The best haunted houses in America carry a certification most visitors have never heard of: the Haunted Attraction Association’s Top Haunt status. It is the closest thing the haunt industry has to a seal of excellence, and the attractions that hold it include the biggest, longest-running, and scariest haunted houses in the country. This page lists every certified Top Haunt by state, with dates, official sites, and deeper looks at the haunts we have covered and interviewed.
What Is a Top Haunt?
The Haunted Attraction Association is the haunt industry’s trade body, with a mission of protecting customers, promoting haunted attractions, and educating the professionals who run them. To earn Top Haunt certification, an attraction must be an HAA member and meet a ten-point standard covering safety, professionalism, and industry leadership. The 2025 list, the most recent published, recognized 67 attractions and added Gold and Silver tiers alongside the long-running Iconic tier. This page reflects the current published list and will be refreshed when the 2026 list is announced.
Every Top Haunt, by State
Every name links to its full entry below. Haunts are Iconic tier unless marked Gold or Silver.
- Arizona
- 13th Floor Phoenix (Phoenix)
- Fear Farm (Phoenix)
- California
- Delusion (Los Angeles)
- Festival Fright Nights (San Jose – Silver)
- Hobb’s Grove (Sanger)
- Los Angeles Haunted Hayride (Los Angeles)
- Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns LA (Los Angeles – Silver)
- The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor (Long Beach)
- Colorado
- 13th Floor Haunted House Denver (Denver)
- Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns Denver (Denver – Gold)
- Terror in the Corn (Erie)
- Connecticut
- Legends of Fear (Shelton)
- Delaware
- Frightland (Middletown)
- Florida
- 13th Floor Jacksonville (Jacksonville – Gold)
- Black Water Grave (Bartow – Silver)
- Fright Nights at the South Florida Fairgrounds (West Palm Beach)
- Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail (Plant City)
- Illinois
- 13th Floor Chicago (Chicago)
- Aura Haunted House (Bartonville – Silver)
- Realm of Terror (Round Lake Beach)
- Spook Hollow (Marquette Heights)
- The Old Joliet Haunted Prison (Joliet – Gold)
- Indiana
- Hysterium (Fort Wayne)
- Kentucky
- Fariston’s Haunted Forest and Myrtle’s Manor (London)
- Sinister Tombs Haunted House (Eastview)
- The Devils Attic (Louisville)
- USS Nightmare (Newport)
- Louisiana
- New Orleans Nightmare (New Orleans – Gold)
- Michigan
- Niles Scream Park (Niles)
- Wiard’s Orchards’ Night Terrors (Ypsilanti)
- Montana
- Field of Screams MT (Victor)
- Nevada
- Dark Prison (Carson City)
- New York
- Frightmare Farms Haunted Scream Park (Palermo)
- Headless Horseman Haunted Attractions (Ulster Park)
- North Carolina
- The Haunted Farm (Hendersonville)
- Woods of Terror (Greensboro)
- Ohio
- Akron Haunted Schoolhouse and Haunted Laboratory (Akron)
- Factory of Terror (Canton)
- Ghostly Manor (Sandusky)
- Spooky Ranch (Columbia Station)
- The Dent Schoolhouse (Cincinnati)
- Oregon
- Nightmares on the Rogue Haunted Attraction (Medford – Silver)
- Scaregrounds PDX (Portland)
- Pennsylvania
- Field of Screams (Mountville)
- Halloween Nights of Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia)
- Haunted Hollow (Rockwood)
- Hundred Acres Manor (Pittsburgh)
- Pennhurst Asylum (Spring City)
- Reapers Revenge (Blakely)
- Shocktoberfest (Reading)
- The Haunt PA (Schaefferstown – Silver)
- South Carolina
- Boone Hall Fright Nights (Mount Pleasant)
- Tennessee
- Dread Hollow (Chattanooga)
- Nashville Nightmare (Nashville)
- Texas
- 13th Floor Houston (Houston – Gold)
- 13th Floor San Antonio (San Antonio)
- Creepy Hollow Haunted House (Rosharon)
- Dark Hour Haunted House (Plano)
- House of Torment (Austin)
- Utah
- Fear Factory Haunted Attraction (Salt Lake City)
- The Castle of Chaos Haunted House (Midvale)
- Virginia
- Haunted Hunt Club Farm (Virginia Beach)
- Milltown Haunt (Lovettsville – Silver)
- Terror Manor (Roanoke City – Gold)
- Washington
- Cinema of Horrors Haunted House (Kelso – Gold)
- West Virginia
- Fright Nights WV (Daniels)
- Wisconsin
- Terror on the Fox (Green Bay)
Arizona
13th Floor Phoenix
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 1 | 
Phoenix, AZ
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Quoted by USA Today among the top five most terrifying haunted houses in the country, 13th Floor Phoenix stacks three haunted houses for 2026 alongside a zombie shooting range, mini escape games, and a hidden 21-and-up bar. | |
Fear Farm
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 14 | 
Phoenix, AZ
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Fear Farm bills itself as Arizona’s largest Halloween event, an outdoor haunted fairgrounds whose 2026 lineup runs six experiences deep, from the Beyond the Veil haunt to a corn maze and the Deadshot Alley zombie shooting range. | |
California
Delusion
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Los Angeles, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| Delusion is interactive horror theater from creator Jon Braver, a seasonal Los Angeles production running since 2011 in which the audience plays a role inside the story rather than watching from a queue line. | |
Festival Fright Nights
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 18 – Nov 1 | 
San Jose, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Our full guide | |
| Festival Fright Nights turns the Winchester Mystery House estate into four festival zones holding 13 attractions, including haunted houses built inside the notoriously haunted mansion itself and a live Houdini seance show. | |
Hobb’s Grove
| 2026 Dates: Thursdays through Sundays, Oct 2 – 31 | 
Sanger, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Hobb’s Grove has been Central California’s Halloween tradition since 1999, now in its 27th season, pairing a haunted house, a haunted forest, and a classic hayride with a midway of concessions and tarot readers outside Sanger. | |
Los Angeles Haunted Hayride
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 18 – Nov 1 | 
Los Angeles, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Our full Hayride guide | |
| The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride wraps an entire Halloween town called Midnight Falls around its namesake ride, complete with roaming townsfolk, mazes, and a skeleton-steed carousel, and its 2025 season added a maze made with Janelle Monae. | |
Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns LA
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Los Angeles, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns lights a mile-long trail through the South Coast Botanic Garden with more than 10,000 carved pumpkins, a family walk built on glow and wonder rather than scares. | |
The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 18 – Nov 1 | 
Long Beach, CA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Our full Dark Harbor guide | |
| Dark Harbor builds its haunted mazes aboard the notoriously haunted Queen Mary ocean liner, with five mazes for 2026, hidden speakeasies to hunt down each night, and a real ship-history ghost tour included with admission. | |
Colorado
13th Floor Haunted House Denver
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 11 – Nov 14 | 
Denver, CO
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Watch our video | |
| The Denver original of the 13th Floor brand, quoted by USA Today among the top five most terrifying haunted houses in the USA, backs its 2026 haunted houses with a redesigned clown maze, a zombie shooting range, and three hidden 21-and-up bars. | |
Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns Denver
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Denver, CO
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Denver’s Magic of the Jack O’Lanterns winds through The Hudson Gardens with thousands of hand-carved pumpkins, a synchronized pumpkin light show roughly every half hour, and the new Enchanted Hollow trail extension. | |
Terror in the Corn
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Oct 31 | 
Erie, CO
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| Terror in the Corn marches you through a mile of twisted cornfield into Raven’s Gulch, a full haunted ghost town with its own published mythology, and every ticket also covers Anderson Farms’ fall festival and 25-acre corn maze. | |
Connecticut
Legends of Fear
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Shelton, CT
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Legends of Fear has spent 29 years scaring Connecticut from a real working tree farm in Shelton, where a 30-minute haunted hayride through the forest pairs with the multi-scene Hallow Trail before the farm turns merry for Christmas. | |
Delaware
Frightland
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Middletown, DE
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Frightland packs eight haunted attractions onto one Delaware scream park, from a one-mile haunted hayride to four indoor haunted houses, and has been doing it for nearly three decades while donating part of every ticket to leukemia research. | |
Florida
13th Floor Jacksonville
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 7 | 
Jacksonville, FL
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| 13th Floor Jacksonville brings the national 13th Floor haunt brand to Florida with the USA Today top-five quote to match, layering axe throwing, five-minute escape games, and a live-actor zombie shooting range around its haunted house. | |
Black Water Grave
| 2026 Dates: Fridays and Saturdays in October, plus Oct 18, 25, and 29 | 
Bartow, FL
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Black Water Grave is a fast-growing young haunt entering its sixth year between Tampa and Orlando, an outdoor scream park where a single $25 ticket covers unlimited re-entry to every haunted house plus a midway with its own horror movie theater. | |
Fright Nights at the South Florida Fairgrounds
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
West Palm Beach, FL
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Fright Nights has haunted South Florida for more than 23 years and rebuilds its haunted houses from scratch every season, wrapping the new lineup in scare zones, midway rides, and live entertainment across the fairgrounds. | |
Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Nov 1 | 
Plant City, FL
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Our full Sir Henry’s guide | |
| Sir Henry’s Haunted Trail is a self-described miniature horror theme park off I-4 in Plant City, running three haunted trails a night plus a hayride and escape games, with its own fictional book series extending the lore. | |
Illinois
13th Floor Chicago
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 8 | 
Chicago, IL
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| 13th Floor Chicago is the local outpost of Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, which bills itself as the world’s largest Halloween entertainment company, and the site touts a USA Today nod among the top five most terrifying haunted houses in the country. Full themed mazes anchor the night, with five minute mini escape games on the side. | |
Aura Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Oct 2 – Nov 1 | 
Bartonville, IL
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Aura fills the 1949 Pollak Hospital Building on the grounds of the former Peoria State Hospital, a psychiatric campus that operated from 1902 to 1973. The Little family runs it with what they count as over a century of combined haunt experience, alongside sister house Vibe. | |
Realm of Terror
| 2026 Dates: Select nights beginning Oct 3 | 
Round Lake Beach, IL
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Realm of Terror has been scaring Lake County and Chicago since 2003 and claims more number one Illinois rankings from hauntedillinois.com and hauntedhousechicago.com than any other haunt. The main attraction anchors a midway with a monster museum, carnival games, and escape rooms. | |
Spook Hollow
| 2026 Dates: Oct 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, and 30 | 
Marquette Heights, IL
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Spook Hollow calls itself the longest running outdoor haunted attraction in Illinois and has been scaring Central Illinois since 1979. The volunteer Marquette Heights Men’s Club runs three attractions on one ticket and donates 100 percent of profits back to the community. | |
The Old Joliet Haunted Prison
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Joliet, IL
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Read our coverage | |
| This one is staged inside the actual Old Joliet Prison, a limestone penitentiary that opened in 1858 and held inmates until 2002. Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group fills the cell blocks with multiple attractions, including zombie laser tag. | |
Indiana
Hysterium
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Fort Wayne, IN
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our conversation with owner Brett Molitor | |
| Hysterium builds its asylum around Dr. Frederic Heigel, a superintendent whose therapies were designed to destroy the conscience. The haunt holds Top Haunt status from the Haunted Attraction Association, a distinction the site notes is shared by only about 50 attractions nationwide. | |
Kentucky
Fariston’s Haunted Forest and Myrtle’s Manor
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
London, KY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| A working family farm outside London that the Tripletts have haunted for more than two decades, with forest trails that are recut and rethemed every single year. Myrtle’s Manor adds a second walk-through, and the farm throws a free trick-or-treat night on Halloween. | |
Sinister Tombs Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Eastview, KY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| A rural Hardin County haunt built on a deep original mythology about a cursed 1904 train wreck and the monsters it loosed on Eastview. The site shows HauntWorld top 13 recognition from 2020 and Haunted Attraction Association Top Haunt honors, and the crew stays open until every ticket holder has gone through. | |
The Devils Attic
| 2026 Dates: Select Fridays and Saturdays, Sept 12 – Oct 31 | 
Louisville, KY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| The Devils Attic holds a 2025 Iconic Top Haunt ranking from the Haunted Attraction Association, a list of roughly 50 haunts nationwide, plus FrightFind’s top Kentucky haunt nod. It runs a full Friday and Saturday season from mid September through Halloween night in Louisville. | |
USS Nightmare
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Newport, KY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| USS Nightmare haunts the William S. Mitchell, a 277 foot steam dredge built in 1934 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, moored on the Ohio River in Newport. Tours run about 25 to 30 minutes, which the crew bills as some of the longest in the industry. | |
Louisiana
New Orleans Nightmare
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 1 | 
New Orleans, LA
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| New Orleans Nightmare is the Crescent City stop for Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, and the site touts a Discovery Channel vote as one of the top haunted houses in America. Beyond the mazes there are five minute mini escape rooms and a 21 and up secret bar. | |
Michigan
Niles Scream Park
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 11 – Nov 1 | 
Niles, MI
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Watch our tour | |
| Niles Scream Park spreads across 44 acres and rebuilds all six of its major attractions every year, so no two seasons repeat. It runs as a non-profit staffed by up to 200 volunteers a night and has donated more than 2.8 million dollars to community causes since 1996. | |
Wiard’s Orchards’ Night Terrors
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 1 | 
Ypsilanti, MI
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Night Terrors packs five separate attractions onto Wiard’s Orchards outside Ypsilanti, from the Ultimate Haunted Barn to a hayride into the clutches of Mr. Ravensblud. One farm, one ticket window, five different ways to get scared. | |
Montana
Field of Screams MT
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Oct 31 | 
Victor, MT
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Read our coverage | |
| Scaring Montana since 2000, this 10 acre property in Victor stacks three haunted attractions, including The Deadline, a brand new haunt for 2026. Families who want the sights without the scares can visit on Zombie Free Nights. | |
Nevada
Dark Prison
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Nov 1 | 
Carson City, NV
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| This haunt locks you inside the real decommissioned Nevada State Prison, where three attractions and more than 60 live actors turn actual cell blocks into Northern Nevada’s largest haunted house. | |
New York
Frightmare Farms Haunted Scream Park
| 2026 Dates: 10 Nights of Fear, Sept 26 – Oct 24 | 
Palermo, NY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| Four award-winning attractions spread across a 48 acre property in the backwoods of Central New York, with movie-grade sets and trained actors that earned it a Haunted Attraction Association top rating. | |
Headless Horseman Haunted Attractions
| 2026 Dates: Opens Sept 26, 2026 | 
Ulster Park, NY
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| Thirteen attractions across 65 acres of Hudson Valley property surrounding a manor that dates to around 1793, run by a team that has frightened well over a million guests in more than 30 seasons. | |
North Carolina
The Haunted Farm
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Oct 31 | 
Hendersonville, NC
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Voted best haunted house in North Carolina, this Hendersonville farm haunt enters its 16th season in 2026 with theming rooted in its own legend of the Lively and Tate blood feud. | |
Woods of Terror
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 11 – Nov 7 | 
Greensboro, NC
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: See it on our conventions calendar | |
| Terrifying Greensboro since 1991, this haunt packs 18 separate haunted attractions plus the Monster Midway entertainment zone into a single legendary night. | |
Ohio
Akron Haunted Schoolhouse and Haunted Laboratory
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 13 | 
Akron, OH
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| A real 1921 elementary school and its neighboring laboratory building have been scaring Akron since 1974, sending guests up and down seven floors of stairways across two vintage haunts. | |
Factory of Terror
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Canton, OH
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Recognized three times by Guinness World Records among the largest indoor haunted houses in the world, this former Canton factory runs more than a mile of attractions with over 130 actors and five full bars along the way. | |
Ghostly Manor
| 2026 Dates: Open daily, year-round | 
Sandusky, OH
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| A 7,000 square foot haunted house with props from The Scarefactory and Creature Corps anchors this year-round Sandusky thrill center, just a couple miles from Cedar Point. | |
Spooky Ranch
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Columbia Station, OH
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Five haunted attractions, led by the famous haunted hayride, take over Rockin’ R Ranch each fall, a real working horse ranch just outside Cleveland that raises horses, sheep, hay, and pumpkins the rest of the year. | |
The Dent Schoolhouse
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 11 – Oct 31 | 
Cincinnati, OH
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| This haunt fills a real Cincinnati schoolhouse dating to 1894, where the legend of Charlie the killer janitor has earned it America Haunts top five recognition and a Cincinnati Magazine readers’ choice win. | |
Oregon
Nightmares on the Rogue Haunted Attraction
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Medford, OR
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Three haunted houses plus a free Halloween midway with vendors, photo ops, and a DJ make this Medford event a full night out, and the scares return each December with the Fright Before Christmas holiday haunt. | |
Scaregrounds PDX
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Portland, OR
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Three haunted houses take over Oaks Park amusement park in Portland, where carnival rides, bars, and a haunted vendor market round out what the event bills as Oregon’s number one scream park. | |
Pennsylvania
Field of Screams
| 2026 Dates: Opens Sept 11, season through Nov 7, Extreme Blackout Nov 13 | 
Mountville, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Read our coverage | |
| Now in its 34th season, Field of Screams packs a haunted hayride, two massive haunted houses, and a haunted woods trail onto one Lancaster County farm that has scared more than one million visitors. | |
Halloween Nights of Eastern State Penitentiary
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Oct 2 – Nov 7 | 
Philadelphia, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Read our coverage | |
| Five haunted houses fill a real 10-acre prison that opened in 1829 as the world’s first penitentiary, and every dollar of proceeds funds the nonprofit that preserves the landmark. | |
Haunted Hollow
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Rockwood, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Five attractions wind through an actual circa 1800s farmhouse and a swamp where real acid mine drainage turns the water blood red, a raw setting this haunt has scared guests with for nearly three decades. | |
Hundred Acres Manor
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 11 – Nov 1 | 
Pittsburgh, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our conversation with COO Tyler Kozar | |
| One ticket covers five themed attractions spanning almost a mile of walk-through haunt, plus a free midway and a Cinderlands beer bar, at the house HauntWorld named Pittsburgh’s best. | |
Pennhurst Asylum
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Oct 31 | 
Spring City, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Four haunted attractions occupy the campus of the real Pennhurst State School, an institution that operated from 1908 to 1987, and overnight paranormal investigations run through Mayflower Hall’s four floors and underground tunnels. | |
Reapers Revenge
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 1 | 
Blakely, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| More than 60 acres outside Scranton hold a haunted hayride and four walk-through attractions, with a sixth, the Last Rites Funeral Parlor, debuting in 2026. | |
Shocktoberfest
| 2026 Dates: Season TBA. Day of the Dead event Nov 1 | 
Reading, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| This 27 acre zombie themed scream park, now in its 36th year, ranges from a 50,000 square foot prison haunt to zombie laser tag and an add-on that turns you into the zombie. | |
The Haunt PA
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Schaefferstown, PA
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| An all-volunteer nonprofit haunt on fire company carnival grounds that date to 1919, The Haunt is torn down and redesigned every year and returns its profits to the community. | |
South Carolina
Boone Hall Fright Nights
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Mount Pleasant, SC
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Three attractions take over the grounds of Boone Hall Plantation each fall, including a haunted hayride that runs a wicked two mile route through the Deadwoods. | |
Tennessee
Dread Hollow
| 2026 Dates: Thursdays through Sundays, Oct 1 – 31, plus Blackout Nov 1 | 
Chattanooga, TN
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Run by the team behind Ruby Falls, Dread Hollow rebuilds its 25,000 square feet of sets with new themes every season and pairs the haunted house with horror based escape rooms. | |
Nashville Nightmare
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 13 | 
Nashville, TN
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Four themed haunted houses anchor a night that can also include five minute escape games, zombie Gellyball, a laser maze, and two secret bars, all from Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group. | |
Texas
13th Floor Houston
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 13 | 
Houston, TX
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Part of the world-famous 13th Floor brand from the largest Halloween entertainment company in the world, the Houston location stacks two full themed haunted houses under one roof. USA TODAY has ranked it among the five most terrifying haunted houses in the country. | |
13th Floor San Antonio
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 8 | 
San Antonio, TX
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| 13th Floor San Antonio brings the world-famous haunt brand to a downtown address on E. Commerce Street, pairing its featured haunted house with a zombie shooting range and secret bar add-ons. USA Today has ranked the 13th Floor among the five most terrifying haunted houses in the country. | |
Creepy Hollow Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: Fridays and Saturdays, Sept 25 – Oct 31, plus select added nights | 
Rosharon, TX
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Celebrating 15 years of fear in 2026, Creepy Hollow packs three haunted attractions plus live shows, food, and games into one night just south of downtown Houston. It is also a true full-contact haunt, so the monsters will touch you unless you buy a No Touch Pass. | |
Dark Hour Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Plano, TX
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Dark Hour stages a rotating cast of witch-coven productions inside a 40,000-square-foot air-conditioned Plano facility, with nearly everything guests see built in its own production shop. Themed shows run through the year, not just in October. | |
House of Torment
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 12 – Nov 8 | 
Austin, TX
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| House of Torment runs three full haunted houses in Austin and carries a Travel Channel nod as the scariest haunted house in America. Between scares, guests can find the hidden Nocturne Sanctum bar, throw axes, or play five-minute escape games. | |
Utah
Fear Factory Haunted Attraction
| 2026 Dates: Opens Sept 18, select nights through Nov 1 | 
Salt Lake City, UT
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our episode | |
| Fear Factory haunts a real abandoned cement works from the late 1800s, sending guests through six buildings, a six-story tower, and two underground passages. Thrill-seekers can even add a zip line across the factory or a free-fall drop from the tower. | |
The Castle of Chaos Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: TBA | 
Midvale, UT
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Haunting Utah since 2001, Castle of Chaos runs an underground labyrinth where every guest picks a fear level from mild to hands-on extreme. Escape rooms at the same Midvale location keep the scares going year-round. | |
Virginia
Haunted Hunt Club Farm
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Oct 31 | 
Virginia Beach, VA
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| This Halloween scream park takes over a working 50-acre family farm whose homestead dates to the 1760s, rolling four haunts into one night including a classic haunted hayride. Live entertainment and a midway of concessions and vendors round out the visit. | |
Milltown Haunt
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Oct 2 – Nov 1 | 
Lovettsville, VA
|
| 2026 Status: Silver Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: A 2026 OSCARES Award winner | |
| Milltown Haunt pairs three indoor and outdoor haunted attractions with a Loudoun County farm midway of fire pits, food trucks, and a local brewery, and a cut of proceeds goes to local nonprofits. The haunt took home a 2026 OSCARES Award from the Haunted Attraction Association. | |
Terror Manor
| 2026 Dates: Fridays and Saturdays, Sept 18 – Oct 31 | 
Roanoke City, VA
|
| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Terror Manor fills more than 40 designed rooms in downtown Roanoke and bills itself as the city’s largest haunted house. The scares do not stop in October, with blackout nights, a December Santa’s Slay, and a February TerrorTines on the calendar. | |
Washington
Cinema of Horrors Haunted House
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 25 – Nov 1 | 
Kelso, WA
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| 2026 Status: Gold Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Read our coverage | |
| Cinema of Horrors stages four haunted houses with movie-quality sets and more than 50 live actors inside an abandoned theater at Three Rivers Mall, about 45 minutes from Portland. The themes are rebuilt with new storylines every season. | |
West Virginia
Fright Nights WV
| 2026 Dates: Opens Sept 26, weekends in October | 
Daniels, WV
|
| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| Learn More: Hear our interview | |
| Fright Nights packs six themed haunted experiences into one ticket on the grounds of The Resort at Glade Springs, where guests can book Stay and Scream overnight packages and stick around for laser tag or a five-minute escape room. Local news has counted the haunt among the top 45 in the country per the Haunted Attraction Association. | |
Wisconsin
Terror on the Fox
| 2026 Dates: Select nights, Sept 19 – Nov 1 | 
Green Bay, WI
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| 2026 Status: Iconic Top Haunt | |
| Official Website | |
| A Green Bay institution celebrating 30 Years of Fear, Terror on the Fox is one of the few haunts anywhere with its own Terror Train ride, staged near the National Railroad Museum. Grown-up visitors can duck into The Dutchman’s Hideaway, a 21-plus secret bar. | |
Top Haunts FAQ
What is a Top Haunt?
A haunted attraction certified by the Haunted Attraction Association, the haunt industry’s trade body. Certification requires HAA membership and meeting a ten-point standard covering safety, professionalism, and industry leadership.
How many Top Haunts are there?
The 2025 list, the most recent published, recognized 67 attractions across the Iconic, Gold, and Silver tiers.
Which state has the most Top Haunts?
Pennsylvania leads with eight, including Pennhurst Asylum, Field of Screams, and Halloween Nights of Eastern State Penitentiary. Ohio follows with five.
When do Top Haunts open for the season?
Most open between mid-September and early October, and several run past Halloween into mid-November. Our opening-dates guide tracks every announced date.
Updated July 18, 2026. Based on the most recent published Top Haunts list. Entries grow as haunts announce their 2026 seasons and as our operator interviews continue.
