Where is the scariest haunted house in the region? Kansas City, according to the long-running horror magazine FANGORIA. In fact, The Beast in Kansas City ranked second on this year's nationwide list of the scariest haunted houses and haunted attractions.

FANGORIA's marketing manager, Rebekah McKendry, was responsible for this year's list, which represents "the most frightening, elaborate, detail-oriented and technologically advanced haunted attractions in the country."

The Best Haunted Houses in America
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"The haunts we've singled out are very detail and technology-oriented. They never stand still," said McKendry. "Production crews, set designers and creatives are working all year - conceptualizing new themes, designing sets and learning new technology. They have established high standards for their attractions and have to 'Wow' audiences like it's the first time every year. I can say these attractions have certainly delivered."

"If you want to see what other haunts will be doing five-years from now, look at what these 10 attractions are doing today," said FANGORIA editor-in-chief Chris Alexander. "It'll be amazing to see what's next."

According to the magazine, only The 13th Floor Haunted House in Denver is scarier than The Beast in 2014.

FANGORIA's 2014 List of Scariest Haunted Houses and Attractions 

  1. 13th Floor Haunted House (Denver) — Every hair on your neck will be standing straight up. The 13th Floor in Denver leverages cutting-edge technology among its fear-inducing tactics. Giant animated figures powered by Integrated Microsoft Kinect technology are able to detect, interact with and react to individual fright-seekers, providing both big and small blood-curdling scares around every corner.
  2. The Beast (Kansas City, Mo.) — The Beast forces patrons to face their deepest, darkest fears. A pioneer in developing the open format haunt where visitors don't follow a fixed route, patrons find themselves in close quarters with a live 8-ft. alligator, navigate their way in complete darkness through the forest and a seriously spine chilling swamp, conjuring up wild isolation and abandonment fears. To get out alive, visitors must also brave a two-story leap and grapple with a death-defying four-story slide.
  3. Cutting Edge (Fort Worth, Texas) — A two-time Guinness World Record holder for World's Largest Haunted House and built inside a former meat processing plant, Cutting Edge gets scarier and scarier with every step. From the moment of arrival, patrons are met with chainsaw-wielding fiends and forced to fight to avoid a grisly demise in the plant's still functional processing equipment.
  4. Bennett's Curse (Jessup, Md.) — Bennett's Curse attacks the senses by bringing together great film quality props with stellar sound, intricately designed sets and characters, unique and a massive gang of giant monsters that will keep you up nights. Its' 3D Inferno attraction within Bennett's Curse invites visitors to experience the levels of hell and gives visitors a run for their life to make it out alive.
  5. Headless Horseman (Ulster Park, NY) — Not just a hayride, but a terrifying trip through the land of worst nightmares, visitors explore an intensely detailed, original town set constructed by attraction staff, including car contents that match those of hotel's rooms occupants. Patrons then struggle to keep their wits about them during a trip through an evil corn maze and explore themed-haunted houses that envelop visitors with their own tales of fright.
  6. House of Torment (Austin, Texas) — The apocalypse has arrived in Texas. Not for the faint of heart, House of Torment elevates set design to the next level. Realistic looking destroyed city set and detailed illusions take center stage and being chased by Zombies will get hearts racing for sure. If not, one of the gruesome, bloodied corpses dangling about is sure to deliver a terrifying chill.
  7. 13th Gate (Baton Rouge, La.) — For those who have never crawled through a crematory door, this haunt is a must visit. The intricate detail and technology found in the sets of the 13th Gate in Baton Rouge alone makes what lies behind the gates ofHollywood seem almost elementary. Visitors travel through 13 uniquely themed zones ranging from the fog-filled streets ofLondon to the lost underwater city of Atlantis.
  8. Erebus (Pontiac, Mich.) — Visitors to Erebus will want to tell their friends about the experience, if they get out alive. Masters of interaction, Erebus' creators pack patrons into a vault in an attempt to bury them alive, throw them from a seemingly rotating bridge and feed them to a starving dinosaur who has a taste for people. No cookie-cutter sets or props here. All are designed by the haunt owners themselves.
  9. Bates Motel (Glen Mills, Pa.) — The screams from Bates Motel are so loud that visitors' ears ring for days. A classic haunted house, the attraction also has bragging rights to a very haunted corn maze and iconic hayride that takes passengers through a giant slaughterhouse. From floorboards that come alive to pictures that seem to follow you and levitating spirits, guests are treated to custom animatronics and jaw-dropping special effects.
  10. Nightmare on 13th (Salt Lake City) — Nightmare on 13th in Salt Lake is where real life and horror films collide this year, placing patrons front and center in their own horror movie. As part of its Haunted Hollywood feature, visitors are transported to amazingly life-like movie scenes from chilling favorites such as "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre." Non-movie fans can enjoy wading through the Swamp and trying to avoid the Voodoo Queen.

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