Harrington Arts Alliance in Loveland, Colorado, put on its 10th-annual haunted house this year. With this being the nearest haunted house to Fort Collins, I decided to check it out.

My group and I bought our tickets online in advance and then reserved a time to go, which was a good thing to do during the COVID-19 pandemic. I personally am terrified of haunted houses. I try to go to as many as I can because I like the thrill, but I get scared any time I am getting ready to go into one.

Groups were separated by the times that they reserved. There would only be one group in the haunted house at a time so they could make sure that no group would end up running into each other if one group was faster than the other. I liked this due to the current state of the pandemic, and I liked knowing that there’s no need to rush through the haunted house.

Tickets cost $12 for those 11 years old and under and $15 for those 12 years and up. They’re encouraging those who want to get tickets to preorder tickets ahead of time on their website. After ordering tickets online, you will receive a confirmation email.

We were required to wear masks, and our temperature was taken at the front door before entering. When it was our turn to go, we were told some rules about how to act in the haunted house.

The actors made sure to scare you into keeping your masks on the whole time you were in the haunted house before you even entered the actual maze. They also made sure that actors were positioned in places they could guide you through the maze without you having to touch anything.

While walking through the haunted house, there were a lot of twists and turns, which made it easier for people to jump out at you at any point. Many people in my group liked this aspect because it was more likely you were going to get scared. I, however, knew it was going to happen and hesitated to turn every corner. You were guided by actors throughout the hotel, and it was not difficult for guests to figure out where they were supposed to go other than in the dark, smokey hallways.

There were some good jump scares, and I screamed quite a few times. There were people jumping out from walls that shocked me. I have to say, in my opinion, the scariest part of the whole haunted house was the long, dark and smoky hallways you needed to walk through. Walking aimlessly into the unknown is something that could terrify anyone. These hallways were my favorite part of the maze. The idea that someone could pop up or say something without you knowing where they were was both terrifying and exciting.

We were not allowed to touch anything, and none of the actors were allowed to touch us, so that was a good security blanket to get me through the haunted house. However, I was afraid that I was going to accidentally hit someone out of fear if they scared me enough.

All in all, Harrington’s HAAunted Hotel is a great place to get a quick scare without driving all the way to a major haunted house in Denver. They are open on the weekends leading up to Halloween, and I would recommend going to check it out, but beware of the butcher!

Kadyn Thorpe can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @ThorpeKadyn.