AHauntingAt63 is back after Last Halloween's Winter Break

Steve Randi and Cathy Anastasia set up AHauntingAt63 a bit early this year, because they wanted to impress Mike Bruner, CEO and owner of the National Haunters Convention.

After visiting Randi and Anastasia's haunted house in September, Bruner agreed to give the Danbury couple free space at the convention next year to set up a similar horror attraction.

"We'd love to run a professional scare factory somewhere," Steve Randi said. If their haunting dream comes true (does that make it a nightmare?) they will find a partner or a location for their company, S&C Scare Factory, after the national convention in May 2013.

Once they're past Halloween, the couple will drive to Graceland, see Elvis's house, and then drive to Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where they will take a behind-the-scenes tour of Thirteenth Gate and House of Shock, respectively, two of the country's largest haunted factories.

"This is the 'Legendary Haunt Tour,'" Anastasia said. "This is the top haunt in the country. We watched specials on them. We've wanted to visit them forever."

The top haunt, to Randi, is the one that packs the most horror into the fewest square feet. Chainsaws, meat cleavers, bald freaks, cadavers, heavy metal rock music and fireworks. They're all moving through the audience as it walks from room to room. Early themes included good versus evil, but now they're featuring evil versus evil. The House of Shock has been known to sacrifice altar boys, turn morgues into restaurants and, well, you can imagine the rest.

The couple met in 1985, when Randi was working in Bethel and Anastasia walked by. Randi knew the number of a payphone Anastasia passed, so he called her. They plan to keep their Danbury home, but think New York or Pennsylvania might be better, more business-friendly locations for a haunted factory.

The couple really started focusing on haunted houses and Halloween about seven years ago, which is how long Anastasia and Randi have been building haunted houses at their Danbury home. They wrap the attraction around the outside of their home, so visitors walk in a circle outside their house from theme room to theme room.

This year AHauntingAt63 is open Saturday and Sunday from 6 to 8:30 p.m. and on Halloween from 6 to 9 p.m. The house is located at 63 Clearview Drive. It includes a 3D room that is somewhat disorientating as well as scary. For more information about the haunted house, find AHauntingAt63 on Facebook.