SALT LAKE CITY — More than those that are undead believe a Salt Lake City haunted house is one of best in America.
The Haunted Attraction Association released its "Top Haunts" list on Tuesday and a local favorite, Fear Factory, made the cut.
Located in an abandoned cement factory just southwest of downtown, Fear Factory has been scaring up a good time during Halloween since 2011.
Made up over over 100 haunted houses across the world, the Haunted Attraction Association helps promote the houses, but aims to make the industry safer for those who visit them during the season. To be considered for the "Top Haunts" list, haunted attractions must be over 10 years old, have over 10,000 visitors each year and meet specific safety criteria.
Fear Factory made the list in 2021 and doubled up the honor this year.
"Anytime that there's a list, and we certainly have some really great haunted houses here in Salt Lake City and in Utah in general, but for us to be the only one on the list, we're really proud of that," said Spencer Terry, general manager of Fear Factory.
While over 120 actors help scare up the attraction during its fall run each year, Fear Factory employs a full-time staff that is already preparing for the 2023 season.
"We have folks that are high school students, we have folks that are adults that are rabbis, that are principals, that are teachers, that are nutritionists; like, it's really fun to get to see the diversity and how we all come together to be able to do something really fun for our community," added Terry.
At nearly 90,000 square feet, Fear Factory is one of the largest haunted houses on the list, but it's not scares from start to finish. Visitors should expect to laugh as much as scream when talking a walk through the attraction.
"So haunted houses in general should know that if you constantly have this really high level of scare threshold, it's not going to be fun," explained Terry. "You've got to be, it's like a roller coaster, you're going to have times where you're like, 'Wow, I can't believe I just survived that.' And there's going to be other funny times, and there's gonna be another scary moment.
"And that's kind of this is how that haunted house should flow."
Fear Factory is scheduled to open Friday, Sept. 9.
FULL "TOP HAUNTS" LIST
- Akron Haunted Schoolhouse & Laboratory (Akron, OH)
- Creepy Hollow Haunted House (Rosharon, TX)
- Dark Hour Haunted House (Plano, TX)
- Factory Of Terror (Canton, OH)
- Fear Factory (Salt Lake City, UT)
- Fear Fair (Seymour, IN)
- Fear Farm (Glendale, AZ)
- Field of Screams (Mountville, PA)
- Field of Screams (Victor, MT)
- Fright Nights (West Palm Beach, FL)
- Fright Nights (Daniels, WV)
- Frightland (Middletown, DE)
- Frightmare Farms Haunted Scream Park (Palermo, NY)
- Ghostly Manor (Sandusky, OH)
- Halloween Nights at Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia, PA)
- Haunted Hollow (Rockwood, AZ)
- Haunted Hotel (Louisville, KY)
- Haunted Hunt Club Farm (Virginia Beach, VA)
- Headless Horseman (Ulster Park, NY)
- Hobb's Grove (Sanger, CA)
- House of Torment (Austin, TX)
- Hundred Acres Manor (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Hysterium Haunted Asylum (Fort Wayne, IN)
- Legends of Fear (Shelton, CT)
- Los Angeles Haunted Hayride (Los Angeles, CA)
- Nashville Nightmare (Nashville, TN)
- New Orleans Nightmare (New Orleans, LA)
- Niles Scream Park (Niles, MI)
- Pennhurst (Spring City, PA)
- Reapers Revenge (Scranton, PA)
- Scarehouse (Pittsburgh, PA)
- Shocktoberfest (Sinking Spring, PA)
- Sinister Tombs Haunted House (Eastview, KY)
- Spook Hollow (Marquette Heights, IL)
- Spooky Ranch (Columbia Station, OH)
- Stillwell Manor (Anderson, IN)
- Terror in the Corn (Erie, CO)
- Terror on the Fox (Appleton, WI)
- The Dent Schoolhouse (Cincinnati, OH)
- The Devil's Attic (Louisville, KY)
- The Haunted Farm Hendersonville, NC
- The Haunted Hydro (Fremont, OH)
- 13th Floor Haunted House (Chicago, IL)
- 13th Floor Haunted House (Denver, CO)
- 13th Floor Haunted House (Phoenix, AZ)
- 13th Floor Haunted House (San Antonio, TX)
- USS Nightmare (Newport, KY)
- Wiard's Orchards' Night Terrors (Ypsilanti, MI)
- Woods of Terror (Greensboro, NC)