Get your scare on at Eastern State Penitentiary’s “Terror Behind the Walls.”
Credit: Jeff Fusco
We’re suckers for a good scream-inducing haunted attraction. Sure, it can get pricey, and those long lines are sometimes unbearable, but who doesn’t love a spooky scare?
We found a few that will leave you shaking and begging for mercy. And there’s one for the kids too, since it is sort of their holiday.
Terror Behind the Walls
This is a steadfast Philly favorite, and has been for years. While most may advise not to fix what ain’t broken, the professionals at Eastern State Penitentiary decided not to heed that warning. This year, the famous attraction is allowing its actors to touch you and at times pull you into secret passages.
Why go: Being touched and possibly abducted by actors will set your pulse racing.
$13 – $39, Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Ave., 215-236-2985, www.easternstate.org
Pennhurst Asylum
Before Pennhurst became a Halloween destination, it was an abandoned hospital that was wildly alluring to thrill-seekers and ghost hunters. The stories and urban legends that came out of that place were so twisted and deranged that it found its place on the pages of Weird NJ, a magazine dedicated to area oddities.
Now, rather than breaking into the this former asylum, you can get in legally (for a price) and get exactly what you were looking for: “Patients” roaming the halls and looking to scare the sanity right out of you.
Why go: After the haunted asylum you can take a self-guided ghost tour through the Mayflower Building on the property. They give you a flashlight — and that’s it.
$15-$75, Pennhurst Asylum, 100 Commonwealth Dr., Spring City, www.pennhurstasylum.com
Fright Factory
Now in its 13th year – ooh, spooky – Fright Factory continues to top lists as one of the most terrifying seasonal attractions. In fact, it recently made Travel Channel’s roundup of Scariest Halloween Attractions (along with Eastern State and Bates Motel, because Philly likes to freak out). This year they compressed all the attractions into one event. That means just one line to wait in all night.
Why go: Notice any zombies on the Broad Street Line? That was them. Fright Factory got creative with their ad campaign this year and sent out some of its own living dead to get Philly in the mood.
$30-$199, Fright Factory, 38 Jackson St., 215-334-4678, www.frightfactory.tv
Count’s Halloween Spooktacular
Whether you’ve got kids or you’re just a wuss, there’s the Count’s Halloween Spooktacular at Sesame Place. There’s a hayride, two mazes, a Halloween musical and a parade. We promise it won’t be too frightful.
$35-$64, Sesame Place, 100 Sesame Rd, Langhorne, 866-464-3566, www.sesameplace.com
