Halloween is a very busy time of year. Our senses are overloaded with the the colors of the season and the chill in the air. This is the perfect time to immerse yourself in haunted history. New historic Halloween events are being spooked up as we speak. This new trend of historic Halloween events is being unearthed and spreading through the Valley. So much so, that it’s difficult to decide where to go. So, why choose? If the Halloween haunted attractions are not for you, then try something different this year and experience the richness of a historic Hudson Valley Halloween event. You can visit any number of this historic mansions this Halloween and immerse yourself in a thrilling and chilling experience that only occurs during the witching season. The air is crisp and the trees are bare; it’s time to break out the candles and roam through these old homes if you dare.
Featured Halloween Events
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Jonathan Kruk’s Legend Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers a dramatic re-telling of Washington Irving’s classic tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, and Katrina Van Tassel. Flavored with live spooky organ music by Jim Keyes, Kruk’s storytelling captivates all audiences. Visit their Web site > |
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Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Evening Lantern Tours Take an evening lantern tour of the final resting place of author Washington Irving in the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Creep though the winding roads and soaring monuments that peek through the shadows of the night. For those of us who remember the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, here is your chance to enter crypt of the vampire Barnabas Collins. Visit their Web site > |
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Dead Apple Tours Take the ride of your life in a hearse! Witness the final address of Heath Ledger, Keith Haring, Sid Vicious, “Crazy Joe” Gallo, Thomas Paine and more. Learn the dark secrets of iconic landmarks like the Empire State Building, Washington Square Park and the Brooklyn Bridge. Dead Apple Tours is a truly unique, entertaining TWO HOUR sightseeing experience. Visit their Web site > |
Croton-on-Hudson, NY
The Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze October 2-3, 8-11, 15-17, 21-24, 28-31, Nov. 5-7 Van Cortlandt Manor, 525 South Riverside Avenue, Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. The Hudson Valley’s biggest, most exciting, most electrifying Halloween event returns for a whopping 20 nights! See more than 4,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’ lanterns in an elaborate walk-through experience. Meander through an 18th-century riverside landscape and discover a breathtaking display: slithering snakes, a giant spider web, an undersea aquarium, super-sized dinosaurs, pirates, ghosts, plus a mammoth exhibition of mummies and a pyramid…straight out of ancient Egypt and all made of jack o’ lanterns! Tens of thousands of visitors came to last year’s sold-out Blaze. Complete with original, atmospheric music, sound effects, and professional lighting, this is the tri-state area’s largest and most innovative Halloween happening. All admissions are by timed ticket only, which MUST be purchased in advance. Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or call 914-631-8200.
Germantown, NY
Clermont Historic Site – Legends by Candlelight Spook Tours: candlelight tours of the museum and grounds; ghosts and spooks of the museum’s history. Dates: October 22nd, 23rd, 29th, and 30th. Tours every half hour, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Reservations are encouraged. $10 per adult, $5 per child, and $5 for Friends of Clermont members.
Hudson, NY
Olana Saturday-Sunday, October 30-31, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, & 2:30pm Halloween/Ghosties/Supernatural Superstitions Tour Visitors Center All Ages Admission is $9/adult; $8/students and seniors, free for children under 12 or members of The Olana Partnership *Vehicle use fee applies Skeptics and believers alike are welcome to hear stories of the superstitious practices our ancestors used to ward off evil. Come join up to 13 others on a tour through Frederic Church’s home and history. Call (518) 828-0135 for info. or reservations.
New Paltz, NY
Haunted Hugenot Street – It’s the dark side of history on one of the oldest streets in the Hudson Valley. Over 330 years of ghosts, superstitions, witches and things that go bump in the night!
Historic NYC
Ghost Tours of NYC – Go in search of the Ghosts of NYC for the likes of Edgar Allan Poe, Peter Stuyvesant, August Belmont, Washington Irving, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Houdini.
Sleepy Hollow, NY
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Tours Tours offered April through November. Take an evening lantern tour of the final resting place of author Washington Irving in the famous Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Creep though the winding roads and soaring monuments that peek through the shadows of the night. For those of us who remember the Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, here is your chance to enter the crypt of the vampire Barnabas Collins. Visit their Web site >
Horseman’s Hollow October 15-16, 22-24, 28-30 Philipsburg Manor, 381 North Broadway (Route 9), Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Are you ready to be scared out of your mind? Horseman’s Hollow, a BRAND NEW haunted experience, takes the tale of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow to its darkest extremes. For eight October evenings, historic Philipsburg Manor transforms into a terrifying landscape ruled by vampires, witches, undead soldiers, ghouls, and ghosts, all serving the Headless Horseman himself! Visitors begin walking a haunted trail, stumbling upon scary scenes of a town driven mad by the Headless Horseman. The Hollow’s unfortunate inhabitants are all too ready to keep visitors from ever leaving. Creatures, some human and some not, lurk in the shadows, ready to terrify the unsuspecting, while incredible special effects disorient and unsettle. Heads will roll…maybe even your own! Those who survive the haunted trail must still negotiate the Horseman’s Lair, where hungry Hessians feast on rotting, bloody corpses of unlucky visitors. This event is NOT suitable for small children or for the faint of heart, but it is Sleepy Hollow’s premiere haunted attraction, right in the heart of the village. Stocked with professional actors and state-of-the-art special effects, Horseman’s Hollow has a very high fear factor. You have been warned! All admissions are by timed ticket only, which MUST be purchased in advance. Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or call 914-631-8200.
Jonathan Kruk’s ‘Legend’ October 15-16, 29-30 Old Dutch Church, Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers a dramatic reading of Washington Irving’s classic tale, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” featuring the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, and Katrina Van Tassel. Flavored with live spooky organ music by Jim Keyes, Kruk’s storytelling captivates all audiences. Admissions for this 45-minute performance are by timed ticket only, which MUST be purchased in advance. Four performances each evening on the hour, beginning at 6pm. Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or call 914-631-8200.
Tarrytown, NY
Legend Celebration Washington Irving’s Sunnyside, 89 West Sunnyside Lane, Tarrytown, N.Y., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. These daytime events are an excellent choice for families with young children. Games for children, 19th-century magic shows, live music, puppet shows, ghost stories, and delicious picnic fare. Admission: $12; $10 for seniors; $6 for children 5-17. Free for members of Historic Hudson Valley and children under 5.
