A backyard maze, a two-story terror, a farm of frights and more Watch video
Are you afraid of the dark?
How about a maniacal clown with blood-stained teeth? A swarming pack of nuns with ghoulish faces? Or maybe a headhunter. Not the kind that finds you a job -- the kind that lobs your skull right off.
We found all this and more in our trip to five different haunted Halloween attractions in New Jersey.
This year, we asked readers to nominate their favorite haunts. Then we put the nominees to a vote and visited the top five vote-getters.
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Reader picks, spanning five counties in northern, central and southern New Jersey, ranged from a family-friendly backyard maze to a series of elaborate, traditional haunted houses.
Some haunted houses excel in startling visitors, while others are best at disorienting them, or creating a spellbinding scene. Upon review, it turns out that our top-ranked haunt for 2014 has pulled a repeat performance for 2015.
Here's the full ranking of our experiences at each haunted attraction, along with details for each location so you can plan your own visit. In the comments, tell us which other haunts you like to visit, and why.
5. The Stewart family's Halloween Maze, Ridgewood
Nancy and Gregory Stewart have been putting on a Halloween maze in their Bergen County backyard for 21 years. It all started when their youngest son, Tyler, was 4. He asked his parents for an obstacle course, but Gregory had another idea -- a labyrinth constructed of burlap.
Now 25, Tyler is the one who designs the maze every year at the family's home on Sheridan Terrace in Ridgewood. By day it's a Halloween romp -- by night, a circuitous puzzle haunted by an evil clown (Gregory sometimes plays the part).
You can find the Stewarts' maze as 'Ridgewood Halloween Maze' on Facebook. (Amy Kuperinsky | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)The maze is both free and a safe bet for children. On Halloween night, the line goes all the way up the driveway, the Stewarts say.
"The maze is definitely harder this year," says Katie Schultz, 11, a neighbor of the Stewarts who estimates she's been to the homegrown attraction "50 times."
But word has traveled beyond the Stewarts' immediate neighborhood -- on the night we visited, a school bus full of children (yes, they took an actual yellow bus to get there) tried the maze as guests of a birthday party.
The evil clown is pretty much the only detail of the maze that is a little bit scary, though there are plenty of little touches -- like plastic appendages and mechanical emissaries of the undead -- to keep things interesting.
The strongest element, however, is the maze itself. Leave a good 30 to 45 minutes to make it through if you're a first-timer, which should be enough time to conquer all the false doors and repeating pathways.
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And don't worry, if you (or your child) get lost, the Stewarts are always looking out over the top of the attraction, sending messages with a megaphone. Extractions can and will be done.
The Stewart family's Halloween maze, at 124 Sheridan Terrace in Ridgewood, is open 4 to 9 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29; 3:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 30 and noon to 9 p.m. Oct. 31. The maze is closed for the season on Nov. 1; check for updates at facebook.com/RidgewoodHalloweenMaze
4. Devil's Theater, Rahway
This is the inaugural year for Devil's Theater, a haunted house set up in the Union County Performing Arts Center theater in Rahway. And considering all the space Chainsaw Productions -- the Elizabeth-based outfit behind the haunt -- had to fill when designing the scare, the results are commendable.
One of the many psychotic clowns we encountered during our journey. This one lives at Devil's Theater at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway. (Chainsaw Productions)Big points for making good use of the theater setting in one of the opening scenes. Real-life ghoul actors are interspersed among dummy goons in the audience, and stay dormant in their seats until you walk down the aisles. You move on to a series of dressing rooms where various horrific scenes await, but the best is the room with the priest and nuns. The hollow-faced women go crazy on cue -- moving towards you menacingly as the priest chants something sinister-sounding.
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This haunted theater directs you through stairwells and back out to the lobby, but not before some close encounters with a bear-headed man and an usher of the undead. Not a long haunt, but definitely one that can claim some theatric originality.
Devil's Theater is at the Union County Performing Arts Center, 1601 Irving St. in Rahway, open 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Oct. 29 through 31 and 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 1. Admission $22; visit devilstheater.com
3. Night of Terror at Creamy Acres, Mullica Hill
By day, Creamy Acres is a dairy farm in pastoral Mullica Hill, in Harrison Township, Gloucester County. By night, it's Night of Terror, a six-ring circus of haunted happenings celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. If you want variety in your haunts, this is the place to be.
"We put our heart and soul into it," says owner Ron Ambruster, who first brought haunts to the farm in 1995.
Maybe someone in your group is scared by growling zombies; maybe someone else can't tolerate a pitch-black hallway. Or maybe you just appreciate a really well-designed scene. You can cover it all in one evening (though in that case, you should probably plan to arrive early, since the lines fill up quick).
Outside Head Hunters, a new attraction at Night of Terror in Mullica Hill. (Brandy Speas/Night of Terror)New for 2015 is a haunt called Head Hunters, which revolves around the Indigo tribe and the threat of -- yes -- the removal of one's head. There's tribal music, a scenic walkway over water, a witch doctor and numerous headhunters -- the last of whom carries a menacing (human?) bone. There's also Dark Dreams, a haunted house with the look of an actual house, and plenty of hallways without any whisper of light. You'll inexplicably emerge from this haunt with bubbles on your shoes, thanks to an explosion of suds.
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Old standbys at Night of Terror include Zombie Mayhem, Slaughter Cave -- where "the tunnels echo with deafening screams" and the walls are "wet and warm with blood" -- the Ride of Terror hayride, Cornfield Maze, and the Haunted Paintball Ride, where you can pelt moving zombie targets to your heart's delight.
Night of Terror is at Creamy Acres Farm, 448 Lincoln Mill Road in Mullica Hill. Open 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 29 through 31. Combo VIP passes that include paintball are $75; general Night of Terror admission $30. VIP Night of Terror admission $60. Call 856-223-1669 or visit nightofterror.com
2. Haunted Scarehouse, Wharton
Billed as "two floors of fear," Morris County's Haunted Scarehouse starts with a story about the mysterious Hayden family. The tale is told by a scientist in his time-machine lab as you wait to enter the haunt. You're transported to 1971, after a hurricane has apparently laid waste to the Hayden home.
The dragon-in-residence at Haunted Scarehouse in Wharton. (Haunted Scarehouse)The origin story -- and the method of delivery -- is as random as it gets, though all that is forgotten as soon as you encounter a menagerie of startling creatures, including a dragon that pops out of a wall, an E.T.-like figure and the front bumper of a honking car that comes at you as an accident victim emerges. Extra points for the moving floor.
A second floor, the "attic," is supposed to be hell. There's a schoolroom fronted by a spectral teacher, where a decrepit student shadows you. "Can I join your group?" he asks. For those who like a bit of a challenge with their haunt, new this year at Haunted Scarehouse is a room escape game version of the Hayden story called "Trapped."
Haunted Scarehouse is at 105 W. Dewey Ave. in Wharton. Admission $25; "R.I.P." VIP admission $40. Open 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Oct. 29, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Oct. 30 and 31 and 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 1. Both Oct. 29 and Nov. 1 are "touch nights," during which customers allow actors to touch them. Nov. 1 is also "lights off night," when customers are given one flashlight to navigate a completely darkened haunted house. Call 862-244-4454 or visit hauntedscarehouse.com
1. Bane Haunted House, Livingston
Having visited this haunt in 2014, there was much that felt familiar -- namely the showstopper of a finale, a claustrophobic, spin-you-around gag that is repeated from last year.
Even so, BulletProof Productions' Bane remains the most disorienting haunt of the bunch we saw. Each visitor is separated from their haunted house partner pretty much upon entry (only two people are allowed in at a time), and while you may reunite several times during the haunt, part of the power of this attraction is derived from the feeling of facing the demons alone.
Prepare to slide, crawl and shimmy at Bane in Livingston. (Bane Haunted House)There are no automated ghouls -- everyone is a real, live/dead actor. But it's the scenery that is the most imposing -- expect to push through impossible crevices, to careen down a slide into darkness and to navigate a jungle of obstacles at every turn. It's a true sensory experience for those who want to be completely immersed in a haunt.
If you haven't pre-purchased a ticket, you can expect to wait a very long time to even get inside (where, on crowded nights, there's yet another line). Organizers say to be prepared to stand around for two-plus hours.
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So it's best to buy a ticket before you get to Bane, which will allow you to skip the outside line and go straight to the inside line. As with many of the haunts we visited, VIP tickets are available for this one. This type of entry, while expensive, allows you to completely bypass the longest lines.
If you manage to visit when the place is empty -- last year, a late-Sunday night visit netted us no crowd; this year, going earlier proved to be a bad choice -- all the better, since the scare will seem more authentic when you can't hear anyone else screaming. Most haunts are rife with booms and bangs, but well-timed silence can often provoke the deadliest fright.
Bane Haunted House is at 630 W. Mount Pleasant Ave. in Livingston. Open 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 28; 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 29; 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 30 and 31; "happily haunted" (lights on) option for children 3 to 5 p.m. Oct. 31; "lights out" haunted house 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 1. General admission $24; VIP $38; "happily haunted" $8. Call 973-369-7677 or visit banehauntedhouse.com