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19 Terrifying Haunted Houses You Should Experience Before You Die

Diapers are required upon entry. WARNING: Fake scary things ahead.

1. Blackout in New York City and Los Angeles

What makes it so insane: Before purchasing your ticket, you are reminded that you can only experience Blackout alone. As soon as you step foot into the first room, you must obey every order you are given for the duration of the time. Every year, the team presents new challenges. Some of these instructions include digging a key out of a toilet filled with God knows what and watching violent situations. That being said, there is a safety word in case you can't handle what comes at you.

2. Haunted Hoochie At Dead Acres in Columbus, Ohio

What makes it insane: Shooting demons with paintball guns, heavy metal music, and mind-blowing illusions are just a few of the insane features that Haunted Hoochie offers. The 50,000-square foot attraction is filled with over 50 gory stunts similar to those seen in Evil Dead, and they don't skimp on the blood and guts. It's so intense that they advise adults only at all times.

3. Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia

What makes it so insane: Unlike many of the haunted houses people visit for Halloween, the Eastern State Penitentiary is an actual defunct prison, home to infamous criminals like Al Capone... and their spirits. Once the last tour ends for the night, the prison turns into a startling haunted house, where you can journey through all the cell blocks, including the infirmary and labor areas.

4. Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern in Chattanooga, Tennessee

What makes it so insane: Claustrophobics beware: At Ruby Falls you are being chased by mutants over 200 feet underground in a haunted cave with only one way in and one way out. It's basically the movie The Descent, but done as a haunted house. Bye.

5. The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

What makes it so insane: The owners of the 13th Gate have taken advantage of the booming film industry in Louisiana, recruiting the top special effects artists around, and in turn, creating one of the scariest haunted houses. A standout feature is the Necropolis 13 that offers a claustrophobic maze throughout crypts in underground catacombs.

6. The Bates Motel & Haunted Hayride in Gradyville, Pennsylvania

What makes it so insane: Don't let the name fool you into thinking it's some behind-the-scenes tour of one of America's most iconic horror films. The experience starts with an interactive hayride through an insane asylum, and then you're dropped off to explore the elaborate Bates Motel while facing the harassment of its inhabitants. Finally, you walk through the corn maze... that's filled with people ready to chase you... and wanting to kill you.

7. Headless Horseman in Ulster Park, New York

What makes it so insane: The Headless Horseman has nine major attractions, ranging from a twisted reimagining of Alice in Wonderland to medical experiments gone wrong all outside on over 40 creepy, wooded acres in the middle of nowhere. The attraction has been recognized by TIME, New York Daily News, and MTV as the No. 1 scariest place around.

8. Netherworld in Atlanta

What makes it so insane: You are scared from the minute you park your car to the minute you're chased off of the grounds. Actors are hiding in the parking lot waiting to terrify you the moment you set foot on the attraction. Unlike many haunted houses, Netherworld's actors are nearly all Hollywood-quality monsters and many of them are trained stunt actors that take scenes to a whole new level.

9. Spookywoods in High Point, North Carolina

What makes it so insane: Just to even get to the main part of Spookywoods, you go through actual cold, pitch black woods inhabited by actors ready to pop out at you. Once you arrive at the main site, you have to take a haunted tram to each attraction, so there's no room to collect your thoughts in between scares.

10. House of Torment in Austin

What makes it so insane: Once you walk into the House of Torment, there is no safe haven. If you hide behind someone, a monster will fly above you, if you try to go to the bathroom, an actor will attack your port-a-potty. When November rolls around, they create a special attraction where you and your friends are put in a pitch black building and challenged to find your way out with just a single glow stick.

11. The Darkness in St. Louis

What makes it so insane: Fluorescent 3D clowns... EVERYWHERE. And that's only one section. Before nearly peeing your pants from the horrific killer clowns, you have to maneuver your way through multiple floors including a moving house, a mirror maze, boiler rooms, and more gruesome scenery. Finally, you put on your 3D glasses and deal with the numerous sharp-toothed clowns waiting to kill you.

12. The House of Shock in New Orleans

What makes it so insane: The House of Shock is what all parents fear heavy metal will do to their kids. Boasting an insane amount of pyrotechnics, freak shows, and a rock-your-face off concert, the attraction is more than just a haunted house. After watching the show and journeying through the bloody maze, guests redeem themselves in the controversial Church of Satan and are then chased back home by chainsaws.

13. The Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati

What makes it so insane: You're walking through a real abandoned school and reliving the horrors that allegedly happened there. Apparently, nearly 70 years ago several children vanished from the schoolhouse, and were later found dead underneath the school. The janitor was the prime suspect, who later disappeared. As a guest you explore the school and get chased around by said pipe wrench-wielding killer.

14. The Basement in Etna, Pennsylvania

What makes it so insane: Although it's only one part of the hundred-year-old building, the Basement is definitely the most memorable. You and one person (ages 18 and up, only) descend the steps into a pitch black basement, and you have to carry out twisted conversations with terrifying clown demon people. You will be cut with a fake knife, blindfolded, and forced to smell stuff.

15. Hobb's Grove in Sanger, California

What makes it so insane: At Hobb's Grove, everything is set in the middle of a creepy forest. After enjoying the family friendly fair-like atmosphere, you instantly lose all happiness once you walk through the dark, winding trail in the woods. It's like The Blair Witch Project has come to haunt you.

16. Cutting Edge in Fort Worth, Texas

What makes it so insane: The abandoned meatpacking plant turned haunted house holds the Guinness World Record for the "World's Largest Walk Through Haunted House." The place is 235,000 square feet, the size of nearly six football fields, and still has all of the meatpacking tools and rooms to enjoy.

17. Shocktoberfest in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania

What makes it so insane: Shocktoberfest offers adults the option to go through their haunted house in nothing but their underwear to increase the vulnerability and awkwardness. Once you've gotten that out of your system, you can choose to undergo a transformation into a zombie, or go on a hayride where you shoot zombies with paintball guns.

18. Freakling Brothers in Las Vegas

What makes it so insane: Once you're greeted by a creepy fire-breathing clown and ghost-white demonic priest, you step foot into the disorienting (well-deserved R-rated) maze called The Gates of Hell. As you twist and turn through the tight spaces, you are aggressively touched by actors and shoved in lockers, and listen to the "busy" telephone signal the whole time.

19. McKamey Manor in San Diego

What makes it so insane: This place is what Blackout would be on steroids. Much like the latter, you have to experience the whole thing alone. However, this time there's no safe word, you're forced to eat things, and it can last UP TO FOUR HOURS. So yeah... good luck with that. McKamey Manor's main goal is to make you feel like you're living in a horror movie, and you may not survive... Good news is that it's year-round!