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But that's not all, HauntWorld Magazine and Fangoria Magazine placed them at number eight in the country.

Cindy Johns, who is Vice President of the haunted houses says the recognition has been a major accomplishment. "It makes me feel very proud," Johns says. "We've worked really hard for that honor. I think I'm going to work even harder to hit that number one."

Achieving the national recognition is something that has taken decades of work, which started in 1974 when the Haunted Schoolhouse first started screaming. "I think the fact that we are in a permanent location certainly is to our advantage," Johns says. This allows them to spend months on a single scene so they can include as much detail as possible, which is evident in rooms like Dracula's Castle, the Evil King's Dungeon and Frankenstein's Laboratory.

With three dozen years under their monstrous belt, more than 2.5 million people have ventured through their creaky doors. Johns says she thinks that guests keep returning every season because of the unique-scenes and intricate detail the Schoolhouse and Lab offer within their seven floors of combined terror.

WATCH Ryan Haidet's report on The Haunted Schoolhouse and Haunted Laboratory:

Johns also says they make most of their scenery and props instead of buying them at conventions or out of catalogs. "I think that if you buy the show, the guy next door can buy the same show," Johns explains. "I think that you have to create something -- and you have to create something that can't be duplicated -- because you're always in that creative mode."

The Schoolhouse features three floors of fright inside the former Thomastown Elementary School. Some of the highlights include a dark-and-stormy attic, creepy clowns, an eerie cemetery and an encounter with Freddy Krueger.

The Laboratory is inside the former Guggenheim Airship Institute, which features a pair of 10-foot-tall Tesla coils -- each zapping 1.5 million volts of electricity into the autumn air. You also have the opportunity to take a walk across the world's first vertical wind tunnel, which is filled with fog and lasers. And if you survive all that, you venture through a dizzying vortex tunnel before heading outside to walk around the building's 10-sided warehouse where a few more monsters lurk.

Even though a parking lot is all that separates the attractions, Johns says the Schoolhouse and Lab each showcase a completely different experience.

Fred Coladonato, who has worked at The Haunted Schoolhouse for 13 years says it takes a certain type of person to work in a haunted attraction. "You have to love Halloween," he says.

WATCH Ryan Haidet's interview with Coladonato on what it's like to be a monster:

He has played the role of "Coffin Greeter" for the last several years. And he doesn't plan on stopping his role as a monster anytime soon. "I've been a monster pretty much my whole life, so I think I'd probably continue on being one," Coladonato joked.

With the season winding down quickly, you'll need to hurry out to Triplett Blvd. to see why these haunted houses have America talking.

The Haunted Schoolhouse and The Haunted Laboratory are now open through Sunday, November 1.

CLICK HERE to read AOL Digital City's rank of The Haunted Schoolhouse and Laboratory.

Below image features one of the two Tesla coils at The Haunted Laboratory. Photo by James Smith.

Previous coverage:

10/28/08: MUTLIMEDIA Spook Houses School In Scares

For more haunted house information, local Trick-Or-Treat schedules, spooky TV listings and other creepy content check out AkronScreams.com!