As the nation continues to struggle in one of the worst economies in history Americans will require a bit more to actually feel fear this Halloween season. In response, Hauntworld Magazine (www.hauntworld.com), the Halloween and haunt industry’s leading trade publication, has announced listings of the most terrifying locations in America, including: the Top 31 Haunted Attractions (one for each day in October), the Top 10 Amusement Park Halloween events and more. These attractions are being recognized for their attention to detail, high-quality special effects, and overall “scare factor”.

The haunted houses and attractions on these lists aren’t your average neighborhood decorations. Each haunted attraction costs up to $1 million to construct, uses professionally trained actors, Hollywood make-up artists and the latest technology in order to transport people into an insane, realistic and horrific environment that rivals any horror movie set. The result is an industry that has grown to generate over $1 BILLION each season, redefining the way people celebrate Halloween.

“Americans have an intrinsic urge to conquer fear and the haunted attractions on these lists are as close as many can get to literally coming face-to-face with true terror,” said Larry Kirchner, Editor-in-Chief of Hauntworld Magazine. “Scary movies and roller coasters are great for a cheap thrill but what these attractions provide their visitors is a sense of exhilaration and an adrenaline rush that can only be felt from live action. These locations are examples of those places in the country you’ll be telling your friends you
survived, not visited.”

Top Professional Haunted Attractions: 2009

The Top 13 Haunted Attractions:
• 1. 13th Gate Haunted House – Baton Rouge, Louisiana,
• 2. Netherworld Haunted House – Atlanta, Georgia
• 3. The Beast – Kansas City, Missouri
• 4. The Darkness Haunted House – St. Louis, Missouri
• 5. House of Torment – Austin, Texas
• 6. Dent Schoolhouse – Cincinnati, Ohio
• 7. Bates Motel – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• 8. Haunted Schoolhouse – Akron, Ohio
• 9. Bayville Screampark – Long Island, New York
• 10. House of Shock – New Orleans, Louisiana
• 11. Dead Acres – Columbus, Ohio
• 12. Headless Horseman – Ulster Park, New York
• 13. Graystone Manor – Killen, Alabama

And to visit a haunted attraction for each day of October, the list continues
to include:

• 1. Cutting Edge Haunted House, Dallas, Texas
• 2. Erebus Haunted House, Pontiac, Michigan
• 3. Edge of Hell, Kansas City, Missouri
• 4. Scarehouse, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• 5. Creepyworld, St. Louis, Missouri
• 6. Haunted Overload, Lee, NH
• 7. Atrox Factory, Leeds, Alabama
• 8. Fright World, Buffalo, New York
• 9. Dreamreapers, Melrose Park, Illinois
• 10. Haunted Hotel, San Diego, California
• 11. Fright Kingdom, Nashua, NH
• 12. Asylum Haunted House, Denver, Colorado
• 13. Spookywoods, High Point, North Carolina
• 14. Pirates of Emerson, Fremont, California
• 15. The Asylum, Las Vegas, Nevada
• 16. Field of Screams, Mountville, PA
• 17. Bennett’s Curse, Baltimore, Maryland
• 18. Land of Illusion, Middletown, Ohio

Top 10 Amusement Park Halloween Events: 2009
• 1. Universal Studios Horror Nights, Orlando, FL
• 2. Knott’s Scary Farm, Los Angeles, CA
• 3. Tampa Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL
• 4. Universal Studios Horror Nights, Hollywood, CA
• 5. Kennywood Amusement Park, Pittsburgh, PA
• 6. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, PA
• 7. King’s Island Haunt, Cincinnati, OH
• 8. Cedar Point Haunt, Sandusky, OH
• 9. Six Flags Fright Fest, NJ
• 10. Old Tucson Studios Nightfall, Tucson, AZ

Best Screamparks/Haunted Hayrides: 2009
• 1. Headless Horseman, Ulster Park, New York
• 2. Bates Motel, Glen Mills, Pennsylvania
• 3. Shocktoberfest, Reading, Pennsylvania
• 4. Field of Screams, Mountville, PA
• 5. Creepyworld, St. Louis, MO
• 6. Spookywoods, High Point, North Carolina
• 7. Bayville Screampark, Long Island, New York
• 8. Jason’s Woods, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
• 9. Halloween Park, Strinestown, Pennsylvania
• 10. 7 Floors of Hell, Cleveland, Ohio

Top 5 Places to get Scared in America: 2009
• 1. Salem, Massachusetts
• 2. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
• 3. Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
• 4. The Mortuary Haunted House, New Orleans, Louisiana
• 5. Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky

Despite Halloween 2′s rather disappointing weekend at the box office (coming in third behind The Final Destination and Inglourious Basterds, which saw its second week of release), a sequel has already been greenlit. The Weinstein Company is moving along with a third Halloween film, which comes after Rob Zombie’s two films. The film will be in 3D and is promptly titled Halloween 3D. Bob Weinstein mentioned that Zombie won’t be returning for a third film, but is in talks with a new director. Refusing to do any namedropping, Weinstein also added that this will be another, “different take,” on the franchise and that the director is familiar with the horror genre.

Rob Zombie claims that he’s finished with the franchise. “No. I could not see that in any shape, way or form. Never!” But if I recall correctly, Zombie said something similar before Inside directors Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo dropped out of H2. Will he pick up the reigns a third time if negotiations fall through with other directors again? What are everyone’s thoughts on Halloween 2? Should they bother continuing the franchise or just stop before they make it even worse?

Today Rob Zombie posted a still of Michael Myers in anticipation of the film being released this Friday. The photo you see below is obviously before Michael starts to look like a hobo with the hood. It will be interesting to see how this film will be recieved considering the huge split over the first.

With Medium moving from NBC to its new home at CBS, some unusual things are happening, Zap2It.com reports. One of these will feature Allison Dubois (Patricia Arquette) fighting zombies.

And not just any zombies, mind you, but the back-to-basics shambling intestine-eaters from George Romero’s imagination.

And not just any old imagined zombies but the ACTUAL critters from Night of the Living Dead, series creator Glenn Gordon Caron told the TV Critics Association press tour on Monday.

Yep, an upcoming Halloween episode of the show will feature Allison inserted Forrest Gump-style into footage from NotLD, as part of our heroine’s “dreamscape”.

One reason why the move to CBS allows Medium to do season-specific episodes like a Halloween special is that under NBC, the show never started a season earlier than mid-November (Halloween is on Oct 31).

Now the season has a definite Fall start date, in time for Halloween.

Halloween 2 sees the return of Malcolm McDowell, once again playing Dr. Loomis, the man we presumed was dead at the end of Rob Zombie’s remake. Yep, he’s back, pimping a new book about his experience with Michael Myers until he comes face to face with the killer one more time. Below is a new photo of McDowell with actress Mary Birdsong who plays his publicist Nancy.

The wait is over Kids. Today the studio revealed the official synopsis for Rob Zombies Halloween Sequel, Halloween 2: The Devil Walks Amongst us. It goes like so;

It’s that time of year again, and Michael Myers has returned home to sleepy Haddonfield, Illinois to take care of some unfinished family business. Unleashing a trail of terror that only horror master Rob Zombie can, Myers will stop at nothing to bring closure to the secrets of his twisted past. But the town’s got an unlikely new hero, if they can only stay alive long enough to stop the unstoppable.