Halloween haunted houses have become so much more than those old church functions where the extent of a special effect amounted to sticking your hand in a ""bowl of eyeballs" (with grapes for eye balls) or "a bowl of worms" (using spaghetti for the worms) or simple yet fun backyard haunts that we knew as kids.

Many of the Halloween haunted houses are run by dedicated hard core Halloween enthusiasts and competent business people. Some are Hollywood set designers or highly imaginative independent haunt designers with budgets to match. Some Halloween haunted houses that I don't mention here are frankly tired and the effects are just bad. Those I do review have a high degree of artistic creativity and energy.