Today we’d like to introduce you to John Eslich.

Hi John, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I’ve always had a passion for creating experiences that bring people together. My background in construction and business management gave me the foundation to build and operate large-scale attractions. In 2000, I purchased the Factory of Terror, which at the time was just one haunted house. Over the years, I expanded it into one of the largest indoor haunted attractions in the country, later revitalizing the Haunted Schoolhouse & Laboratory in Akron and branching into other seasonal ventures like the Ohio Christmas Factory and the All American Axe Throwing & Battle Bar.

In 2015, I had the honor of serving as President of the Haunted Attraction Association, which gave me the opportunity to represent and advocate for haunts across the country. A lot of people don’t realize just how big our industry really is — it’s a multi-billion-dollar business that reaches millions of guests every year. For me, it’s been a journey of hard work, creativity, and teamwork, and I’m proud to see our attractions not only thrive but also become part of the community.

Factory of Terror owner, John Eslich, recently appeared on the Fox 8 morning show, “New Day Cleveland.”  Watch John discuss everything FOT and also join the host to try some of our signature cocktails.

Life is short. We all know the phrase, but how often do we live by it? As people spend hours scrolling screens, numbed by endless AI prompts and algorithm-driven feeds, many realize they’re drifting into a zombie-like autopilot. That’s why bucket lists matter — the intentional quests to embrace the best of life before we “kick the bucket.” For thrillseekers, that pursuit isn’t about beaches and sunsets. It’s about chills, adrenaline, and the electrifying memories created in America’s most legendary haunted attractions.

 

America Haunts, the national association of premier haunted attractions, has crowned five of the nation’s ultimate “bucket list” haunts. These destinations go beyond Halloween thrills. They are cultural rites of passage — sprawling playgrounds of fear, artistry, and theatricality that test courage and transform ordinary nights into extraordinary stories.

 

The Top 5 Bucket List Haunts of 2025 are:

 

• Thrillvania Haunted House Park, Dallas-area, TX
• Niles Scream Park, Niles, MI
• Talon Falls Scream Park, Melber, KY
• Factory of Terror, Canton, OH
• The Dead End Hayride, Minneapolis-area, MN

 

What unites them isn’t just their scale or intensity. Each shares a bone-chilling common thread: graveyards. Cemeteries built into these haunts heighten the tension, reminding us that everyone ends up underground eventually — but until then, the bravest embrace the chance to laugh, scream, and live it up. Experiencing these bucket list haunts isn’t just fun; it’s a symbolic rite of bragging-rights passage before the final grave marker is carved.

CANTON − Smoke machines and blood-splattered walls. Hazmat-covered bodies hanging upside down. Wicked clowns. And snakes.

Those are among the new scares awaiting visitors to the Factory of Terror this Halloween season. New areas include a caretaker’s cottage, clown theme, and a room filled with faux candles where a prop of a kneeling girl peers down eerily. A ramp takes you into the extraction room, an industrial area with loud, menacing noises where bodies dangle from the ceiling.

The Haunted Attraction Association (HAA) has certified 67 haunted attractions nationwide as 2025 Top Haunts. This year marks the expansion of the program with the introduction of Gold and Silver tiers, recognizing excellence across all levels of the industry.

The 2025 honorees include:

– 53 Iconic (Platinum) Haunts – operating 10+ years and welcoming 10,000+ annual guests

– 7 Gold Haunts – operating 5+ years with 5,000+ annual guests

– 7 Silver Haunts – operating 2+ years with 3,000+ annual guests

“Being named a Top Haunt is one of the highest honors in our industry,” said Jim Werner, President of the Haunted Attraction Association. “The new Gold and Silver categories allow us to recognize more attractions that are doing incredible work while upholding our shared values.”

“The Top Haunts program has always represented the best of the best,” added Brett Molitor, HAA Top Haunts Director. “This year’s 67 certified attractions showcase the strength and creativity of the haunted attraction industry across all sizes and markets.”

Thrillseekers are packing their bags and hitting the road for a new kind of adventure: Scream Tourism. This fear-entertainment trend has haunted attraction enthusiasts booking fright flights or taking a road trip going far and wide to experience America’s best scares. America Haunts, the premiere haunted attraction association focused on the best attractions from coast to coast, identified the nation’s top haunted attractions for drawing in visitors willing to go the extra mile—literally—to get their fright fix.  Topping the list in 2024 is the FACTORY OF TERROR!

Every October, thrill seekers travel the country looking to visit the scariest haunted attractions in America. Hauntworld.com is the World’s biggest directory of haunted attractions with over 4,000 haunt listings. Hauntworld has been publishing its TOP 13 SCARIEST HAUNTED HOUSES list for nearly two decades. Today many websites publish haunted house best-of lists, for clickbait, despite never attending or researching any of the attractions on their list. Hauntworld is the leader in creating content for the haunted attraction industry, publishing the industry’s only magazine, Hauntworld Magazine, and how-to videos with educational content for attraction owners. Hauntworld knows the haunted attractions and which haunts will make you SCREAM!

Haunted Attractions have drastically changed over the last 5 years, adding escape rooms, outdoor scream zones, horror arcades, scary photo ops, haunted midways, axe throwing, pumpkin festivals, hayrides, and more. So, which haunted houses give thrill seekers the most SCREAM for their money? This year’s list includes the best of the best from theme park attractions to your locally owned & operated haunted attraction. Most theme park Halloween events aren’t very scary, but there are a few that take fear to another level. A newer phenomenon is traveling scream seekers, and they use Hauntworld.com to plan their annual road trips across America, visiting the scariest haunts in the country.

So carve your Halloween pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns, decorate your yards with skeletons & ghosts, and pack your bags, because Hauntworld is taking you on the scariest road trip across Haunted America!

Hauntworld now presents the scariest and best places to celebrate the season of Halloween.  The only list that matters to find the top 13 scariest, best, biggest, and best places to SCREAM this Halloween 2024.

Feel a chill down your spine?  Fright nights are back, as many haunted houses across the state are opening today ― Friday the 13th. The Factory of Terror in Canton ― rated as one of the best haunted houses in the U.S. by the Haunted Attraction Association, America Haunts and ScareFactor.com ― will be open for another season of screams.

The Haunted Attraction Association released a list of top haunted houses around the country, which included several options from Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.  Topping the list was the Factory of Terror.

Cleveland Scene Magazine
July 15, 2015

The Canton Factory of Terror spooks locals and tourists with its 55,000-square-foot haunted house, snagging the world record in 2014. During Halloween season, patrons have to walk nearly a mile to get through the terror. Video footage of the walkthrough shows grown men crying and dozens of Northeast Ohioans cowering on the floor.

Mansfield News-Journal
October 26, 2014

For some, Halloween means dressing up in creepy costumes and filling treat bags until they are overflowing with candy.

But for others, the real fun starts when they are getting scared out of their minds by the many haunts and horrors waiting for them at Ohio’s haunted attractions.

So which haunted houses have the best scares that are sure to make visitors scream? Visitors to the 10 Media Network of Central Ohio websites were asked to vote for their favorite haunted houses, and here’s what they said:

Kdramastars.com
October 20, 2014

People may consider haunted house attractions as bigger and more improved versions of classic theme park horror houses. However, with Halloween becoming an $11 billion dollar industry, as reported by Huffington Post, the competition between thrill-and-adventure-entertainment venues has grown tighter.

The results paid off remarkably, as proven by these four top haunted house attractions in the US presented in random order. Overall, each one offers a distinct in-your-face horror experience to customers who dare get past the entrance.

The Dallas Morning News
October 16, 2014

Cutting Edge Haunted House in Fort Worth was surpassed as the “World’s Longest Walk Through Haunted House” by the Factory of Terror in Ohio. Still, it takes the average visitor 55 minutes to make it through the monstrous meat packing plant. That’s a long time to be terrified.

NewsNet5.com
September 30, 2014

CANTON, Ohio – A haunted house in Northeast Ohio is the a member of the Guinness Book of World Records, according to its site.

The Factory of Terror in Canton is again “Longest Walk-Through Horror House” in the world, its site stated on Tuesday.

Once an aluminum foundry, the haunted house located at 4125 Mahoning Rd. NE measures in at 3,796 feet.