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Dark, starry nights come in earlier and the air has a chill. All Hallows Eve is on its way! People love celebrating Halloween; be its spookiness, wearing creative costumes, or eating sweet treats, Halloween offers magic for all ages.
Halloween has been gaining popularity over the years and was first brought to the US by European immigrants, according to Rave. After Christmas, it is now the second largest holiday in the US.
This year, experience bewitchment by visiting American towns famous for their spine-chilling Halloween celebrations. Take the family and travel (if you dare) to places where Halloween is fully embraced. Be it their haunted history, spine-chilling activities, and ghostly houses, these five destinations have it all.
Salem, Massachusetts
Salem, the place of the infamous witch trials from the 1600s, does Halloween like no other place, according to Rave. You can watch reenactments of the Salem Witch Trial, visit Orlok’s haunted house and see life-size creepy monsters at Count Orlok’s Nightmare Gallery.
There are ghost tours and walking tours that highlight vampire folklore and voodoo, as recommended by the Salem tourism site. Eerie customs and rituals are honored during the entire month of October at Salem’s Festival of the Dead. To see a town that lives and breathes Halloween, board your broomstick and head to Salem!
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Sleepy Hollow, New York
Rave also gives Sleepy Hollow its rave review! This sleepy upstate New York town is home of the famed Headless Horseman. Here you can watch a live performance of this chilling story.
There is also a Halloween parade, live music, historic cemetery tours, and Gothic mansions to visit. Be sure to check out The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze, complete with 7,000 illuminated jack o’ lanterns hand-carved by artists.
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New Orleans, Louisiana
Move over Mardi Gras! New Orleans is one of the most haunted cities in the US, according to Travel + Leisure. St. Louis Cemetery is said to be haunted by hundreds of ghosts, while hospitals and churches have their fair share of hauntings. There is even a haunted itinerary offered by this New Orleans travel site. Dress up and join in the fun!
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Savannah, Georgia
Savannah gets an orange thumbs up from The Travel. Be sure to walk around the haunted Colonial park Cemetery at night. There are also several antebellum haunted mansions to visit. For a hair-raising time, visit the Mercer-Williams and Sorrel-Weed houses.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philly is a must-visit for Halloween, according to The Travel. If you crave the scare factor this Halloween, be sure to experience the interactive tour called Terror Behind the Walls. It takes you through the spooky cell blocks of the former Eastern State Penitentiary.
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Visit Philadelphia lists the city’s scariest attraction for Halloween 2022. These include haunted houses, candlelight ghost tours, haunted hayrides and a chilling special effects visit to an abandoned motel.
