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When it comes to Halloween, the land of Washington Irving is hard to beat for authentic All Hallows Eve shenanigans. Yes, we’ve got Sleepy Hollow, but there are so many creepy events planned in Westchester that, frankly, if you blink you could miss a terrific opportunity to scare yourself silly.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a handy bucket list of what we think are the absolutely quintessential Westchester Halloween experiences. After all, you only live once, right?
Let’s Get This One out of the Way
Visit Sleepy Hollow. Listen, you just have to. Can it be a little touristy? Sure. But it’s also the spookiest space this side of Salem during October, and Historic Hudson Valley makes sure you get plenty of frights with your historical accuracy. Aside from all the local festivities, we recommend going whole-hog and experiencing Irving’s Legend at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside. It’s the original tale of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” enacted like you’ve never seen anywhere else, and it’s open Fridays through Sundays every weekend in October through November 3, with a special performance on Halloween night. You can also visit Philipsburg Manor, which is hosting The Spirits of Sleepy Hollow Country. At this spooky event, you will join master illusionists as they journey into the realm of the unknown. They will conjure the local spirits of Hulda, Major Andre, and the Headless Horseman (because of course). A new experience this year at Philipsburg Manor is the Twilight Village. Guests can enjoy cocktails, mocktails, and snacks while discovering mysterious creatures who will tell your fortune, sing creepy tunes, and tell the tales of local legends and lore.
Dig up Some Old Friends
Maybe being surrounded by so many lively people isn’t your idea of a good time. Why not visit some old friends? Like, really old. Decomposing, technically. There’s a host (or horde?) of famous figures and local celebrities lying around Sleep Hollow Cemetery all the time, just dying for the chance to pick your brain. For Westchester’s Stephen King fans, the Hartsdale Pet Cemetery is also a gorgeous stroll, and a testament to how much Westchester loves its pets.
Shock, Spooks, and Tinseltown Terror
Who doesn’t love a good scary movie? [Raises own hand.] The Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) has an annual tradition of screening a one-night-only Halloween Movie Marathon each year, full of classic slashers and lesser-known knock-outs. Tickets for the Halloween bucket list experience cost $60 (or $50 for students and JBFC members) and will get you in for Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Thing, Infested, Anaconda, Piranha, The Winged Serpent, and Tremors. This year’s date is October 26.
To harken back to the golden age of Hollywood, check out The Rocky Horror Picture show playing at The Tarrytown Music Hall on October 26, Terror TV’s 10th Anniversary Special at Mamaroneck Cinemas on October 28, and Halloween on October 30 at Look Dine-in Cinema in Dobbs Ferry. If you’re a music lover, book tickets for this unique Halloween concert featuring classic tunes under the gentle flow of candlelight. At the Play Group Theatre in White Plains, the Highline String Quartet will play “Thriller,” the Beetlejuice theme song, the Addams Family theme song, and more. Tickets start at $42. Show times are on October 24 and 25.
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Visit an Actual Haunted House
Amityville ain’t got nothin’ on Westchester. Some of our towns predate the country so we’ve got quite a few old souls still mulling about our neck of the woods. If you don’t feel like breaking out the Ouija board and inviting them into your own house, why not meet them at theirs? We have a number of supposedly haunted buildings and places throughout Westchester that should sufficiently spook. Heck, one of them is so popular, it even spawned its own movie!
Go out of Your Gourd
The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in Croton-on-Hudson is a little touristy, yes, but when those tourists count Neil Patrick Harris and Laura Prepon amongst their ranks, do you really care? Huge installations of thousands of carved pumpkins light the night, and guests come from far and wide to gawk at cartoonish critters, life-sized dinos, the Statue of Liberty, and a working pumpkin carousel, and walk over the “Pumpkin Zee” Bridge. The Blaze held its opening weekend on Friday, September 13 (fitting, right?), and is open daily through November 17. Tickets for this Halloween bucket list to-do range from $20 to $52, and a new Tavern Combo Ticket experience goes for $79 to $87.
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Related: Croton’s Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze: What You Need to Know
Get Your Pants Scared off
Kids love haunted houses and spooky hayrides, but sometimes adults like to be the ones at risk of peeing their pants. Scared on the Sound at the Old Turco’s Market in Yorktown is a great Halloween bucket list option for older kids (generally 10-plus) and even adults who are ready for a little bit more fright than the neighborhood spook house. Tickets cost $30 per person and offer attendees the chance to brave experiences like “Witches and Wolves,” “The Doctor Will See You Now,” “Haunted Bayou,” and more.
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When All Else Fails, Spit out the Silver Bullets and Join the Pack
Okay, fine, you can’t actually become a werewolf for Halloween. Sorry. But! You can do the next best thing, which is to go out and howl with real live wolves (and then go back to your nice warm house because you are still a soft, fur-less human and central heating is your friend). The Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem offers a pretty much year-round calendar of events and photo ops with their “ambassador” wolves, but none are more fun than Halloween Howl and Halloween Party with Wolves.
Pair refreshments with some fascinating background on America’s native wolf populations and their conservation, then take a leisurely stroll through the night air to meet the wolves in person, howling—as you do—to announce your arrival to our canine masters. They’re beautiful, elegant, and highly carnivorous creatures, and you can attend Halloween Parties with them on the afternoons of October 26 and 27 for $15 ($12 for kids under 12), or take in a Halloween Howl on October 25 or 26 for $20 (“Adults only” howls just mean there’s wine available, FYI. $30 for those.)
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