For any Halloween Haunted House experience to work you need to go in with the right mindset. Allow yourself to be scared silly and you'll have a wonderful time. The best Halloween Haunted Houses are those where both the set and the actors work hard to make your experience suspense-filled and frightening. These freaky attractions do a great job of delivering just the right mix of creepiness, suspense, and sudden frights with their own unique twists and super settings. Check 'em all out.
Austin Haunted Forest Trail of Fears
It may be an Enchanted Forest any other time of the year, but in October it's the Haunted Forest. No enclosed spaces. No pitch black passages. But that's no reason to relax because the forest is teeming with witches, crazy clowns, mad scientists, chainsaw-welding monsters, giant spiders, and lunatic families. You never know what you'll find around the curve in the path, up in the trees, or lurking behind a fallen log. This is the Halloween experience of the season here in Austin. Admission: $10Austin Haunted Forest
1404 W. Oltorf (at S. Lamar)
Austin, Texas
Park across the street at the Office Depot
Mansion of Terror: Slaughter Circus and Freakshow
2007 Quick Look: Excellent scare factor. Lots of ghouls coming at you in the darkness, confusing twists and turns, unexpected noises, things that pop out of walls and other places, and it seemed much longer than the 10 minutes or so it took to scurry through. I you can handle the frights and only want to do one of the Mansion of Terror attractions -- this is the one. Single Admission: $12.00Mansion of Terror
2000 South IH 35
Round Rock, Texas 78681
Exit 251 behind the Taco Cabana and near Hastings
House of Torment: Illusion Manor
2007 Quick Look: Packed full of frights and tons of fun. It's one of those amusement park fun houses gone all creepy. Be prepared to duck, crawl, climb, balance, push, and pull your way through the maze of wacky rooms. And just when you think, hey, this is a pretty fun, fun house -- there's a ghoul there to greet you and send you dashing into more dark, spooky places.Spoiler Alert: Review contains specifics that some people might not want to know in advance.
This is the "must see" one of the two House of Torment attractions.
House of Torment / Illusion Manor
Separate Building Behind Highland Mall, across from Foley's
523 Highland Mall Blvd
Austin, Texas
Gruesome Gardens at The Great Outdoors
For something a little different in haunted houses, take a stroll through The Great Outdoors. This South Congress nursery transforms itself into a chain of three different haunted attractions: Gruesome Gardens, Fun & Freak Show, and Wicked Sensations. Rather than your garden variety of Halloween ghouls, you'll encounter a few seemingly normal folks, disembodied voices, a foul fowl, and this really creepy old lady in a rocking chair. Beware! Wicked Sensations was a blast for me personally although over way too fast. Admission: $12.00Gruesome Gardens
2730 South Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas
The Creep Zone
It doesn't have the fancy sets or professional actors of more established haunted attractions, but The Creep Zone still delivers its own sort of skin-crawling, heart-pounding excitement. Coming from the bright lights of Austin, it's something of a creepy drive out there past the Dell Diamond. Housed in some sort of large industrial building, you wander through fairly wide "hallways" and rooms that contain mildly gruesome scenes. The creepiness is primarily in the way the creeps appear sometimes out of nowhere, disappear quickly, or persist in following you around. Two attractions: Dungeon of Death (the better one) & Dr. Dyer's Bio-Lab. Single Admission $10. Double: $12The Creep Zone
520 Tradesmens Park Drive
Hutto, Texas
512-846-1006
Mansion of Terror: Pitch Dark 2
2007 Quick Look: Not as pitch dark as you might expect but still plenty of thrills in the dark. You'll get a flickering lantern to help you find your way although it doesn't stop you from running into walls and monsters everywhere. Don't tell them your name and don't stop to talk to the ghouls if you can help it! Oh, and watch your step. Single Admission: $12.00Mansion of Terror
2000 South IH 35
Round Rock, Texas 78681
Exit 251 behind the Taco Cabana and near Hastings
House of Torment Haunted House
2007 Quick Look: Although the outside of the house looks much like previous years, there are new twists to an old favorite. Take a seat and watch a short movie clip then walk -- even if you want to run -- through a series of creepy rooms that feature not only sights and sounds to make you jump but also smells to freak you out. Even though I told myself I was going take more time to appreciate the great (though gruesome) scenery, I found myself caught up in the moment and rushing to get away from the house inhabitants. Single Admission: $12.99 + taxHouse of Torment
Separate Building Behind Highland Mall, across from Foley's
523 Highland Mall Blvd
Austin, Texas
