The scariest haunted houses in NYC

The premise for this haunted house is a terrifyingly simple one: "Nightmare Dollhouse" is a petrifying roadside attraction in the middle of nowhere that’s home to all of the world's scariest dolls (and we can think of plenty!).

"Nightmare Dollhouse" premieres at Teatro SEA at the Clemente at 107 Suffolk Street by Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan on October 13. The limited engagement will run through October 31, with an official opening date of October 18.

"At first it may seem like a serious museum, but beware, the demonic and bloodcurdling lurk around every corner," reads the chilling official description. "The dolls have come to life and want to make you one of them! Can you escape with your soul intact, or will you succumb to the evil in the Nightmare Dollhouse?"

Tickets are available for purchase right here. Bonus: Ticketholders get access to a full bar.

Prepare to scream in horror. Blood Manor is back through November 4, marking the haunted house's 20th season in the city. 

To celebrate two decades of terrifying New Yorkers, Blood Manor will present yet another theater-quality production. The space in Soho at 359 Broadway will include three new rooms, and brand-new costumes by designers from Abracadabra, Manhattan's iconic Halloween store. The multiroom immersive experience employs professional actors, set designers and makeup artists, and promises to leave visitors more afraid than ever in 2023. 

Blood Manor’s most infamous attractions will return for repeat visitors looking to relive their self-induced terrors, and the space will be revamped, and amplified to intensify the fear factor. Visitors will journey through dark, sinister corridors filled with twisted characters and jumpscares at every turn.

And be prepared: It's legitimately really scary. You'll wanter through 10,000 square feet of themed rooms, corridors, and a labyrinth of passageways designed to to maximize one's fears.

Times Square is a nightmare for so many of us already (cue the unkempt Elmos and the smelly, zombie-like crowds), but now it's even more terrifying.

"Horrorwood Studios" is now open in Times Square at 300 West 43rd Street for a spooky season of "heart-pounding" immersive experiences from artistic directors Will Munro and Katie McGeoch. (The duo has spent more than two decades as the heads of Six Flags’ Fright Fest.) 

Under the guise that you’re behind the scenes at the filming of an upcoming TerrorVision Halloween episode, you’ll live out your Samara dreams and step through a flickering TV screen into a horrible scene, filled with 140 actors across 20,000 square feet—what could be the largest haunted house in NYC.

Tickets cost $39 per person.

If you want your spooky celebrations to be more festive and less frightening, Halloween House is serving up a fear-free All Hallows Eve attraction at The Oculus this fall.

Kicking off on Friday, September 29, and running through Wednesday, November 1, Halloween House—which welcomed 100,000 visitors across its various locations last year—will take over the transportation and shopping hub at 185 Greenwich Street with an array of immersive, intricately designed themed rooms: a Glow in the Dark space, a mysterious Vampires' Lair, a Horror Movie Graveyard and an indoor pumpkin patch, among others. 

Unlike traditional haunted houses, the all-ages Halloween House "sets itself apart by delivering entertainment through meticulously detailed environments, devoid of actors, jump scares, and strobe lights," reads a press release. In terms of decorations, expect more ghouls and graveyards, not gross-out gore or ghastly characters.

You can get tickets at the Halloween House website; adult entry costs $40, while tickets for kids and under are set at $35. 

Ulster Park's Headless Horseman Haunted Hayrides and Haunted Houses is back for 2023 with plenty of terrifying attractions. There's the classic hayride, a hauting walking trail, a corn maze and several haunted houses. 

All give New Yorkers an opportunity to slowly pass the creepy crawly things in the darkness and maybe even see the headless horseman himself.

Walk three floors of a real house (including a basement) that's been transformed into a haunted nightmare, plus two pitch-black outdoor mazes with more than 20 live actors at A Haunting in Hollis. As goblins and ghouls and zombies try to get a piece of you, make your way through horrific mazes and into the experimental labs where zombies chase you and all things go wrong.