Where to Spend Halloween

Salem’s thrills will send chills down the spine of even the most experienced Halloween aficionado. Every year, more than 1 million tourists visit the city immortalized in many a TV and high school Arthur Miller production year-round — but no month is more famous than October. The entire 31 days are jam-packed with parades (for both humans and pets!), tarot card events, magic shows, costume parties and haunted houses. Witch City is alive 12 months a year thanks to the Salem Witch Museum; the muse of Nathanial Hawthorne, House of Seven Gables; and WitchPix, a costume studio with cauldrons, pointy hats and crystal balls galore.

Elsewhere in Massachusetts, a bed-and-breakfast museum is dedicated to Lizzie Borden, who allegedly killed her father and stepmother with 40 whacks from an axe. Today, the city of New Bedford offers tours about the famous crime all the way back in August 1892. Celebrate the blood and gore just about an hour’s drive from Salem. (Coincidentally, Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched fame — whose likeness is also featured in a statue in the center of Salem — starred in the Lizzie Borden documentary.)

It’s ravens aplenty in Baltimore, where the most famous resident — Edgar Allan Poe — was featured this year in the first International Edgar Allan Poe Festival and Awards, Oct. 6–8 (the anniversary of his death). Lit majors rejoiced with two days of free events dedicated to all that’s macabre, including art and Poe-themed performances. The Poe House and Museum hosted Death Weekend tours and there was a Black Cat Ball dinner cruise planned aboard the steamship yacht Raven. Don’t miss his gravesite at Westminster Hall Burying Ground.

Haunted streets of New Orleans © Valentin Armianu | Dreamstime.com

Halloween is second only to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where hotels like Monteleone and the Dauphine report spooky spirit sightings that even encourage some guests to book there for a glimpse. There are few beads but thankfully there’s something even better — candy — during the Krewe of Boo Halloween Parade and Party. As far as colors, it’s not just orange and black, but a whole rainbow thanks to one of the country’s biggest LGBTQ+ weekends. Four days of events benefit AIDS patients, including a silent auction, costume contest with a dance party, jazz brunch and chef’s tasting. Of course, you can’t miss a classic ghosts, ghouls or graveyards tour, especially spooky during the month of October.

It’s always scarier when the lights are off — especially when it’s subterranean spooks, like in Seattle. The Underground, created when the city rebuilt on top of itself after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, is notorious for the paranormal spirits purported to be murder victims. The Underground Paranormal Experience includes a tutorial and hands-on use of Ghostbusters-like investigative equipment. And Spooked in Seattle tours offer tales of the haunted city based on real-life paranormal investigations.

Our colonial forefathers certainly weren’t wimps, what with the Revolutionary War and all. But in Williamsburg, Virginia, there’s a different kind of bravery thanks to some frightful events. Haunting on DoG Street programs run through Oct. 31, and include skeleton horses, ghost tours and family-friendly hauntings. Trick or Treating is the last weekend of the month at Colonial Williamsburg, a good event to pair up with the Ghost Walk Junior 45-minute tours for ages 4–7, Thursday through Sundays. Ages 13 and up will enjoy Ghosts Amongst Us, the only ghost tour that takes guests inside Williamsburg’s historic buildings with two tours per day for the entire month.