With Halloween only a week away, people have started searching for the perfect ways to embrace the spooky season. Whether you enjoy being frightened or want to embrace the more light-hearted aspects of the upcoming holiday, there are a bunch of activities near campus to get into the haunted spirit.
For those of you who prefer a scare, Pantophobia’s “The Wrath of Cyrus Grain” Haunted Attractions are perfect to get your heart racing and spine chilled. The attractions are located in Darlington Lake County Park in Mahwah, N.J. and are only a three minute drive from campus. As the legend goes, Cyrus Grain is looking to gain some more followers by scaring those who participate in the Haunted Trail walk and Haunted Hayride with live actors.
The Haunted Trail is the scarier of the two and features a one-mile walk through the woods, Cyrus’ family cemetery and clown town. The Haunted Hayride, which is about 20-25 minutes long, is more suitable for children or people who do not want as much of a scare. Tickets can be purchased online for both attractions, which are open this weekend and Halloween.
If your car is in need of a wash but you would still like to enjoy the frights of the Halloween season, the “Screamline Haunted Car Wash” in Rockaway, N.J. is the perfect mix of cleaning and scaring. The car wash is located on Route 46 and is about 40 minutes away from campus.
While this is a little on the farther side, it is host to live actors dressed as zombies and clowns who “attempt” to break into your car, along with a light show, smoke machines and mic’d up animatronics. Tickets are available to purchase online for this Friday and Saturday.
If you are looking for a more relaxed way to get into the spirit, the annual Village of Tarrytown Halloween Parade is this Saturday at 5 p.m. The parade is about 30 minutes away from campus and will be host to live music, DJs, performers, outdoor dining and more.
In addition to the parade, Tarrytown is hosting many more events to honor “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and the Halloween season. “Peek-a-Boo,” which is located at Bethany Arts Community, is an immersive haunt experience that involves scare actors in an attempt to bring the audience back to a haunted version of the 1920s.
Aside from this, they are hosting “Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Lantern Tours” every night in October, along with “Murder and Mayhem Tours.” These two-hour tours are accompanied by many of the ghost stories that make the area so famous.
If you are looking to experience Sleepy Hollow but are not up for a scare, “The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze” is host to more than 7,000 hand-carved jack o’lanterns. This is the perfect event for anyone interested in the more artistic side of Halloween. All tickets for any of the events listed above and others are available online.
Similar to “The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze” is the “Skylands Stadium Jack-O’-Lantern Experience” in Augusta, N.J. Skylands Stadium is about an hour away from campus, but the event has fun for the whole family. It is host to many Halloween themed events, including a 45-minute walk through a path with 6,000 jack-o’-lanterns that are a mix of hand-carved and fake.
In addition to the jack-o’-lanterns, the event is host to a fall festival with seasonal foods, snacks and drinks, as well as pumpkin picking, pumpkin painting, live music and more. This is a great event for those who want to enjoy a light-hearted Halloween season.
Whether you decide to embrace the scary side of Halloween or the more playful one, there are tons of local events and activities to set the tone for your holiday experience. I hope you have a very happy Halloween!
squinn5@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of JWOcker, X
