America’s scariest haunted houses, according to their visitors
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Data & research / US states / Halloween 2026
America’s scariest haunted houses, according to their visitors
43% of visitors who judge a haunted house’s scariness say it wasn’t scary. We read 1,480 Google reviews that mention the word “scary” at 131 of the most-reviewed haunted attractions in 48 states. 5 attractions got nothing but “scary” verdicts. The biggest of them is The Frightmare Compound in Colorado, with 9,542 Google reviews.
By Georgi Todorov · Data collected 11 October 2026 · Google Maps reviews · Part of America’s Most Haunted States 2026
1,480Google reviews that mention “scary”
43%of scare verdicts say “not scary”
59attractions with enough verdicts to rank
ILscariest state for haunted houses (86% “scary”)
The 10 scariest haunted houses in America
Each attraction gets a scare score: the share of its reviews that say it was scary, out of all reviews that give a verdict either way. We only rank attractions with at least six verdicts.
Scare score, top 10
What visitors wrote
“From start to finish I was scared and it is not easy to scare us!”
The Frightmare Compound, Colorado · Google review, Nov 2025
“Hey y'all just want to say that was very scary which is what I wanted and what I needed.”
Mysterious Mansion, Tennessee · Google review, Apr 2026
“I hate haunted houses and this one was the scariest I’ve ever been too.”
Fear Factory 501, Arkansas · Google review, Oct 2025
The least scary big names
Several of these are historic houses and tours rather than scare attractions, which is part of the point: many “haunted” places sell history, not fear.
…and what their visitors wrote
“You walk single file down narrow dark hallways, it was actually very claustrophobic and not fun or scary at all.”
Winchester Mystery House, California · Google review, Oct 2025
“It was such a waste of time, not scary AT ALL and felt like a huge waste of both time and money.”
The Old Sorrel-Weed House Museum & Tours, Georgia · Google review, Oct 2022
“It wasnt scary at all.”
Factory of Terror Haunted House, Ohio · Google review, Nov 2025
Which state has the scariest haunted houses?
We pooled the verdicts for every attraction in each state. States need at least 10 verdicts to be scored; 41 qualify.
AK–
ME–
WI53%
VT–
NH58%
WA65%
ID53%
MT–
ND–
MN73%
IL86%
MI53%
NY61%
MA50%
OR73%
NV70%
WY–
SD72%
IA56%
IN56%
OH29%
PA29%
NJ40%
CT60%
RI54%
CA30%
UT40%
CO76%
NE46%
MO70%
KY60%
WV56%
VA46%
MD61%
DE71%
AZ–
NM–
KS57%
AR53%
TN82%
NC35%
SC63%
OK56%
LA31%
MS35%
AL50%
GA50%
HI–
TX61%
FL71%
LowHighNot enough data
Share of “scary” verdicts in Google reviews of each state’s top haunted attractions. Grey = fewer than 10 verdicts.
Most and least scary states
All attractions
Every attraction we checked, with its verdict counts. Names link to Google Maps, where the reviews can be read.
| Haunted attraction | Location | Google reviews | Rating | “Scary” verdicts | “Not scary” verdicts | Scare score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgetown Morgue Haunted House | Seattle, WA | 1,014 | 4.4 | 7 | 3 | 70% |
| Massacre Haunted House | Montgomery, IL | 4,748 | 4.8 | 8 | 2 | 80% |
| Pennhurst Asylum | Spring City, PA | 3,653 | 4.5 | 3 | 7 | 30% |
| Sweet Dreams Scare House Haunted Attraction in South Carolina | Easley, SC | 774 | 4.9 | 8 | 1 | 89% |
| Witch's Woods | Westford, MA | 485 | 3.9 | 4 | 5 | 44% |
| Circle of Ash Haunted Attraction | Central City, IA | 260 | 4.1 | 4 | 4 | 50% |
| Erebus Haunted Attraction | Pontiac, MI | 2,646 | 4.1 | 3 | 5 | 38% |
| Milburn's Haunted Manor | Hubbard, OR | 379 | 4.6 | 5 | 3 | 62% |
| Mysterious Mansion | Gatlinburg, TN | 3,302 | 4.6 | 8 | 0 | 100% |
| Nashville Nightmare Haunted House | Madison, TN | 7,472 | 4.7 | 6 | 2 | 75% |
| Oklahoma Asylum | Nowata, OK | 1,143 | 4.6 | 4 | 4 | 50% |
| Raven's Cross Haunted Village | Cave City, KY | 901 | 4.9 | 6 | 2 | 75% |
| Spooky World Presents Nightmare New England | Litchfield, NH | 1,553 | 3.9 | 3 | 5 | 38% |
| The Frightmare Compound | Westminster, CO | 9,542 | 4.8 | 8 | 0 | 100% |
| The Hill Has Eyes | Franklin, WI | 1,503 | 4.2 | 2 | 6 | 25% |
| Tupelo Haunted Castle | Mooreville, MS | 136 | 4.1 | 3 | 5 | 38% |
| 13th World Cumberland | Cumberland, RI | 111 | 4.2 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| Deceased Farm | Lexington, SC | 648 | 4.4 | 2 | 5 | 29% |
| Fear Factory 501 | Jacksonville, AR | 374 | 4.6 | 7 | 0 | 100% |
| Frightland | Middletown, DE | 1,321 | 4.2 | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| Haunted Forest | American Fork, UT | 2,521 | 4.5 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| Haunted Hills Haunted Attractions | Merrillville, IN | 1,552 | 4.6 | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| Haunted Mansions of Albion | Albion, ID | 752 | 4.6 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| House of Torment | Austin, TX | 5,014 | 4.6 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| Hush Haunted Attraction | Westland, MI | 2,312 | 4.1 | 4 | 3 | 57% |
| Kreischer Mansion | Staten Island, NY | 168 | 4.4 | 2 | 5 | 29% |
| Legends of the Fog | Aberdeen, MD | 739 | 4.4 | 2 | 5 | 29% |
| My Morbid Mind | Lacey, WA | 558 | 4.4 | 6 | 1 | 86% |
| New Orleans Nightmare Haunted House | New Orleans, LA | 2,469 | 4.7 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| Nightmare Acres | South Windsor, CT | 324 | 4.3 | 3 | 4 | 43% |
| Pemberton Haunted Acres | Plant City, FL | 180 | 4.8 | 6 | 1 | 86% |
| Terror 29 Haunted House | Brandon, SD | 163 | 4.6 | 7 | 0 | 100% |
| A Haunting In Hollis | Queens Village, NY | 697 | 4.4 | 6 | 0 | 100% |
| Bennett's Curse Haunted House Maryland | Baltimore, MD | 1,182 | 4.7 | 5 | 1 | 83% |
| Bloodrush | Elkhorn, NE | 842 | 4.3 | 2 | 4 | 33% |
| Creepy Hollow Haunted House | Rosharon, TX | 1,819 | 4.7 | 5 | 1 | 83% |
| DarkWood Manor | Luray, VA | 417 | 4.6 | 2 | 4 | 33% |
| Dungeon of the Damned | Omaha, NE | 1,682 | 4.8 | 4 | 2 | 67% |
| Factory of Terror Haunted House | Canton, OH | 1,679 | 4.4 | 1 | 5 | 17% |
| Field of Screams | Mountville, PA | 5,047 | 4.4 | 2 | 4 | 33% |
| Frightmare Manor – Haunted Houses & Screampark | Talbott, TN | 1,874 | 4.7 | 4 | 2 | 67% |
| Haunted Forest at Panic Point | Youngsville, NC | 2,223 | 4.7 | 4 | 2 | 67% |
| Haunted Hotel | Louisville, KY | 1,939 | 4.7 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| Haunted Overload | Lee, NH | 1,188 | 4.7 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| Hotel of Terror | Springfield, MO | 514 | 4.5 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| Jaycees Feargrounds | Sioux Falls, SD | 94 | 3.7 | 5 | 1 | 83% |
| Kersey Valley SpookyWoods | Archdale, NC | 3,312 | 4.5 | 2 | 4 | 33% |
| Miller's Nightmare Haunted Farm | Lewisburg, WV | 199 | 4.6 | 4 | 2 | 67% |
| Nightmares Haunted House | Bentonville, AR | 346 | 4.5 | 2 | 4 | 33% |
| PSYCHO PATH | Ellisville, MS | 277 | 3.3 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| Terror On The Coast | Gulfport, MS | 378 | 4.3 | 1 | 5 | 17% |
| The Curley's Haunt | Wilmington, DE | 154 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 83% |
| The Devil's Attic | Louisville, KY | 445 | 4.4 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| The Haunted Mill | Teton, ID | 353 | 4.6 | 4 | 2 | 67% |
| The Haunted World | Caldwell, ID | 1,377 | 4.4 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| The Old Sorrel-Weed House Museum & Tours | Savannah, GA | 2,776 | 4.6 | 1 | 5 | 17% |
| Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum | Weston, WV | 3,874 | 4.7 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| West Virginia Penitentiary | Moundsville, WV | 2,583 | 4.8 | 3 | 3 | 50% |
| Winchester Mystery House | San Jose, CA | 16,372 | 4.5 | 0 | 6 | 0% |
| Arx Mortis | Killen, AL | 1,261 | 4.4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Asylum-Hotel Fear Haunted House | Las Vegas, NV | 695 | 4.4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Barrett's Haunted Mansion | Abington, MA | 470 | 4.1 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Conjure Haunted Attraction | Birmingham, AL | 714 | 4.7 | 2 | 3 | – |
| Cutting Edge Haunted House | Fort Worth, TX | 3,225 | 4.3 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Darkness Rising Haunted Attraction | Westbury, NY | 359 | 4.7 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Fear Asylum Haunted House | Brookings, SD | 148 | 4.6 | 1 | 4 | – |
| Fear Factory | Salt Lake City, UT | 3,717 | 4.5 | 0 | 5 | – |
| Fright Kingdom | Nashua, NH | 1,368 | 4.7 | 5 | 0 | – |
| HELLS GATE | Kansas City, KS | 87 | 4.8 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary | Philadelphia, PA | 2,612 | 4.3 | 1 | 4 | – |
| Haunted Hoochie | Pataskala, OH | 1,615 | 4.3 | 2 | 3 | – |
| Lost Lakes Haunted Forest | Oklahoma City, OK | 614 | 4.4 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Markoff's Haunted Forest | Dickerson, MD | 1,368 | 4.6 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Necropolis Underground Haunted Attraction | Indianapolis, IN | 906 | 4.5 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Nightmare Vermont | Essex Junction, VT | 129 | 4.1 | 4 | 1 | – |
| RED VEIN Haunt | Ashland, VA | 689 | 4.6 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Sanctum of Horror | Mesa, AZ | 243 | 4.5 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Terror in the Corn | Erie, CO | 2,714 | 4.8 | 3 | 2 | – |
| Terror on the Fox | Ashwaubenon, WI | 1,902 | 4.3 | 3 | 2 | – |
| The Farm of Fears | Cartersville, GA | 1,394 | 4.9 | 4 | 1 | – |
| The Haunted Sallie House | Atchison, KS | 425 | 4.1 | 3 | 2 | – |
| The Mortuary Haunted Mansion | New Orleans, LA | 802 | 4.2 | 0 | 5 | – |
| The Slaughterhouse Haunted Attraction | Des Moines, IA | 715 | 4.6 | 2 | 3 | – |
| Trail of Terror | Wallingford, CT | 851 | 4.7 | 5 | 0 | – |
| Trial of Fears | Honolulu, HI | 1,560 | 4.9 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Universal Horror Unleashed | Las Vegas, NV | 769 | 4 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Villisca Axe Murder House | Villisca, IA | 1,483 | 4.6 | 4 | 1 | – |
| Woods of Terror | Greensboro, NC | 3,114 | 4.5 | 0 | 5 | – |
| 13th Floor Haunted House Denver | Denver, CO | 6,361 | 4.3 | 2 | 2 | – |
| Abandoned Haunted House Complex | Mt Pleasant, WI | 953 | 4.6 | 4 | 0 | – |
| Azra Haunted House Chamber of Horrors | Madison Heights, MI | 2,035 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Basement of the Dead Haunted House Chicago | Aurora, IL | 6,374 | 4.9 | 4 | 0 | – |
| Exiled – Trail of Terrors & Twisted Carnival | Bonner Springs, KS | 655 | 4.6 | 1 | 3 | – |
| Field of Screams MT | Victor, MT | 440 | 4.8 | 4 | 0 | – |
| Haunted Eureka Springs | Eureka Springs, AR | 436 | 4.6 | 0 | 4 | – |
| Haunted Forest CA | Plymouth, CA | 951 | 4.9 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Haunted Gallows | Burrillville, RI | 377 | 4.8 | 3 | 1 | – |
| Haunted Grandview Manor | Lebanon, ME | 112 | 4.8 | 2 | 2 | – |
| Night of Terror | Mullica Hill, NJ | 693 | 4.4 | 1 | 3 | – |
| Nowhere Entertainment | Inver Grove Heights, MN | 776 | 4.8 | 4 | 0 | – |
| Sir Henry's Haunted Trail | Plant City, FL | 1,407 | 4.7 | 2 | 2 | – |
| Terror On Route 66 | Sullivan, MO | 130 | 4.6 | 4 | 0 | – |
| The 13th Gate | Baton Rouge, LA | 1,288 | 4.5 | 2 | 2 | – |
| The Dead End Hayride | Wyoming, MN | 3,868 | 4.6 | 2 | 2 | – |
| The Thirteenth Hour Haunted House – 13th Hour Indy | Indianapolis, IN | 564 | 4.6 | 1 | 3 | – |
| 13th Hour Haunted House | Wharton, NJ | 1,359 | 4.6 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Castle of Chaos Haunted House | Midvale, UT | 3,506 | 4.6 | 3 | 0 | – |
| Field of Terror | East Windsor, NJ | 980 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – |
| Fright Haven | Stratford, CT | 992 | 4.4 | 1 | 2 | – |
| Guthrie Haunts | Guthrie, OK | 539 | 4.5 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Haunted Hydro | Fremont, OH | 1,301 | 4.6 | 1 | 2 | – |
| Mortem Manor Haunted Attraction | Kissimmee, FL | 1,008 | 4.4 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Netherworld Haunted House | Stone Mountain, GA | 4,576 | 4.6 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Nightmare Dungeon Haunted Houses in South Carolina Voted #1 Scariest | Greenville, SC | 2,730 | 4.6 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Nightmare on 17th Street | Cheyenne, WY | 50 | 4.6 | 3 | 0 | – |
| Nightmares on the Rogue | Medford, OR | 43 | 4.5 | 3 | 0 | – |
| Scream Town | Chaska, MN | 2,828 | 4.6 | 2 | 1 | – |
| Stalker Farms- Haunted Attractions (Stocker Farms) | Snohomish, WA | 481 | 3.9 | 0 | 3 | – |
| Atrox Factory | Leeds, AL | 850 | 4.4 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Dark Acres Haunted House | Williston, ND | 42 | 4.7 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Haunted Hollow at Maple Tree Farm | Warrenton, VA | 194 | 4.6 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Maineiac Manor | Bangor, ME | 47 | 4.6 | 2 | 0 | – |
| Scary Acres RI | Hope, RI | 644 | 3.8 | 1 | 1 | – |
| The House of Haunts (October 26th-October 31st) | , | 22 | 5 | 2 | 0 | – |
| Roca Berry Farm | Roca, NE | 1,636 | 4.5 | 0 | 1 | – |
| The Cemetery House | Laurel, DE | 80 | 4.7 | 1 | 0 | – |
| The Crypt at Jacobs Manor | Leonard, ND | 64 | 4.9 | 1 | 0 | – |
| DementedFX | Holyoke, MA | 703 | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Grandpa's Farm | Billings, MT | 183 | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Rising Haunted Attraction | Waynesville, MO | 98 | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | – |
| Scarity Haunted House | Billings, MT | 11 | 5 | 0 | 0 | – |
How we did it
- Found the attractions. We started from the Google Maps searches “haunted places in [state]” we ran for our haunted attractions ranking and kept places Google classifies as “Haunted house”. In each state we took the three with the most Google reviews: 131 attractions.
- Collected the reviews. For each attraction we collected up to 12 of Google’s most relevant reviews that contain the word “scary”: 1,480 reviews.
- Sorted the verdicts. A keyword filter marked each review as “scary” (for example “so scary”, “scariest”, “I screamed”, “terrifying”), “not scary” (for example “not scary”, “wasn’t scary”, “not as scary as”), mixed or no verdict. Only clear verdicts count.
- Checked the filter by hand. We read 80 randomly chosen verdicts. 71 (89%) were labelled correctly. Most errors were phrases like “I wouldn’t say it was super scary”, so we added those patterns and re-ran the filter.
- Scored. Scare score = “scary” verdicts ÷ all clear verdicts. Attractions need six verdicts to be ranked; states need ten.
Limits of this data
- Reviews that use the word “scary” are not a random sample of all visitors.
- Six to twelve verdicts per attraction is a small number, so one or two reviews can move a score a lot. Treat the ranking as a fun guide, not a precise measurement.
- Google’s “Haunted house” category also includes historic houses and tours, which are not trying to scare anyone.
Use this data
Free to use with attribution and a link to this page. Journalists: we can send a cut for your state or a quote.
Create & Grow (2026). America’s scariest haunted houses, according to their visitors. https://createandgrow.com/research/us-states/scariest-haunted-houses/
More from this study: America’s Most Haunted States 2026, what haunted hotel guests report and haunted attractions by state.
About the author
Georgi Todorov is the founder of Create & Grow, a digital PR and SEO agency. He runs data studies on search behaviour and AI. More about Georgi