From The Shining to Annabelle, these are the creepiest places in haunted house history
Haunted Houses Need to Terrify You More Than Ever This Halloween
There will be more hauntings than ever in the coming months. From haunted cemeteries to the house from the damned film, here are some places to visit on Halloween:
The Shining
Less than 20 miles from the nearest city and with only a handful of places to explore, San Jose, California, is a perfect location for serious horror junkies. The ranger-led tour is unhurried and leaves you with enough time to enjoy a side trip to the nearby Alamo Mar Caves, which are filled with the bones of dead people. Take a stroll through old lace fields; dine in a dilapidated diner. Then, if you’re lucky, you’ll encounter an oddball character or two.
La Chauffeur Tour and Walking Tour
San Jose
From barbiturate-soaked deaths in abandoned mines to false witness-stealing bikers, French lore is steeped in peril and death. Enter La Chauffeur Tour and Walking Tour, which covers two main terrains: traditional tours of historic places such as Cabarcanyon Cemetery and the Bastille Cemetery, as well as vampire tours; this takes in places like Père Lachaise, the darkest building in the country, an entire town on fire and the doors and windows of the Bastille.
Annabelle House Haunted House
Arlington, Virginia
Estate that was a failed Disney film now exclusively based on an immersive, scary haunted house experience. With its deluxe ghoulish getaway, guests can share the hotel’s 500-strong ballroom with a guest stag party or even walk the halls of the hotel, looking for snakes and clowns, as Satan and his minion prepare to put a spell on you.
The Conjuring Unusual Occurrences Interviews
Newport, Rhode Island
From demonic kids and eerie characters to a hungry rat, the “Unusual Occurrences” interview segment at The Conjuring Unusual Occurrences tells creepy tales based on the actual experiences of the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, husband-and-wife paranormal investigative team Ed and Lorraine Warren. Home to the Warrens for 30 years, the house features over-crowded closets, piles of garbage, dangerous chemicals and a mysterious “hotbox” that leaks steam from the walls.
Strand Haunted House
Buffalo, New York
Visitors to the Strand Halloween haunted house can enjoy an early evening “trick or treat” at the child’s play store before entering the house. Visit the child-friendly market, take a spin in a haunted limo, participate in a nail-biting float parade and meet “Strand Kids” and other frightening creatures of the night. While the unmissable show as the night goes on in the haunted house, with its schlocky props and musical score, allows for a frightful journey through the belly of the beast; the real thrills are when you climb the stairs up to the top of the 8-story tower with your mystery and unsolved trespasses in hand.
Ghosts and Legends Tours of Central Park
New York
When The Washington Post called this “the biggest and coolest haunted house on the east coast”, it didn’t read the full story: the park itself is among the most haunted parts of New York City, with ghost sightings reported to date from the Guggenheim, the View from the Van Wyck, and the Spooky Tea Room. An elevator ride past the Ghost Train and Robers’ Pawn House gives you a closer look, and you can learn all about New York’s most infamous haunts by choosing a tour from the park’s multiple options.
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Scottsdale, Arizona
Here are three things you won’t find on the full movie: there’s no Freddy Krueger, no Nancy Thompson, and no Herbie. With eight houses, showing nightly, after-dark thrills and chills throughout and six shows with live music, The Nightmare on Elm Street nightmare tour is an eye-opener and a roaring success. It’s horrifying, it’s scary, and everyone’s welcome.
