Since spooky season ends in just a couple of weeks, it's time for Texas daredevils to make some tough choices. Those in the know have a tip: Thrillvania, located five hours from San Antonio in Dallas suburb Terrell, is a no-brainer, experts say.

America Haunts, a national association that tracks haunted attraction industry trends, ranked the Top 5 Scariest Haunted Attractions in the United States and “recognized five mega-haunts that have mastered very different approaches to creating the kind of fear” for which thrill-seekers actively search.

Thrillvania creeped in at No. 5 on the national list, earning praise for its staying power and storytelling.

“The sprawling setting and continual updates have shaped its reputation for decades,” America Haunts says in a press release. “Don’t expect refuge just because the space is big. When the scarecast seeks, it knows how to find its target.”

Thrillvania has three haunted houses spread across 50 acres. Fear at the Terrell property is rooted in narrative, the haunted attraction analysts say.

Central to Thrillvania is Verdun Manor, where the dead, undead, and creatures more beast than man await.

Baron Verdun and Lady Cassandra, a vampire and werewolf, were once inhabitants of the mansion, the legend goes. Through the haunted manor, cemetery, and Voodoo Bayou, their gruesome story unfolds.

On the busiest nights, it might take an hour or two to access the main attractions; however, guests enter the fantasy world before reaching the mansion itself, making the journey part of the narrative.

In Cassandra’s House of Clowns, a giant brain connected to a mysterious apparatus has transformed the attraction’s clown world into something even more sinister and surreal.

Sam Hain’s Trail of Torment adds a final leg to the tour and challenges those who make it so far to determine what is real and what is delusion, according to the review.

The rest of America Haunts' top five scariest haunted attractions are:

• No. 1: The Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio
• No. 2: Nightmare New England in Litchfield, New Hampshire, near Boston
• No. 3: The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• No. 4: Bennett’s Curse Haunted House in Dundalk, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland

What those who made the list have in common is not a particular monster, effect, room, or scare technique. America Haunts reports: “It is the ability to create an immersive world that keeps guests wondering what will happen next while relentlessly layering scares upon scares.”

Thrillvania Haunted House Park is located at 2330 Co Rd 138, Terrell, Texas. It is open Friday-Sunday through October 25 and October 29-Halloween night. Tickets run $29.99 on Thursdays, $39.99 on Sundays, and $44.99 on Fridays and Saturdays, and can be purchased on Thrillvania's website.

For those looking for a few thrills closer to home, check out our guide to San Antonio's most chilling haunted houses.