Ranking the Best Haunted Houses in America for Halloween

It's the season of scares and while haunted houses certainly aren't for everyone there's no doubt Americans love themselves some spooky attractions around Halloween. Here we'll rank some of the nation's best and by "best" I mean terrifyingly entertaining.

Hobb's Grove in Sanger, California (just outside of Fresno) offers visitors three exceptional Halloween haunts, including a sinister haunted house, a chill-inducing haunted forest known as The Hollows and a haunted hayride that's more suitable for guests with small children.

Travelers seeking blood-curdling scares in Indiana are sure to find them about 60 miles south of Indianapolis at Fear Fair in Seymour. This highly-regarded fall attraction boasts four frightening haunts, including Rockford Riot in which guests will be challenged to hold back their screams as they navigate a sea of rampaging lunatics.

Middletown, Delaware's Frightland offers a variety of scare-filled attractions, including four indoor haunted houses. One of those is the unnerving Haunted Barn described as a "haven for spirits, demons and entities that have refused to move on from our world." If that sounds too heavy, guests can always tap out and enjoy carnival rides, games, food and more.

2019 will mark the last year of screams at the award-winning Wisconsin Fear Grounds in Waukesha (20 miles west of Milwaukee). ANARCHY promises to be the final battle between good and evil as Morgana, her eight witch sisters and their army of minions attempt to wreak havoc on unsuspecting visitors. Those lucky enough to escape will then be tasked with navigating the Labyrinth.

If you prefer a haunted ship to a haunted house, look no further than the USS Nightmare in Cincinnati. Brave guests will spend more than 30 minutes walking through not one but two terrifying decks. This attraction is so scary that 15 percent of people don't make it to the end.

For the best haunted house experience in Cleveland, you'll want to visit Hauntville in nearby Elyria, Ohio. Those with a crippling fear of clowns might want to look away as the wicked clowns you'll encounter will be in 4-D, making for some truly immersive scares.

Certainly not for the faint of heart, Philadelphia's Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary takes place inside of a real-life prison. What's more, many believe the former jail to be haunted. If you can find the courage, this attraction features six haunts, including the revamped Infirmary where guests will encounter insane surgeons, dentists and nurses.

Spanning 44 acres, this award-winning haunted house in Niles, Michigan rebuilds all half-dozen of its major attractions each year so guests are always guaranteed to be surprised. Park visitors will also be happy to know that their experience will benefit a good cause. After all, the non-profit community project, which relies on hundreds of volunteers each night, donated more than $132,000 to local charities last year.

Pennsylvania has a way with haunted houses that simply can't be denied. Haunted Hollow in Rockwood (an hour-plus southeast of Pittsburgh) has been spooking Halloween revelers since 1997. Highlights here include a horrifying haunted boarding house and hayride and a remote cornfield with living scarecrows as well as the Milford Asylum and Toxic Wasteland featuring even more eerie moments and jump scares.

Dread Hollow's impressive list of accolades includes being voted the number one haunt in the nation by fans on ScurryFace.com in 2018. Not recommended for children under 12, this year's attraction features a trio of all-new haunts full of gruesome discoveries. 2019 is Election Year in Dread Hollow, with the sinister puppet companion of Mayor Al having taken control of the town.

Fall visitors to Pittsburgh are in for some one-of-a-kind frights at Hundred Acres Manor, which features an incredible six different themes that guests experience during one spine-chilling walk-thru. One of those attractions, Hallows' Eve, will bring visitors face-to-face with vampires, werewolves, mummies and other grim characters.

Atlanta's ultimate haunted house, NETHERWORLD returns in 2019 and the award-winning attraction is promising visitors "tons of new crazy creatures and elaborate sets" in addition to hair-raising animations and effects as well as a new escape room and laser adventure.

Offering two locations in Nashville, Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama, McKamey Manor is as intense and immersive as haunted houses come, blurring the line between extreme haunted attraction and survival horror challenge. Participants must be at least 21 (18 with signed parent approval), have proof of a recent physical and medical insurance, pass a background check and sign a waiver, among several other requirements.

Part of what makes Cincinnati's Dent Schoolhouse so terrifying is its mysterious backstory involving a killer janitor. In November, visitors to this haunted schoolhouse can further test their courage by attempting to escape with nothing but a glow stick in a horrifying Lights Out experience.

This petrifying haunted house in Fort Worth, Texas secured not one but two world records in 2015 for the world's largest haunted attraction and the world's largest walk-through haunted house. Located in a century-old abandoned meatpacking plant, this multi-story, multi-themed attraction features talented live actors, stunning special effects and monsters that will have you doing a fearful double take.

There's been a disturbance at the Haunted Hotel, which has been relocated from downtown San Diego to Mission Valley in 2019. This year's frightening entertainment features three haunts, including an all-new haunted hotel and a pulse-pounding 3-D blacklight experience at 3-D Freak-Fest. Visitors will also be transported to the ominous back-wood caverns of the Ozarks in Kill-billy Chaos.

Denver's 13th Floor Haunted House is routinely ranked among the nation's most terrifying haunted experiences but it isn't content to rest on its reputation. A handful of new attractions will debut in 2019, including the Stranger Things-inspired Other Side, Tales of the Unknown and Clown. The latter will be a must for fans of Stephen King's "It" and the infamous Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

The Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride outside of Philadelphia has been named the most entertaining haunted house in the country this year by America Haunts, a national association of top-tier haunted attractions. The trilogy of terror includes the high-startle, high-action Bates Motel, a heart-pounding hayride and the unnerving Revenge of the Scarecrows Haunted Corn Trail.