October is the month when otherwise sane adults will lose their collective minds over ghouls, goblins, and ghosts, oh my!
For children, Halloween is all about filling their bright orange buckets full of candy.
But once the kids are put to bed, that’s when the adults get to have their fun.
And haunted attractions is where a lot of us like to get our Halloween kicks.
So call up a babysitter and go check out these five haunted places, because they are not for the children… or the faint of heart!
5. The 13th Gate, New Orleans, Louisiana
Located just outside of New Orleans, 13th Gate is one of the most terrifying haunted attractions you’ll ever visit.
It can best be described as an elaborate movie set, but with only one goal in mind – to scare the pants off you.
You will travel through 13 unique “gates” in this 40,000 square foot warehouse.
But the 13th gate is highly interactive and allows you to wander through it.
This attraction is built by award-winning stage crews and loaded with professional actors.
Due to the state’s tax incentives, Louisiana is one of the most popular locations to shoot movies, so a lot of professional actors reside in the New Orleans area.
Tickets start at $25 each.
4. Darkwood Manor, Luray, Virginia
Luray, Virginia is largely known for Luray Caverns and its cathedral-sized underground rock formations.
But Luray also has a great haunted attraction known as Darkwood Manor, which is located about halfway between Front Royal and Harrisonburg.
If ghosts scare you to pieces, this is the place for you.
The tour is centered around a fictional narrative about the murderous Leroy Darkwood and his wife in the year 1880.
Each year, the staff adds new characters and new ways to terrify you.
What makes Darkwood Manor especially unique is the plot development. It’s so detailed, you really feel like you’re in a real life ghost story!
Tickets start at $13 each.
3. Netherworld, Stone Mountain, Georgia
This is one of the most popular haunted attractions in the United States.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution describes Netherworld as the “Undisputed King of Haunted Houses in Atlanta.”
That’s pretty intense.
One thing that sets this attraction apart from the others is its remarkable special effects.
Each year is a different theme. One recent theme was “Monsters” and they really pulled out all the stops to make these “monsters” come alive.
This year’s theme is ‘The Awakened”—where rotted mummified corpses emerge from below.
As you make your way through the cemetery, expect these creatures to “destroy everything in your path!”
Tickets start at $23 each.
2. The Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, Weston, West Virginia
There’s nothing more chilling than an insane asylum.
Located in Weston, West Virginia, the coolest part of this 150-year-old, hand-cut stone masonry is that some of the frights experienced here isn’t always part of the show.
You read that right.
This place is terrifying beyond belief and many people have reported paranormal activity.
The asylum officially closed its doors in 1994 and is now a national historic landmark, but is turned into a haunted attraction during the whole month of October.
As you make your way through the asylum, you won’t know what’s fake and what’s real.
You’ll encounter crazy doctors and mentally deranged patients, and possibly some frights you weren’t expecting.
It’s loads of fun—if you can stomach it.
Tickets start at $20 each.
1. The Darkness, St. Louis, Missouri
Located in St. Louis, Missouri, this is arguably the scariest place of them all.
In fact, it’s considered to be one of the scariest haunted attractions in the entire world.
The Darkness has been featured on Mythbusters, The Discovery Channel, National Geographic, The Travel Channel, and in The Wall Street Journal—just to name a few!
That should already be enticing enough to pack up the car and head straight for St. Louis.
But one of the really cool things they offer is zombie laser tag. You can literally “kill” the walking dead with your gun.
You just have to make sure to aim small and shoot straight with all that adrenaline surging through your body!
Tickets start at $25 each.
Haunted attractions are not for everyone.
If you’re the type of person who is easily scared by horror movies, these places probably aren’t for you.
But if you love to be scared out of your mind—and a lot of us do—these five destinations will freak you out like you’ve never been freaked out before.
(h/t Proud American Traveler)