Never Leave the House on Halloween

11 Ways to Scare Yourself Silly on Halloween

If you're looking for a few screams this season, check out some of these wonderfully weird attractions. All are bound to scare, or at least impress, the most cynical visitors.

Headless Horseman, Ulster Park, NY
This is 45 acres of pure Halloween happiness. A one-mile hayride (enlivened with amazing special effects), a labyrinth corn maze, three ghost-infested houses, Cypher's Casket Company, the Haunted Gardens, and four ghoulish gift shops are among the star attractions. And, yes, there's a headless horseman merrily galloping around. Click here for details. $27. (photo above)

Dr. Lady Horror Hotel, Chatfield, OH
Laura and David Lady live inside their morbid mansion year round, opening their home to guests in October. The draw here are dozens of incredible life-size monster figures (most built by David, who designs latex monster masks for movies), which can be viewed on a tour that mixes high-tech sound and lighting effects with delightfully lowbrow humor. David and Laura personally conduct each tour. Click here for details. $5

Halloween Horror Nights, Orlando, FL
October 19-22, 26-29 & 31
Weekend nights in October, Universal Studio morphs into a weird world where vampires, soul catchers, and zombies romp around in a dark forest, a half-dozen haunted houses provoke screams of pure panic, and a 40-foot tall, 30-ton mechanical dinosaur rampages through the streets. Click here for details. $60. If you'd like to spend a few days quivering in fear, check out the Gory Getaway Vacation Package. (photo, right)

Bates Motel, Philadelphia, PA
Think you've stayed in some scary places? You ain't seen nothing yet. The Bates Motel is a high-energy haunted house whose inhabitants will do their best to keep you from ever checking out. If you do manage to escape their clutches, hop on the hayride and enjoy the Hollywood-style pyrotechnics as you battle off flying ghouls and goblins. The corn maze will convince urbanites that rural America is just as terrifying as they'd always suspected. Click here for details. $25

Haunted Overload, Stratham, NH
Get scared and feel really good about it afterwards -- half of Haunted Overload profits go to the local humane society, the other half are invested into enhancing next year's show. This old-fashioned attraction, built every year by Eric Lowther with the help of friends, family, and neighbors, features clever displays scattered around Lowther's Haunted Lawn. The grand finale, on October 30 and 31, includes 150-plus illuminated jack-o-lanterns, a battalion of fog machines, and "a chainsaw guy running wild." Click here for details. No set fee. Donations accepted.

Nautical Nightmares, Mystic, CT
Things that go bump in the night, creepy ghost tales, spirits guiding you through a dark village, and a mysterious lantern-lit boat ride along the Mystic River -- it's all part of "Nautical Nightmares," an annual Halloween event at Mystic Seaport. The nearly-departed share stories, unsolved mysteries, and strange legends with visitors as they sail down the river on a ghost ship. Click here for details. $18 (photo, right)

Netherworld, Atlanta
Located in the Georgia Antique & Design Center, the themes for 2006 are "Cursed," "Dr. Bill's Freak Pit," and "Shock-O-Rama". You'll marvel at the amazing monster makeup and special 3D effects even as you cower, gibbering with fear, in a dark corner. Click here for details. $15 for Cursed; $20 for Cursed and Shock-O-Rama in 3D or Cursed & Freak Pit; $25 all three shows.

Pirates of Emerson, Fremont, CA
Swirling fog, a desolate swamp, a creaking boat, an "underwater" tour of Davy Jones' Locker, a bilge rats maze, creepy dead pirates, outstanding special effects -- it's all here in a spook house with a swashbuckling theme. Pirates of Emerson has been frightening Californians for 15 years, and the attention paid to every devilish detail at this attraction is legendary. Click here for details. $18

Shocktoberfest, Sinking Spring, PA
Five minutes from Reading, PA, Shocktoberfest has the feel of a classic country fair gone crazy. The story is that the town was polluted by environmental waste and everyone went nuts. Visitors can explore the Toxic Asylum, climb aboard a BioHazard Hayride, visit a Prison of the Dead, and stroll along the Monster Midway to play games of ghoulish skill and chance. All of this is enlivened by "the same computer effects technology used by Universal Studios and Disney," according to the event's organizers. Click here for details. $30.

USS Nightmare, Newport, KY
Billed as America's Premier Haunted Steamboat, it's also America's only haunted Steamboat. Join the ghostly crew on a spine-chilling tour through the infirmary, the boiler pit, the pantry, the cargo hold, and the torturer's chamber. Meet the Rat Lady, legendary Captain Mitchell, and Captain Mitchell's evil twin, and the Pickled Brothers. When you're done screeching like a crazed banshee, have a slice of pizza in the Nightmare Mess Hall. Click here for details. $15. (photo, right)

The Darkness, St. Louis, MO
This is one of the country's scariest Halloween extravaganzas, according to HauntWorld, a magazine for the haunted house industry. But it isn't just cheap chills. The Darkness spends over $150,000 each year to upgrade its eerie offerings. There are 100-plus animations, 50 actors, and more than 40 demonically decorated sites to explore, all packed with demon mummies, zombified Pygmies, lots of weapon-wielding maniacs, and -- The Darkness' organizers firmly insist -- real ghosts. Click here for details. $15.

---Michelle Delio