School is Scary

Sadly, for a lot of kids school, is a scary place. As we post this tonight, we offer a pray for those kids who really don't want to go back to school after Thanksgiving vacation. We pray for those who are victims of bullying and those who feel the need to engage in bullying behavior, because we recognize that those kids must feel a lot of hurt inside, to act out in such destructive ways.

Tonight we wanted to talk about another kind of scary school, much less scary than those troubled with bullies, but of interest to those who love a good ghost story.

The Broughton School building in South Park, PA is said to be haunted and there is some fairly decent evidence to confirm this. Check out this news article from WTAE in Pittsburgh. Do a quick google search of "haunted broughton school" and you'll find a lot more.

The Award Show!

Here's the show! Or click on the above tab to see our five part award show!

Miss Theresa has written a lovely narration for this year's Haunted All Year Awards.

I submit it to you here, in its entirety! Read it aloud, in a creepy voice! It is QUITE fabulous!

Good Evening ladies & gentlemen. Ghouls & demons. Vampires & zombies. We gather here to present the HAY awards. These mementos of recognition for the terrifying haunts that try to drive us out of our minds. The greater Pittsburgh area is just littered with gruesome Halloween offerings.

Before we give you the Top 5, let us begin your torture with the: WHY DID WE MISS THIS. Due to limited moonlit nights not every offered scare made it on to our dance card. Ing- Rich's

Theresa-Chessman's Fright Farm

Both these spectacular scares get better every year. It was our loss that they did not get considered this year. Time simply got away from us. (Note: to self use the shackles next year). In truth Ing and her trusted followers managed to attend 23 haunts.

Moving on we feel the need to scream out to the very best players. Those individuals who went well beyond their required command from their masters. We are in agreement for these awarded minions.

BEST ACTOR- GAVIN AT DEMON HOUSE

In truth, I have never seen Ing that color before, after he chased her from the room.

BEST CAST- GHOUL MANSION

How they manage to make that simple maze so confusing I'll never know and with such enthusiasm.

We come now to the performances that are suitable to mixed groups. These are locations if not quite family fun, allow for LESSER varying degrees of horror.

BEST HAY RIDE- LONESOME VALLEY FARMS

BEST HAUNTED CELEBRATION –HAUNTED HAYLOFT

As avid, or should I say rabid, haunted house attendees we are often asked to give recommendations on which scare event is best for certain individuals. Usually these are newbie or at least new to area victims.

BEST OFFER BETWEEN ZOO BOO AND SEVERED HEADS: EERIE ACRES

MOST RECOMMENDED: HUNDRED ACRES MANOR

AWARD FOR TAKING BACK HALLOWEEN FOR CHRISTIANS: SEWICKLEY UNITED METHODIST CHRUCH HAUNTED HOUSE

If you been here in the area awhile you may be tempted to impale someone with a Penndot warning marker, while in search of you next event. Between construction and detours this town offers even more challenges. So we offer the award of:

WORTH THE DRIVE, IF YOU CAN FIND IT: FREDDY’S HAUNTS

Let us slither into the newest offerings. May they give us an even greater fright as they expand and consume their prey?

BEST NEW HAUNT: TERROR TOWN PITTSBURGH

MOST ANTICAPTED RETURN: BELLEVUE SPOOKTAULAR

Here I must offer a little bragging time for the terrible evil guy to tell you his horrifying plan. Also known as the technical grading on these events. We judge on different merits : Scares, Sets , Safety, Customer service, Amenities, Staff, Pricing, Website and Returnability. As Ing, often says nice matters.

Are you ready for the big scare? The hiding in the shower fright? That terrible music playing in the background? Have you checked under the bed? Here we go.

# 5-FACTORY OF TERROR

#4-HAUNTED HILLS ESTATE

# 3-GHOUL MANSION

#2-WEST VIRGINIA PENITENTIARY

And our NUMBER 1 OVERALL SCARE FOR 2011 is? The drum roll.… envelope please…. Oh, somebody catch that head…don’t slip in the blood…….what a paper cut…

#1-DEMON HOUSE

There you have it. Our most Reverend Ing and her devotes have shared the most spooky season with you. Thank you for joining us in this adventure. And don’t forget that the scares don’t stop on All Souls Day. Thanks to movies filled with gore, books steeped in noir and the usual ghostly sightings the haunt is all year long. Remember to check in again regardless of the season for more scare items and events.

Boo to you for now. You better run for your life, it right behind you.

Here's to the Winners

7 weeks
21 visits
3 states
100s of dollars
100s of miles
Countless screams
Countless laughs
10s of hours spent trying to decide on just a handful of awards.





Sincerely, we wish we could have given awards to nearly every place we visited during the Haunting Season.


We can't even imagine the hours, sweat, tears and energy that go into pulling off a haunted attraction.
The results here are the opinions of a few folks who love the Halloween season and being scared, so we hope no one will be hurt for not receiving an "official" award. We recognize that haunted attractions are, most of the time, a labor of love. The people who design, run and act in them are dedicated to giving people a memorable experience and we applaud and appreciate their efforts.
We do, however, want to recognize those whom we feel went "above and beyond" in our humble, haunted opinions. So far we offer only the list. This week we will be posting a detailed "Award Announcement" Show on youtube. Additionally, we will be expanding the descriptions of each category and detailing why its winner was chosen.
It was an incredible, memorable season. We thank you all.

Here's to the Winners

Top Five Haunts of 2011

Demon House
WV Penitentiary
Ghoul Mansion
Haunted Hills Estate
Factory of Terror

Best Actor: Gavin from Demon House

Best Cast: Ghoul Mansion

Best Hayride: Lonesome Valley Farms

Best Haunted Celebration: Haunted Hayloft

Must Anticipated Return: Bellevue Spooktacular

Best New Haunt: Terror Town Pittsburgh

Worth the Drive: Freddy’s Haunts
(tough to get there, but oh, so worth it)

Best in between Zoo Boo and Severed Heads: Eerie Acres
(if you're looking for a fright that is scary, but not traumatic)

Most Recommended: 100 Acres Manor
(consistently a quality haunt, never disappoints, and something for everyone, easy to recommend to anyone)

Best Way to Take Back Halloween for Christians: Sewickley United Methodist Church

Why Did I Miss This?!: Cheeseman Fright Farm and Rich's Fright Farm
(places some of us didn't get to this year, but from past experiences, really wish we would have, can't wait until next year)

First Weekend of Talks

This is MUCH harder than we thought it would be! HAY folks met this weekend to decide on the Haunted All Year 2011 Awards. We need another weekend! We think that says a great deal about the quality of haunts in our area.

In the meantime, looking for a good scare, we swear to you, you don't want to miss American Horror Story on FX. Also, go back in time with these Old Time Radio mystery stories, Lights Out is our personal favorite.

The Party's Over...

But the purpose of Haunted All Year is to keep things scary 365 days a year, so we'll try to continue that. Practically speaking, however, this was the last haunt for 2011. And what a great one! Here's the video.

Next weekend our haunters will gather to debate and cast their votes for the HAY 2011 Awards!

The Last Haunting!

We'll be traveling to Haunted Hills Estate tonight, God willing, for their closing event Lights Out tour. This week we'll be deciding on the winners of our first Haunted All Year Awards! We hope your favorite haunt wins! Categories will include Best Actor, Best Cast, Family Fun, New Haunt, Best Sets, Scariest Hayride and many more!

New Videos!

Click on the tab above "2011 Haunted Attraction Review Videos" to see the latest!

We hit Demon House, Allen's Haunted Hayride and the Dormont Dungeon this weekend!

Are you watching?

American Horror Story? The new show on FX has stirred up a lot of chatter. I have seen the first three episodes and there is something about it that makes me want to keep watching, even though it is disturbing. It is definitely for adults. There's a lot more than horror going on here. There are a lot of scary moments in the first three episodes and watching Jessica Lange act is always a treat. Look for it on FX at 10:00 pm Eastern on Wednesdays.

Scary Listening

If you enjoy creepy podcasts, check out Jim Harold's website. This guy is the bomb! Spooky tales from paranormal experts and personal tales from listeners can be heard from his site. He has also written a book with the material collected from his Campfire podcast. Oddly enough one of my own experiences is included in his book! I had no idea this was true when I started writing this post, believe it or not. I was just searching my email and I caught an email that had gone to spam, saying that a story that I had shared on his Campfire program two years ago, was included in the book! The email was sent back in September and Mr. Harold was offering a free copy of the book to everyone if they wrote back to him by the end of September, so I missed my free copy, but that's okay! I just think it's neat that he put my story in the book!

HAY Awards 2011

We have been out haunting for weeks now and have visited eighteen different attractions near Pittsburgh, PA. At the end of the Haunting Season we will be giving out the first ever Haunted All Year Awards. We hope your favorite haunt gets one! We sure have had a blast this season!

We will extend the season due to the good folks at Haunted Hills Estate who will be featuring a Lights Out tour on Saturday, November 5. If we didn't make it to your favorite haunt this year, let us know what it is! We'll plan for next year, for sure!