RIP
This is a list of haunted houses from years past. Of course, nearly every haunted houses that opened before 1996 is closed now, so this is a list of personal favorites that have closed.
Tayman Graveyard, built on the same grounds that Tayman Manor occupied, has closed. 2021 was it’s final season. It had a good, long run, from 2005-2021. Tayman Graveyard had a great location and multiple attractions. I fondly remember the creepy walk from the old parking lot to the haunt, and the great decor inside the park.
Dallas Scaregrounds A great haunted house that started out as Dr Blood’s and developed into a haunted festival, in the Dallas Design District. It was very popular, but fell victim to the redevelopment of the Design District. This was one of the first extra large haunted houses in DFW.
Fatal End/Dollhouse Another popular haunted house that was ended by redevelopment in the downtown Dallas area. Fatal End opened in the late 2000’s. It had a great location in the West End, and had great props. Necroplex merged with Fatal End in 2011 and the name changed to The Dollhouse.
Dallas Slaughterhouse This haunt started in the West End in Dallas in the mid 2000’s and eventually moved to Deep Ellum, before merging with J&F in Garland in 2016.
Dungeon of Doom The original DoD, in the basement of the Arlington Museum of Art, was formed as a way to raise money for the museum. It probably had the best decor of any haunted house I’ve been to, with the possible exception of Verdun Manor. Kay, and her husband Milton, ran the place. With so many multi haunt attractions opening in the 2000’s, Kay felt that DoD could no longer compete and closed down after the 2007 season. Many of the props went to the new Dungeon of Doom in the Reindeer Manor/13 Street Morgue complex.
Necroplex started in Italy, south of Waxahachie, in 2008, and merged with Fatal End in 2011. Necroplex had great Old West style Gothic props and decor.
Tayman Manor One of the most intense haunted houses of the 90’s and early 2000’s was Tayman Manor in Midlothian. Actors made some contact, the place looked great, and had a creepy setting. Tayman Manor was destroyed in a fire, along with most of Addamsville, but Tayman Graveyard lives on to this day.
Addamsville was a haunt park, next to Tayman Manor. It was only open for 2002 and 2003, but it was fun while it lasted. Addamsville had a coupon system, similar to the State Fair. It had a trail, a clown house, a mortuary, a haunted museum, and a standard haunted house. Concessions and a gift shop were at one end of the park. Stilt walkers roamed through the night. It had a great festival atmosphere. Sadly, most of Addamsville was destroyed in the fire that took out Tayman Manor. The mortuary and concessions stand are still around at Tayman Graveyard.
Dr Haunt’s Chamber of Fear Located in Gainesville, Dr Haunts was a throwback to ’80’s side of the road haunted houses. The quality varied year to year, but a unique layout and enthusiastic college volunteers made the trip worthwhile through the 2000’s.
Terrorplex was a small haunt park located in the outskirts of the Mansfield area, south of Arlington. It had four to five small haunted houses at a time. Mead Manor was the best of the haunts.
Lafitte’s Landing was a pirate themed haunted house that opened in the mid 2000’s, and reopened for one more year in Allen.
Phantom’s Haunted House This was the haunt that would not die. Originally located in Lewisville, on the west side of the 1-35 access road, Phantoms had to move to Frisco after it’s property was bought by a car dealership. After one season in Frisco (I think that was 2003) Phantoms moved to the State Fair for three seasons, before moving back to Frisco, or Plano, at an Old West attraction in 2010. Phantom’s final location was in Allen, off of 75, where the outdoor mall is today. The Lewisville location had the best haunted house, but the Allen location had the best hayride I’ve been on. It wound through a densely forested area, with tree branches close enough to touch at times.
Faustas Sanitarium was located in Cleburne in the Wright Plaza building, which shows up on lots of paranormal sites as a haunted location. Faustas was upstairs, and was fairly small, but was extremely well decorated due to being designed by Lance Pope’s company, Wolf Productions. Wright Plaza was closed at night, aside from Faustas, and in those days downtown Cleburne was deserted at night, so the entire area had an eerie feel to it. Faustas was open in the 90’s and closed down around 2003.
Haunt House Located in Caddo Mills, off of the I-30 access road, Haunt House was a small, but creative place. This was the first haunt in the area to use shock pads on walls.
Ripley’s Haunted House Ripley’s in Grand Prairie had a very good haunted house in the wax figure section of it’s building in the 2000’s. I went for the first time in 2004, and it closed a few years later. The wax figures of horror movie monsters and liberal use of fog machines were the best parts of the haunt.
Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus This still exists in Utah, but the DFW version was around for three seasons, beginning in 2013. The circus was a collection of 18 wheeler trailers, each with it’s own scene and actors, plus some props and actors between the trailers. It moved each year, from two locations in Irving, to Grand Prairie, before closing shop in Texas. It was a unique approach to haunting, but was probably too expensive for the market.
Other notable closed haunted attractions:
Ripley’s Haunted Adventure
Nightmare on Grayson
Nightmare Grounds
Dragons House of Horror
Fearaphobia
Halls of Horror
Screamworld
Nightmare on the Bayou
Southlake Carroll haunted house
Dan’s Haunted House
The Boneyard Haunted House
Dr Fright’s in Arlington
3Haunts
Haunted Hollow at the Hill
Fear Factory in the Colony
Nightmare on Forest Lane
Count Dracula’s in McKinney
Zombie Manor
Dark Path Haunt
Jefferson Fright Train
Rotting Flesh Factory
Psycho Asylum
Tree Farm Massacre
The Sanctuary Haunted House
Evil Visions Haunted House
Terror Trail (Canutillo)
Nightmare Grounds
