Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California
Fall is the season for pumpkin spice, red-gold foliage, cozy sweaters and, most importantly, Halloween. From hair-raising frights to tasty delights, Halloween events and attractions offer a range of creative diversions for groups.
Sleepy Hollow, New York
This village in the town of Mount Pleasant in New York’s Westchester County was made famous in the 1800s thanks to one of America’s most enduring scary stories: “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Nearly 200 years later, tales of the Headless Horseman continue to enchant and intrigue.
During Halloween, Sleepy Hollow is at its best. Horseman’s Hollow is a unique haunted house experience that takes inspiration from the legend to transform a local mansion. For a more family-friendly option, the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze is a stunning attraction that features more than 7,000 hand-carved, illuminated pumpkins. Cemetery tours and spooky storytelling sessions are also on offer.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area is not only a great meeting destination with a spectacular variety of venues and accommodations to choose from—-it’s also chock-full of unique Halloween attractions.
Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California, is world-famous for its architectural oddities, including hidden rooms and even a room built for seances. This Halloween, special Candlelight Tours will be held at the house through October. The USS Hornet, a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Alameda, California, is another unexpected option for groups, which can explore a haunted version of the ship—at their own risk, of course.
New Orleans
The city famous for voodoo is a natural choice for groups looking for Halloween fun. Over the weekend, it will be hard to avoid the massive Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, which has become a Halloween tradition since its debut in 1999. The event commonly known as Voodoo Fest has featured top-tier artists from The Cure to Neil Young.
Groups looking for more spooky experiences have many options ranging from innovative haunted houses and Mardis Gra-inspired bashes to the super-popular Krewe of Boo Halloween parade. New Orleans is also home to several historic and world-famous cemeteries such as St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, the city’s oldest and most famous cemetery.
San Diego, California
Since its opening in 1888, Hotel del Coronado, the historic beachfront hotel near San Diego, California, has welcomed a long list of esteemed guests such as presidents, royalty and celebrities. The property has also been featured in numerous films and novels.
Hotel del Coronado has a long and illustrious history, but it also has a dark past. The hotel’s most famous guest is not President Barack Obama or inventor Thomas Edison — it’s Kate Morgan, a woman who checked in on Nov. 24, 1892 and was found dead by her own hand just a few days later.
Since then, guests and employees have reported many curious events, including flickering lights, doors that open and close of their own accord, unexplained footsteps and even sightings of Kate herself. Thrill-seekers come by the droves to experience it firsthand, making the room she stayed in the hotel’s most requested guestroom.
