What is considered a Halloween haunted house?

What is the one thing that makes Halloween different from all the other holidays? Sure you get to dress up, but you could dress as Santa at Christmas. You get candy at almost all of the holidays, so what makes Halloween stand out? It’s the Halloween haunted houses.

Haunted houses have probably been around since buildings and man’s fear of spirits have been around.  However, Halloween haunted houses haven’t been around quite that long. A haunted house is a site where paranormal phenomena and supernatural events have been reported to exist. Think of the Amityville house and you get what I’m saying.

There really is no definitive structure that makes a haunted house; there are crumbling old castles, ranch style houses, vacant buildings, but it is known that many movie producers like their haunted houses to look like 19th century architecture. Most Halloween Haunted houses are usually nothing more than a large open building with plywood sliding doors built inside, but when the ghouls area screaming and the lights are flashing, it can be a very thrilling experience.

So do you need a house to have a Halloween haunted house? The simple answer to that is no. There are alternatives to the Halloween haunted house when zoning restrictions might come into play. A haunted trail is similar in that people walk along the trail and have monsters and skeletons popping out from behind the trees or jumping up out of holes dug into the ground. The traditional haunted hayride is similar to this. Although these alternatives to the Halloween haunted house are there, nothing can beat the tried and true haunted house.

A few sites are out there that have listings of where to find Halloween haunted houses anywhere in the United States and abroad. Hauntedhouses.com is a great site for inside the United States. For Halloween haunted houses abroad check out: http://www.hauntworld.com/states/index.php  I found a Halloween haunted house in Rhodes Greece, called Dracula’s Palace.

The Halloween haunted house is unique to this holiday and they should be cropping up anytime now with a call for actors who wish to participate. One should contact the local theater group for more information or the local chamber of commerce. Don’t miss out on all of the fun.