The 11 Best Haunted Attractions in America

Below is an article I was invited to use by the website BestCollegesOnline. They didn't ask to exchange links or even to link back to them, although I did. However, their article was titled "10 Best Haunted House Attractions." But I've added one of my favorites, a lesser known attraction near the Pittsburgh area.

Overall, it's a very good list of dark destinations that will give you chills. Try to visit at least one of them this year!

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Today’s haunted house attractions are more terrifying and believable than ever before, thanks to state-of-the-art animatronics, visual effects and talented actors that have the power to scare just about anyone and everyone. Expert ratings and reviews say these haunted houses are the best of the bunch and the best boo! for your buck.

1. The Darkness Haunted House
   Missouri is the Show-Me State, and St. Louis will show you a frightening time at its renowned haunted house, The Darkness. The Darkness features two floors of your worst nightmares, as monsters, ghouls and 3D clowns and killer circus animals chase and taunt you till the very end. Expect new additions to The Darkness this Halloween, such as a turn-of-the-century funeral home with mirror mazes, ancient graveyards and an animated falling barrel wall.
2. The 13th Gate Haunted House
   Take the Hellevator to the 13th gate, where you’ll find 13 themed indoor/outdoor scenes of your worst nightmares come to life. Here you’ll crawl through a crematory oven, get lost in a dark underground tunnel and stand on a creaky bridge overlooking live snakes. The 13th Gate is New Orleans most spine-chilling haunted attraction and a national chart-topper.
3. Edge of Hell
   Say your prayers when you enter the Edge of Hell, Kansas City’s oldest and best haunted house. Established in 1975, this converted five-story warehouse features 30 minutes of state-of-the-art technology and heart pounding scares, like sliding from heaven down a spiral slide into the Devil’s arms, being taunted by 45 live actors and seeing the glowing eyes of two 20-foot live anacondas. Edge of Hell has tons of good old fashioned scares and devilish delights that you won’t want to miss!
4. Headless Horseman
   Prepare yourself for forty-five acres of pure fear, beginning with a one-mile hayride through the dark woods of Ulster Park, New York, with the Headless Horseman himself chasing you down. Then, you’ll be led through a labyrinth-style corn maze, into five horrific haunted houses. The eerie farm land and surreal experience will have your head spinning all night.
5. Nightmare on the Bayou
   Situated next to Houston’s oldest graveyard, visitors can experience actual hauntings at the Nightmare on the Bayou. This terrifying haunted house experience starts with a heart pumping outdoor attraction, as you make your way inside to a clown room, caged hallways and a creaky bridge with zombies and a chainsaw man chasing you through a hedge maze.
6. Cutting Edge Haunted House
   Cutting Edge holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest haunted house in the world, totaling 55 spine-chilling minutes. Your worst nightmares take place in the 100-year old abandoned meat packing plant in Fort Worth, Texas, in the historic area known as “Hell’s Half Acre.” Here you’ll encounter monsters, clowns, swirling tunnels and what seems like a never-ending maze to leave this journey through hell.
7. Netherworld
   Atlanta’s Netherworld is another world of terror that has more scares, more haunts and more chilling effects than most haunted houses. As soon as you arrive, you’ll get a taste of Netherworld when you encounter terrifying creatures following you to the door way. Inside, you’ll get spooked by live actors, animatronic scare zones and movie quality special effects that will have you thinking you’re in a horror movie, and just guess who’s starring as the victim.
8. The Dent Schoolhouse
   Cincinnati’s Dent Schoolhouse depicts the frightening events of a murderous janitor who killed over 35 kids in this haunted schoolhouse from 1894. This terrifying experience will have your heart pumping as monsters, ghouls and a lone janitor terrorize you till the end. For an added haunt, visit the new detention hall where the troubled kids don’t want you to leave and the exit is hard to find.
9. The Bates Motel
   The Bates Motel in Philadelphia will have you checking out in no time. The horror begins with a 20-minute hayride at Arasapha Farms, amid a dark, haunted forest with ghouls and zombies darting out at you, followed by the main attraction – The Bates Motel. This Victorian mansion is filled with state-of-the-art computer controlled animatronics, terrifying sounds and live actors who will reach out and touch you at any time.
10. The Asylum
    The Asylum is Denver’s most horrifying and gruesome Halloween experience by far. Visitors walk through two levels of Gordon Cottingham’s Hospital for the Mentally Insane, where spiders, rats and snakes roam and the screams of tortured patients never stop.
11. Castle BloodCastle Blood is "one of the top 20 Halloween destinations in America," said MSNBC.com in 2000. Located in southwest PA in the little town of Beallsville, Castle Blood is one of the few spooky attractions in America with an actual year-round live-in caretaker! As you tour Castle Blood, its cast of macabre and supernatural characters use magic to help you solve a mystery in order to escape. A maze with lots of atmosphere, Castle Blood is an alternative to haunts that depend on masked chainsaw-carrying characters to chase customers quickly through. The nationally syndicated show Midnight Monster Hop is filmed here.