What is it about Haunted Attractions that make people will themselves to go to?
What makes them drive distances anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, just to go wait in a long line to have a terrifying experience?
The thrill of the moment?
The simulation of exploring our fears?
Celebrating decades of horror and gothic pop culture in one insane amusement park?
Either way, you put it, the haunted attractions are out and about all over the country this Halloween season.
However, I think no state has better-haunted attractions than in Pennsylvania.
Have you ever looked out on a large Pennsylvania field during the dead of fall and sense looming creepiness?
The setting of a gothic horror tale where confronting uncanny people and bizarre cults are looming?
Ever driven past the DuPont lands and get a sense of loneliness and dread?
That is the unique experience Pennsylvania offers in their haunted attractions from both their haunted past and dubious imagination.
With all that in mind, here are my five personal favorite haunted attractions in my home state that I think capture the best horror experience.
Bates Motel and Haunted Hayride (Arasapha Farms)
Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
My personal favorite haunted site (specifically because I worked there for three years and wrote my very first Odyssey article about it.)
https://www.theodysseyonline.com/scaring-living-ba...
The Bates Motel isn’t just a gimmick name to attract customers (The same name as the infamous family from the iconic film Psycho and television series The Bates Motel), but the family that runs it are literally named after Bates.
Talk about a family destined to run a haunted attraction.
This small but wonderful farm runs three fantastic attractions:
The thrilling Haunted Hayride that drives through medieval castles and slaughterhouses in the woods.
The exciting corn maze where customers come face-to-face with hidden scarecrows, giant bugs, and psychopaths with a (fake) chainsaw!
And finally, there is the titular Bates Motel where people walk through a tight and smoky house and are exposed to spectacular effects and mechanics, completing the trifecta of a great horror show.
Also if you’re not doing anything during December feel free to check out their Holiday Hayride
Fright Factory
Philadelphia, PA
One of the rising Haunted Attractions around Philly, the Fright Factory has three attractions this year in the Industrial Nightmare, Silent Screams Asylum, and the Fright Factory Unearthed.
It takes place in a 110+-year-old building in South Philly that is 25,000 square feet long.
Actors from the show even come out while customers wait in line to scare them.
Pennhurst Asylum
Spring City, PA
Taking place in an abandoned asylum and school for disabled kids, the disturbing history of
Pennhurst adds to the mystique of the terrifying sight.
The abandoned site has four main attractions: one of them being an actual museum-like exploration of historical artifacts and photographs. As one goes upstairs they can flash a light into a dark room and see (carefully placed) creepy objects from the asylum alone on display, telling the story of what it was like back when Pennhurst was a fully functioning institution for decades.
Along with that are fittingly scary adventures through the old tunnels and rooms, with just about every scary thing you could think of.
Eastern State Penitentiary (Terror Behind The Walls)
Philadelphia, PA
A historical sight which even offers prison tours during the daytime, the Eastern State Penitentiary has a story that is almost too good to be true.
A prison with a medieval-esque structure which stood for over 140 years and housed the likes of Al Capone and Willie Sutton, ESP was the Alcatraz of the East Coast.
Customers even have the option of wearing glow-in-the-dark necklaces, to notify the actors that they can be touched and separated from their group.
The large prison has six major haunted attractions inside as people are contained in the tight and dirty walls of concrete.
There’s even a part where you have to wear 3D glasses in a trippy adventure!
Located in the middle of Philadelphia, the chance you’ll run into a player for the 76ers is possible too.
Also, look out for people on stilts!
Field of Screams
Lancaster, PA
When it comes to going all out, there is nothing like Field Of Screams.
The place is no-holds-barred: actors can take you away and (temporarily) separate you from your group.
There are parts of the haunted house where you literally have to crawl.
And on their haunted hayride, there are parts where you need to duck down while lights and scary ceiling fans are coming down to you.
Field of Screams is so fun and frightening that they actually give you a waiver to sign before going in incase the experience gets too extreme for you.
That pretty much says it all on how grand Field of Screams is.
