Best Haunted Houses – 2017
Mckamey Manor – Formally in San Diego, now in Huntsville, Alabama and Nashville, Tennessee
What the majority of the population would consider a torture chamber rather than a haunted house, McKamey Manor is by far the scariest “haunted house” there is. It’s been taking place in San Diego for about 16 years, and not one person has made it through without asking for it to be over. The 30-page waiver you need to sign in order to participate gives Russ McKamey and his “team” the OK to shock you, submerge you in water, and even give you unwanted dental work, along with other disturbing things we’ll save you from reading. McKamey is currently under watch from locals — in both of his new locations — who want him out. The most disturbing part: Mckamey Manor has over 27,000 people on the waiting list.
The Terror Behind The Wall – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The setting for Terror Behind the Walls is perfect for a haunted attraction. Eastern State Penitentiary was once the most famous and expensive prison in the world, but stands today in ruin, a lost world of crumbling cellblocks and empty guard towers. This gothic structure, with soaring 30-foot high fortress walls, is intimidating enough during the day. At night, the cellblocks fall into darkness, and the building becomes truly terrifying.
Many people believe that Eastern State Penitentiary is haunted. As early as the 1940s, officers and inmates reported mysterious visions and eerie experiences in the ancient prison.
With the growing interest in paranormal investigations, Eastern State Penitentiary may now be the most carefully studied building in the United States. Approximately 60 paranormal teams visit to explore the site in a typical year.
The penitentiary has been featured on the Travel Channel’s Most Haunted Live, Ghost Adventures, and Paranormal Challenge; Fox Television’s World’s Scariest Places; TLC’s America’s Ghost Hunters; and MTV’s FEAR. Footage captured on the second tier of Cellblock 12 by paranormal investigators during filming of SyFy’s Ghost Hunters may be the most controversial ghost sighting in history. During the filming of Paranormal Challenge, host Zak Bagans called Eastern State Penitentiary “one of the most haunted places in the world.”
Ranch Of Horror – Turlock, California
Zombie Escape is a combination of an escape room and paintball tag in one. Players are sent out equipped with paintball guns, masks and gear to fight off zombies while wearing flag football tags that allow zombies to fight back. This is the most interactive zombie experience in the Central Valley.
A Zombie outbreak has occurred and extractions teams are being assembled to help find a cure for the outbreak and save humanity. As the team enters the compound, disaster strikes, the vehicle carrying them breaks down and zombies are everywhere. The team is limited on time as a bomb, charged by the last living scientist before he was infected is set to ignite. The team must work together to find the tools needed to repair their vehicle, while fighting off zombies before time runs out. If the team is successful they will come across a cure which was saved on a flash drive by scientist who were infected before the team could get there. A successful team will get a victory ride back to their homeland. An unsuccessful team will be noticeable by their walk of shame back to the homeland.
Fear Factory – Salt Lake City, Utah
In the late 1800s, in the heart of industrial Salt Lake City, a cement factory known as the Portland Cement Works began its operation. In those days, manufacturing was a dangerous activity, requiring the use boiling liquid and heavy machinery powered by the grinding of giant gears. In this environment of early industrialism, the margin for error was small. Throughout the history of the factory, numerous workers learned this reality too late.
George Howe, charged with maintenance of the coal crusher, was one such worker. One evening, George was alone in the factory oiling the crusher before shutting it down for the night. As he reached across to apply oil deep within the crusher, the machine grabbed his sleeve and began slowly pulling him into its gears. George’s arm was first removed from the socket, then snapped and ripped from his body. Unable to free himself, the man was slowly but consciously pulled into the crusher. The roaring machinery and the solid factory walls silenced his cries. George Howe’s entire body was eventually twisted into the gears before being spit out as nothing more than a torn and mutilated collection of bloody flesh.
For the factory and its managers, this first accident was unexpected and unfortunate. As the frequency of accidents increased, however, it seemed that the factory itself was intent on keeping its gears oiled in blood. The building would take its victims in the blink of an eye leaving them mauled, dismembered, burned, electrocuted or beheaded. As the years past, the number of stories increased.
The Portland Cement Works eventually closed its doors. As the decades past, the property fell into a terrible state of disrepair. Several times, would-be entrepreneurs acquired the factory as a home for their businesses. Despite the best of intentions, these businesses never lasted long. Between periods of operation, the property became home to transients and wanderers. In 2010, we acquired the property and began exploring its expansive spaces, its silos, and its underground tunnels. We’ve also performed research, using the state’s historical archives along with the latest paranormal technology.
Creepy Hollow Haunted House – Rosharon, Texas
As with any research, sometimes the results simply are not stable and must be contained. Pitch Black is a holding facility adjacent to Nouveau Genesis located at Creepy Hollow. Once the factory started experimenting on humans, strange and uncontrollable side affects started to appear with some of the subjects. They became insane, freakish, and began to get aggressive.
The scientist found they could control the state of the subjects depending on the light they were exposed to. Bright lights and glowing lights made them act completely insane. Complete darkness made them turn into killing machines. Nouveau Genesis began to worry about spies and competition watching and sneaking into their facility. They created a area called Pitch Black with both crazy lights and complete darkness to harness the pure killing power of the rejected subjects to provide added security measures. Most people will never make it through the Dark Woods or Pitch Black to see what takes place the inside walls of the 288 Scare Factory. Will you?
