Haunted House Ratings.com "Top 31 Haunted Houses" 2012

ATLANTA, Oct. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Love Haunted Houses? Well there were no zombies giving interviews, no chainsaw wielding maniacs gushing effusively, but the tension was palpable and the stakes were high yesterday as www.HauntedHouseRatings.com released their much-awaited list of the Top 31 Haunted Houses in the nation for 2012.

Billed as the "Victim's Choice for America's Best Haunted Houses," the ratings are actually determined by consumer electronic voting, and no amount of teeth gnashing, histrionics or rattling of chains can affect the outcome of the ballot. The competition may be cutthroat, and the divas undead, but the voting is done in the ether and thanking the Academy is not necessary.

Taking top honors on the black carpet this year was Kersey Valley Spookywoods, a Haunted House in High Point, North Carolina that features Zombie laser tag, where guests get to exact revenge on the actors that frighten them by shooting back with laser guns, causing their sensor packs to glow red upon sustaining a direct hit. Spookywoods is one of only two haunted Houses in the country to incorporate an interactive laser-tag game.

Finishing a close second was The Darkness and Scream Park at Creepyworld, a dual attraction - actually two parts of a trilogy of haunts in St. Louis, Missouri, followed by third place Thrillvania's beloved Verdun Manor in Dallas, Texas.

Sweeping the category was the State of Ohio with five finalists on the list, albeit most of them towards the bottom, the exception being the red brick Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, finishing at Number 11. In addition to Thrillvania Haunted House of Dallas Texas' third place honors, Texas also proudly boasts the Number 5 attraction, Guinness World Record Winner Cutting Edge Haunted House in Fort Worth, Texas, Number 13, House of Torment in Austin Texas and Number 21, Nightmare on the Bayou in Houston Texas.

Pennsylvania also had four haunts on the list, Scarehouse in Pittsburgh at Number 7, Bates Motel in Glen Mills at Number 12, Eastern State Penitentiary, Number 25, and Field of Screams in Mountville, a distinguished Number 31.

Unfortunately, the awards ceremony had to be cancelled after a mob of rabid clowns stormed the dais and frightened off the presenters.

www.HauntedHouseRatings.com is a complete directory of America's haunted houses, which publishes information about haunted attractions all around the country and allows visitors to the Web site to give the haunts a thrill rating from one to ten. Each year the votes are tallied in a secret ceremony involving 31 zombies, a vat of prop blood, a fog machine and a giant anaconda.

Actually, the votes are tallied electronically, and while there are no golden statuettes to adorn the mantelpiece, no long boring speeches, half-baked performances or interviews with Joan Rivers, it is nonetheless an honor, after all, just to be nominated.

Without further ado, the envelope please. And the winners are:

1. Spookywoods, High Point, North Carolina
2. The Darkness & Creepy World, St. Louis, Missouri
3. Thrillvania's Verdun Manor, Terrell, TX
4. Headless Horseman, Ulster Park, New York
5. Cutting Edge Haunted House, Fort Worth, TX
6. The Beast & Edge of Hell, Kansas City, MO
7. Scarehouse, Pittsburgh, PA
8. Erebus Haunted House, Pontiac, MI
9. Wisconsin Feargrounds, Waukesha, WI
10. Netherworld, Atlanta area, GA
11. The Dent Schoolhouse, Cincinnati, OH
12. Bates Motel, Glen Mills, PA 
13. House of Torment, Austin, TX
14. Bennett's Curse, Baltimore, MD
15. 13th Gate, Baton Rouge, LA
16. Nightmare on 13th, Salt Lake City, UT
17. Haunted Hotel, San Diego, CA
18. Asylum Haunted House, Denver, CO
19. House of Shock, New Orleans, LA
20. Night of Terror, Mullica Hills, NJ
21. Nightmare on the Bayou, Houston, TX
22. Dead Acres, Pataskala, OH
23. Haunted Schoolhouse. Akron, OH
24. Nightmare New England, Lichfield, NH
25. Eastern State Penitentiary - Terror Behind the Walls, PA
26. Land Of Illusion, Middletown, OH
27. Dream Reapers, Melrose Park, IL
28. Haunted Overload, Lee, NH
29. Seven Floors of Hell, Berea, OH
30. Pirates of Emerson, Fremont, CA
31. Field Of Screams, Mountville, PA

For more information about America's Best Haunted Houses, visit: www.hauntedhouseratings.com  Media Contact: Renae Blanco 404-226-7357 [email protected].

SOURCE HauntedHouseRatings.com