By: Ayla Valone

It’s that time of year again! Carving pumpkins, drinking hot coco, fall treats, and, most exciting, haunted houses! Going to a haunted house is the perfect fall thrill everyone is looking for. Fall is not complete without the adrenaline pumping through your veins after a monster pops out of nowhere. Even though we all live in the small towns of Warren County, where we don’t have many haunted attractions, there are still several yearly crowd-pleasers in the surrounding area that are worth seeing.

About an hour or two away, not far from the Grove City outlets, lies the Hell’s Hollow Haunt. This creepy spot is a high star rated haunted attraction that has two parts – The Bloody Barn and The Haunted Hay Wagon of Horror – that keep people coming back for more every year. On their website, http://www.hellshollowhaunt.com, they state, “The Bloody Barn has three floors of scares in the original 1872 haunted barn.” Come and learn of the legend of an Indian named Harthegig, who they believe still haunts the surrounding forest, after he mysteriously disappeared one night. The website also warns, “many folks reported hearing moans, groans, laughter, and screams.” For the price of twenty dollars, you get three levels of scares and a haunted hayride, so go check out their website and get your tickets now!

A little closer to home is the Wilder Museum of Warren County History. The museum has over 3,000 artifacts on their site, which they advertise as including, “a 1963 Mercedes Benz, Native American artifacts spanning 8000 years, one-handed clock invented in Warren by Colonel Windsor, World War II, Furnishings from the Irvine-Newbold Estate including a two-person vacuum, Turn-of-the-century transportation and fashion.” Each year, they host a haunted house, which I personally have worked. The museum is small, but it is a chance to see the history of your own town. Go check it out – you never know you might find out something interesting you did not know before. For more information, check out their website, www.warrenhistory.org/wilder_museum.

For the past few years, I have gone to the 13 Levels of Fear in Conneaut Lake, and I personally think it is the best haunted attraction around. The 13 Levels of Fear has thirteen different levels to go through.  As you walk to each house, you get your card stamped. This attraction is one of a kind, with two of the levels even having roller coasters to ride! For the price of the ticket, it was definitely worth the money. For thirteen different houses, you only pay twenty dollars for a ticket. If you are feeling like staying out there for the amazing view or are too tired to go home, the hotel is definitely an option. You may have heard that the hotel itself is haunted. Some even say it is one of the most haunted hotels in Pennsylvania, so why not stay there and find out!

This Halloween season, get out there and have that exciting thrill you have been looking for, and don’t miss all the fall activities that makes this season so great –  trying out corn mazes, eating pumpkin rolls, having bonfires, wearing comfy clothes, and, most of all, taking a walk through a couple haunted houses while you’re at it. I promise you won’t regret it! Use the hashtag #EHSSQUIRE when posting your spooky pictures and you could be featured on The Squire’s social media.