The spookiest time of the year is approaching and El Pasoans have taken notice. The houses have been decorated with creepy decor, stores have filled their aisles with all sorts of costumes, and the ways of scaring the life out of you are many.

One of the most famous entertainment options during Halloween are the haunted houses filled with terrifying scenarios.

“Haunted houses are one of the most exciting things that Halloween has to offer,” said Antonio Castañeda, senior multimedia journalism major. “When you go to one of them, you have all of your senses aware of what is going on around you because you never know what is going to happen next.”

The Texas Terror Trail Haunted House and their Zombie Adventure are celebrating their sixth and fourth year. It is now considered the number one haunted house in the El Paso/Las Cruces area.

Located at 401 Anthony Rd. in Canutillo, Texas, the Texas Terror Trail features more than 19 rooms full of creepy stages ready to scare visitors.

“We have got a lot of actors,” said Robert Crossland ,organizer of the Texas Terror Trail Haunted House. “We are probably one of the largest actor-haunted houses in the area. We have a lot of monsters and things on the trail.”

The public has the option to either tour the haunted house or walk the Zombie Adven-ture trail.

This adventure consists of a zombie chase, where visitors are provided with a paintball gun so they can shoot the hungry zombie actors around the field.

The Terror Trail Haunted House takes about a year to be planned and ready to scare people during the month of October, with two acres full of constant fear.

“We start planning the building usually about December,” Crossland said.

Although this haunted house does not go through many changes in scenario, this year the Texas Terror Trail Haunted House will contain a variety of new features.

“We have got an electrocution room, we changed the location of our fog room, we also put some new electronics inside the house as well,” Crossland said.

The Texas Terror Trail Haunted House also supports the Boy Scouts with donations from the proceeds, making this haunted house not only spooky, but also philanthropic.

As something that originally started as a paintball field, which had their lowest atten-dance during the months of September and October, the Texas Terror Trail Haunted House organizers decided to create something different and original that could give El Pasoans a terrific time during the Halloween season.

Today, this haunted house has become the best in the area and is planning to become even spookier.

“Halloween is one of my favorite holidays,” Castañeda said. “All of the costumes, the makeup that they put on, it is just a lot of work, but at the end of the day, it is worth it because we get a great time out of them.”

Prices for the Terror Trail Haunted House are $15 per person and $18 for the Zombie Adventure. Customers also have the option to buy a combo that includes both attractions at $28 per person.

For more information about the Texas Terror Trail Haunted House, visit their website at http://www.texasterrortrail.com or their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/terrortrailhauntedhouse

Fernanda Leon may be reached at [email protected].