Radio station sponsored haunted houses spring up each year, but which house to choose depends on many factors; distance, time and terror tolerance are but a few. Here follows a concise guide to frightening places in King County. For a small fee, anyone may have whatever daylights still linger scared from him or herself.

KUBE 93 Haunted House

If you don't mind waiting in line for almost two hours with swarms of families with little kids to reach the pinnacle of your ghoulish delights, the $10 for the KUBE 93 Haunted House is worthwhile.

Take friends and lots of them, you'll long for conversation while you wait in line. You'll also need someone to cling to when the chainsaw-toting clown emerges from the house and dredges up your worst childhood nightmares ... well, at least I did. The fact that they've taken to entertaining the crowd outside should give you an idea of just how long this line really is. Once you're finally inside, the house combines tried-and-true tactics of old-school horror, such as the torture chamber with appearances by characters of recent horror movie fame.

The very effective tunnel of disorientation would've been better placed earlier on in the attractions (to throw off those who don't scare easy).

Let's face it, things jumping out at you are far more threatening when you feel like you just threw back five consecutive shots of Jagermeister and vulnerability is at its peak.

It was freaky enough to make me estimate how much money the parents of the 3-year-old in front of me in line will spend in future years on therapy to determine why strobe lights induce psychotic episodes in their precious little Timmy.

KUBE 93's Haunted House runs tonight from 6 to 1 a.m. and is located at the Family Fun Center in Tukwila. For directions and discount details, check out KUBE's Web site: www.kube93.com.

STAR 101.5 Ultimate Haunted Hospital

Directly through the front doors of the hospital, guests are greeted by the less-than-friendly faces of the graveyard gargoyles.

You're handed holographic glasses, and you can't help but think, "Oh, look at the pretty black lights and the lovely glow murals." This lasts right up until a giant, leering masked actor pops out from his hiding place in a shadowy corner you didn't realize was there.

My compliments go to the actors of the Haunted Hospital. If it weren't for their masterful ability to creep, lurk and startle (in that order), the house would be reserved solely for younger audiences.

The best advice for this one? Keep the glasses on. They interrupt the senses enough to make everything a bit scarier from an otherwise predictable haunted-house experience. If you're anything like me, the fact that you're fumbling just to keep them on your face distracts you from seeing what's coming.

The STAR 101.5 Ultimate Haunted Hospital will be open tonight from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Northgate Medical Center. Directions and admission prices can be found at the Web site: www.star1015.com.

KISS 106.1 Fright Gallery Haunted House

If Jurassic Park frightened you the first time you saw it, you'll love the opening to the Fright Gallery.

The actors linger and reappear along a path and aren't so much scary as funny, making it easier to strike up a conversation with them than to be frightened.

They play off of everyday fears like a Hansel-and-Gretel-style haunted forest, and for us city-dwellers, the creepy hooded guy you'd probably see waiting to catch the 16 headed for downtown.

Blood-curdling screams and sound effects give the house an eerie edge, but if your group runs up behind other patrons, it takes away from the experience.

The Fright Gallery is more fun than petrifying, but the special effects are thrilling -- and the layout is well conceived. It also is far larger than most of the other houses and doesn't leave you looking back and asking, "It's over already?" Plus, when I attended, we were allowed another pass through the house.

More information regarding Fright Gallery can be found at www.kiss1061.com.

KMPS Nightmares! Haunted House

You'll laugh when the gatekeeper for Nightmares yells "Dinnertime!" to cue the actors inside the house, but once you're inside, laughter screeches to a halt.

The maze entrance sets the tone for the rest of the house, as you feel your way along the walls to navigate the pitch-black hallways.

This haunted house's most memorable and frightening characters tout impeccable makeup and hardly require sneaking up on you to start the adrenaline pumping.

You'll develop a new appreciation for fear as you play the lead in a scene from one of the most terrifying horror movies of all time.

You get a welcome break from the horror for a moment of comic relief when Lucifer greets you from atop his gothic throne.

His eerily calm presence elicited a nervous laugh from the Catholic in me who, I must admit, wasn't the least bit surprised to finally meet him.

Words to the wise: The actors mess with your head, and even if you've been desensitized by an entire evening of frightful fun, the scariest part of the house is when the lights come on.

The drive to the Auburn Supermall is time well spent. If you're planning to take along younger kids, consider the "scareless" matinee. There's a good reason they offer it.