It’s scare-o’clock!
Looking for horror-themed escape rooms in New York and New Jersey?
Wondering which is the scariest escape room in and near NYC?
Searching for an escape experience that’ll give you and your team members goosebumps?
Then this is the blog post that you’re looking for!
Whether it’s the good old jump scare that you prefer, or an atmospheric slow burn, here are the top scary escape rooms in and near New York City that you MUST try out!
Brooklyn Escape Room
The trailer for their horror-themed adventure “The Haunted”.
Sure…following a mysterious girl in a dark, spooky house never did anyone any harm!
Founded in 2015 by Brooklyn resident Regina S, Brooklyn Escape Room offers a custom-made escape experience that’s sure to chill you!
Rated as a premier NYC escape room by Bklyn Designs, Marco Feng, and others.
The Haunted
Trapped in a spooky house on a hill, can you figure out what it wants from you before it’s too late?
Note: As of 11.1.2023, they’re due to open a second location at Industry City with an escape room called “Shelter R”. This game seems to be more adventure-themed than horror.
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Email: info@brooklynescaperoom.com
Phone: (347) 721-3350
BrainXcape (that’s us…bonjour!)
From inside our horror-themed “The Haunted Hotel” experience.
Are you ready to check in?
We’re French enthusiasts of the genre who decided to set up our own escape room in the Big Apple!
While our focus has always been on horror, we seek to use all the aspects – storyline, atmosphere, and even the puzzles themselves – to create a slow-burn chilling experience for you.
Rated as one of NYC’s best escape rooms by Timeout and others.
The Haunted Hotel
Welcome to The Grange Hotel! Enter freely, and of your own will.
And remember…when the past refuses to stay buried, those in the present may find themselves in torment.
Rikers, 1932
Incarcerated in New York’s most notorious prison, you have one chance at freedom – if you can follow the clues left by your buddy who’s already escaped.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, we have one more adventure – Game of Gold – with a fantasy/mythical theme.
Website: Visit the home page
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit the contact page
Email: info@brainxcape.com
Phone: (347) 696-1408
Epic Escape Rooms LI (Long Island)
From their horror-themed “Killer Feature” escape room.
Can you escape a grisly end?
Escape room connoisseur Cathy Dunn is the founder and CEO of Epic Escape Rooms LI.
Their experiences are based on multiple themes and can be adapted to suit different age groups and group sizes.
Voted Long Island’s Best Escape Room two years in a row. They’ve also been mentioned on Long Island Haunted Houses.
Killer Feature
Taken against your will by a psychopath, do you have what it takes to escape?
* Inappropriate for children under 13.
Forbidden Forest
As if being in a plane crash wasn’t bad enough, you and your group have found your way into a forest.
While it appears a beautiful place, something’s not right…
Note: As of 11.1.2023, they offer multiple other escape rooms, such as The Pazziolis (Mafia/action theme), Disorderly Conduct (mystery theme), and Vanished (magic/fantasy theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Email: epicescapeli@gmail.com
Phone: (516) 427-5977
Escape Room NJ (multiple locations)
Can you keep your wits about you even as the tension keeps rising?
Escape Room NJ offers immersive escape adventures at multiple locations in New Jersey.
Their specialty is that they can modify several of their adventures to be scary or non-scary (of course, we both know which version you’re looking for!)
Browse through more of our blogs featuring escape rooms and different activities to do in and around New York City.
The Euphoria Heist (Scary Version)
You’re conducting a jewelry heist on behalf of a mysterious programmer as revenge against a powerful corporation.
With multiple safes to crack and time running out, will you be able to escape with the loot?
The Lost Cabin: Book of Souls
Is entering a cabin with a “Do Not Enter” sign in the middle of the woods a good idea?
You’re going to find out…
Awaken (Scary Version)
You were euphoric to be invited to be part of the audience of a game called “Awaken,” where participants fight to the death.
Soon, however, euphoria turns to horror as you realize you’ve been invited as a participant, and not as part of the audience.
Can you survive the game?
The Other Side: Room 401 (Scary Version)
A strange phone call rapidly spirals into a sinister experience.
Can you figure out what’s going on?
Riddler’s Funhouse (Scary Versions)
The story is pretty straightforward: survive the traps in the Funhouse.
Actually surviving, though…that’s up to you.
* Available in multiple versions, including one with live actors and one with dining and BYOB.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, they have other escape games like Wonka (fantasy theme), The Lab At Rosenet Industries (biological disaster theme), and The Room: SWAT (Military operation theme).
Website: Visit the website
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Phone: 1-844-ESCAPE-6
Just Escape
From their horror-themed adventure Cabin In The Woods.
Sometimes, just getting lost in the woods is not the scary part.
Founded in 2016 by Jacqueline Garf and Emily Recher, Just Escape offers multiple games of varying levels of difficulty to challenge everyone from first-time players to experienced adventurers!
Cabin In The Woods
Lost in the Massapequa woodlands late at night, you spot a cabin in the woods.
Welcome shelter till dawn…or so you thought.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can also take on other experiences, such as The Wizard’s Last Quest (magic theme), Slime Island (action theme), and Pirates of the Dark Sea (pirate theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Email: info@justescapeli.com
Phone: (516) 809-8980
Bane Escape Rooms
From Captive, their horror-themed offering.
Can you escape from the clutches of a psychopath?
They’re part of a haunted house company (also called “Bane”).
Their adventures include exploring hidden passageways and watching out for trap doors, so keep your eyes peeled!
Captive
You and your team wanted to take on the psychopath known as “The Collector”.
Better keep your wits about you…or you’ll end up as part of his collection!
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can take on another escape room – Maritime Grave (disaster theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Komnata Quest Brooklyn
From their horror-themed City Of Ashes escape room.
Will you be able to escape, or will you end up “…ashes to ashes, dust to dust…”
You may or may not have heard of Komnata Quest – a global franchise with rooms in over a hundred locations spread over three continents.
A USA Today poll voted them Best Escape Room in the USA in 2017.
The City Of Ashes
You know how it begins. You crash your car and stumble upon a mysterious city.
How it ends though – that’s up to you.
Joker’s Cafe
Can you stop the supervillain’s nefarious plans?
Saint Angelo’s Castle
Caught up in The Great Inquisition, can you escape the dungeon of Saint Angelo’s Castle?
Boxed Up
Can you and your partner help each other escape the boxes you’re trapped in…or will the boxes become your coffins?
* adventure for two.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, they offer other games such as Hex Of The Chinese Jewelry Box (fantasy theme), Doctor Frankenstein (mystical theme), and Bullets And Broken Hearts (crime theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Phone: (347) 551-4808
Escape Virtuality
Established in 2019, Escape Virtuality is one of NYC’s first entertainment centers to offer both physical and VR escape rooms.
Ghost Collector (physical escape room)
Ghosts and ghouls are tormenting New York. Can you trap them for all eternity and save the city?
Geist Manor (VR escape room)
The spirit says it only wants to play with you. You’ll find out…one way or another.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can take part in other games too, such as Mission: Galaxy Quest (space fantasy theme), Runaway Subway Train (action theme), and Goblin’s Quest: The Uprising (mythical theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Email: gameon@escapevirtuality.com
Phone: (212) 300-1075
Puzzle Out: Escape Room Jersey City
From their horror adventure Haunted Estates.
Can you banish the haunting?
Founded in 2016 by Shahed S, Puzzle Out looks to create immersive escape experiences with authentic props and innovative gameplay.
Haunted Estates
You’ve been asked to banish a spirit that’s driven a real estate agent out of his office.
You’re up to it, right?
Cannibal
Lead a team of special agents into a psychiatrist’s office to investigate whether he’s a cannibal.
Better pray he doesn’t find you there…
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can choose from other game themes, such as Grand Theft Jersey City (heist theme), The Scavengers (superhero theme), and Downtown Countdown (terror attack theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Scroll down the home page
Email: puzzleoutroom@gmail.com
Phone: (201) 565-3332
Challenge Escape Rooms
From Killer Countdown, a scary escape experience.
Will you survive the countdown?
Founded in 2015 by Janice Galizia, Challenge Escape Rooms have expanded to multiple locations and claim to have hosted over 200,000 escape experiences.
* they have two locations: Franklin Square and Rockville Centre.
Killer Countdown (Franklin Square)
Shackled down in a secret location, your killer countdown has begun!
The only question – how will it end?
Psycho Next Door (Franklin Square)
You were warned against it, but you still decided to break into the house next door that’s been abandoned for years.
Should you perhaps have heeded the warnings, and stayed put?
Hotel of Horror (Franklin Square)
With your car engine smoking in the middle of the night, you pull over at an old hotel with a VACANCY sign.
It does seem a few other folks are also checked in, so nothing terrible can happen…right?
The Psychic (Rockville Centre)
Your friend went to see the psychic and you never hear from her again.
So you’ve decided to investigate!
Note: As of 11.1.2023, they also have other themed escapes such as Santa’s Workshop Escape (holiday theme), The Virus (biohazard theme), and Sweet Shoppe (win a competition).
Website: Visit the website
Inquiry form: Scroll down the home page
Phone: (516) 888-0202
OMEscape
The Penitentiary is OMEescape’s scary escape offering.
Do you have what it takes to escape?
Established in 2014 by a group of enthusiasts, OMEscape has grown into a global franchise (like Komnata Quest) and attracts corporate bookings from the likes of Google, Bloomberg, Verizon, and Morgan Stanley.
The Penitentiary
Held in a notorious military prison, your only hope for escape is a blueprint left behind by a serial killer who vanished mysteriously.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can also take part in other adventures like Laboratory Of Biohazard (biohazard theme) and Room X (time travel theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Email: info@omescapeus.com
Phone: (212) 631-7876
13th Hour Escape Rooms
The image is taken from escaperoom.com: https://escaperoom.com/venue/13th-hour-escape-rooms-wharton-nj-usa
13th Hour started out as a haunted house in 2017 and branched off into escape rooms a couple of years later.
Many of their escape experiences revolve around the Hayden Family – a mysterious family with secrets they’re determined to keep hidden!
The Cookhouse
You’ve been invited for dinner by the Hayden family…
But you have an ulterior motive – to find out just what their special ingredient is!
The Great Room
Can you uncover the Hayden Family’s secrets from the Great Room before it’s too late?
John Hayden Room
You know by now that John Hayden is a murderer.
What you have to find out – who will be his next victim?
The Trophy Room
Can you find the trophy that John Hayden seems to be missing?
The Grand Parlor
Can you find Bishop Hayden’s ashes and reunite them with his wife’s remains? Your life may depend on it.
The Dungeon
You’ve been blindfolded and locked inside a gloomy dungeon. Can you escape?
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can also choose from other rooms like The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz (magical theme), and The Gate (ancient Egypt theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Email: info@13thhour.com
Phone: (862) 243-3132
MyssTic Rooms
Founded in 2018 by Gara Roda, Miquel Llull, and Moritz Marti, MyssTic Rooms incorporates theatrical elements into the gameplay to create immersive escape rooms.
Montauk Project
Infiltrate an abandoned Air Force Station and look for evidence of paranormal occurrences.
Ghost Light
Trapped in a haunted theater, your only recourse is to turn on a special light that keeps the spirits happy!
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Inquiry form: Visit their contact page
Email: hello@myssticrooms.com
Phone: (347) 889-5104
Trap Door Escape Room (Red Bank location)
From The Ripper Of London experience.
Be careful your investigation doesn’t lead you to a grisly end!
Founded by Anthony Purzycki, Trap Door is one of the USA’s oldest escape room brands.
With compelling suspense-driven plots, authentic props, and innovative set design, they aim to create memorable experiences for escape enthusiasts!
Catacombs Of Paris
While touring the famous catacombs, an accident has sent you into an unexplored section. Can you figure out how to escape?
Ripper Of London (90-minute experience)
You have an hour and a half to unmask a serial killer stalking the streets of London.
* features live actors.
Note: As of 11.1.2023, you can also opt for Everest (survival theme).
Website: Visit the website
Location: Check address/Plan route on Google Maps
Scary escape room experience in NYC – conclusion
That’s it from us on the top haunted-theme, scary and chilling mystery room adventures that NYC has to offer.
Which of them are YOU looking to book for on your next day out – and who are you taking on your team?
