How 'Halloween' is Texas?
(NEXSTAR) — October is here and with it comes the spooky delights of the Halloween season. Whether it's pumpkin spice in your coffee or skeletons in yards, there is no end to possibilities for celebrating.
Recently, personal finance outlet FinanceBuzz compared 79 of the U.S.' biggest cities and ranked them on a variety of Halloween-y factors, including number of real-life "haunted" locations, number of haunted house attractions, pumpkin patches, fall weather and parties/events.
Turns out, Texas isn't feeling the spooky spirt.
No Texas city even appears on the list until Dallas, at No. 64 nationally. The city received an overall score of 22.5 out of 100. Dallas earned its highest marks in the Fall Climate (8.5 score) and Halloween parties/events per 100,000 residents (22.9). However, some of its lowest scores came from the "real" haunted houses per 100,000 residents (0.7) and pumpkin patches per 100,000 residents (0.2).
Here's how the other Texas cities included fared:
| Rank | City | Costume shops per 100K | Pumpkin patches per 100K | Haunted house attractions per 100K | Halloween parties/events per 100K |
| 64. | Dallas | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 22.9 |
| 69. | El Paso | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.1 |
| 71. | Amarillo | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| 72. | Corpus Christi | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| 73. | San Antonio | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 10.2 |
| 74. | Austin | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 19.2 |
| 78. | Houston | 1.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 8.5 |
As you can see, most Texas cities flunked in the areas of pumpkin patch numbers, haunted house attractions, and real "haunted" sites — though this shouldn't suggest that there aren't countless numbers of spooky sights to see across the Lone Star State.
Central Texas offers plenty of potential scares. In Austin alone, there are at least six of Texas' "most haunted" places, according to Yelp in 2021. Austin's haunts include The Driskill hotel, the Clay Pit Indian restaurant, and Moonshine Patio Bar and Grill.
In East Texas, there's the former speakeasy the Jefferson Hotel, which claims to have had paranormal activity in every room. You'll also find the Excelsior House Hotel — which is rumored to have inspired filmmaker Steven Spielberg to write and produce the 1980s horror classic, "Poltergeist." Additionally, for those interested in a more extreme experience, you can visit Tower of Terror in Wichita Falls. The R-rated, full-contact haunted house recently opened for its first Halloween season — and it requires a signed waiver for all guests brave enough to enter.
While Texas didn't fare too well in FinanceBuzz's rankings, one state in particular, did. The No. 1 "Halloweentown" was determined to be Toledo, Ohio, which earned the highest overall score nationally (73.4). It earned its highest marks for its numbers of pumpkin patches, number of candy stores, and numbers of Halloween parties and events per 100,000 residents (128.2). Two other Ohio cities, Cleveland and Cincinatti, placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
To view the full ranking of America's Top Halloweentowns, visit FinanceBuzz.