NOTE: Updated below.

Cue the scary organ music, for it is time to announce Hollywood Gothique’s annual Halloween Haunt Awards, recognizing the finest achievements for 2012. Which haunts had the spookiest  ghosts, the scariest monsters, the most disgusting gore, the most atmospheric architecture, or the most amazing special effects? Read on to find out – if you dare!

Note: For the last couple years, we have dispensed with conventional categories, because they tend to be too narrow, and the consistency of quality would result in a repetitious list of winners from year to year (for example, “Best Theme Park Attraction” would almost always be either the Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Haunt or Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood). Instead, we try to pinpoint those remarkable achievements that stand out in memory long after the crypts have closed: a specific maze, a startling illusion, a novel effect we have never before encountered. We also tend to emphasize new achievement, taking our lead from the Oscar Academy, which will not nominate a sequel soundtrack that simply reprises music from the original film but will consider those parts of the score that were composed for the follow-up.

Without further adieu, here are this year’s winners…

Don't go into the bathroom alone - you might no get out!

THE DIVIDE AND CONQUER STRATEGY OF DELUSION: THE BLOOD RITE

Delusion 2012: The Blood Right is bigger and more elaborate than last year’s version of Delusion: Presented by Haunted Play, but we’re not sure it’s absolutely better – except in this one regard. As the visitors (whose presence is incorporated into the story, making them characters) are guided through the demented house, there are at least two occasions when “volunteers” are separated from their fellows, forcing them into creepy confrontations without the sense of safety in numbers. Even the people who remain behind get a vicarious thrill from seeing their comrades sent off on their own, in one case being trapped when a door slams closed, leaving everyone to wonder over what terrible fate is taking place off-stage.

THE TRAPPED MAZE AT KNOTTS SCARY FARM

Sure, it’s basically Sinister Pointe Light, but the Trapped maze atoffers a kind of Halloween horror not available at other theme park events – personal and interactive. The approach is so full of potential that it is easier to imagine it being much better, but the experience of climbing upon a morgue slab and and having the door sealed, closing us in claustrophobic darkness, is not one we will soon forget. Hopefully, Knotts Scary Farm will bring this one back next year in an expanded version with even more thrills. (Note: we also enjoyed the elegant ambiance of this year’s vampire maze, Dominion of the Dead.)

THE UPSIDE-DOWN ROOM IN ROTTEN APPLE 907′S WILSLEY MANOR

Rotten Apply 907 has been putting on great amateur Halloween yard haunts for years, and their recent efforts have taken on a professional sheen that rivals some of the more popular haunted house events in Los Angeles, but for 2012 they truly outdid themselves with this remarkable and disorienting scene in this year’s Wilsley Manor, which creates the illusion that you are walking on the ceiling, while the floor, with a dining table loaded with plates, shudders overhead, defying the law of gravity.

SCARY MARY AT QUEEN MARY DARK HARBOR

The on-board mazes at Queen Mary Dark Harbor have always benefited from the dark and dank atmosphere of the ship’s lengthy metal passageways, but the ghosts inhabiting the hallways have not always been memorable. For Halloween 2012, Scary Mary made her debut – allegedly, the ghost of a girl who drowned in the swimming pool on the lower deck. Her eerie presence – first suggested by an unseen voice – lends a wonderful supernatural shiver that climaxes with her appearance, seen only at a distance, hopping and skipping not far from the pool where she took her last swim. Not much of a jump-scare here, this is something more subtle and spooky – perfect for Halloween.

THE PANCHOS AT THE LOS ANGELES HAUNTED HAYRIDE

Or more properly, the gusher of “bodily fluides” from which the ponchos protect you. The Los Angeles Haunted Hayride has always had a little fun with this sort of gag in the past but on a much smaller scale (e.g., as you passed a “pregnant” woman, you felt a splash of what was presumably amniotic fluid). For 2012, riders on the hayride got doused, first by a hanged woman who had lost control of her bladder in her death throes, then again by another victims shortly thereafter. Finally, a malevolent version of Kris Kringle drenched the riders in “snow” (actually suds). The experience provoked audience reactions from even the most jaded Halloween fan. (Note: We were also mightily impressed with the demon that elevates to a Kong-size height, right through the ceiling of a demonic cathedral.)

THE FIRST GUARD AT HELL BREAK L.A.

This new Halloween haunt was plagued with problems (including frequent last-minute cancellations), but the actual maze was not bad. In fact, it got off to a great start, with an angry guard “welcoming” you to the prison. The direct interaction, as he needled each of us in turn, putting us in our place as if we were a bunch of convicts, set the tone for everything that followed; in fact, the opening was so good that it was hard for the rest of Hell Break L.A. to live up to it.

THE FORTY-MINUTE FRIGHT NIGHTS TOUR AT WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE

The trend this Halloween seemed to be toward longer tours (Blumhouse of Horrors, the L.A. Haunted Hayride, and Delusion all clock in somewhere around a half-hour). Perhaps the best overall extended maze we encountered this Halloween was not in Los Angeles but up north in San Jose: Winchester Mystery House Fright Nights. There were multiple environments with a variety of monsters and effects, ranging from subtle to shocking. We noted several set pieces supplied by creators of the Sinister Pointe Haunted Attraction, but we think Fright Nights surpasses that Orange County haunted house attraction, thanks to the effective use of Winchester’s wonderful location (the grounds surrounding an allegedly haunted house).

THE “IN-BETWEEN” SCENES AT WICKED LIT

This year, the Wicked Lit Halloween Theatre Festival put on another fine trilogy of terror, stage in the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery. What’s new is that the downtime between each play has been filled with mini-performances of short story and poetry readings, creating a full evening’s entertainment. Most memorable is the wicked playfulness of Tina Pugliese, as a mute flower girl who seems alternately frightened and frightening, depending on which member of the waiting audience she is interacting with. Not to slight any of the other fine performers, we also want to mention that Eric Harris should be bumped up from story guide to lead performer next Halloween.

THE SHERWOOD SCARE HOME HAUNT

It’s hard to pinpoint one specific moment that stands out in this new amateur Halloween attraction, but the overall effectiveness was quite impressive, earning Sherwood Scare a place among the best yard haunts in Los Angeles. Let’s hope it returns next Halloween.

THE MYSTERIOUS ATMOSPHERE OF THE FOREST OF MIRRORS

Well we remember the miraculous mirrored mirage that gives the Forest of Mirrors its name, but this Halloween we noted something that had previously eluded our gaze: the wonderful atmosphere, full of fog and flickering lights. As much as it is a forest (with foliage camouflaging the arched mirrors that create an illusion of endless paths to nowhere), this back yard haunt is also a rock garden, but in this case the “rocks” are skulls, illuminated by low-level lamp-flame. There are only a few scare-actors lurking within the Forest of Mirrors, but the real appeal is the place itself; in its own small way, it creates a sense of walking into a magical Halloween wonderland. The illusion may not bear close scrutiny, but in the shadows and fog of a Halloween Night, this clever trick provides a perfect treat for those who think they have seen everything.

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Well, that’s it for Halloween 2012. Strangely, we could not pinpoint a specific item of note for Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, even though we enjoyed that theme park haunt more than Knotts Scary Farm this year. There were also many other fine haunts that did not make our list only because this year’s achievement matched but did not noticeably exceed last year’s: The Backwoods Maze and The Haunt with No Name Yet are still great, as is the House at Haunted Hill (the latter did add a nice bit with projection of Neil Patrick Harris as a ghostly reporter, but the addition was too brief to earn a spot on this list).

We apologize to any and all Halloween haunts that we missed this year, particularly the Reign of Terror Haunted House, which added a whole new section for 2012. If it’s any consolation, you’re our biggest regret this year.

Hollywood Gothique looks forward to seeing all of you again, next Halloween. Until then, Happy Haunting!

UPDATE: After posting this article, we made a return trip to the Blumhouse of Horrors, to see how much it had changed since its preview night. Short answer: extremely. Had we seen it in time, we certainly would have found a place for it on this list. Read our post-mortem here.

DELUSION: A HAUNTED PLAY (review) gets our top scream for doing what other Los Angeles Halloween Haunted Houses & Hayrides should be doing: moving past the “jump out and yell boo” strategy toward something more dramatic and interactive, making you feel you are actually part of a supernatural experience, not merely a customer walking through a cool fun house attraction.

The Thing at Halloween Horror Nights

THE THING MAZE within Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood stands out for its novel Antarctic setting and for its amazingly detailed creatures (crafted from the same molds that provided the monsters seen in the recent movie). Universal Studios Hollywood always provides sets, makeup and special effects that outshine other Theme Park Halloween Attractions, and this was their best effort in 2011.

THE TERROR OF LONDON at the Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Haunt has been around for a few years, but we find that the air of Victorian horror – the elusive sense that you are following in the footsteps of Jack the Ripper, walking down cobblestone streets and through fog-bound alleys – continues to thrill.

THE BUCKLING BRIDGE IN THE HELLFIRE MAZE at the Queen Mary Dark Harbor threw us for a loop – not literally, thank god, but for a second we did feel one step away from a precipitous drop over the railing. The sense of vertigo was enhanced by the hellish glimpse of red sparks in the distance suggesting a drop not merely to mortal death but into the damnable infernal regions.

THE CLEVER MIX OF MANNEQUINS AND ACTORS in the Reign of Terror Haunted House elevated the scream  factor several times over, because you never knew whether the next monster before you was a static dummy or something that might surge to life and attack you. This walk-through Halloween attraction in Thousand Oaks was always fun and atmospheric; for the last two years, it has been noticeably intensifying the scares.

Menacing Mechanical Men at L.A. Haunted Hayride

THE TRIO OF MECHANICAL SINGERS at the Los Angeles Haunted Hayride freaked us out (review). We expect our share of scares on the ride through the woods at the Griffith Park Old Zoo, but this particular vignette was new and different, beginning as a comedy and turning into something very creepy.  This memorable addition to an already excellent haunt will hopefully return next year.

THE INCREDIBLE OPTICAL ILLUSION at Sinister Pointe in Brea deserves special mention. We avoided revealing this one in our review of the haunt, not wanting to spoil the surprise for others, but now we feel it safe to let the cat out of the bag. As you walk down one corridor, the hallways seems to extend at length into a room at a far distance before you. This room turns out to be an illusion, however, a reflection upon a mirror, placed at an angle so that a monster can slide down from the ceiling above, landing practically at your feet! There were several scares and novel ideas at this haunt in Brea, but this one gag was unlike anything seen in any other Halloween haunted house attraction.

THE AFTERMATH at the Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest offered a post-apocalyptic horror show of belching flame and shattered debris that went far beyond other Halloween events in terms of production value and pyrotechnics, ranking favorably alongside the mazes and monsters at Universal Studios. Now if only their jack-booted security goons would get out of the way and let people actually enjoy the mazes without feeling as if they had stepped into some kind of authoritarian police state.

MAESTRO MAXILLA THE GREAT’S SHOW at the Boney Island Yard Haunt offered spectacular magical-musical fun, with lighted pumpkins and fountains of water timed to some of your favorite seasonal pieces, ranging from “The Monster Mash” to “Toccata and Fuge in D Minor.”

THE NEW LAYOUT at the Theatre 68 Haunted House gave expanded scope to one of our favorite Halloween events in Los Angeles. And the new severed head gag was quite startling – not gory, just an amazing magical illusion.

The Backwoods Maze 2011

THE  INCREDIBLE LENGTH of the Backwoods Maze in Burbank deserves mention. It’s as if this home haunt’s back yard were a TARDIS: once you step inside the maze, it seems bigger than the yard could possibly be. And it’s filled with professional-looking sets and monsters, providing a free horror show that upstages many professional efforts.

THE SPACE ODDESSY THEME of this year’s Rotten Apple 907 yard haunt seemed almost ridiculously ambitious, so they deserve special kudos for pulling it off. As with the Backwood Maze, you wonder when this crew is going to go pro; they certainly do a fine enough job to warrant a shot at the big leagues.

THE GHOSTLY CRACKED FACADE on the House at Haunted Hill (review) added a new layer of creepiness to an already impressive yard haunt, whose technical sophistication outclasses all other Amateur Halloween Events in Los Angeles. The dilapidated facade is achieved with some kind of projection, which lends a spectral appearance to the house that could not be achieved with simple set dressing; a bat flits past a window, and the projection also allows the look of the house to change as the narrated story progresses. This amazing illusion conveys a magical sense of wonder lacking from more overtly shocking Halloween attractions.

THE SUBTLE SHADINGS OF SPECTRAL SHADOWS AND ECTOPLASMIC ILLUSIONS at the House of Restless Spirits. This yard haunt is consistently great from year to year. Changes and additions are subtle, so you have to wait and look closely to see them. But if you watch carefully, you will see that this house’s spirits do indeed grow more restless every Halloween.

Finally, this year’s award for THE BEST USE OF A REAL LOCATION goes to Wicked Lit’s classic literary adaptations, performed live in the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery. This award is a bit of a close call, because Delusion made fine use of a real house in the West Adams district of Los Angeles, and Theatre 68 squeezes quite a few sets and effects into its available space. But you just can’t beat the feel of being inside an actual mausoleum, or walking the grounds of an actual cemetery, while watching actors engaged in stories set in corresponding locations. This immersive dramatic experience offers few shocks, but subtler, shivering terror is provided in abundance.

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We like and even love almost all of the haunts that we visit every Halloween, all of them for different reasons. We hope this list of citations conveys some sense of the wide variety of effects, surprises, shocks, and scares on view for your enjoyment every October. Los Angeles truly is a mecca of Halloween events of all shapes and sizes, and we hope to continue exploring its open crypts and catafalques for many years to come.

Forgoing the usual format of awards, I am not going to concern myself with categories. Instead, I am simply going to honor those award-worthy frights that reverberate in memory: the screams, the shocks, and the shivers that made this Halloween such a special one.

The T-Rex at Rotten Apple 907 ’s Nightmare at the Museum. For the last two years, the good folks at Rotten Apple 907 have put on an amateur yard haunt that rivals professional quality attractions. 2010’s trip through a museum filled with mummies and other mayhem was a delightful fright from start to finish, but the life-sized pneumatic dinosaur that makes a surprise appearance at the end really sent this haunt over the top. Awesome, man, totally awesome!

The Aggressive Persistence of the Monsters at Fright Fair Screampark. In the old days, Fright Fair’s trademark was the huge Tesla coil, sending sparks into the night sky like equipment from Frankenstein’s laboratory, but what really made the pro-haunt jump was the cast, who were never content with a simple boo scare but always went the extra mile. The Tesla coil is long gone, but the intensity of the actors remains, and this year they turned the volume up to 11. Great stuff!

The Ghostly Bride of House at Haunted Hill. For 2010, this yard haunt presented essentially the same show as it had for the past few years, but a few new effects stood out. None more so than the spectral bride who emerges from an upper floor window and gazes down in ghostly gloom upon the assembled audience, her features seeming to shift with ectoplasmic fluidity as her countenance assumes the appearance of a skull. Beautiful and ghastly at the same time.

The Skeletal Ghost Who Blows out a Candle at House of Restless Spirits. Almost all of the effects at this Santa Monica yard haunt are tremendously impressive, sending shivers of delight down your spine. Many of them are subtle and so slowly timed that you might miss them if you rush around the building without stopping to savor the spectral delights upon display. One of the eeriest and most effective lies in the backyard cemetery, filled with tombstones illuminated by flickering candles: what looks like a transparent skull rises from beneath the earth, leans toward the candle nears its tombstone, and blows it out. Freaky!

A female victim prepares to go on the Last Ride

The Last Ride at Forbidden Haunt. This new haunt for 2010 resurrected many bits and pieces from the dearly departed Spooky House but fashioned them into something new. As much fun as the walk-through maze was, we were thrilled by the “Last Ride,” a double-wide coffin that simulated the experience of being hauled off to the graveyard and buried. It may not sound like much, but the experience of being closed within the coffin, and feeling the bumps and jolts as the stereo soundtrack suggests being driven to the cemetery and then lowered into the ground, where the worms await their dinner, is a great immersive experience.

The Sets & Atmosphere at Reign of Terror. 2010 saw this Thousand Oaks maze amp up the scare factor with more actors, but its stand-out feature remains its convincing simulation of being inside a haunted house. This one sets the bar really high, and few can match the effort – even the major theme park attractions like Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood.

The Claustrophobic Confines of Old Town Haunt. This professional haunt in Pasadena is so consistently good that it is easy to take it for granted, but they deserve praise for maintaining high quality horror year after year. They pack a lot of fright into their underground lair, including a creepy crawl through a claustrophobic, pitch-black tunnel: you can’t see the monsters, but they – apparently – can see you, mocking your fear as you scramble on your hands and knees, trying to find a way out.

The Spirit Photographers at Heritage Square’s Halloween and Mourning Tour. As part of this “living museum’s annual Halloween event – a recreation of Victorian practices regarding funerals – two spirit photographers give a demonstration of their work. A wonderful, amusing mini-play that brings a piece of history to life with so much entertainment that you barely realize you’re learning something. See video here.

The Personal Nature of the Scares at the Theatre 68 Haunted House. More of the smaller haunts – both pro and amateur – are getting smart about sending victims through in small groups – a luxury that the major theme parks like the Knotts Berry Farm Halloween Haunt cannot afford. No one, however, yields better results than the 68 Cent Crew, who somehow manage to make each individual scare seem as it is uniquely for your benefit. Never will you be the overlooked person at the end of the line who missed the monster’s attack; here, you will always be singled out for special attention.

The Block Party Atmosphere of Revenge of the Ninja. This Halloween event in Torrance is a true community haunt, benefiting the neighborhood families. The walk-through maze is effectively frightening, with some great shocks and one or two truly amazing effects (like a live actor, vomiting blood, who appears to be a torso impaled on a bamboo pole). But what they achieve, better than many theme parks and pro-haunts, is the creation of a convivial atmosphere of fun and games that makes you want to hang around after finishing the maze. We need something like this in the valley!

The Unexpectedly Clever Surprises in the Haunted Shack. This Torrance yard haunt is loaded with skeletal ghouls lurking around corners, but the same could be said of many similar amateur Halloween attractions. What surprises is the unexpected sophistication of the maze, which begins with a “solid” wall that turns out to be a hidden door. Later there is a brief detour down a dead end that certainly looks as though it has a way out (it’s all done with mirrors), and the exit – far from a welcome escape to safety – is haunted by a skeletal projection beckoning to you. You don’t even realize there’s a door, and you start to feel as if you may be trapped forever. Brilliant!

Voices of Pioneer Cemetery

Best Use of an Actual Location: Voices of Pioneer Cemetery Flashlight Ghost Tour. This, the only actual “category” I’m using this year, would normally be a lock for The Queen Mary Dark Harbor, but it had stiff competition this year: Halloween and Mourning Tours at Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles; the Flashlight Ghost Tours at Pioneer Cemetery in Sylmar; and the Haunted Midnights Tours at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood. Ultimately, we choose Pioneer Cemetery because the tour was fashioned to utilize the location to its fullest extent, not merely as a staging area but as a piece of history brought to life, the stories of its buried dead related by ghosts wandering in the graveyard. A unique fusion of Halloween and History.

Sorry if I overlooked any deserving haunters out there. You are all great in your own way. Thanks to all of you for working to hard to turn Halloween not merely into a single night of terror but into an entire season!

It is time for Hollywood Gothique’s first annual Halloween Haunt Awards. This is the time – after the last scream has echoed away, the last lightening has flashed, and the last monster returned to its godforsaken tomb – when we sit down and assess the best events and attractions that we experienced during Halloween in Los Angeles. As you will see, our system is not very systematic: categories overlap and are created on an ad hoc basis to serve the needs of a particular year. The goal is not to create some formal structure but simply to find a way to honor the many mazes, haunts, rides, and other attractions that entertained us so skillfully during the season.

BEST THEME PARK HAUNT: KNOTT’S SCARY FARM

Theme Park Haunts are the 800-ton Godzillas of the Halloween season – the ones that offer a full night’s entertainment, including multiple mazes, plus rides and shows. Every October, I am asked so often, “Which is better, Universal or Knott’s?” that I finally addressed the question in this article: Best Theme Park Haunts? However, that article was a general assessment of what to expect each year at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Halloween Horror Nights, the Queen Mary Shipwreck, and the Six Flags Magic Mountain Fright Fest. How well did they actually perform in 2008?

Advance word on the Queen Mary Shipwreck led us to believe that there would be few changes or additions since our visit last year, so we took a pass – not because we didn’t want to go but simply because time is at a premium, and we were trying to visit as many new haunts as possible.

The Magic Mountain Fright Fest is automatically disqualified this year for charging extra for their Halloween mazes.

Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights maintained their usual high quality: they truly do feature the best sets, costumes, and makeup. However, there was not much new this year: a somewhat extended Terror Tram trek through the back lot and a slightly refurbished Elm Street maze.

THE WINNER: Knott’s Scary Farm’s Halloween Haunt, on the other hand, featured six new mazes in 2008 – more than enough to make the trip to Buena Park worthwhile, even if you had visited last Halloween. With that much quantity, one can easily tolerate the occasional lapse in quality: the masks and makeup are not as good as those at Universal. HHN fans drip scorn when describing Knott’s efforts, but that does not alter the fact that they provided many more new scares this year. Check out the first chapter of our video tour of the haunt here.

BEST PROFESSIONAL HAUNT: OLD TOWN HAUNT

One step down from theme parks are the Professional Haunts. These tend to offer one-to-three mazes, plus a handful of sideshow attractions (fortune tellers, souvenir shops, etc), but they cannot compete on the sheer scale of something like Knott’s Scary Farm. Nevertheless, if you look at them as individual mazes, many are every bit as frightening as best the theme parks have to offer.

THE WINNER: There was some stiff competition from new discoveries this year, but ultimately we decided to create a separate category for those, and settled on an old favorite in this category. The Old Town Haunt in Pasadena maintains such a high quality from year to year that it is easy to grow complacent and forget just how good they are. The underground setting – loaded with great sets, a handful of mechanical gags, and many malevolent monsters – provides a chamber of horrors guaranteed to thrill. Read are review here and thrill to our video here.

BEST COMMUNITY HAUNT: REIGN OF TERROR

This category sits perhaps uncomfortable between Professional Haunts and Yard Haunts. In the present case, it refers to a previously amateur effort that grew too big for its yard and was transplanted in 2008 to a local community center, where it charged admission – not for profit but to offset costs and possibly raise money for the center. To be honest, although there are several haunts that fall into this category, this is the only one we managed to visit in 2008; nevertheless, its professional standards place it too high to fit into the Yard Haunt category, and its high quality deserves recognition.

THE WINNER: Reign of Terror in Thousand Oaks does an excellent job of making you feel that you are walking into a haunted house. The terror begins outside, gazing up the imposing facade. The inside is filled with mechanical monsters that shake, rattle, roll, and spit, plus the usual assortment of costumed actors. If there is any justice, this one should make the jump to professional status next year. It truly is that good. You can read more about it on our Halloween Haunts page and in Part 2 of our 2008 Halloween Haunt Odyssey.

BEST YARD HAUNT: HOUSE OF RESTLESS SPIRITS

Yard Haunts are amateur efforts that have grown over the decades from a few tombstones propped up on the lawn to elaborate, effects-filled extravaganzas that provide almost as much entertainment as professional efforts. They have become a form of folk art – a chance for people to express their creativity on a night when an audience is guaranteed to show up. There are many good ones out there, but the choice for the best is easy.

THE WINNER: House of Restless Spirits in Santa Monica was our most pleasing discovery last year, and the 2008 presentation is every bit as good – all the old ghosts are back, joined by a few new ones. Spectral faces appear in buckets of water. Dolls come alive. Phantoms materialize out of paintings. Spirit footsteps manifest on the walkway. Tombstones rattle; ghosts grumble; cats screech, and a statue reads moody poetry about death. What you will not see are chainsaws and monsters in makeup. The terrors here are all spiritual, not physical.

HONORABLE MENTION: House at Haunted Hill in Woodland Hills, The Infected in Burbank (info on our Yard Haunts page); Horror on Frankel Street in Lakewood.

BEST NEW HAUNT: SKULL KINGDOM

The once proud Seaside Haunt in Ventura sank into the depths of the dark ocean after its 2007 manifestation, replaced by the disappointing Seaside Haunted Theme Park in 2008; fortunately, the Seaside spirit lives on in a new haunt, supervised by Mike and Erin Zatz, the couple behind the original Seaside Haunt. Skull Kingdom in Woodland Hills uses many of the same techniques to great effect: low-key lighting that creates an ominous atmosphere; sets that make you believe you are in a haunted house; and monsters that lurk in the shadows, giving you enough time to work yourself into a state of dread just from knowing that they may jump out at any second.

BEST DISCOVERY of THE YEAR: THEATRE 68′S HAUNTED HOUSE

This category is for haunts that, although not new, we are encountering for the first time. There were several stand-outs this year, including Yard Haunts (The Infected, Horror on Frankel Street), Community Haunts (Reign of Terror), and Professional Haunts (Heritage Haunt). Ultimately we went for an attraction that stood apart from the rest thanks to its unusual setting.

THE WINNER: Theatre 68’s Haunted House in Hollywood is, as the name suggests, set in a theatre. The sets, costumes, and performances lend a nice theatrical quality to the scares, which are presented in a series of brief scenes that come to life as the visitor enters each new setting. If you’re tired of monsters who simply jump out and yell “Boo!” or try to invoke fear by screaming until your nerves are on edge, here is a haunt that offers a little something different. We reviewed the haunt more fully here.

HONORABLE MENTION: Heritage Haunt in Santa Clarita has an effectively authentic feel, thanks to the fact that it is sponsored by the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society and set in what is essentially a museum dedicated to the area’s past (including mining efforts and silent cowboy movies). There monsters waiting to scare you, but the emphasis is more on atmosphere and anticipation, with the spooky soundtrack inspiring fear of invisible spirits when there is nothing to be seen. There is also a nice use of mechanical effects to supplement the actors in makeup. Read a full review here.

BEST FAMILY-FRIENDLY HAUNT: GHOST TRAIN

The kid-friendly matinee versions of most Halloween haunts are rather wimpy: you walk through the same basic haunt during the day, with the lights on and with few or now live monsters. If you have children who want to enjoy Halloween but do not want to be terrified by chainsaws and other visceral horrors, this is the place to go: a pleasantly spooky train ride through Griffith Park’s Travel Town, loaded with spooky lights and decorations. See the video.

MISCELLANEOUS MAZE AWARDS

With so many theme parks and professional haunts offering multiple mazes, it is hard to draw one-to-one comparisons. How does one rate the relative fear factor of Knott’s, which has 13 rides and mazes, with Universal, which has five, or with professional haunts that have two or three at most? In this category, we asses the best individual mazes.

MOST ELABORATE:Universal’s House of Horrors. It’s like taking a trip through classic horror movies, complete with fantastic sets that make you feel as if you are in Dracula’s castle or Frankenstein’s laboratory. See the video.

MOST INTENSE:Knott’s Quarantine. Knott’s mazes are noted for the length, which is great but which sometimes leads to long dead passages with little happening. The Quarantine maze, on the other hand, packs a lot into a very short span, creating a great intensity that does not have time to wear out its welcome. See the video.

MOST SUSTAINED AURAL ASSAULT: Mangler’s Haunt Asylum at Fearplex. During a low-level crawl-through near the end of this maze, some of the crazed inmated perform vocal duties that would exhaust an operatic superstar. It’s a crude technique but effective – and it’s impressive that the actresses can sustain the volume level without going hoarse. See the video.