A haunted attraction is a form of entertainment that simulates the experience of entering a haunted location that might be inhabited by ghosts, monsters, criminals, humorous characters, and other such creatures. Haunted attractions can take place in many locations, including dilapidated homes, abandoned asylums, old prisons, ships, boats, run down grocery stores, semi trucks, factories, shopping malls, fields, farms, and parks.

Haunted attractions (also known as "haunts" within the industry) use many effects, intense lighting (strobe lights, black lights, and so forth), animatronics, CGI, scent dispensers, fog machines, air blasters, old antiques, gory images, and intense scenes of terror, torment, crime, mischief, or comedy. Visitors often come in contact with various actors dressed up in elaborate and often scary costumes, masks, and prosthetics perform skits or hide and jump out unexpectedly to scare, shock, disturb, or amuse the customer.

There are quite a few attractions that feature elaborate facades that make the building look haunted if it doesn't already take place in a spooky looking building. A clown themed attraction may use a circus tent with freak show posters or a haunted asylum may have a boarded up asylum frame in front of its building. The facade they use really depends on what kind of attraction it is. While waiting in line you'll notice that some attractions have their own entertaining queue lines. Some are simple and just include TV screens or projector screens playing horror movies while some queue lines resemble mini haunted attractions. These queue lines may feature frightening animatronics, live animals, costumed characters or other features from the actual haunted attraction.