What makes your skin crawl?  What makes your spine tingle?  What makes your hair stand on end?  If you’re so scared, why do you love experiencing paralyzing fear?!?  North Delaware Happening is here to tell you how to get your fix of fright this Halloween season.  This is no child’s play.  No tricks or treats found within these blood-strained walls.  You’ll only find seriously shocking Haunted Houses, Haunted Hayrides, Haunted Corn Mazes, and ghost-chasing paranormal experiences.  North Delaware Happening is thrilled to share 19 of the most happening and extreme haunted attractions IN and around North Delaware.  Without a doubt, these haunted hot spots will give you something to howl and scream about.  They’re listed in alphabetical order…Enter if you DARE.

Bates Motel | Glen Mills, PA

Bates Motel is conveniently located just a hop, skip, and a jump over the North Delaware border in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.  Located in a 200-year-old forest with overgrown trees, this haunt takes the horror experience to an extreme level.  For 25 years, the Haunted Hayride at Arasapha Farm has been scaring its visitors with amazing props, digital effects, great actors, and extraordinary professional makeup.  The hayride has been featured several times on the Travel Channel and has been rated as the #1 Haunted Attraction in America by Hauntworld Magazine, USA Today, and many other national publications.  The Haunted Hayride is a 25 minute, action-packed, heart-pounding ride through the dark forest and is filled with huge, detailed sets, giant monsters, and “more pyrotechnics than a Kiss concert.”  The review by Horrifique simply states: “The Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride is simply brilliant. Almost perfect in every measurable way, it is simply not to be missed.”  There’s also a haunted corn maze.  Open thru Sunday November 1st.

Prices range from $15-$100 (VIP no wait-pass, food, and free t-shirt).  For more information visit Bates Motel.

The Curley’s Haunted Attraction | Wilmington, DE

What you may consider to be a quiet suburban residential lane in the North Wilmington suburbs is anything but.  Scares and challenges beyond your wildest dreams are lurking inside the walls of the old asylum gates, which some say is the portal to your worst nightmares!  Please come and enjoy the fifth year at our free event.  (We do recommend a $3.00 donation to Disney’s Make a Wish Association).  We are open from 6:30-9:00 p.m.  On our second night we turn up things a notch.  We have street actors, great effects, chainsaws, and much more in stock for everyone daring to ride!  We allow you to go through our haunt as much as you want.  A pee-your-pants, high startle, high scare attraction that will put a smile on your face but make you struggle to find the exit.

Free!  For information on Curley’s Haunt, visit the spooky web page here.  Did I mention it’s free (with suggested $3 donation)?

Field of Screams | Mountville, PA

With many intense attractions and a fun-filled entertainment area, Field of Screams provides heart-pounding, bone-chilling experiences year after year.  There are more gruesome scenes, horrifying sights, and startling scares than ever before.  The experience will leave you begging for more.  Journey through the dark cornfields, where terrifying creatures live and horrific acts occur.  Witness atrocities found only in your worst nightmares and experience the thrill of the walking dead.  Experience terror like no other in a trek through the Frightmare Asylum where demented people lie in wait for their next victim.  Hear clowns’ giggling snarls echo through the halls as you try to escape the madness.  Nocturnal Wasteland provides the most extreme haunted experience as you come face to face with its disturbing inhabitants deep in the middle of the dark woods.  Walk through the Den of Darkness, a haunted house that was abandoned many years ago but was never fully vacated by the twisted people left behind.  They remain to terrorize guests and leave them screaming for the door.  You thought the Den of Darkness was scary now, well your fear will be multiplied during the Extreme Blackout (Friday November 13 only) as you try to feel your way through the darkness bumping in to viscous characters along the way.

Regular attractions open through November 8th.  Special events on November 13 and 14.  Prices range from $16-$44 (VIP pass).  Just a little over an hour away to get the fright of your life.  For more information visit Field of Screams.

Fort Delaware-Pea Patch Island | Delaware City, DE

Paranormal adventures return to Fort Delaware in October!  Join Delaware Ghost Hunters, Inc. and park staff for three-hour recreational paranormal investigations.  Grab your flashlights, EMF meters, data recorders, ambient thermometers, and any other ghost hunting tools you require.  Programs are offered every Friday and Saturday night in October.  A very special experience is available on Halloween Night (October 31) when die-hard ghost hunters can experience an Extended Paranormal Investigation from 9:30 p.m. until 2:30 a.m.  Participants will join in an actual investigation with Delaware Ghost Hunters, Inc.  Stops will include areas where paranormal activity has been suspected, and investigators will use data recorders, temperature sensors, and other equipment trying to capture unusual sights and sounds.  Some of the areas of the Pea Patch Island Civil War fortress to be investigated may include the fort’s prisoner barracks, mess hall, officer’s kitchen, ordnance room area, and the west end of the Endicott section.  The evening will start with a ferry ride over (that’s the only way to get on and off the island) then a short introduction at the entrance to the fort.  When ready, small groups will be led by a park interpreter to the various areas of investigation.  The three-hour investigations (including boat travel time to the fort) are available by reservation only.

Price is $40 and $100 (Extended Paranormal Investigation) per person.  These are adventures for the realists!  For schedule and more information, visit Fort Delaware.

Fright Factory is a high scare adult themed haunted house.  It was  featured on the Travel Channel as one of the scariest haunted attractions in America — located in a 25,000 square foot 105-year-old building in South Philly.  “Once you’re in, there’s no time to rest until you make it out, if you make it out!” according to the Fright Factory website.  They don’t go into much detail, but you can expect to be terrified.  They offer a unique package for the serious thrill-seekers — the opportunity to dish out the scares and become one of their cast members.  They’ll put you in full costume and make-up, and give a short training.  Once you are ready you’ll spend the next two hours freaking out the customers!

Open through October 31.  Prices range from $13 to $34 +$10 for VIP.  A $199 couples Fear Package is also available.  For more information, visit Fright Factory.

Frightland | Middletown, DE

Frightland, located in the heart of New Castle County, is the Delaware’s largest complex known as the “Disney World of Haunt.”  It’s located on 1300 acres bordering the C&D Canal located on Route 13.  Frightland has eight terrifying indoor and outdoor attractions including a haunted attic, zombie prison, horror hayride, outdoor walk-through haunted cemetery, house of fear, Old West zombie ghost town, The Attic, haunted barn, and haunted Idalia Manor.  Frightland is known for having everything for your haunting pleasure.  Voted top 10 haunted house by the Travel Channel and recognized as Forbes 2013 “10 Great Halloween Haunted House Attractions Across The U.S.”  A portion of Frightland ticket proceeds and 100% of the parking fees benefit the Leukemia Research Foundation of Delaware.

Open thru Saturday November 7th. Prices range from $20 – $50 plus $5 for parking.  Ready for the fright of your life?  For more info visit Frightland.

The Haunted Barn & Trail | Camden/Wyoming, DE

Voted as one of Delaware’s extremest and scariest Halloween attractions, The Haunted Barn & Trail is back this year for more spooky excitement.  Do you think you have what it takes to survive a trip through the barn alive?!?  Don’t be so sure!  We have some new additions to this year’s season such as Pictures with a Monster (pictures available for purchase) and others we won’t quite divulge just yet.  You’ll have to discover them in person!  Don’t be scared of the dark…be scared of the barn!!!

The eerie attraction is now open Fridays and Saturdays through November 1st.  Admission is $10.  Information on The Haunted Barn & Trail can be found here or here or by calling (302)382-9438.  Enter if you dare!

Jason’s Woods | Lancaster, PA

Located just 40 miles northwest of Wilmington in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Jason’s Woods is celebrating the Halloween season with awe inspiring special effects and amazing animation.  Prepare yourself for the Chamber of Horrors as well as the return of the horrible villains from your childhood on the Horrifying Hayride.  Get Lost in Jason’s Woods and experience the Zombie Apocalypse firsthand.  With the NEW Carnival of Fear and expanded Fields of Fright the scares just got scarier!  If you want to do Halloween right, do it at Jason’s Woods!  In 2011, Jason’s Woods received the rating of 5+ out of 5 SCARES from the Haunt Rater crew!  Cindy Buonaiuto (TV Host Weekly) writes: “The horror has begun, and it’s more real than the movies that used to leave you clinging to your seat!”

Open thru Saturday November 7th.  Prices range from $25 – $40 +$10 for a VIP pass.  What are you waiting for?!?  For more info, visit Jason’s Woods.

Nightmare’s Haunted House | Laurel, DE

Nightmare’s Haunted House has been scaring the people of the Eastern Shore for years!  Head south to our new location in Sussex County for the longest multi-level haunt on the Eastern Shore featuring the one and only BUTCHER!  Almost 1/2-mile long and packed with multiple levels of scary stuff!  NHH operates strictly as a non-profit organization that raises funds for the American Cancer Society, Boys & Girls Club of Western Sussex, Delmar Fire Department, and Alex’s Lemonade Stand.  NHH has also started doing canned food donations to help out the Feed-A-Friend organization.  Bring a canned food item and receive a discount at the door!  Rain or Shine.

Open every Friday and Saturday in October.  Price $13 (recommended donation).  For more information visit Nightmare’s Haunted House.

Night of Terror | Mullica Hill, NJ

Located in Creamy Acre Farms, Night of Terror boasts six terrifying attractions: Slaughter Cave, Ride of Terror, Cornfield Maze, Mayhem of Darkness, plus the NEW Dark Dreams and Head Hunters.  This is said to be the largest and scariest haunted attraction in New Jersey.  Night of Terror’s claim to fame is that they have one of the oldest and largest corn mazes around as well as the first Haunted Paintball Hayride ($25 per person) in the country.  Hunt zombies with paintballs!

Open through Halloween night.  Prices range from $30-$60 (VIP).  Seen on HGTV’s Scariest Haunted Houses...experience why!  For more information visit Night of Terror.

Paranormal Investigations | Old New Castle

Hauntings in History Walking Tours  If you are brave enough to explore the darker side of New Castle’s history, then join the New Castle Historical Society this October for the only ghost tour that brings you inside one of the most haunted mansions of Old New Castle!  You’ll begin your journey into New Castle’s supernatural side with a tour of the legendary Amstel House — one of New Castle’s most haunted houses — where you may meet the “Woman in Blue.”  After exploring the Amstel House, you will be guided through New Castle’s darkened streets and alleyways where you will hear macabre tales of hauntings, Victorian death and funeral customs, and crime and punishment that span the 360-year history of this Delaware River town.  Tours are approximately 1 hour, 15 minutes and will depart from The Arsenal.  The majority of the tour is walking outdoors, so please dress appropriately for fall weather and wear comfortable footwear.  Feel free to bring a flashlight.  This is a prepaid event and tickets must be purchased in advance.  Space and dates are limited and these tours will sell out!  Get your tickets soon!

For more information, visit the event page.  Somebody or something is waiting for you…

Pennhurst Asylum | Spring City, PA

Pennhurst Asylum, located 40 miles north of the Delaware border in northwest Philadelphia, is a 105-year-old abandoned mental institute — a hospital-themed walk-thru attraction featuring many items and artifacts that were part of the original State School.  Located on the upper floors of the old Administration building, which dates to 1908, this attraction features a combination of high tech animatronics, digital sound, and motivated actors, as well as fine detail and realism.  Ghost hunters are especially interested in this site.  It has been featured on “Ghost Adventures” and “Ghost Hunters.”  The legends tell of unorthodox experiments and horrible events within the walls.  The Dungeon of Lost Souls features a labyrinth of old cells, drafty halls, and a series of human experiments that have gone horribly wrong.  The Tunnel Terror attraction takes you through a 900 foot long concrete gauntlet underneath the grounds of the old State School, first named Pennhurst Home for the Feeble Minded and Epileptic.  Rated #1 by Hauntworld magazine’s Top 13 Best and Scariest Haunted attractions of 2014 and rated #1 America’s 13 Best Haunted Houses.

Open through Sunday November 1st.  Prices range from $16 – $78 (VIP pass).  The. Fear. Is. Real.  For more information visit Pennhurst Asylum.

Psycho Path | Milford, DE

What gives you the heebie-jeebies?  The Psycho Path knows your fears and will exploit them!  For those that have visited us in the past, be prepared…the trail is never the same and this year we have upped the scare factor.  For you newbies, this is an unguided walking path…unguided and unprotected.  You might be walking, running, whistling, screaming, or hollering…but however you handle your fears don’t drift away from your friends because you never know who you could run into out there.  Creatures wait behind every twist and turn.  And don’t mind Luther…he’s still upset about losing his family in a horrible accident when he was 8.  You may bump into him out on the trail trying to create the perfect family he never had using body parts from warm bodies…I mean corpses…I mean, avoid Luther if you can!  Be sure to also visit the Rage Cage, Shadow Box, and Dark Ride.  Once you survive our attractions, I’m afraid the Psycho Path may be your only true way home…

The Path will be open every Friday and Saturday night in October.  Admission is $15-$30.  Are you bold enough to walk along the Psycho Path?

Rockwood Ghost Tours | Wilmington, DE

Explore the nooks and crannies of the Rockwood Mansion in search of paranormal activity.  You may experience the aroma of an exotic perfume, shiver at a sudden drop of temperature, hear a faint whisper of a voice calling out to you, or feel that someone or something unworldly is following you around the room.  Join Professor Phil and Dr. Lou for one of three distinct tours around the property.  If you don’t believe in ghosts now, you may become a believer after a paranormal adventure like this!  Cameras are encouraged.  These are family adventures that fill up fast.

Schedule varies, visit Ghost Tours or call (302)761-4343 for more information.  Prices range from $30-$110.

Screams at the Beach | Georgetown, DE

Nothing can prepare you for the horrors you will face in the town of All Hallows.  Five unique attractions await you, it is the most unforgettable night of terror that you will ever experience.  Many who enter the forgotten town never escape, and those that do are changed forever… Once a flourishing settlement, this town has fallen into disarray since the appearance of The Hallow.  Now for the last 200 years, unsuspecting victims wander into the town’s limits to find there’s no escape.  Here you will face your worst fears and your nightmares come to life!  Dread entering Abomination Acres, the Cemetery of Sorrows, the asylum known as Pandemonium, and the House of the Hollow.  Maybe you’ll even try to Escape the Crimson Woods!  This isn’t for the faint of heart!

General admission is $25 or pay $25 for a premium ticket.  Screams at the Beach will be open Fridays and Saturdays in October from 6:30-10:30 p.m.  The town of All Hallow’s is waiting…

Shakespeare/Poe | Rockwood Mansion, Read House, & Stone Stable

Spend a night with two masters of the macabre – William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe.  Delaware Shakespeare Festival actors will read bone-chilling selections from the plays of Shakespeare and the poems and short stories of Poe.  In the fourth of year of this popular event, the selections will expand to include classic female authors such as Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley!

Dare to choose between three remarkable performance venues – the gothic halls of Rockwood Mansion, the grandeur of the Read House & Gardens in Old New Castle, or the colonial-era Stone Stable in Historic Odessa.  But choose quickly!  There are only 30 seats available for each performance.  In 2014, multiple performances sold out.  Tickets are $18.50 per person and performances run October 16-18 and 23-25.

For more information and tickets, visit the event site here.

Shocktoberfest | Sinking Spring, PA

Shocktoberfest has transformed into Zombie Word Theme Park where, for the first time anywhere in the world, guests can view an array of natural and genetically engineered zombies in a safe and controlled habitat including the vicious and intelligent Zomdominus Rick!  Zombie World offers killer experiences like Zombie Safari Hayride, The Unknown 2.0, Naked and Scared Challenge, and The Monster Midway.  You can take your infatuation with zombies to the next level with the Zombie Mud Run (October 10 only).  There is also the Prison of the Dead Escape where you and your group are wrongly accused of a crime and are sentenced to death.  You only have one hour to solve the clues to escape.  If you succeed, you will escape the Prison of the Dead and live.  If you fail, your sentence will surely be DEATH!  Lastly, you can get a true feeling of what it is like to be a Zombie when you are transformed into one during the Zombie Experience.

Open on weekends until November 14th.  Prices range based on the number of  activities selected $20-$60 (all access with RIP upgrade).  Check it out at Shocktoberfest!

Slaughter House Farm | Laurel, DE

Once a year a local farm in Laurel, Delaware transforms into what some call a brutally morbid nightmare.  Rumor has it that TJ Scott bought the farm after a long stay at a local mental hospital.  The farm is located just off Route 13 in Laurel, close enough to lure passing visitors off the busy highway and onto the property.  What happens to those visitors has never been discovered.  Abandoned cars have been found throughout Sussex County; however, the owners seem to vanish.  Blood curdling screams, gun shots, and loud music come from the farm at times, but the police refuse to intervene.  Maybe you should come investigate The Legend of Stalkers Field for yourself!  With such a great response from last year, Slaughter House Farm has decided to double the size of this years attraction to give you even more scare for your buck!

Open every weekend in October through Halloween night.  Price is only $10 and included admission into the Slaughter House and Stalkers Field.  For more information, visit Slaughter House Farm.

Terror Behind These Walls | Eastern State Penitentiary

Terror Behind the Walls is located inside the massive castle-like walls of Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia.  Celebrating its 25th season, Terror Behind the Walls is consistently ranked among the top haunted attractions in the country, with many haunted attractions.  Just imagine being inside an 11-acre abandoned prison at night.  The goal is to make you scared…really scared!  And yes, it’s possible that someone (or something?) might be lurking inside one of those empty, dark cells you keep walking past.  Opt in for true interactivity and you may be grabbed, held back, sent into hidden passageways, removed from your group, and even occasionally be incorporated into the show.  2015 brings new effects, new costumes and makeup, and updated and expanded attractions — unveiling the most interactive attraction in the history of the event — Break Out.  Just when you think you’ve found freedom, you find yourself in the middle of a prison break!  Inmates surround you using every way imaginable to escape, including barrels, ropes, tunnels, ladders, and crates.  Keep an eye out at every corner, as inmates may even be using YOU to aid in their attempt to gain freedom.  It takes the highly interactive Terror Behind the Walls experience to new heights.

Open every weekend in October and through November 7th.  Prices range from  $13-$45.  See why Forbes Magazine named it one of the 10 Great Haunted Attractions.  For more information, visit Terror Behind The Walls.

The information in this article was taken from each locations web-site as well as hauntworld.com, hauntedhouse.com and forbes.com.  Please refer to these sites to verify and to get additional information.

     

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