In New England, the Halloween season marks the transition from playful summer to bleak winter, and because we know what is coming (cold and shoveling) we turn it into a playful festival – even if it is one for… the dead and the haunted.

Whatever our celebrations be it a fright fest or pumpkin carving we know how to have fun.

The writers at CNE all got to vote for their favorite Halloween event and this is our pick of the best from around New England happenings in October 2009.

Friday Night Fright at the Mount – Lenox, Massachusetts:

Every Friday night through Halloween in 2009 you can be “chilled to the bone” at the late writer Edith Wharton’s estate in Lenox, Massachusetts. Friday Night Fright at the Mount is a special ghost tour that visits places not usually open to the public.

Over the years a number of haunted happenings have been recorded at this property and for those that want to combine a trip to one of the Berkshires main attractions during fall this makes an ideal destination. You can find more information at the recent blog post we did on The Mount in Lenox.

Jack is Back at Roger Williams Zoo – Providence, Rhode Island:

After a four-year hiatus the Jack O’Lantern Spectacular returns to Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence from October 8^th through November 1^st, 2009.

A team of over 30 professional pumpkin carvers will spend six weeks creating the magical display, which will be set on the Zoo’s wetlands trail amidst special lighting and musical themes.

Visitors can feast their eyes on an array of pumpkins depicting everything from wildlife pop culture.

And they are all carved with painstaking detail and amazing artistry. You can find more details at the recent blog post we did on this perennial favorite at Jack O’Lantern Spectacular at Roger Williams Zoo.

Six Flags New England Fright Fest – Agawam, Massachusetts:

Six Flags New England located just outside Springfield, Massachusetts, transforms its theme park from thrills during the day to chills at night. Weekends October 3 through November 1, including Friday October 16, 23 and 30 you can experience the ultimate Halloween playground during the haunting season.

Events, activities, and special attractions abound during October, including the frightening Wicked Woods and Midnight Mansion – these require extra fees to visit. Other attractions include: Haunting Illusions show, Mayhem Mission game show, dance and Halloween parties, Trick or Treat Trail for kids, and plenty of Tombstone and Cemetery locations to send the chills through your bones. More at Six Flags New England website: http://www.sixflags.com/newEngland/

Haunted Hayride – Old Saybrook, Connecticut:

From historic Old Saybrook on the mouth of the mighty Connecticut River comes an event that takes you through demented woods on a possessed hay wagon ride.

This is intended to be a chilling event so even though it’s sponsored by the Old Saybrook Fire Department its not intended for small children under 10.

Dates for the bone-chilling ride are October 16–17, 22–24, and October 28–29.

Rides start at 7:00pm and cost $10 per adult. Event located at Clark Memorial Field on Elm Street in Old Saybrook. More details here: http://www.oldsaybrookfire.com/hayride.html

Pumpkin Festival – Keene, New Hampshire:

If you think some of the farmyards you pass during October with their hundreds of pumpkins on show for sale are impressive then think what 28,952 pumpkins all light up at the same time in the same place would convey? How about a World Record! That’s right in 2003 at the Keene Pumpkin Festival the Guinness Book of World Records got a new entry to chalk up.

This has become an annual event and one that Keene in southern New Hampshire is proud of as it is a chance to display the community atmosphere of this friendly small city just over the border from Massachusetts. Things heat up on Friday June 16^th with entertainment, food and a chance to see the beginnings of the two towers that pumpkins will hold. The big day on Saturday October 17^th, 2009 is jam-packed with parades, pie eating contests, activities for kids, and of course the official pumpkin count topped-off with firework display.

Will the festival set another world record in 2009? You’ll just have to go if you want to know. Directions and times of events can be found at the official web site here: http://www.pumpkinfestival.org/

Haunted Happenings – Salem, Massachusetts:

The granddaddy Halloween event in America is reserved for Salem, Massachusetts and the city labels it – Haunted Happenings.

The location of the infamous witch hysteria of 1692 celebrates everything connected with Halloween in October. From the Salem Witch Museum to the House of the Seven Gables, New England Pirate Museum, Salem Wax Museum and special ghostly walks and tours. The seaport of Salem comes alive with the dead – like no other time in the year.

Special shows for 2009 include “Cry Innocent” and “A Night in Besieged Salem Village,” and special creepy exhibits at haunted houses and museums in the town. Countdown begins for all this on October 1^st and culminates with the night of October 31^st. Parking on these dates and at weekends is challenging so the city urges you to take the train or other transportation such as bus or ferry from Boston on those dates. More details about all the events and directions can be found here: http://hauntedhappenings.org/

Tommyknockers & More Bus Tour – Bangor, Maine:

Few writers have mastered the horror and mystery in quite the way American novelist extraordinaire Stephen King has, and Bangor in Maine is still “home” to the writer. The Greater Bangor Convention and Visitors Bureau have been running its popular Tommyknockers & More Bus Tour during the summer and fall seasons for seven years. And during these trips you get to see some of King’s inspirational locations he used in his stories, such as where Ellie saw “skinny santa” in Pet Sematary and the frightening tract of land in Derry called “the Barrens.”

Somehow these places and the tour take on a more sinister perspective during the Halloween season. The tour in October is on Sunday, October 25, 2009 departing at 2:00pm and is $12 per person. For more information and to reserve space call 1-800-916-6673. Better hurry though, because there is limited space on the one trip out and just pray it makes it back and the Tommyknockers don’t get you!

Fright River Flyer – White River Junction, Vermont:

This is a kid friendly Halloween train ride between White River Junction and Thetford. Legend has it that the spirits that haunt this section of the track are frightened away by the sounds of kids having fun so there is plenty of that on this ride. The ride tales place on a historic steam engine built in 1892 and this year’s date will be appropriately Saturday October 31^st, 2009.

There will be free candy, cider and doughnuts, and if you wear your costume you’ll get to ride half-price. More information and reservations call 1-800-707-3530 or visit this website where you can book tickets online: http://www.rails-vt.com/wrf/wrf_fright_river_09.html

Another New England post by one of our writers is being prepared right now so be sure to visit again or just subscribe to our RSS Feed here and get notified automatically of events and news.

Joan Daniels
Staff Writer
New England Online Magazine

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