This post is part of a series to compare the best haunted houses in the Seattle area. Be on the lookout for others in the coming days. Share your opinions in the comments, if you'd like! This post comes from our dispatched haunt reporter Lacey Swain of the Coconut Coolouts and Charming Snakes.

Kitsap County is the place to be for authentic Halloween scares, and the Scrapyard Massacre is the perfect place to begin a haunted evening. After a ten or so mile drive from the ferry terminal in Bremerton you arrive at a real live auto wrecking yard in Belfair, WA that becomes a thrilling, mostly outdoors maze of frights.

This year's storyline involves some sort of zombie apocalypse quarantine situation where food is scarce so folks have resorted to eating dogs. It's a Libertarian paradise with Don't-Tread-On-Me types lurking around every turn, screaming about taxes, and urging you to save yourself. Scrapyard Massacre's best resource is its inherently creepy setting: smashed cars, oil barrels and other detritus line the maze that leads you through several different areas, both inside and out, and even the drive out there can creep you out if you're traveling with the right bunch of ghouls.

• Lacey Swain

Our group waited outside in line in what was one of the first actual semi-heavy rains of the season for a little over an hour before we were let into the Massacre, and although we were soaked to the bone, the queue was good for awkward teenage date watching, complete with requisite creepy and costumed employees weaving through the line to scare unsuspecting patrons. Scrapyard Massacre is geared towards an older crowd, and it seems like they've put all the tween and under set to work within the haunt itself as Children of the Corn creepers because, honestly, children really are fucking terrifying, especially in the pouring rain in the middle of nowhere.

• Lacey Swain

Last year one my cohorts pissed her pants twice at this thing, and this year we all got soaked, so, uh, bring some extra pants, too.

Scrap Yard Massacre 25603 N.E. SR3 Belfair, WA 98528
$15/$13 w/ can of food / 7:30-midnight
www.scrapyardmassacre.com

This post is part of a series comparing the best haunted houses in the Seattle area. Be on the lookout for others in the coming days. Share your opinions in the comments, if you'd like!

The long jaunt up to Snohomish, WA was our first haunt visit this year. With light traffic it only took 40 minutes from Seattle, which seemed fairly reasonable. One of the best things about haunts in Snohomish is that you're close to the middle of nowhere, so getting lost in a field of corn is a nice change from the bustle of city life. Stalker Farms is almost like an amusement park when it comes to a haunted farm—four different attractions plus a fantastic selection of food and drinks. The kettle corn was perfectly filling after two hours of fear and excitement. The apple cider, made by Seattle Street Donuts, was warm and comforting, as were the wonderfully sweet and spicy cardamom donuts.

• NO PETS!

Although there was a steady stream of drizzle the whole night, our extra clothes were sufficient for comfort—I suggest wearing boots or heavy shoes and a few layers. Though the lines never seemed overwhelmingly long, standing in the dark crisp night can make a person rather cold. Wear some gloves! Bring an umbrella! And although it goes against my middle class upbringing, you might want to spring for the VIP ticket on Fridays and Saturdays to bypass the lines, if the weather is bad, it's worth it.

• Field of Scream entrance.

Our first excursion took us to the Field of Screams, which seems like the main attraction at Stalker Farms. I suggest a group of four people or less to get the full benefit of each scare—I visited Stalker Farms two years ago with a large group and was in the back, I didn't get scared once! Though Stalker Farms' website notes that you're supposed to take the haunted path at your own pace, you should be conscientious of those behind you.There's a chance that you may get too close to the group in front of you, if that's the case, pause and let them get ahead. Field of Screams has a dizzying array of trails and shacks to weave in and out of—it's wonderfully eerie, with quiet stretches of just corn and fog. The scares come when you least expect them, not when they would seem typical. One room was decorated in fake meat and another in actual garbage. The actors and costumes are totally professional and spooky, you will yell and scream!

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