)

Correction

Should, of course, be "Who did I scare?" (not "scared")

But now I guess I am scared.

I suppose someone will also call my comments "gay".

Oct 15, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

but what about

no markoffs haunted forest? where would that have placed

Oct 16, 2006
by Chris (not verified)

New Port?

Um... Newport, KY is all one word. I live about 30 minutes north of it.

Oct 16, 2006
by Evil (not verified)

You forgot number 1

House of Shock New Orleans should have been on this list. It's seems quite a few others agree.

Oct 16, 2006
by Alexis

Hey Newport

We knew it was one word. We just wanted to see if anyone from Kentucky was visiting this site. Now we know.

Thanks for the catch. ;)

Oct 17, 2006
by Mike (not verified)

Are you joking?

I am a huge fan of haunted houses so when i saw this list i was really pumped.... but than i saw your number 1 pick. Nightmare haunted house is without a doubt the worst piece of shit i have ever been to!!! Its not even a haunted house, you go from room to room and watch some lame ass skit play out and not only that it costs 20 bucks!. Next time maybe you should actually go to the places you talk about. This countdown is pure garbage

Oct 18, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

that list was looking

that list was looking interesting until I saw face your fear as number 1.... not scary at all..... and extremely short..scariest part was when you have to crawl in the dark, nothing pops out though. it was fun but like I said not scary at all... I wish they would bring back madison scare garden.. now that was great... took about an hour to get throught it all compared to the 20 min at face your fear.. very unimpressive

Oct 21, 2006
by Matt Wood

Some of you voiced your

Some of you voiced your opinions about the House of Shock New Orleans very well. Some of you, though, went way over the top. If you don't like the list, then leave.

Why waste your time on dropping a comment?

We all know Seth put hours on end into this article. If you don't like what he wrote, leave. It's pretty simple.

Matt Wood

mattsbomb40@yahoo.com

AmericanInventorSpot.com Writing Team

Oct 22, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

Ouch! Matt!

So negative and uncouth! I'm not sure if your "advice" is better than some of the negative comments.

Oct 22, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

Technocrati MATTers

I would think that you'd have a better chance at improving your Technocrati rating IF you (i.e., Matt) do not instruct "nonpraising" visitors to LEAVE. Besides, this site would become boring if you only had the "I loved your article" comments. Granted, some of the negative comments could be written in a more suitable/less offensive way, but that would be up to those commenting.

Oct 22, 2006
by Matt Wood

@Technocrati MATTers

Not sure people that drop comments like these will help our Technorati ratings in the first place:

1.) "This is fg gay"

2.) "Scariest thing of all: some asswipe actually took the time to compile useless sh**t like this and then have the balls to upload to a website that is willing to host it-SCARY F***KING SH****T, OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

3.) "If that's the case you're a pussy."

I don't see how my comment is negative or uncouth in any way (especially compared to others). All I meant was, if you don't like it, then you can quietly leave and either look at something else on our site that you're more interested in, or leave altogether.

You don't need to talk smack to the writer in the comments of his own article. It's something you simply shouldn't do, and shouldn't be tolerated here, imo.

It's just like I said:

"Some of you voiced your opinions about the House of Shock New Orleans very well. Some of you, though, went way over the top."

Matt Wood

mattsbomb40@yahoo.com

AmericanInventorSpot.com Writing Team

Oct 26, 2006
by Michelle
Michelle's picture

Hey Everyone...Let's take a chill pill

Our site welcomes constructive comments although I agree with Matt that some were a bit inappropriate. I am going to leave the ones but will delete future ones with profanities. If you got something to say...great. Just leave the cursing out please.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Michelle
AmericanInventorSpot.com Team

Oct 28, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

Good thing

I was wearing my Depends.

Oct 29, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

wow... its definite that

wow... its definite that alot of work was put into this site. as for the people with the negative comments??? i guess i didnt know that haunted house lists were that serious. or maybe youre just a bunch of losers that dont have much better to do. so my comment for those who are talking sh*t.... go f*ck yourselves and get a life, f*ucking losers.

Oct 30, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

FACE YOUR FEAR - NYC DON'T" GO!!

...unless you'd pay $25 for something dirty stinkin' like doo-doo. I bought tickets for the "timed" 11:00 entrance in Brooklyn, and as it instructs we showed up a little before 10:45. The handling of ticket holders was virtually non-existent, and it seemed as though there was no way to handle the flow of people coming in. We stood around until after 12:00 until we were finally let in.....to wait in another line. Eventually our "group" was let into the maze, and after seeing the first room with the girl alone in her room (oh no, make it stop!!) we were suddenly merged with the group in front of us. No joke. Now, please, imagine trying to go through a dark maze with about 30 people into rooms about 10x10 or so. Needless to say, we saw nothing since we were stuck behind all those people. And on top of that, I'm sure we were somehow steered the wrong way and right out to the exit because we certainly didn't see 13 rooms. Either that or the whole thing sucked a** way more than I thought. Anyway, I digress. The point is that I can't believe how ineptly managed the whole thing was. The whole experience was absolutely pitiful, and they already had our $ so they couldn't have cared less!

Nov 6, 2006
by Mack (not verified)

Great Stuff

There's not much like this in Manchester (UK). We went to something like this in Florida (can't remember the name, I was only a wee lad) and it was a load of fun. I was suprised at how professional it was all put together, having been used to tacky fairground rides etc.

Nov 17, 2006
by Suldog (not verified)

Thanks!

Just wanted to thank you for submitting to the carnival, now up at http://bah-humbug.blogspot.com

Dec 3, 2006
by PastorZ (not verified)

Hell House

Anyone intrested in haunted houses. If you would like to help put together and run a christian haunted house email me pastorZ at NorthBound@yuber.com
Thanks and God Bless!

Dec 3, 2006
by Anonymous (not verified)

Hell House

We here at North Bound are seeking sponsors to make the soul saving Hell House this year. If you are intrested in helping with this tax deductible gift or know someone who may be please contact pastorZ at NorthBound@yuber.com

Mar 3, 2007
by Anonymous (not verified)

USS Nightmare and the Idiots with the neative comments.

I don't agree that the Uss Nightmare should be on this list. I live near it and have been going to it since High School. It is a good one but definately not one that I would think would be on a top 13 list.  However, it is only my opinion and I am  no expert. I did go to one in Phoenix, AZ that you had sign a release form to enter and it was by far the best. My friends mom passed out! People could physically touch you and that I think is what made it great. Cant remember the name and they don't do it anymore. So I would say EREBUS in Michigan sounds like it would be the best. If ppl can come in physical contact with you it should be good. Its rare that they do  that due to all you !@##$^% that sue. Prob. the same ppl making all the derogitory comments who would piss themselves it they did get scared,

Mar 7, 2007
by Anonymous (not verified)

fright dome

The fright dome is not scary at all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mar 18, 2007
by savannah (not verified)

IT IS FKING GAY

IT IS FKING GAY

IT IS SOOOOOOO FUING GAY.IT SCARD MY MOTHER AND SHE IS 90.

PUT BETTER STUFF THAT WILL SCERE 20 YEAR OLDS

May 9, 2007
by Anonymous

yeah i've had been n' da

yeah i've had been n' da house ov shock n' LA.  & I got scarE it felt like 2 die & 2 wet my pants till death!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ??????????????<chuky>

May 23, 2007
by shutie.... (not verified)

cOOOOOrNNNNNNNNyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UGGGGGGGGGGLLLLYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!! ;pTongue out

May 30, 2007
by NECBYTER (not verified)

Headless Horseman, Ulster Park, NY

Glad to see you have added the Headless Horseman to your list. I always have so much fun there and besides the haunt and maze. The atmosphere is awsome. It pulls in huge crowds and the customers are always in a great mood. This place is a must if your in NY.  Your right about the horseman. Its a classic that everyone knows and its exillerating to see in person.  I hope to check out some of the others that you have listed here.

If you get a moment please check out my vampire clan gatherings i hold the week before halloween.  http://www.gothicrealm.org/necbyter     Smile

Jun 30, 2007
by Haunter (not verified)

St. Louis!

Wow. I am a pro haunter in LA and I have to say, the stuff they're doing in St. Louis looks second to none (and that's sayin' something, as I've helped design and build some of the biggest haunts in the world, and I own a pretty decent haunt myself). Rock on Scarefest!

Jul 13, 2007
by Nate (not verified)

What about Dead Acres?

It seems Dead acres (Haunted Hoochie) #9 on hauntworlds list, made the list, but then again did not. The picture that you put with Erebus is in fact a picture from the dead acres website www.deadacres.com

I hate to see a picture from one haunt used to promote another. Dead acres name and not just a picture from their haunt should be on a future list. Check them out, wicked scary.

Jul 17, 2007
by Anonymous (not verified)

wow... you use a picture

wow... you use a picture from the worlds most extreme haunt...dead acres.?Haunted Hoochie....and don't even mention them...and post their piture as a picture for another haunt....be sure to check them out...i have been to erebus and it does kick ass..i have been to haunted hoochie?dead acres...and it kicks more ass...these 2 haunts should top your list next year...but you should probably use erebus pics for them and dead acres pics for them....my @ cents...i am sure it was an honest mistake

Jul 22, 2007
by hell yeah (not verified)

dead acres

hell yeah Dead Acres rocks...and so does inventor spot...i havent been to erebus but we loved Dead Acres or Haunted Hoochie or what ever they call it now..it still kicks a$$

Jul 31, 2007
by hauntfan (not verified)

hell yeah...dead acres

hell yeah...dead acres rocks...i saw that pic on their  myspace...why would you use their picture for another haunted house?  haunted hoochie is the best haunt i have ever been too and i have been to haunted houses all over america...they do bad ass stage shows..where they do realy bad things to people and you can't figure out how they did it..i always go back to dead acres haunted hoochie..to see what they will do next...

Aug 15, 2007
by MrsShockstress (not verified)

Headless Horseman Hayride

Headless Horseman Hayride is by far the scariest Haunted attraction in the nation. It is completley different then any other attraction that I have ever been to.  Not your everyday haunted house. I am glad you put it in your top 5 it should move to number 1 Smile

Aug 15, 2007
by Katy (not verified)

Erebus?

Erebus, was never and will never be scarey. The Realm of Darkness is soooooo much better. Better actors, better house, and all around better scares are to be had there. I love that place, and I go every year. I gave up on Erebus last year when they had the same crap for 3 years in a row.

Aug 21, 2007
by Saturn dash trim (not verified)

scary

that was hair raising facts.

Sep 12, 2007
by Daniel (not verified)

#1 stunk like #2

Nightmares: Face Your Fears was THE WORST haunt I've ever seen, and I speak with authority, since I've been to half on this list, plus close to a hundred other haunts across the states, plus a few in Canada. Granted, I only attended the Manhattan venue, so the rest... who knows. 

I almost feel guilty saying it, because I got love for anyone with a love for haunting. But that place stunk up the joint. 

One thing i give them credit for, caught me off guard... some of their staff act like regular patrons, get pulled into some scenes and killed.

Oh, one last thing... I'm AMAZED they got cleared by the FDNY. Place is a deathtrap waiting to happen.

Sep 15, 2007
by Iamtight (not verified)

DARKNESS rank 3?

ok let me say from experience of attending the darkness 3 years in a row that it does not live the HYPE. frist of all, the animation is garbage do to dumb AI. Second, the actors or terrible. They don't take good actors due to the fact they choose random people from highschool that I went to!!! The actors performances was terrible just for saying boo! wow thats real creepy. The only good thing about the darkness was when you get chased by a maniac with a chainsaw. it was pretty hot. but they removed that from the scare show which was the only thing worth money so darkness is really low rated. Last, the barely change the set up from previous years. They just add like one or two new animations that are really sorry & will only scare children. So yea, use your money wisely if you plan to go to this place that charges 15 dollars!Surprised not worth the money trust me.

Oct 2, 2007
by Blanca (not verified)

Terror Behind the Walls

I went about 4 years ago.  Even though I am very hard to scare because I am stubborn and I know if they touch me I will TOUCH back.  This place was not so bad.  It was a little scary but I think it was just the fact that we were in a prison where I am almost sure that some messed up torture events must have happened back in the day.

Oct 2, 2007
by Anonymous (not verified)

HAHAHA #1??

soo i was reading this list of places and i was like umm ok these places look pretty cool based upon what i'm reading right now...little did i know i was going to stumble on to the #1 scariest place being Nightmare in New York. What a joke!!!...i'm not too easy to scare but i believe i was seriously laughing throughout the entire thing...it was terrible...the best part about the entire thing was the bar with the tv projection playing saw 2 before we went in. it's really not good at all...maybe for little kids...but i believe you have to be 18 to get in i think??? which just sucks for whoever goes in