Halloween New England Top Picks for October 18th - 24th, 2017

This is one of the biggest weekends of the season for Halloween thrill-seekers, haunt-goers, ghostly tale lovers, Halloween and costume partiers, adults, kids, and absolutely everyone in between. We have dozens of wonderful events listed for this week on our website but our hand-picked state-by-state highlights are listed below.

Darkness Unleashed at Barrett's Haunted Mansion Returns!

Turn out the lights, pack a house with monsters, and head inside --designed for the bravest of thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies!
If you didn't have to nerve to go last week, you still have one final chance to check out Barrett's Haunted Mansion in Abington, MA next Tuesday, October 24th to experience their high-intensity Lights Out night. 

Top Event Picks for the Upcoming Week

Massachusetts 

Much is brewing in Mass this weekend! Thursday starts you off with Gedney Glows where you'll be treated to a lantern-lit historical home tour of the Gedney House in Salem. While in the Witch City, book your tour with Salem's Haunted Footsteps offered nightly at 8pm Monday through Friday. On Tuesday night in Salem you can buy tickets to a Graveyard Conjure with hoodoo worker Sen Moise.
On Friday, witches, warlocks, ghosts, and vampires will roam the streets of Newburyport for the annual adult-friendly Witches Night Out. For more ghostly fun and libation, this Friday and Saturday is the 21+  Tales and Ales social event at the Swett-Isley House in Newbury. Running every Friday through the end of October is Frightful Friday Ghost Stories in the Gore Mansion in Waltham.

On Friday night in Worcester you can enjoy the outdoors at the Halloween Hike at Boo Meadow Brook. Saturday in Haverhill is the all-day Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival where artists, filmmakers, and writers gather annually to celebrate spooky fiction. This is a free event but you will need to reserve a spot in advance. On Tuesday afternoon in Cohasset you can find a daytime performance of Lizzie Borden and the Forty Whacks by the Delvena Theatre Company.
Lots of family-friendly events lined up this week too! Saturday brings you Halloween at Hutch in Milton, MA and on Sunday in New Bedford you can find Ghosts in the Garden - a children's scavenger hunt for little ghosts hiding in the garden and featuring plenty of Halloween games and pumpkin decorating and more--costumes welcome!
Bird Park in Walpole welcomes kids for an After-school Pumpkin Carving Party in the Park on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. In Dorchester, there's a Kids' Halloween Hunt at the Adams Street branch of the Boston Public Library.

Connecticut

This state is positively bustling with wonderful events this week--here's a number of our favorites: If you love ghost tales and walks, consider Halloween: Ghostly Sightings at the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk and candlelight ghost stories at Things that Go Bump in the Night at Hale Homestead in Coventry. You can get Up Close and Creepy: Witches and Tombstones at the Webb-Deane-Stevens Museum in Wethersfield on Saturday and Sunday, and bring your flashlight to A Haunting at Mill Hill in Norwalk on Friday and Saturday. In New London on Saturday, the Hempstead Houses are hosting Hempstead Halloween ghost tales and treating you to S'Mores.
For family-friendly fun, it's the ninth year for Farmington, CT's annual Haunted Miniature Golf kicking off this weekend and held Thursdays through Sundays through the end of the month. Kiddos will love the self-guided Spooky Nature Trail held Friday and Saturday in Mystic. Friday is the Daddy-Daughter Costume Dance fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club in Bristol. Opening this Friday and running the next two weekends is the family musical "How to Be a Good Witch" at the Milford Center for the Arts.  On Saturday, October 21st it's Scarecrows and Cocoa to accompany the garden scavenger hunt in Norwich.

Rhode Island

In Pawtucket on Thursday and Friday is the Mills & Mysteries event where you can visit three historically landmarked buildings led by a paranormal investigator. It's also the last few days to catch Vortex --the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Film Fest in Providence. On Saturday and Sunday, Providence is also host to the annual H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour. 
On Saturday is the Ground-Penetrating Radar Demonstration & Gravestone Iconography event at Tower Hill Cemetery in Saunderstown which is associated with the South County History Center's series "Eternal Rest: Death, Mourning, and Memorials." In Kingston on Tuesday, October 24th is What Lies Beneath: A Look Below Rhode Island's Historical Burial Ground where an archaeologist will discuss nineteenth-century burial practices show familiar istoric artifacts recovered from graves in that time.
For a special splurge on Saturday is the annual Boo at the Zoo Family Overnight at the Roger Williams Zoo where you can pack your sleeping bag and have access to VIP Jack-o-Lantern Spectacular, ice cream, a movie with popcorn, and a private zoo tour in the morning.

New Hampshire

Saturday is the annual Halloween Town event in Madison to benefit the Laura Foundation - a kids-focused festival with Halloween-themed spooky cabins, games, trick-or-treat trail, and more.

The Monadnock Pumpkin Festival also returns on Saturday to Swanzey which delivers fireworks along with pumpkin catapults, a spooky maze, jack-o-lanterns, and amusement rides. If you are in the Lake Winnipesaukee area Saturday night seeking some adult-only reveling, spend the evening on the water at the Halloween Masquerade Ball which leaves from Weirs Beach in Laconia.  

Maine

Grab your flashlight and head to Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant on Friday to get lost in their night maze! This Saturday and Sunday are the first of two weekends you can take a ride on the Pumpkin Train at the Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum in Portland. Also in Portland on Saturday is the annual Ghoulwill Ball which is a lively costumed fundraiser (lots of prizes!) to support Goodwill of Northern New England. Saturday, October 21st is the only chance to catch the annual celebration Ghostport which is a lively costumed fundraiser (lots of prizes!) to support Goodwill of Northern New England. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays are the days to take the Ghostly Bangor Walking Tour filled with tales of murders, mysteries, and history.
For a little vintage enjoyment, Tuesday, October 24th is the screening of the silent film version of "The Phantom of the Opera" in Portland.

Vermont

Our highlight in Vermont this week is a mid-week event on Wednesday, October 25th: stop by the Essex Junction Halloween Celebration for some costumed fun, kids spooky maze, trick or treating and games.

Weeknights are the rare chance to see a haunted attraction in a more personal setting and with fewer crowds. Get the most from October by making your way to a haunt on a weeknight. The closer we get to October, the more options you have! the short season, you'll be glad to know which haunted attractions are open on Monday through Thursdays with our Guide to Haunted Attractions are Open WEEKNIGHTS.

Veteran haunt-goers know to get the most out of the season by visiting haunted attractions on as many off-peak nights as possible. You're in luck--we have your Guide to Haunted Attractions Open SUNDAY NIGHTS.

It's unfortunate that Halloween falls on a Tuesday because not every haunted attraction will be open. However, we've got your list of NINETEEN New England haunted attractions who will be OPEN Halloween night and waiting celebrate with you with screams and scares! Here's our  Guide to Haunted Attractions Open HALLOWEEN Night!

We've got a NEW contest for a four-pack of tickets to Fright Haven (CT) and a chance to win a  four-pack of Zombie Paintball tickets at Field of Screams (RI) open on Halloween New England right now. Stay tuned for our final contest to win a pair of tickets to see Fear Town Haunted House in Seekonk, MA. Our ticket contests are wrapping up soon to give you a chance to go so enter while you can! 

Recent Contest Winners

Congrats to Crystal Murray and Sherry Miranda who each won a pair of combo tickets to see The Haunted Graveyard!  Tiffany Preedom and Jessie Lyon were winners for the Vengeance in the Valley (VT) tickets and Megan Reed's name was drawn in the Costumania (NH) $20 gift voucher contest. Deltra Kroener won the Creeperum tickets and the four-pack of Jack o"Lantern Spectacular tickets went to Lawrence Silver, Justin Woelfel, and Courtney Frost. Ashley Bonneau won a pair of tickets to Haunted Acres and Diane Fontes and Sonath La won the 13th World four-pack!

Where has Halloween New England been lately?

What a busy week of screams it has been! Last week we swung through Witch's Woods in Westford, MA, spent Friday the 13th with a scream-filled double-header at 13th World in Cumberland, RI and Fear Town Haunted House in Seekonk, MA and wrapped up our weekend at Nightmare Acres in South Windsor, CT to check out their new trail and location. The weather was perfect and it was good to bring out the scarves and gloves for a night or two that finally felt like fall!

Where is Halloween New England headed this weekend?

We start up again on Thursday this week with our New Hampshire road trip where we plan to visit Haunted Overload in Lee and Haunted Acres in Candia. We hope to fit in a 3rd adventure at The Dark Crop Haunted Corn Maze or possibly Fright Kingdom--we'll let you know where we end up!

Haunted Houses and Trails Opening Friday, October 20th:

Haunted Somerville (MA)
Nightmare Vermont (VT)
Pittsford Haunted House (VT)

*as always, if the weather is lousy it's wise to double check that the event is open as some may close for inclement weather

In case you missed it... Haunted Houses, Trails, Haunted Hayrides, and Night Corn Mazes already open:

Creeperum (CT)
Legends of Fear (CT) – Trail and Haunted Hayride
The Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce (CT)
Trail of Terror (CT)
Fright Haven (CT) 
Haunted Overload (NH)
Haunted Acres (NH)
Fear Town (MA)

Barrett's Haunted Mansion (MA)
13th World (RI) 
Field of Screams Haunted House and Hayride (RI)
Vengeance in the Valley (VT) Haunted Hayride and Haunted Corn Maze 

The 7-1-5 Haunted House (MA)
DementedFX (MA)
Haunted Halloween Havoc (MA)
The Monster Mash Haunted Hayride (MA) - Haunted Hayride 
Marini Farm Corn Maze (MA) – non-haunted Flashlight Corn Maze
FrightFest at Six Flags New England (MA)
Factory of Terror Worcester (MA)
Factory of Terror Fall River (MA) 
Witch's Woods (MA) - House and Haunted Hayride
Ghost Ship Harbor (MA) 
13 Nights at Jiminy (MA)
Century Hayride and Spooky Walk (MA) 
Lakeville Haunted House (MA)
Hysteria at Connors Farm (MA) – Trail and non-haunted Flashlight Corn Maze
Hammond Castle (MA)
Harvest of Horrors (MA) - Trail and Haunted Hayride
Fortress of Nightmares (RI)
Harvest of Haunts (NH)
Fright Kingdom (NH)
The Dark Crop (NH) - Haunted Corn Maze
The Ghoullog (NH)
Screeemfest at Canobie Lake Park (NH)
Harvest of Haunts (NH)
Fright Kingdom (NH)
Nightmare New England / SpookyWorld (NH)
Beans and Greens Farm Haunted Corn Maze (NH)
Coppal House Farm (NH) – non-haunted Flashlight Corn Maze
Haunted Tunnel at Slater Park (RI)
Haunted Labyrinth (RI)
Seven Cedars Haunted Hayride (RI)
Fortress of Nightmares (RI)
Factory of Terror West Warwick (RI) 
Dead North (VT) - Haunted Corn Maze
Nightmare Acres (CT)
The Haunted Isle (CT)
Dark Manor (CT)
Ekonk Hill Turkey Farm (CT) – non-haunted Flashlight Maze

Fright at the Fort (ME)

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?