Not So Scary Ways to Celebrate Halloween

By Louise

Want to be scared this Halloween? Simply turn on a 24-hours news channel or log on to social media. Perhaps it’s my age, or more likely my addiction to listening to paranoia-inducing true crime podcasts, but gone are the days when I sought the cheap thrills of a strange man jumping out at me with a chainsaw at a seasonal rural haunted house. Did I say cheap? Those places are rather expensive these days. Want to enjoy the festivities of Halloween without the fear? Here are our suggestions:
 
1. The Incredible Naumkeag Pumpkin Show always lives up to its name with a spectacular nighttime outdoor display of 1500+ pumpkin masterpieces. Treats and cider can be purchased on site. Tickets are required and sell out quickly, so click here to book those $25 tickets. 

2. Ventfort Hall hosts Tea & Talk: Tales from the Graveyard, an evening of rural cemetery ghost stories followed by a Witch’s Brew Tea Party and Costume Contest. 

3. The Albany Twilight Market. This Capital Region-based monthly market series has quickly become one of the northeast’s preeminent shopping destinations for lovers of all things odd and dark. They host their largest event of the year with 80+ vendors, fire performers, a drag show and tarot readings at Washington Park Lakehouse in Albany on October 12 from 5-9 p.m. Free to attend. 

4. Haunted Hancock. Hancock Shaker Village hosts separate Halloween events for adults and families. The adult programming features a 75 minute after-hours tour of the Village’s spookiest sections complete with ghost stories, while the family-friendly event features a 45 minute PG-friendly tour of the grounds. Click here for times and dates.

5. The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze is the Northeast’s OG over-the-top pumpkin fest. Yes, it’s a bit of a drive down to Sleepy Hollow. But why not make a day of it, and visit the bridge where the Headless Horseman tossed a pumpkin at Ichabod Crane, and take a lantern-lit tour of the cemetery that serves as the the final resting place of assorted luminaries, including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow author Washington Irving?

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