By EMMA REYNOLDS
Chainsaw-wielding psychopaths, creaking boards and rats scuttling through pools of blood - these are America's scariest houses.
Each crumbling old home will strike terror into the heart in its own spine-tingling way, whether it is haunted by a creepy clown, a headless horseman or a 25ft python.
Fear fans have become addicted to seeking out the biggest screams, spookiest special effects, eeriest history and most chilling attention to detail across the U.S.
Fear-factor: Wary visitors are ordered to 'face their fears' in the dungeons of The 13th Gate, in Baton Rouge, LA
Now a definitive list of the 13 most skin-crawling haunted houses lays out the most horrifying spots to visit if you want to experience true terror.
Topping the list by website hauntworld.com is the 13th Gate in LA, where visitors must crawl through a burning crematory oven and feel their way through a dim, snake-infested cave.
At Netherworld in Atlanta, defenceless tourists will encounter a wailing banshee, a crawling eye and a sunken city that rises towards the skies.
Monsters from the deep: The 40,000 square-foot house features a dragon's lair, bottomless pits, traps, a Swamp and a giant beehive
The brilliantly named Cutting Edge in Texas is built on the gruesome location of a meat-packing plant while Ohio invites foolhardy holidaymakers to The Dent Schoolhouse, which was shut down in the 1950s after a homicidal janitor who lived in the basement was caught.
Hell boy: Eerie sights abound at Nightmare on the Bayou - and visitors and employees will testify to its sickeningly real selections of horrors
Not for the chop: The unpleasantly named Cutting Edge, left, lies in a former meat-packing plant while at Michigan's interactive Erebus, right, things grab you, bite you and land on top of you
In Houston, you can check out Texas's oldest graveyard at Nightmare on the Bayou, where crazed actors, Hollywood quality props and lifelike animatronics combine to create one of weirdest and most frightening spots in the States.
So take a trip on a mind-bending hayride, dodge repulsive monsters and fend off vicious beasts as you tiptoe your way through this jitter-inducing maze.
Tread carefully.
Welcome, humans: At the Beast & Edge of Hell in Kansas City, guests are greeted by some genuine slippery customers including a 25ft python
Things that go bump in the night: At the end of the tour, visitors come back down to earth with a crash as they slide down from the fifth floor
No one can hear you scream: The Darkness in St Louis has been rated one of the best haunted houses in the world and features a morgue, zombies, killer clowns and 3D 'terror visions'
It's a scream: The popular Bates Motel Haunted Hayride in Philadelphia boasts a corn maze, an infamous hayride and a horrific haunted house
Hell boy: The motel at Arasapha Farm disturbs tourists using pyrotechnics, talented actors and horrible special effects
Heart-stopping adventure: The zombies of the Darkness, left, face stiff competition from the mysterious inhabitants of the 13th Floor at Denver's Asylum Haunted House
source: dailymail