The Nest - Phoenix, AZ

For you fear freaks who haven't outgrown your fixation with pulse-pounding terror, The Nest provides a well needed adrenaline rush. Visitors -- or more aptly, victims -- may be tempted to run through this terrifying town and its dark, creepy forest where legendary Arizona murderer Jacob Kell is said to have butchered 35 people in a 1945 killing spree. But beware of the tortured souls who still haunt The Nest's eight blood-soaked acres.

The Nest, which is Arizona's biggest haunted attraction, moved to a larger venue at the CJS Film Studios this year. With almost 100 actors and elaborate movie sets, "it's a whole town of fear." Tickets range from $25 (general admission) to $35 for a "VIP FastPass," and can be bought online at a discount. But be on your guard ... online purchasers will be greeted by the disembodied voice and satanic chortle of a Nest narrator warning that you will "face the fear of your worst nightmares come to life" when you visit this homestead of horror.

THE NEST

ADDRESS: 2005 N. 103rd Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85392

WEBSITE: The Nest

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Courtesy Travis Magee, Brutal Industries

Thrillvania - Terrell, TX

Located 20 miles east of Dallas, Thrillvania was dreamed up by Disney Imagineers and today includes eight attractions situated on 50 acres.

Like all great thrill parks, Thrillvania has a back story. "A strange, twisted structure on the banks of the Voodoo Bayou, the creation of a psychopathic scientist, Baron Michael Verdun and his vampire wife Lady Cassandra D'Arque," is at the heart of this bloodstained Texas venue.

Each year more than 20,000 visitors are terrorized by "Cassandra's Labyrinth of Terror," the "Maze of Chaos" and Thrillvania's other frightening attractions. Tickets range from $13 for children under 12 to $40 for the VIP Unlimited Fast Pass.

THRILLVANIA

ADDRESS: 2330 County Rd. 138, Terrell, TX 75160

WEBSITE: Thrillvania

PHONE: 972-52-HAUNT

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Elena Bouvier, courtesy of Eastern State Penitentiary

Terror Behind the Walls - Philadelphia

If you have only one chance to scare the you-know-what out of your friends this Halloween season, Terror Behind the Walls is the place to go. Housed in a crumbling, real-life 19th century penitentiary that once held infamous gangsters Al Capone and Willie Sutton, the Behind the Walls folks stage an extraordinary theatrical production complete with animatronic props, digital sound effects and a cast of 150.

This year's new attraction is "Infirmary," a terrifying walk through the penitentiary's long-abandoned medical wing and its morgue. But the "Infirmary's" highlight is the huge vertigo-inducing sterilization chamber that is fit for visitors with the strongest stomachs. Five other horror attractions await, including "The Lockdown" and "The Experiment."

Ticket prices range from $10 (kids 7-12) to $25 for adults ($30 on Saturday nights). The New York Times raved, that Terror Behind the Walls is “perfect for Halloween.”

Terror Behind the Walls at Eastern State Penitentiary

ADDRESS: 2027 Fairmount Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19130

WEBSITE: Terror Behind the Walls

PHONE: 215-236-3300

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Courtesy Bennett Productions

Bennett's Curse - Baltimore, MD

Are you fool enough to venture into the Castle Bennett, a dark dominion inhabited by vampires and evil creatures who torture and torment chivalrous knights and will send lesser men screaming into the night? Bennett's Curse has put Maryland "on the haunted house map."

Featuring the "Legendary House of the Vampyres," Bennett’s combines medieval knights with blood-sucking vampires to create a unique haunted house experience. With a corp of devoted actors, a slew of sophisticated special effects, pitch black corridors and pulse-pounding music, the evening is sure to make your heart skip a beat. Tickets range from $20 to $30. "Hurry, the vampires are waiting for you."

BENNETT'S CURSE

ADDRESS: 7000 Arundel Mills Circle, Hanover, MD 21076

WEBSITE: Bennett's Curse

PHONE: 410-538-6461

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Courtesy Hobb's Grove

Hobbs Grove - Sanger, CA

A sinister place of twisted corridors and blood-curdling screams, Hobbs Grove is celebrating its 11th season in central California. Located 20 minutes from Fresno, the Grove features more than 100 ghouls and goblins who promise a family-friendly shriek-fest. "OUR family sincerely enjoys frightening YOUR family each and every year!"

Among the attractions at Hobbs Grove is "Zylos Woods," a haunted forest where visitors descend down a tangled trail into the dark unknown. And then there's the haunted hayride into "Shadow's Keep," a "dark and dreary countryside" where you will have an "ominous reunion with the night."

Tickets start at $9.50 for children and range up to $32 for adults.

HOBB'S GROVE

ADDRESS: 14265 E. Goodfellow, Sanger, CA 93675

WEBSITE: HOBB'S GROVE

PHONE: 559-875-8150

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Courtesy ScreamWorld

ScreamWorld - Houston, TX

Among aficionados of the genre, ScreamWorld consistently ranks as one of the top horror destinations in the country. With 20 years of blood-curdling horror experience in the Houston area, ScreamWorld packs five haunted attractions into one location in the city's downtown.

ScreamWorld's outdoor haunts include "The Maze of Maniacs" and the "Tobias Strange Family Cemetery." Inside there is the elaborate "Haunted Hotel," which is built with numerous animatronics; "Edge of Darkness," a traditional haunted house experience with dark pathways and shrieks in the night; and a 3D movie fright-fest.

With tickets ranging between $18 and $35, ScreamWorld promises the "most mayhem for the money."

SCREAMWORLD

ADDRESS: 2225 N. Sam Houston Pkwy W., Houston, TX. 77038

WEBSITE: ScreamWorld

PHONE: 713-914-1313

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Courtesy Terrorfest

The Terrorfest, Columbus, OH

Revamped for 2009, The TerrorFest in the Brewery District of Columbus invested about a quarter of a million dollars into crazy, creepy, diabolically-disturbing new attractions for this Halloween season. With upwards of 60 actors haunting 17,000 square feet of dark corners and forbidding rooms, visitors get an up close and personal experience with a bevy of bloody a butchers.

The newest attraction is the "tangled, twisted" house of D.R. Frightner, the Brewery Butcher, who committed 38 gruesome murders in Columbus a century ago. "From the opulence of the ballroom and library to the dingy asylum and operating room this state of the art attraction puts you into the demented nightmares experienced by one of the nation's first serial killers."

But your fright-filled night won't stop with mere murderous mayhem. You'll have to avoid careening trucks and experience the illusion of walking over a 40-foot drop -- a little unsettling for the acrophobic! Ticket prices range from $17 to $27.

THE TERRORFEST

ADDRESS: 477 S. Front St., Columbus, OH 43215

WEBSITE: TerrorFest

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Courtesy Full Moon Productions

The Beast - Kansas City, MO

Visitors to The Beast -- one of the largest haunted houses in the country -- wander through elaborate scenes never knowing when a ghoulish actor or a petrifying pop-up device will spring to life, scaring the living daylights out of them.

If you don't lose your way through the foggy, quarter-acre werewolf forest or become disoriented by a maze, you should be able to wind your way through The Beast in 45 minutes. Along the way you'll encounter a swamp stocked with murderous alligators as well as the cobblestone streets of London where the infamous Jack the Ripper prowled for his prey. Your exit is a four-story slide. "It's straight down and blazing fast! Tickets are $20, though several promotions are available.

THE BEAST

ADDRESS: 1401 W. 13th St., Kansas City, MO 64102-1053

WEBSITE: The Beast

PHONE: 816-842-0320

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Courtesy Woods of Terror

Woods of Terror - Greensboro, NC

Woods of Terror is a virtual smorgasbord of phobic frights. Ophidiophobia (snakes), entomophobia (bugs), claustrophobia (confined places). You'll encounter them all. But what you really have to fear at Woods of Terror, is fear itself.

Now in its 18th year, Woods has grown from a simple haunted trail to one of the most renowned horror attractions in the country. Some 20,000 people each year pay $15 to $35 to roam the sprawling 20 acres of terror. Among the attractions are "Clown Town," where you may very well laugh yourself to death, and "3D Vortex," a spinning, disorienting 3D portal. And then, of course, there's the "Redneck Hayride," a delightful anthropological excursion into the natural habitat of the provincial yokel.

WOODS OF TERROR

ADDRESS: 5601 N. Church St., Greensboro, NC 27455

WEBSITE: Woods of Terror

PHONE: 336-286-9396

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Courtesy The 13th Door

The 13th Door - Denver, CO

Today, a century after the murderous fire that took so many lives at The Barrington Hotel, the terrified shrieks of the roasting victims still echo. But don't fear kindly visitor, the spirit of Andrew Barrington, the cowardly arsonist who escaped the blaze through the elusive 13th Door while the other guests were broiled alive has surely repented for his sins.

The 13th Door is a full blown theatrical presentation with a cast of over 80 actors who collaborate with a corp of set designers and make-up artists to turn a 20,000 square foot warehouse into a spine-tingling, scream-inducing horror-fest. Ranked among the top haunts in the country, The 13th Door will be featured this month on the Travel Channel show "America's Scariest Halloween Attractions."

Tickets for the 13th Door are $15.95 and combo tickets with several other Denver-area haunts are available.

THE 13TH DOOR

ADDRESS: 3186 S. Peoria St., Aurora, CO 80014

WEBSITE: The 13th Door

PHONE: 720-298-8561

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Mystique Imagery, courtesy Terror on the Fox

Terror on the Fox - Greenbay, WI

"The unluckiest of numbers is the unluckiest of seasons ... for YOU." Indeed, this is Terror on the Fox's 13th year of existence, now with four attractions, including "Torment of the Mind's Eye," an asylum which plays havoc with the "small amount of sanity you tried to cling to."

In "The Void," you will see nothing -- pure darkness -- while the demons mercilessly mock you and the blackness of your own wretched soul consumes you from the inside. And you thought water-boarding was torture! Admission to this morose purgatory of heartbreak and paralyzing fear ranges from $14 to $32 for the VIP package.

TERROR ON THE FOX

ADDRESS: 2285 S. Broadway, Green Bay, WI 54304

WEBSITE: Terror on the Fox

PHONE: 920-430-1844

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Courtesy House of Horrors/Haunted Catacombs

House of Horrors/Haunted Catacombs

With 80 actors, Hollywood-like sets and a slew of special effects, The House of Horrors is intent "on scaring the YELL out of you." The cursed mansion is chock full of vampires, psycho killers, demons, zombies and, of course, the living dead who loiter in every dark corner waiting to lunge on the unsuspecting visitor. You will not be spared.

Included in the $20 general admission or $25 VIP ticket, visitors can wind their way through the Haunted Catacombs for a one-two punch of heart-pumping terror.

HOUSE OF HORRORS/HAUNTED CATACOMBS

ADDRESS: 114 French Rd., Cheektowaga, NY 14227

WEBSITE: House of Horrors

PHONE: 716-656-1313

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Courtesy Blood Manor

Blood Manor - New York, NY

Terror and insanity in the shadow of New York's Empire State Building! What are the evil geniuses behind the Blood Manor thinking?

The Terror Trio that designed the Manor set up shop in an industrial area of Manhattan's West Side, an ideal location for a psychological scare-fair tailored to send emotionally fragile New Yorkers fleeing to their therapists.

Blood Manor has its share of zombies, vampires, blood-curdling shrieks, peculiar stenches and dark disorienting sets that will surely eviscerate the hip from the hippest New York hipsters. A few years back, The New York Post was particularly taken by "the crazed lady with a chain saw who seems to have a foot fetish." General admission is $25, and the RIP Express Entry Ticket will set you back $40.

BLOOD MANOR

ADDRESS: 542 W. 27th St., New York, NY 10001

WEBSITE: Blood Manor

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