don't know about funhouse, but playgrounds were very scary. the most scary one, which would intimadate a brave man (amongst whom i was living - RAF pilots) was called "the boat" (if i remember correctly) which was a steel plank (which you sat on), supported by 4 steel struts, attached, swiveling, to a steel frame. it took some effort to get this monster swinging (like sitting on a normal swing and doing the stuff you do) but once it got going the momentum was tremendous. there was limiting mechanism to stop it going over the top. most kids too terrified to ride it to that point (humiliating admission: i was too scared).
the other scary thing you could do with it was to grab hold of the plank on the up-swing, which would boost you high in the air. you had to have a nice touch of judgement on where you let go, if you didn't want multiple broken bones.