Image via Complex Original
Whether you’re an unshakeable fear junkie or prefer sweet hayrides and pumpkin decorating, there’s a Halloween attraction for you. Culled from all that the nation has to offer, our very best recommendations for embracing the ghouls this year.
The Pumpkin Patch Train
City: Williams, Ariz.
Address: 233 N Grand Canyon Blvd.
Website: thetrain.com
Grand Canyon Railway, a steam locomotive that offers passengers a view of the natural landmark, celebrates the spooky season with a special Halloween route that travels to a secret pumpkin patch and back. Dressed in costumes, passengers are able to select their own pumpkin from the offerings and are encouraged to brave the Haunted Train Car during the trip.
Carleton Farm Haunted Swamp
City: Lake Stevens, Wash.
Address: 630 Sunnyside Blvd. SE
Website: carletonfarm.com
Had your fill of being terrified on dry land? Get chased by a monster through the Haunted Swamp at Snohomish County’s Carleton Farm, which offers the appropriate level of frightening revelry with a refreshing new spin. Follow it up with a stop at the zombie farm where you can do your best ghoul dodging.
Cobbs Haunt
City: Louisville, Ky.
Address: 6516 Echo Trail
Website: cobbshaunt.com
The terrifying tagline—Where the dead stalk the corn—says it all. Louisville’s sprawling, 11-acre unlit corn maze is populated by every imaginable type of scary creature—all of which conspire to scare the bejeezus out of you as you attempt to navigate your way through 15-foot tall corn stalks.
Nightmare New England
City: Litchfield, N.H.
Address: 454 Charles Bancroft Highway
Website: nightmarenewengland.com
A hallmark of the Halloween experience, Nightmare New England veers toward the imaginative. In the place of standard haunted house tropes you get Hollywood quality attractions with meticulously plotted back stories and a 3D Freak Show with evil clowns that you’ll spend months trying to forget.
Terror at The Village
City: Salem, Mass.
Address: Forest River Park
Website: terroratthevillage.com
There’s nothing like historical significance and rumored paranormal activity to make a haunted attraction even more vivid. Salem’s Pioneer Village, a Puritan village model located on three wooded acres, offers haunted tours that lead visitors through spooky woods and historical houses whose old timey feel makes them mind-blowingly terrifying. Make a full night of it and visit the Salem Witch House, where a graveyard ritual is performed nightly.
Horseman’s Hollow
City: Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
Address: 381 North Broadway
Website: visitsleepyhollow.com
Keep an eye out at all times as headless horsemen abound in Tarrytown, the actual site of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. A spooky trail and haunted Horseman’s Lair echo all the fear of Washington Irving’s story, and a creepy hay ride takes you on Ichabod Crane’s famous path.
Pioneer Farms Haunted Halloween
City: Austin, Texas
Address: 10621 Pioneer Farms Dr.
Website: pioneerfarms.org
Want to avoid potential post traumatic stress? Austin’s Pioneer Farms, a historical recreation devoted to Texas legacy, is home to a .75 mile Halloween trail that’s more scarecrow than bloody zombie. Fortune telling, ghost stories, and hayrides round out the refreshingly wholesome experience.
Peanuts: The Great Pumpkin Patch Express
City: Bryson City, N.C.
Address: 226 Everett St.
Website: gsmr.com
North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains Railroad honors the Great Pumpkin, Halloween’s patron spirit, with a ride inspired by the seasonal classic, “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” As the train meanders, Charles Schulz’s dialogue will be read aloud. Upon arriving at the train’s ultimate pumpkin patch destination, guests will get a chance to fraternize with Snoopy and friends, an opportunity no Charlie Brown loyalist should pass up.
Cool Patch Pumpkins
City: Dixon, Calif.
Address: 6585 Milk Farm Rd.
Website: coolpatchpumpkins.com
It’s Guinness endorsed! The California farm is home to a corn maze that, at 53 acres, has been certified as the world’s largest, and is the result of incredibly complex design. If you can make your way though—which is not a given—be sure to check out the season's grand finale taking place during closing week: a massive, world-class pumpkin smashing. Last year, a half-ton pumpkin took a free fall into a Volkswagen.
Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Village
City: Dallas, Texas
Address: 8525 Garland Rd.
Website: dallasarboretum.org
This insanely amazing pumpkin village utilizes 50,000 pumpkins to create a gorgeous gourd wonderland. In a true trump of design, tiny, pumpkin festooned houses make up a miniature village inspired by children’s books. Words cannot do it justice.
