According to the National Retail Federation, 18% of American consumers plan to spend time at a haunted house this Halloween season. Although there are no haunted houses in Springdale, houses in the surrounding area, like The Asylum, located in Cave Springs, and Nightmares, located in Bentonville, are popular among students. Junior Jaden Cash has been to both of these haunted houses in past years, but this year she decided to go to Nightmares.

“It’s usually pretty scary out of the ones in Northwest Arkansas,” Cash said. “I very highly recommend it.”

Despite her adamant praise of Nightmares, Cash did admit that the house had some shortcomings. 

“You had to wait in a long line and then you had to wait in numerous lines as you went through the haunted house, which kind of made it boring and longer than it needed to be,” Cash said.

Sophomore Mason Flynt also went to Nightmares this year. According to Flynt, the best part of the haunted house is the bus that visitors ride on to get to the actual house.

“I like the bus,” Flynt said, “It’s unique compared to other haunted houses.”

Another student, junior Sophie Simmons, went to both Asylum and Nightmares. She disagrees with Flynt and Cash, and says that Nightmares is overrated. 

“It was just not as exciting as everyone made it out to be,” Simmons said. “It was more fun than scary, and I wanted it to be scary.”

According to Simmons, Asylum was a much more enjoyable experience.

“It had more entertainment,” Simmons said. “The other one was kind of for kids, and I did not enjoy it.”

Junior Carlee Ann Gladden hasn’t been to Nightmares in years, but her experience at the Asylum was not only scary, but also fun.

“Whenever they chased us with the chainsaw, it was really fun,” Gladden said. “The people are really good actors.”

Just like Nightmares, the long wait at Asylum made the house less entertaining for Gladden.

“I did not like the line that I had to stand in for two hours,” Gladden said. “There were just a lot of people; it felt very crowded, and I wanted to go in the haunted house.”

The Asylum was voted the #4 must-see haunts in Arkansas in 2019 and will be opened on October 29th and 30th from 7-12 PM.  Nightmares Haunted House, which donates all its proceeds to the Bentonville Breakfast Lions Club, will open on the 29th, 30th, and 31st from dusk to 11PM. 

“I would definitely recommend going to a haunted house, “ Gladden said. “They’re so much fun.”