As a kid, I was always drawn to things that were a little dark and strange. And I hated being left out. Maybe that’s why at the brave age of just 7, I insisted on attending the annual family trip to Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, about a four-hour drive from my Miami home.

That first visit launched a lifelong love of haunted houses, a natural coupling with my horror novel and movie obsession. With maybe a couple of exceptions, I went back every year through high school, switching to Howl-O-Scream in Williamsburg, Virginia, for my college years. If I’m being conservative, I’d estimate I’ve been inside at least 150 haunted houses.

So naturally, moving to Baltimore meant I had to find new haunts to scratch a well-known itch. This spooky season I set out to track down my future favorites. Keeping it within 90 minutes of downtown Baltimore, here are five haunts sure to make you scream, in my personal bottom-to-top ranking.

No. 5: Hera’s Nightmare Haunted Attraction

400 N. Center St., Westminster

Tucked inside the TownMall of Westminster, Hera’s Nightmare is one of the area’s newest eerie options. There are three different haunted houses you can walk through, each with clear storylines. That was helpful because you head from one house directly into the line for the next, spending the breaks in between under the mall’s harsh artificial lighting. That ambiance makes it difficult to keep yourself in the right mindset for jump scares. But considering the attraction’s setting, the quality of the props and integrated sound was impressive.

With no wait, the three attractions took about 30 minutes to get through. I would say this is a good option for families looking to add another thing to do during a day out at the mall — maybe couple it with a scary movie at the R/C theater — or for teens looking to flex their independence muscles while staying somewhere their parents are familiar with. Even if it wasn’t the scariest experience, there was a stretch of the aptly named Reign of Darkness house that was so pitch black my group and I turned and went back to the entrance of the house to make sure we were going the right way.

Another plus: This attraction had the best merch store I’ve seen all season.

Last day to go: Nov. 2

Base ticket prices: $32

No. 4: Laurel’s House of Horror

935 Fairlawn Ave., Laurel

Since Laurel’s House of Horror is inside an old cinema complex, which the attraction’s website claims may be actually haunted, it’s fitting that my roughly 22-minute walk started with a short film. Standing in a dark room, focused on a screen, an impending sense of doom set in: Were the jump scares going to start right here? That feeling continued once I ventured further into the house, having to use my hands to move obstacles and navigate tight corners, leaving me vulnerable.

While some of the sets definitely veered on cheesy, there were also some favorites, including a particular hanging prop in an open movie theater scene. If you’re the friend that drags the group to haunted houses, this is a good option for vibes that won’t leave your less-than-enthusiastic pals feeling betrayed by the scare factor.

On a strange note, I often hate the smell of haunted houses, but this one smelled like someone raided the cinnamon and pumpkin candle sections of a Bath & Body Works. That may rub horror purists the wrong way, but I kind of liked it.

Last day to go: Nov. 2

Base ticket prices: $34.95-$39.95

No. 3: Markoff’s Haunted Forest

19120 Martinsburg Road, Dickerson

One of the more expensive options on this list, Markoff’s in Montgomery County offers the most for a night out. There are two haunted walk-through attractions, The Town and The Haunted Trail, each a little over 30-minute experiences.

On a Saturday night, I waited 30 minutes for The Town and was able to enter The Haunted Trail about an hour after my ticketed time, but I spent the interim at the free Midway, which has food, drinks, bonfires, s’mores and a zipline. There’s a DJ that announced trail call times in between songs, adding to the feel that Markoff’s is more about Halloween-themed fun than making you sweat. If you want to get a big group together and your favorite part of haunted houses is examining the sets, I recommend the drive here.

If you are looking for a more intimate haunt, a new Markoff’s addition is See No Evil, a maze you navigate blindfolded for an additional $12. My partner had a blast and actually got scared, a rarity for him. I stayed behind after hearing an employee tell someone to “Keep your hands to yourself at all times. Because we won’t.” No, thank you. This adrenaline junkie has limits.

Last day to go: Nov. 2

Base combo ticket prices: Starting at $65

No. 2: Field of Screams Pennsylvania

191 College Ave., Mountville

It can be hard to really surprise someone who has spent so much time in haunted houses, but I was refreshed by the originality of Field of Screams in Pennsylvania. I picked it over options in Maryland because the reviews were generally better. I’m glad I did.

There are four attractions, including a 25-minute hayride that traveled through at least 10 unique scenes, during which walls would close the wagon into tight spaces as scare actors jumped into the vehicle and props dropped from ceilings, giving a good mix of theatrical and truly terrifying.

The two indoor haunts seemed to be inside actual houses. The stairs and tight spaces created a claustrophobic atmosphere that was hard to shake and mostly made up for what sometimes felt like an absence of scare actors; at one point, we had to crawl through a dark attic, a feat I’m still giving myself props for going through with.

A fair warning: The scare actors will touch you. I had my ankle grabbed and was tapped by chainsaws (don’t worry, no blade). People whispered in my ear. This one got my heart pounding more than once.

Last day to go: Nov. 9 or the “extreme blackout” version Nov. 15

Base combo ticket prices: $40-$60

No. 1: Legends of the Fog

500 Carsins Run Road, Aberdeen

As I pushed myself through five nights of haunted houses for this article, I was seeking one particular feeling: the kind of fear that settles in your bones and ramps up into panic, leading you to search desperately for an escape.

I finally got that at Legends of the Fog during Cornstalkers, its haunted corn maze. You could choose your path at a few forks, but scare actors would whisper and growl suggestions in an attempt to separate groups. It worked: a young couple near us got separated, leading the girlfriend to ask if she could hold onto me for support instead, even though we’d just met. Throughout, we could hear earlier groups screaming into the night — but we never actually ran into them in the dark.

Each attraction’s use of props — I’m still thinking about one huge animatronic creature I saw on the hay ride — dialogue and gore was top-tier. I was a particularly big fan of the Farewell Hotel, which included a bellhop and the elevator ride from hell. I found the scare actors easily identified customers who were most afraid, stalking people down hallways, getting up close and personal and always drawing screams. I might play up my own fear in the future to get more intense frights.

Last day to go: Oct. 27 or Nov. 2 for a blackout night

Base combo ticket prices: $40-$45

Honorable mentions

Last year, I attended what felt like the most Baltimore spooky offering, the Nevermore Haunt. The house was themed well and definitely aimed to please smaller groups, keeping us on edge and even offering us daunting choices as we went through.

And one of the first things I did after moving to Baltimore in 2022 was head to 301 Devil’s Playground, where each attraction fed into the next. The pace added to the sense of foreboding already crafted by the remote Eastern Shore location.