Haunted House Round-Up: 2012

Nov 062012

October fucking flew by and I can’t stand it. Especially since this was hands-down the best October I’ve had since I was in high school, I swear to god. Here’s a shortlist of all the haunts I attended this year, mostly for my own record.

Freddy’s Haunts: Sucked, though it has been so good in past years. This one is totally inconsistent.
Castle Blood: Never disappoints, not even in a brand new location! This one is a goddamn aesthetic feast.
TerrorTown: Awful, total disappointment considering I know what this one is capable of.
Ghoul Mansion: Total psychological mind fuck. Maybe one of only a handful of times I was scared to the point of panic/tears in a haunted house.
Mischief Manor: Used to be my beloved Victory Haunted School. Cost $10 (+tax, wtf) and took about 5 minutes to get through. Rip off. But it’s where Chooch learned to sass the monsters.
Haunted Hills Hayride: This one has been so stupid in years past, but the walking trail was interactive and totally hilarious. And scary. And confusing. I got to shack up with Michael Myers (literally)!
Allen’s Haunted Hayride: Chooch’s first hayride! Always a fun time.
Hundred Acres Manor: Biggest bang for your buck, in my opinion. One of my favorites this season.
Carnegie Haunted Trail: Chooch was Mr. Bravery until the chainsaw guy came and he and his cousin Ean completely left me and Danielle in the dust. I absolutely adore the people who put this one together.
Sewickley United Methodist Haunted Church: Old school! Zero fucks were given that Chooch is only 6 — they went balls to the wall, start to finish, with this one. So good, so cheap.
Carlynton Haunted High School: It was a haunted high school. You get what you pay for.
Delirium: Um, it’s in an abandoned asylum you guys. That alone made it worth it. It was scary at times, but mostly insanely fun (OH DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE).
Shadows: A fairytale-themed walking trail. I think they were understaffed, so I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt and try it again next year if they’re back.
Demon House: This one is generally inconsistent, but it was fun this time even though I got lectured by a dead miner for swearing.
Dark Works: A local home haunt. I was so impressed by this, and it was my favoritist. A haunted house, just totally chilling in some dude’s backyard! Incredible. Thanks to Rick and Tammy for taking me there!
Castle Blood matinee: Even though Chooch has graduated to the nighttime tour, he still needs to snag some candy from the denizens. (And see his girlfriend Katelyn!)
West Deer Nightmare: This used to be one of my favorites, but then it went away and new (shitty) incarnations of it kept coming back. But the original has returned and we dragged Chooch to it. It was the only time he legitimately came close to tears and I felt like the Worst Mom Ever. Some girl actually said “Excuse me” to Henry just so she could run down the hall and scare Chooch again. He kept saying, “I hate you, Mommy!” but in the end, he said it was awesome (even after the chainsaw completely chased him to the parking lot), soooo……