Do your kids love the thrill of a good scare? These venues deliver just that, with special effects, unsavory characters and scream-worthy surprises guaranteed to terrify the whole family.
Pennsylvania
Active Acres Farm in Newtown hosts Sleepy Hollow (Fri.-Sun. through Oct.), featuring a hayride, house and cornfield.
In Glen Mills, Arasapha Farms (select dates through Oct.) solidifies its scary reputation with impressive attention to detail and special effects.
Mazes, themed rides and prowling spooks frighten even the most jaded thrill-seekers at Dorney Park’s Halloween Haunt (Fri.-Sun. through Oct).
Terror Behind the Walls at Philly’s Eastern State Penitentiary (select dates through Nov. 9) takes visitors around every creepy corner of the former prison.
Hayrides, horror shows, cornfields and bonfires provide ample scares at Jason’s Woods (Fri.-Sun. through Nov. 2) in Lancaster.
The Haunted Circus Mansion (Fri. & Sat. through Oct.) transforms the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts facility into an attraction that boasts multiple paths rife with twists and turns.
Tiptoe through the Barn of Horror, take on the 3D Alien Encounter and hold on tight during the Hayride of Horror at Horrorfest (through Oct.) at Yardley’s Shady Brook Farm.
Feasterville-Trevose’s Valley of Fear (select dates through Nov. 2) is packed with fresh frights this year, including a new hayride and revamped haunted house with unfamiliar rooms and characters.
There’s nowhere to run aboard the Night Chills hayride at Warrington’s Winding Brook Farm (Fri.-Sun. through Oct.), where you’ll find thrills and chills deep in the forest.
Delaware
Attics, fields, haunted houses and a barn are all extra eerie after dark at Frightland ((Fri.-Sun. through Nov. 2) in Middletown. There’s also a carnival on-site for those who can’t handle the scares.
New Jersey
Bloodshed Farms’ Fear Fest (Fri.-Sun. through Nov. 2) in Columbus lures visitors into a former prison (moved from the Burlington County Prison Museum) and cemetery.
Field of Terror, hosted by Mullica Hill’s Creamy Acres (Fri.-Sun. through Oct.) preys on your worst fears with ample haunted spaces, a cornfield and a creepy carnival featuring — what else? — unfriendly clowns.
