Weekly Top Picks for October 28th - 31st, 2019

Halloween week has arrived! Halloween might land on a weeknight but there are still plenty of events taking place all week long leading to October 31st and Halloween New England has all the highlights for you on this special week!

Halloween Week Haunted History - Special Events, Tours, Spooky Dinners in CT

If you are in the Mystic, CT area this week - or are seeking a special way to ring in Halloween week, Seaside Shadows Haunted History Tours has an expanded tour schedule and two extra very special events you'll want to check out. Advance bookings for everything are essential during Halloween week! 

Monday, Oct. 28th - Downtown Mystic Ghost Strolls at 7:00pm

Tuesday, Oct. 29th - Moonlit Mystic Graveyard Ghost Stroll at 7:00pm
Tuesday, Oct. 29th - Spooky Dinner at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne (details below)

Wednesday, Oct. 30th - Downtown Mystic Ghost Strolls at 7:00pm

Thursday, Oct. 31st (Halloween) - Downtown Mystic Ghost Stroll at 7:00pm; Graveyard Ghost Stroll at 9:00pm

Thursday, Oct. 31st (Halloween) Paranormal Double Feature: Conjuring & Ghost Adventures Party  (details below)

Two very special events are lined up this week in Mystic starting on Tuesday, October 29th for the Seaside Shadows' Spooky Dinner at the Captain Daniel Packer Inne. Join Seaside Shadows as they host a spooky dinner where you can drink, dine, and commune with the spirits over stories of the haunted attraction. Make reservations by phone directly through the Daniel Packer Inne at 860-536-3555.

And on Thursday, October 31st buy advance tickets for the Paranormal Double Feature: Conjuring & Ghost Adventures Party with Seaside Shadows at Mystic Luxury Cinemas! Celebrate HALLOWEEN NIGHT with a SPIRITED showing of The Conjuring followed by a LIVE viewing on the big screen of the Ghost Adventures Halloween Special filmed at the Conjuring house--even including a small snippet filmed with Seaside Shadows' Courtney Reardon!

Darkness Unleashed at Barrett's Haunted Mansion Returns!

Turn out the lights, pack a house with monsters, and head inside -- designed just for the bravest of thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies!
If you think you have the nerve to take things to the next level, you'll want to make a beeline to Barrett's Haunted Mansion in Abington, MA on Wednesday, October 30th to experience their high-intensity Darkness Unleashed Lights Out. Note: 16+ event.

Still Time to Find Costumes for Halloween Events, Parties, and Masquerades! 

Halloween New England makes it a snap to find your state's Costume and Halloween stores. We have lists of locally-owned, year-round, as well as many seasonal pop-up stores so you're never left in the lurch finding the perfect details for your costume.

Click to see our complete Costume and Halloween Store guides for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Which Haunted Attractions are Open on Weeknights this Week?

It's Halloween Week and it's your last, best chance to see as many haunts as you can pack in before your favorite season is over. Click for a complete list visit our Guide to which Haunted Attractions are Open Weeknights.

Tuesday, October 29th has just one New England area haunted attraction who'll be open so make a point to get to Plymouth, NH for Abandoned Nightmares.

Wednesday, October 30th has five area haunted attractions open tonight including The Dark Manor in Baltic, CT, Fear Town in Seekonk, MA, Abandoned Nightmares in Plymouth, NH, and Barrett's Haunted Mansion will be hosting their Darkness Unleashed event (16+). Full list of open haunts.

Thursday, October 31st (Halloween Night) offers up seventeen local attractions to choose from including Haunted Overload's Fright Night Lite (Lee, NH), Ravenwood Haunted Farm (Haverhill, MA),  Fright Haven (Stratford, CT),  Fear Town (Seekonk, MA), Barrett's Haunted Mansion (Abington, MA), Abandoned Nightmares (Plymouth, NH), and The Dark Manor (Baltic, CT)
Click for a complete list visit our Guide to which Haunted Attractions are Open on Halloween.

New England is packed with Halloween events on the big week ahead leading to our favorite night of the year! You can find complete event listings for each New England state --plus CT, NH, RI, and MA have Family-Friendly Event Guides-- on our website Halloween New England.

Massachusetts Halloween Events (full guide)

Tuesday, October 29th swing through the Haverhill Library for a classic horror matinee screening of "13th Ghosts" (1960) and on Tuesday night, the Gedney House in Salem invites you to Classic Poems for All Hallow's Eve where you'll "enjoy a curated selection of classic poems about ghosts, goblins, spirits, and All Hallows’ Eve, dramatically presented in a seventeenth-century shipbuilder's house by lantern light" at their historic property in Salem.

Two chances to catch free theatrical presentations of Lizzie Borden and the Forty Whacks by the Delvena Theatre Company on Monday, October 29th in Hanover and again in Amesbury on Wednesday, October 30th.

Also, two opportunities to sit in on the lecture The Haunted History of New England - check them out Tuesday, October 29th in Marston Mills, and on Wednesday, October 30th in Mattapoisett.

If a haunted opera speaks to your cultural soul, you'll have two chances to experience "The Medium - An Operatic Halloween Experience" in Peabody on Wednesday, October 30th and again on Halloween night, October 31st.

Wednesday and Thursday, October 30th and 31st are your final chances to take a stroll through the postcard-pretty graveyards of Concord, MA on Ghosts in the Gloaming while soaking up ghastly and ghostly tales of local haunted history.

Connecticut Halloween Events (full guide)

On Monday, October 28th, test your knowledge at the Hocus-Pocus-themed Trivia Night at the South Windsor Red Heat Tavern.

Our Halloween Night top pick in CT is the Paranormal Double Feature: Conjuring & Ghost Adventures Party with Seaside Shadows at Mystic Luxury Cinema which has everything you could want from the evening - a screening of The Conjuring, a live viewing of the Ghost Adventures Halloween Special (filmed at the Conjuring house) and costumes are welcome!

Billed as a "true prom experience for the dark at heart" the Goth Prom in New London will treat you on Halloween Night to Goth rock, drinks, and a costume contest, all for $5-$10 as they fundraise for the Spark Makerspace.

Also on October 31st is a Live Performance of Michael Jackson's Thriller in Plainville, CT performed by a local dance school for an event doubling as a food/can drive to benefit the Plainville Community Food Pantry. Set amidst lasers, music, and a Halloween decorated yard, their biggest Thriller performance to date will feature an added Monster Mash sing-along by The Plainville Choral Society Youth Theater.

Find a complete list at our Family-Friendly Halloween Event Guide.

New Hampshire Halloween Events (full guide)

Monday, October 28th in Portsmouth, Scary-oke belt out your favorites while you help support the fundraising efforts for the annual Portsmouth Halloween Parade. And you guessed, it on Halloween night the aforementioned Portsmouth Halloween Parade is another of our top picks for Thursday, October 31st!
On Thursday - Halloween night - Haunted Overload in Lee, NH will offer their 2nd Fright Night Lite of the season--a full nighttime light/sound/fog experience which still delivers their signature spooky atmosphere but without the actors or scares.

Rhode Island Halloween Events (full guide)

Every night this week - including Halloween night - the Roger Williams Zoo's Jack-O'-Lantern Spectacular will be open for you starting at dusk to soak up some glowing pumpkin atmosphere at their display of over 5,000 hand-carved pumpkins on a scenic trail within the park.

The Gravestone Girls are coming to Coventry on Wednesday, October 30th for Virtually Exploring Coventry's Cemeteries, a presentation about "New England cemetery art, history, and symbolism" through a virtual tour exploring "colonial burial grounds through the rural cemetery movement of the 19th century and into 21st-century locations."

Maine Halloween Events (full guide)
Hands-down the most creative and fascinating event in Maine this week for us is the upcoming Halloween Silent Film "Battleship Potemkin" with live organ accompaniment on Tuesday, October 29th in Portland.
Festivities include an early evening family concert with a child-friendly screening of Halloween silent cartoons and accompanied by organist James Kennerley and wrapped up with a children’s costume parade. Later in the evening the is the main event - a screening of “Battleship Potemkin” with Kennerly's accompaniment on organ to this terrifying classic silent film with a Teen and Adult Costume Contest held at intermission!

Vermont Halloween Events (full guide)

Our top pick in the Green Mountain State this week takes us to Essex Junction on Wednesday, October 30th for PumpkinPalooza where Halloween fans of all ages will love the Jack-O-Lantern displays,  S'mores, and hot cocoa by the bonfire.

Halloween New England Top Picks for October 25th - October 31st, 2017

The much-anticipated Halloween weekend is here at last! As you'd expect there are countless incredible events taking place all weekend long and into the final days leading to October 31st. You will have more than enough options to celebrate Halloween your way - whether it be Jack O' Lantern gawking, entering costume contests, soaking up your haunted history, reveling in Salem during Haunted Happenings, or getting in your thrills at local haunts. Good luck narrowing down your agenda but the good news is we're offering up some great Top Picks for your Halloween week.

Turning the Lights Out in New Hampshire
If you ever thought going through a haunted attraction was scary with the scene lights on, wait until you navigate the creatures and scares with the lights off!

This week, two New Hampshire haunts will be closing for the year with a big impression: On Sunday, October 29th Haunted Acres in Candia will host a special Lights Out Night (all the scares, none of the lights!) to wrap up their season. On Tuesday - Halloween night - Haunted Overload in Lee will feature its first ever Lights Out Night for closing night at their haunted trail. Advance online tickets highly recommended for both events.

Spooky Zoo and The Jack O'Lantern Spectacular
Families will want to join the festivities at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, RI this Saturday and Sunday because Spooky Zoo is back with daytime outdoor autumn activities for the whole family.
Come trick-or-treat on the Treat Trail by the red wolf exhibit inside the zoo beginning at 10:30am. All Spooky Zoo activities are free with Zoo admission and all children 12-and-under dressed in costume get in for half price. All activities are weather permitting and while supplies last.
It's also the final two weeks to catch the atmospheric and mesmerizing Jack O'Lantern Spectacular which is open every night through Sunday, November 5th also at the Roger Williams Zoo.

Never too late to pick pumpkins at a local patch!

As you know by now, Halloween New England makes it so easy to find a local pumpkin patch for carving your jack-o-lanterns in time for Halloween! Add the various community pumpkin carving contests and pumpkin displays to the mix of your pumpkin-buying needs and you will certainly need to stock up on more than a few!

We have state-by-state guides and maps to all your local farms featuring pumpkin patches and PYO pumpkins.
Click on your state for Halloween New England's Pumpkin Patch Guides for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Still Time to Find a Costume for Halloween Events, Costume Parties, and Masquerades! 
We have two special New England costume and makeup supply stores we'd like to recommend for your last minute costume needs and final details.
Not every New England state can boast that they have a year-round, brick-and-mortar costume store but New Hampshire can! Costumania in West Lebanon moved to a new, bigger store to offer even more to their customers. If you can't get there in person, they also feature an online store.

Massachusetts-based Vampfangs is strictly an online store and they should be your first stop to buy special FX teeth (vampires, zombies, hillbillies, etc), FX contact lenses (blackout, werewolf, zombie, you name it), 3-D prosthetic transfers, conventional prosthetics, quality FX makeup, and even fragrances!

We are always happy to tip people off to how easy Halloween New England makes it to find your state's Costume and Halloween stores. We have lists of locally-owned, year-round, as well as many seasonal pop-up stores to make it easy! 

Click to see our complete Costume and Halloween Store guides for Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Which Haunted Attractions are Open on Weeknights this Week?

It's Halloween Week and it's your last, best chance to see as many haunts as you can pack in before your favorite season is over.
Wednesday, October 25th has three haunted attractions open tonight including  Barrett's Haunted Mansion in MA.
Thursday, October 26th offers up twelve local attractions to choose from including Haunted Acres (Date Night Special) and Haunted Overload (Fright Night Lite) in NH, Creeperum and Fright Haven in CT, Fear Town and Barrett's Haunted Mansion in MA and Field of Screams in RI.
Click for a complete list visit our Guide to which Haunted Attractions are Open Weeknights.

Which 25 Haunted Attractions are Open this Sunday, October 29th?

Many haunts will be opening this Sunday, October 29th to help you make the most of your Halloween weekend. Visit  Fear Town and Barrett's Haunted Mansion in MA, Field of Screams and 13th World in RI, Trail of Terror, The Haunted Graveyard, Fright Haven, and Creeperum in CT, plus Haunted Overload and Haunted Acres in NH. Find the complete guide to which Haunted Attractions are Open this Sunday, October 29th.

Which 18 Haunted Attractions are Open on Halloween Night?
It's not a given that New England haunted attractions will be open on Halloween, especially as the 31st lands on a Tuesday this year. There are eighteen attractions that WILL be open including Fright Haven and Creeperum in CT, and Field of Screams in RI. In NH,  Haunted Overload rings in Halloween with their first ever Lights Out Night!

New England is packed with Halloween events on the biggest weekend of the season! It's a challenge to whittle down to our Top Picks when there are so many to choose from but we'll narrow it to our Top Picks below. You can always find the complete event listings for each New England state (plus CT and MA have Family-Friendly Event Guides) on our website Halloween New England.

Massachusetts

The Bay State will be busy busy busy! On Thursday and Saturday in Salem many will enjoy Classic Poems for All Hallows Eve and in Walpole it will be the final night for Afterschool Pumpkin Carving in the Park. Friday is the first of three nights for Old Spooky Manse in Concord where you can enjoy this historical mansion by candlelight and nosh on a fireside S'More. For more Halloween treats in a historical building, don your costume and snack on cider and donuts at the Howling Halloween Harvest Bonfire at the Cabot Bradley Estate in Canton. For folks who take their Halloween costumes very seriously, in Northampton on Friday night is the black-tie, formal, masquerade event Western Mass Witches Ball held in the Union Station Grand Ballroom.

Saturday morning kicks off with the costumed Devil's Chase 6.66 Miler in Salem so you can bank some exercise points before your evening debauchery. 
At noon in Faneuil Hall in Boston is the Halloween Pet Parade & Costume Contest. In Walpole again on Saturday night is Pumpkins in the Park: Nocturnal Tales and Treats where you can enjoy a pumpkin-lit nocturnal trail, trick-or-treating, and Jack-o-lantern contests. The pumpkin decorating and games are free!

Be sure to bring a non-perishable food item with you for your admission on Saturday and Sunday (plus Halloween) to experience Dark Gardens a local home haunted house presented by Nightmare Marlborough.

Soak up the gorgeous fall weathers outdoors in Easthampton this Saturday night at the Acadia Wildlife Sanctuary where you can listen to Halloween stories and learn about nocturnal animals on their family-friendly Halloween Night Hike.
For an evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and a theatrical reading of classic horror, buy your tickets to visit the Crane Estate for Jekyll & Hyde: A Castle Hill Halloween Party.
Saturday night at midnight begins the Horror Double Feature of "Zombie" and "Night of the Living Dead" at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline.

If you haven't made it to Old Sturbridge Village yet to see this year's run of The Sleepy Hollow Experience - the theatrical musical interpretation following the fate of dear Ichabod Crane, you're in your final week to see it before closing night on Sunday.

If you're still going strong on Sunday, the morning brings Costumes for Cancer 5K Run in Boston and also the Monster Dash 5K and Trick or Trot in Medfield. In Salem at the Hawthorne Hotel is The Mourning Tea: Remembering the Dead high-tea Victorian-era inspired event.

In Salem at the Hawthorne Hotel, Sunday evening is The Dumb Supper: Dinner with the Dead which is an ancient tradition of honoring the dead at a memorial dinner observed in complete silence.

Sunday night in Newbury is Cradle to Grave: Lamplight Tour of Coffin House, Swett-Ilsley House and First Parish Burying Ground for stories of murder, heroism, and heartbreak.

Monday night at Brookline's Coolidge Corner Theatre is a Stephen King Horror Double Feature "Carrie" and "Christine".

Connecticut

On Friday night in Franklin, there's a Public Ghost Hunt with TSPI where you'll want to pack your flashlight and buy your tickets in advance. The Hallowed History Lantern Tour at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford also meets Friday night.
For the more theatrically-inclined, check out "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" Radio-Theatre Performance taking place Friday through Sunday in Hartford; In Brookfield you'll find a free Staged Reading of "The Crucible" on Friday and Saturday.
It's also your final weekend to catch Ghostly Sightings at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion where you can hear haunted history relayed by lantern-light in the otherwise dark mansion.

Runners (and the rest of us) might enjoy supporting Ridgefield Operation Animal Rescue (ROAR) by participating in their Very Scary Furry Scurry 2-mile Run on Sunday which will feature a dog pumpkin "pie" eating contest, a costume contest, and an agility course. Kent CT is host to the Kent Pumpkin Run on Sunday--a costumed 5-mile walk/run.
Kids will enjoy Friday night's Trick or Treat at Roseland Cottage in Woodstock and Saturday's Spooktacular! at the Discovery Museum and Planetarium in Bridgeport complete with exploding pumpkins, a pumpkin chuckin', and mad science. Also in Bridgeport, the family-friendly musical "Dracula Goes to High School" offers up its final two matinees on Saturday and Sunday. Find a complete list on our Family-Friendly Halloween Event Guide.

New Hampshire

Friday welcomes the Rochester Horribles Parade and Trick or Treat followed by the Zombie Walk. Friday through Sunday Haunted Overload in Lee will open up for their Daytime Haunt where you can see their artistry up close and in the daylight (no actors or scares). On Monday Haunted Overload will offer their final Fright Night Lite of the season--a full light/sound/fog experience but without actors or scares.
On Saturday and Sunday in Portsmouth, you can find the family-friendly Ghosts on the Banke festivities held at the historic Strawberry Banke Museum.
It's a busy weekend for Haunted Acres in Candia - Saturday night October 28th is their annual Costume Contest complete with cash prizes! For another round of costumed revelry, on Halloween night in Portsmouth, you can celebrate the season at the decidedly adult-focused Halloween Parade. 

Rhode Island

Saturday and Sunday welcome the return of Spooky Zoo for family-friendly seasonal activities and zoo-wide trick or treating at Roger Williams Zoo in Providence.
Friday night at Newport Vineyards in Middletown is the annual Halloween CarnEvil Costume Party with circus performers, a fortune teller machine, and "Creepy Cocktails".
Terror on the Tracks in Portsmouth, RI puts their unique spin on their haunted experience by inviting you to pedal your way (gently) on low-riding tandem/quad bikes fitted to ride the rails of the railroad tracks--all while ghouls and monsters come out to scare you in the dark! You have your chance to try it every night this week from Thursday through Tuesday, October 31st.
Friday and Saturday are the final two nights to check out the Mills & Mysteries Paranormal Investigation at Slater Mill in Pawtucket.
Saturday at Bristol's Audobon Center is The Perfect Pumpkin Party featuring tons of kid-friendly games like pumpkin ring toss, sticker pumpkin patches, and a scavenger hunt for pumpkins hidden in the refuge.

Maine
In Bangor, on Saturday you're invited to don your graveyard attire and join the undead for the Bangor Zombie Walk. Portland you will find many events happening this Halloween weekend. In Kennebunk on Saturday is the All Souls Walk featuring midday narrated tours through Hope Cemetery.
Wednesday through Saturday, plus Monday, at the Wadsworth-Longfellow "Haunted House" in Portland you can check out tours of the historic home based on Longfellow's poem "Haunted Houses" - they'll be providing a family-friendly version of the tour and a separate adult tour.
On Saturday in South Berwick, you can listen to Victorian ghostly stories of tales of horror with portrayals of their authors at the hour-long performances of Victorian Frightful at the Sarah Orne Jewett House Museum.

Vermont

Saturday in Vermont invites you to TWO different Halloween Hustles - a 1-mile, 5k & 10K Halloween Hustle in Newport followed by the Newport Halloween Monster Bash and cold-water Vampire Swim.
In Essex Junction, VT is another Halloween Hustle 5K and Kids Race so don your costume and sneaks to burn off all that pre-Halloween candy snacking (yes, everybody does it...).
More family-focused events happening Sunday starting with the Shelburne Museum Trick or Treating Haunted Happenings in Shelburne and in Woodstock is the Family Halloween at Billings Farm and Museum. 

On Monday night at Maple Street Park in Essex Junction, you'll find the pathways lighted by carved Jack o' lanterns of all sizes and shapes at The Great Pumpkin Walk and all are invited to drop off their own pumpkin earlier in the day if they wish to participate.

Where has Halloween New England been lately?

We spent a wonderful Thursday night at Haunted Acres (Candia, NH) and Friday night brought us to Haunted Overload (Lee, NH). Saturday night we headed down to see the Haunted Hayride at the Century Sportsman Club (Auburn, MA) which was our first visit there. As always, we especially loved meeting some crazy haunt-going fans--including fans who remembered meeting us years ago!-- there who spend their Halloween season much in the way we do!

Where is Halloween New England headed this weekend?
We've got an ambitious Halloween week lined up and we hope to fit everything in! We've penciled in Field of Screams (West Greenwich, RI), The 7-1-5 Haunted House (Canton, MA), a return to Haunted Overload with out-of-town friends, and maybe Seven Cedars Haunted Hayride (Smithfield, RI). Fingers crossed that the weather holds out!

We're thrilled to have teamed up again with New England's own uber-talented The Pixel Perfection: After Dark whose incredibly creepy and inspiring haunt photos populate the guides again this year. As always, we know you love their photos...just please don't steal their photos! Why not just follow them on Facebook instead or hire them to capture your Halloween attraction or event?