Haunted Attractions

Live in the Los Angeles area and looking for a fun way to ring in Halloween? Besides getting drunk and puking in your costume? Well, Dread Central has hit up the majority of this year's haunts, and we offer this handy little weekend guide to all things spooky!

We at Dread Central are certified haunted house junkies, and we've covered an awful lot of 'em, but there's been a lot of buzz in the L.A. area about one attraction in particular: Delusion - a unique hybrid between a haunted maze and interactive play that promises something completely different from the norm. And they're not kidding around.

In Southern California’s vast array of seasonal attractions, the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride is slowly becoming one of our favorite Halloween traditions. Now in their third year, the creators have stepped things up once again with this demented tractor ride that takes visitors on a twenty-minute onslaught through the darkest areas of Griffith Park.

The appeal of a Halloween attraction in one of the world's most famous haunted locations was just too good to pass up so Dread Central hit the road for Long Beach in our annual Southern California spook house quest. The Queen Mary has long been host to a variety of ghost-themed events, but they pulled out the big guns last year with their first annual Dark Harbor attraction. Now they're back for Round Two with five mazes and two scare zones that stretch inside and out of the infamous cruise ship.

It's that time of year again. Halloween is just around the corner, which means you'll be able to find a haunted house, hayride or haberdashery on every corner. But one haunted attraction seems to stand out more than all the others. Based on 100,000 square feet of mayhem, the Atlanta Zombie Apocalypse experience is one you won't soon forget.

As creative director for Universal Studios and Hollywood's Halloween Horror Nights' producer, John Murdy knows a thing or two about giving a good scare. Since 2006 he's been concocting some of the most immersive and thrilling haunted attractions in the country, with this year's crop of frights continuing his Legacy of Fear. 2011 not only marks the return of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses in 3D maze but also celebrates several new mazes this year including Hostel: Hunting Season, The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall (which takes over the House of Horrors each night), Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas and The Thing: Assimilation.

Oh, Halloween Horror Nights. How we love you. Every year Universal Studios and creative director John Murdy bring together some of the best filmmakers, FX artists and production designers in Hollywood to create the most authentic horror movie experience you’ll have in the flesh. Ever since my first trip to the grand opening ceremony in 2006, it’s remained the most anticipated night of the year, and its creators have consistently topped themselves every time. After watching Corey Feldman cheerfully ham it up at the annual Eyegore Awards (coverage here and here), we wasted no time hitting the fog-drenched park to check out the sights, sounds and smells of Horror Nights 2011, which boasted more mazes and scare zones than ever before.

It's that time of year again. No, not back to school time or the start of the NFL season. I can't argue that both of those events do bring a smile to my face, but I'm talking about something rooted much deeper in the darkness. I'm talking about the announcement of the Eyegore Award winners!

Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Eli Roth. A ton of scary exhibits and mazes. Basically a cornucopia of Halloween badness. That is Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights. We've been all over the coverage here at Dread Central and now we give you another little shred of info: Universal is practicing before the big event starts.

Next to getting loaded at costume parties, the best part of Halloween is the haunted attractions, and Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights has long been king of the mountain. Every year creative director John Murdy and his team have consistently topped themselves, and their 2011 park boasts a record number of mazes: The Thing: Assimilation, Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare, Hostel: Hunting Season, The Wolfman: The Curse of Talbot Hall, the Mexican folklore themed La Llorona: Villa de Almas Perdidas, and the grand return of Rob Zombie’s House of 1000 Corpses.

Step right up, step right up. Come one and all to the most gruesome show on Earth. Often imitated, but never duplicated, the one-of-a-kind Universal Studios Hollywood Halloween Horror Nights tickets are on sale now and a myriad of malevolent mazes await any traveler who dares to enter. Mwah-ha-ha.

Think you have what it takes to be on television? Have a penchant for the macabre? Then you, dearest reader, could be exactly who NBC/Universal is looking for to appear in a new as of yet untitled documentary!

This year Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood is shaping up to be the biggest yet with the addition of yet another well known horror property joining the already chilling experience.

It's hard to believe that Halloween is approaching as quickly as it is. But hey, bring it on! Here at DC we always try to keep you up-to-date on the coolest haunted attractions, and one of the best has just announced the re-opening of its creaky doors!

Of all the mazes and haunted attractions I attended last year, my favorite was easily Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpse maze at Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. A lot of other people obviously thought so too, because it's back by popular demand according to Zombie's official blog.