Which Halloween scare tactic will spook you the most this year?

As Halloween quickly approaches, this year’s Halloween scare trends seem to prey on people’s innate fears. Can you handle the scare?

Halloween is big business. While haunted houses are always popular, Halloween scare trends change year after year. The haunted experiences look to offer new ghoulish ways to prey on people’s fears. As technology influences haunted houses, the screams aren’t the only impression left on visitors.

Each year haunted houses look to increase the fear factor. While some theme parks, like Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, balance intellectual property houses (like Stranger Things) and original content houses (like Scary Tales), stand alone haunted experiences look to annual trends to entice guests.

According to America Haunts, the top three scare trends for 2018 are dragons, killer bees and other creepy creatures and graveyards.

While not the typical well-known scary characters from films and pop culture, these themes are often frights that last for a lifetime. Looking at these three trends, the themes can incorporate technology into the frightening experiences.

When it comes to dragons, haunted houses can utilize these mythical and magical creatures in many ways to amp up the fear factor. While animatronics have long been used in haunted houses, the technology advancements make creatures more realistic. Although these creatures can’t singe guests with fire, the fire-breathing creatures can make guests feel as if they have been attacked by the dark, spelling binding creature.

The increase of dragons’ popularity could also stem from HBO’s hit show Game of Thrones. While this specific theme can’t be used, more people are now interested in the mythical dragon realm. Maybe if a guests conquerors the dangerous dragons, she will be feel more empowered to tackle other fears.

For many people, creepy, crawly insects are also quite scary. Personally, I can’t stand the sight of a spider, cockroach or other bug. Just the appearance of a spider web could make me shudder. The time of year doesn’t change that fear.

(Photo by Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Looking at some haunted experiences, the events use 4D technology to make that interaction more intense. Instead of just looking at a stagnant scene, creators use sights, sounds and even smells to make the experience more interactive. Whether it is the spiders blocking your path or bees swarming, these 4D experiences almost appear real. While people may not overcome that phobia inside a haunted house, the guest has to face their fear to continue on the path. The fear cannot be avoided.

For many, the idea of walking through a graveyard is an experience that is completely bone-chilling. A graveyard is the physical representation of death. In most cases, people run from death. It is the premise of many scary movies. Forcing a person to weave through gravestones in an ominous setting can have them wishing for the alternative exit.

The graveyard setting is another scare trend. Some people feel a sense of uneasiness in the graveyard. From the unknown lurking in the shadows to the connection to the other world, the graveyard can be the personification of the ultimate fear, death.

For the haunted experiences that tackle the graveyard scene, they can use a variety of smells and lightning to create the ultimate nightmare. Hopefully, no one is entombed in a virtual coffin. While these Halloween experiences are meant to create the intense fear, there is always a way out.

Since Halloween is such big business, the haunted experiences will continue to grow and become more intense. Audiences are becoming savvier. They can predict the outcome, see the pattern or avoid the interaction. Each year the creators have to find new ways to elicit the screams.

What Halloween scare trends are you seeing this year? Do you know of haunted experiences that are even too intense for the Halloween fan?