Fall is the time for apple cider, changing leaves, and pumpkin-spiced everything. It’s also the time when haunted houses and ghost tours open their doors for a brief period each year. This fall, don your best costume, grab a friend, and check out these three frightful fall festivities near Chesapeake!
Busch Gardens Howl-O-Scream
Starting the second week in September and continuing through Halloween, the famed Busch Gardens hosts Howl-O-Scream on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Here, families can enjoy all types of thrills, from escape rooms to live performances.
If you’re into haunted houses, take a tour through one of the mazelike indoor and outdoor haunts, each with its own unique theme: Circo Sinistro, Dystopia, Demented Dimensions, Frostbite, Lumberhack, and Vault Overtaken. Or, enter into one of six immersive scare zones. These hair-raising worlds include Axe Alley, Fool’s Court, Garden of the Souls, Ripper Row, Sideshow Square, and Vampire Point.
Throughout the park, you can also enjoy theater and musical performances, spooky bars and shops, as well as all the roller coasters and rides for which Busch Gardens is known.
Howl-O-Scream attractions are included with the price of park admission and run from 5:45 p.m. until 10 p.m.
Williamsburg Ghost Tour
Williamsburg is known as one of the most haunted places in America, and rightfully so. Take a guided walking ghost tour through Colonial Williamsburg to learn about 350 years worth of murder stories, war tragedies, witch trials, and burial grounds. Choose from one of three tours:
- The Hour-Long Tour departs at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Learn about Williamsburg’s mysterious history as well as the paranormal activity visitors and inhabitants have experienced. All the stories your guide will tell you are fact-based, and the unexplained things you might hear and see aren’t tricks.
- The Ultimate Tour departs at 10 p.m. and lasts 90 minutes. Explore spine-tingling sites such as the Colonial Jail, Jones Cemetery, and America’s first insane asylum. Hear shocking stories, and keep an eye out for the paranormal as you wander these dark alleys and streets.
- The Cemetery Tour departs at 3:30 p.m. and lasts 90 minutes. This is the newest addition to Williamsburg’s ghost tour lineup and takes visitors through three cemeteries, over Indian burial grounds, and past the graves of several famed inhabitants. This tour is less scare and more history lesson.
These tours are suitable for both kids and adults. Add to the fun by renting an EMF detector to pick up on paranormal activity while you walk.
Spooky Acres Haunted House
Spooky Acres Haunted House has been a local favorite for nearly 25 years. While it’s changed locations and themes over time (this year you can find it at the Military Crossing Shopping Center), one thing remains constant: its fear factor. As you wander through dark mazes and themed rooms, the costumed actors might reach out to grab you, so watch your ankles and arms!
This fun and frightening adventure runs from late September through the first week in November from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets cost just $15 per person.
Get into the festive fall spirit by checking out one of these seasonal Chesapeake-area events. Whether you’re into haunted houses or history, you’ll have an exciting time with family or friends!
Image via holl7510 | Licensed under CC BY 2.0
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