Top Halloween Picks for Spooky Fun
This spooky moon shot begs for trick or treating… Photo: Vino Li
AUTHOR: ARTSY CHOW ROAMER
Top Halloween Picks
FOR SPOOKY FUN
I love to come up with fun things to do throughout October looking towards the spooky days of Halloween. While many will be in my own backyard, I do like discovering things while exploring the world. Tried and true recipes will be pulled out so fancy cocktails can be served to visitors with a creepy cookie or appetizer on the side.
Visits to local pumpkin patches give us perfect choices for carving and setting up our usual decorations for the front porch. While I live in a community which doesn’t allow for the kind of decorating many like to do I try to get the vibe on with candles, lights, different colors and sizes of pumpkins and a silly sign or two. This post will give you some good ideas for how you can make October a fun time for you, your friends and family.
Amicalola Hotel and Lodge lobby with fire offers a spot for drinks with great views
BURT’S FARM
Located on the way to Amicalola Falls, Burt’s Farm is usually packed from early September to the end of October with all their varieties of pumpkins, fun decorations, drinks and eats for the fall season.
The kids love to run around picking out the best specimens for spooky carving contests and they always have some great cider drinks along with jars of Calabaza Stew and handmade decorations for sale. You can take a ride around the property in a wagon pulled by the tractors used to pick the best pumpkins you’ll find anywhere.
I usually plan several visits throughout the season and head on up to the Amicalola Hotel & Lodge for drinks and wonderful views of the mountains afforded by their observation deck. There are usually warm festive fires going inside and out for the visitors to enjoy and it really gets me in the mood for fall and the changing colors of the seasons.
Photos: Courtesy of Winchester Mystery House
HAUNTED HOUSES
Located in San Jose, CA , the Winchester Mystery House was purchased in 1886 by Sarah Winchester and underwent 36 years of renovations eventually giving it over 160 rooms, 10,000 windows and 2,000 doors! Supposedly, Ms. Winchester was tormented by quite a few different ghosts.
So much so that she was said to sleep in a different room every night in order to keep the ghouls at bay. After two years, Unhinged is back with a new chapter called Nightshade’s Curse. For 13 nights, guests will be horrified by the scariest show to date from the mystery house. All tickets include access to indoor and outdoor activities and food with multiple routes to choose from on the tour. Don’t forget to grab some cocktails at the Spookeasy Bar. Boo! 🍸👻
The 24,000 square foot house is famous for it’s Victorian architectural style with witch’s hat turrets, spiderweb windows and Gothic spires. When decorated for Halloween, it is the perfect spot to land for scary Halloween festivities. Enjoy some more facts about the house in the video below.
Winchester Mystery House a must for Halloween festivities
Parasitic characters for Netherworld at Stone Mountain Photo: Courtesy Netherworld Network
Netherworld at Stone Mountain is the best haunted house in Georgia. In its 26th season it has created two haunted experiences for the 2022 season called Parasitic and Undying Horror not to mention the Escape Rooms and Monster Museum. Each year the festivities get better and better while the costumes and characters get scarier.
Don’t get me started on the plot to punish all of mankind that went awry and all the bugs, spiders and maggots. These places are beyond the pale for many so don’t bring your youngest kids. The season begins the weekend of September 23rd continues to October and finishes with November. Hours of operation vary by night. Please click on their secure online ticketing portal on the website for times and pricing.
Info on what to expect from Netherworld
HOCUS POCUS COOKBOOK TREATS
Last year I did a review on a fun cookbook by Bridget Thoreson called Hocus Pocus. She gives you a lot of ideas for apps, main dishes, cocktails and desserts both for Halloween and the fall and winter cooking seasons.
Recipes are easy and can be done with the kids. I personally have tried the Ginger-Dead Men cookies and the Witch’s Brew Espresso Martini and they are delicious. Check out the post on the link above for these recipes and more from the book and find your own favorites. The book is also available on Amazon if you want a copy.
CREEPY READS
While sipping those martinis you might like to be reading a creepy book. I’m an avid reader and grew up on all things Stephen King; the absolute owner of the horror genre in my opinion. The thing about his books is they never really age. His stories are as good now as they were ten or twenty years ago because he is a master at character development.
I remember the first time I read Pet Sematary back in the early ‘80’s. I was so freaked out I stayed up all night to finish it. It’s the only time I have ever read an entire book in a day and made sure I had on plenty of lights when I did so! It is still considered one of his scariest unless you got a thing about clowns. If so, It might be your pick. Either are great choices to get your creepy read on and put you in the mood. 😱
THE MOVIES
During the 70’s and 80’s you might remember the triple threat of horror/slasher directors named John Carpenter, Sean Cunningham and Wes Craven. All three would go on to master the art of the scare throughout their directorial careers creating cult classics such as Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Hills have Eyes and many more. I always tool up the usual suspects with a big bowel of popcorn to hide behind throughout the spooky season.
Now I know if you have young kids around these are not going to be the movies you want to watch. You might pick Hocus Pocus. If you’ve never seen the movie, it follows a villainous comedic trio of witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy (Omri Katz) in Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night.
The film was released in the US in July 1993, by Walt Disney Pictures. Hence, all good millennials have watched it every Halloween since while giving away candy to the trick or treaters at their doors. Enjoy a little trailer from the movie below.
Spooky fun with the sisters
HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR
One activity you’ll definitely want to do with your kids is dress up in your favorite costumes and attend the Halloween Spooktacular on October 16th at Atlanta Symphony Hall. The Symphony puts together a fifty minute musical program which highlights super heroes, villains, ghosts and goblins along with some of their own outrageous get-ups to entertain you and yours. Grab some tickets which can be had for as little as $15 per person and go listen to some great music.
MIDTOWN BLOCK PARTY
For a little more upscale adults only party, jump into your costume and head over to the Midtown Block Party at Colony Square. The festivities start on Friday October 28th at 7:00 and run until 2:00AM. Tickets get you a special event wrist band into 30 different venues with live music, DJ’s, complimentary shots, low cost beer and alcohol drinks and special foods. If your costume is good enough you just might win the $500 prize!
BOO AT THE ZOO
The Atlanta Zoo is giving you two different weekends to enjoy their annual Halloween festivities with Boo at the Zoo. October 22nd, 23rd, 29th and 30th you and the kids can queue up in costumes to sample treats, play games, meet whimsical characters and enjoy the home of over 1,000 animals.
The zoo experience is all about being merry instead of being scary so even your youngest little ghosts can join without worry. The fun happens rain or shine from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM and is free for zoo members and children under three-the rest enjoy for a general admissions price.
Boo at the Zoo is full of fun, characters, games and treats for the family Photo: Nick Fewings
CONCLUSION
Many adults think you outgrow Halloween and it’s just a trick or treat kids thing. I am always surprised how much fun it is to design a pumpkin and carve it myself saving the best of the guts for a nice seasonal treat of some kind.
Cooking up a big bowl of yummy popcorn with a witch’s martini is super tasty no matter if it’s for movie-o-rama day or rereading a much loved King novel. Jumping out in costume for some fun with friends and family never grows old even if it might scare the bajeebers out of you!
So grab a book, rent some movies and start making your Halloween memories special. BTW, the sequel, Hocus Pocus 2, will be out soon with the original cast. I’m looking forward to more of the Sanderson sisters. Enjoy the video below which will give you a little idea what they are up to this time around.
Enjoy the trailer for the sequel to Hocus Pocus
If you enjoyed what you read, you might also like other posts under Just Because. Until next time…
Cheers,
Artsy Chow Roamer
Follow me on You Tube, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter
Just Because
If you like what you read, click on the button below!
Why? You’ll get free stuff like art tips, recipes and favorite travel products but I also threw in my newsletter, The Quirky Tourist; others love it-you will too!