Spook Scale: Cleveland Haunted Houses, Ranked

Scary is a spectrum. So we ranked five Northeast Ohio frights, from bring-the-kids tame to truly traumatizing, to help you tailor the chills to your comfort.

1.) Lake Metroparks Halloween Hayrides 

Scream with laughter on this narrated hayride, hay maze and glow stick dance show at Lake Metroparks Farmpark. 8800 Euclid Chardon Road, Kirtland, lakemetroparks.com

2.) Spooky Ranch 

Among the spot’s six options, keep the night tame by choosing the 3D zombie paintball hunt or the Bloodslingers Saloon black comedy over the gore-dripped Extreme Nightmares Haunted House. 19066 E. River Road, Columbia Station, spookyranch.com

3.) The Haunted Schoolhouse and Haunted Laboratory 

Attracting fear freaks for 45 years, this Akron landmark boasts the three-floor former Thomastown Elementary School with creepy librarian Ms. Alvah, plus a four-floor, virus-ridden lab. 1300 Triplett Blvd., Akron, hauntedschoolhouse.com

4.) Bloodview 

Ghouls, played by nonprofit volunteer improv group Legion of Terror, up the dread at this nightmare collection of wooded trails and haunted houses. 1010 Towpath Trail, Broadview Heights. bloodview.org 

5.) Escape from Blood Prison

For an extra fee, pick the “touch pass” at the Ohio State Reformatory, where haunted hallways and staircases full of hordes of escaped murderers and deranged clowns will grab you for the region’s most visceral fright. 100 Reformatory Road, Mansfield, bloodprison.com