This week is prime scaring time for Halloween lovers the world over. The second week in October is traditionally when most venues open their haunted houses and other spooktacular attractions to shrieking guests.
While some major theme parks kicked off their fright fests and horror nights at the beginning of the month, the vast majority of smaller organizations waited until this week to debuted their ghoulish thrills and chills.
If you are looking to feel the tingle of terror this month or you simply want your kids to make the most of their expensive costumes, then consider these varied Halloween travel adventures:
SERIOUS SCARES
Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is the real deal when it comes to Halloween hauntings. It was a real prison until 1971. Today it is a National Historic Landmark, which hosts an annual Halloween event called “Terror Behind the Walls.” The creep-fest includes an hour-long flashlight-only guided tour of cellblocks, including Al Capone’s cell, isolation cells, and Death Row.
Hauntworld Magazine named Netherworld Haunted House in Atlanta as the No. 1 scariest attraction in the country. If the flying gargoyles, mad scientists, drowning tanks, flesh compactors and acid rooms don’t give you the chills, then try escaping from a house where the floors crack open and furniture comes to life. The magazine describes a visit to Netherworld like “living in a movie.”
NOT-SO SCARY
For families with younger ghosts and goblins, the aforementioned attractions are extremely inappropriate. Fortunately, there are many not-so scary Halloween activities for kids of all age, such as:
Little Boo and Pumpkin Path at the Toledo Zoo in Toledo, Ohio is the perfect Halloween event for kids 2 to 8 years old. The event includes a just-for-toddlers party with trick-or-treat stations, games and a giant Fisher-Price play area. In addition, preschoolers and school-age kids can have fun at the zoo’s Pumpkin Path, with its “mystifying performances,” carnival-style games and 20 themed candy stations.
Billed as the “World’s Largest Halloween Party,” the Louisville Zoo in Louisville, Kentucky, goes all out for kids 2 to 10 years old. In addition to traditional trick-or-treating, the zoo hosts a dozen themed attractions, including “Mumpkin the Talking Pumpkin,” a zipline, an Ogre Swamp, a new Toyland and an antique carousel that runs backward during the month of October.
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