FRIGHT NIGHTS: The scariest places in the Pikes Peak region

The fake blood is flowing. The strobes are flashing. The fog machines are coughing out clouds of creepiness.

It's time for the GO! Scream Team's annual tour of local haunted houses. As if the recent news from Wall Street weren't enough to get you feeling the dread, three local commercial houses have enlisted actors, special effects and assorted gadgetry to scare the bejesus out of you. How successful are their efforts?

To find out, GO! assembled a group of teenagers, 13 to 16, to tour the area's most frightful attractions. Unfortunately, our team was all male this year, so there was a major macho factor at first. They went into the first attraction mocking the actors and joking about the sets. But as the night wore on and the scares grew more intense, the group got quiet ... and, eventually, the teens were screaming as if they'd seen maniacal clowns wielding chain saws. Of course, they had seen maniacal clowns wielding chain saws.


MIND SEIZURE

BACK STORY: The oldest local haunted house, Mind Seizure used to be in a tent outside the Flea Market building, but a major snowstorm a couple of years ago damaged the tent and convinced organizers to move the house inside.

THE EXPERIENCE: Our Scream Team waxed poetic about when Mind Seizure was in more of a free-form tent. But visitors who attend during cold weather will appreciate the warmer environs of the indoor version. This year's Mind Seizure runs with a prison theme, with plenty of scary inmates reaching through bars, squirming inside straitjackets, screaming and beseeching you to let them out. As in previous years, Mind Seizure features some good acting, scary clowns and a noisy, jittery experience.

TEAM COMMENTS: "That was pretty scary." "Sick." "Not as good as two years ago, but still really, really scary." "The chain saw guy, he got close and he was freaking me out. He just ran out of nowhere!" "Aaaaaaa!"

SCARE METER: 6 out of 10

THE DETAILS: 1 mile east of Academy Boulevard, at 5225 E. Platte Ave.; open 7-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 7-10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, through Nov. 1; tickets $15; mindseizure.com.

EXTRA: Nightmare Machine, a tunnel that spins around you and makes you dizzy, is offered this year without extra charge.


HAUNTED MINES

BACK STORY: This sophomore effort at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry uses the haunted house as a fundraiser for the museum.

THE EXPERIENCE: Shockingly scary. Indoors, outdoors, crawling through dark, claustrophobic passageways, stomping through fake quicksand, this haunted house has it all. The theme, of course, involves the ghosts of dead miners. Several of the best scares from last year, including the creaky, plunging "hellevator," have been revived, and the acting complements the mechanics well.

TEAM COMMENTS: "Oh, man!" "Scary, definitely scary." "I thought the effects were definitely the highlight. The actors were pretty good. but the effects made it."

SCARE METER: 8 out of 10

THE DETAILS: Exit 156A on Interstate 25 north at Gleneagle, 225 North Gate Road; open 7 p.m.-midnight Fridays and Saturdays, 7-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, through Nov. 1; tickets $13; www.hauntedmines.org contains discount coupons and nifty video.


THE MIND'S LABYRINTH

BACK STORY: The same people who produce Mind Seizure also produce this smaller version at Mr. Biggs Family Fun Center.

THE EXPERIENCE: This isn't the scariest or the most elaborate local haunted house, but it does represent the best haunted house value. Located in the back of Mr. Biggs near the video games, Mind Labyrinth features some startling special effects, including a wall that looks solid but then has fingers stretching through it trying to reach you.

TEAM COMMENTS: "Not too scary but not too bad."

SCARE METER: 4 out of 10

THE DETAILS: 5825 Mark Dabling Blvd., just north of Rockrimmon Boulevard; open 6-11 p.m. today and Saturday, 4-8 p.m. Sunday, 6-10 p.m. Monday-Oct. 31.


OTHER ATTRACTIONS IN THE REGION


BUCKSKIN JOE'S TOWN OF TERROR

Buckskin Joe Frontier Town near the Royal Gorge west of Cañon City has, for the month, turned into a massive haunted attraction. It may be the scariest haunt in the state, in part because of the sheer space devoted to scares and because it's so isolated. For more details, call 1-719-275-5149 or visit www.buckskinjoe.com.


BESSEMER HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S HALLS OF HORROR

The old Colorado Fuel and Iron administrative building in Pueblo, 225 Canal St. at Abriendo Avenue, is freaky by itself, but add actors and spooky sets, and this haunt is another of the state's scary highlights.
For details, call 1-719-564-5533 or visit www.cfisteel.org.

"FRANKENSTEIN OF CRIPPLE CREEK"

The Thin Air Theatre Company has taken pieces and parts from Mary Shelley's classic horror tale and sewed it into a story that puts the monster and the folks he pals around with in Cripple Creek. It runs through Nov. 1 at the Butte at 139 E. Bennett Ave. For more details, call 1-719-235-8944 or www.butteoperahouse.com.